Backcountry at Crystal - Ski Patrol Authority

What is the authority of the ski patrol and Crystal employees to limit access to the Crystal backcountry  (Silver Basin or Avalanche Basin)?

Last week we planning on going to Cement Basin, but thought the avy risk was too high, so we thought we might try Silver Basin  (We usually always ski Cement) and decided to check in with the Ski Patrol.  The ski patrol was very helpful and was helping us decide on a route when employee (I don't think she was ski patrol) interrupted and said they had a powder 8 event planned and skin tracks would look really bad.  She was pretty condescending and even at one point suggested we ski outside the controlled area until the ski patrol interjected and said that had not been cleared.

We were talking to them about 9:30 and they said they would be done by 11:00, so we decided by the time we got there, they should be close to finishing.  But they had not even started by 11:45.

Can the ski patrol or other crystal employee limit our access to Silver Basin after it has been cleared just so they can have fresh tracks for the Powder 8?

Even if they do not have the legal authority to stop you - I'm not sure if they do or don't - it seems like common sense to stay out until the competition was over considering they only have one powder 8 contest a year.

There is a lot of backcountry skiing around Crystal!

Good news for you, that this was the last year that they may have the the Powder 8's. At least that is the talk.
I'm really surprised that this was posted.
Personal attacks are to be avoided here, so let me generalize and post what I saw as pure stupidity by a couple BC tourers during the Powder 8 event.
There was a break in the weather that morning so the event could take place. There was close to a foot of new from the day before with temps in the low 20's. The patrol did limited control work to save the terrain from being hammered by debris. There was a avalanche that happened the day before off the SE side of the King into Silver that left a 6 foot crown and the debris went all the way to the flats in the basin another slide that went off lookers left of Boxcar.

Early in the event there were two skinners who were making there way up Silver basin right below the tree island. They had made it up about 200 ft out of the flat area and were trying to make set a track across the main area of the bowl while the event was in progress.
All the ski patrol was yelling to go the other way, GO THE OTHER WAY. But like stupid road kill possums, they did not even acknowledge the ski patrol and proceeded to make a kick turn dead into the path of the up hill skiers. The patroller's said, "I talked to those guys at the base area and told them to avoid this area."  But did they listen?? NO
There was so much fabulous terrain, available to ski adjacent from Silver Basin and get away from the hoopla.
Why would one insist on skinning directly underneath skier traffic on a day where there is a foot of new????
Ask me, stupid inexperienced backcountry skiers who don't know crap about safe travel in the backcountry, who need to take some route finding and avy classes. Probably going to be digging their sorry asses out someday because they don't follow instruction very well.
Heck if these knuckleheads would have kick turned left instead of right they would have gotten themselves out of harms way and had some true privacy, but why were they so insistent on skinning up the bowl into harms way? I could not believe these guys did not even respond to the ski patrol's attempt to communicate with them. I thought for sure that we would be conducting a beacon search rather than a Powder 8 contest. But these clowns probably would not have beacons on anyhow.
Stupid knuckleheads is all I can say!
Go ahead and delete my post if it causes to much of a personal attack.
But in this case, a verbal chastising is better than a  burial search if it would even penetrate these clown noggins.

Thanks Joe, and in advance to anyone else, for trying to keep this civil.

There was so much fabulous terrain, available to ski adjacent from Silver Basin and get away from the hoopla.
Why would one insist on skinning directly underneath skier traffic on a day where there is a foot of new????

Full agreement Joe. When we heard they might even consider having the Powder 8's and pulled into the lot to hear all the charges ski patrol were lighting off, Silver Basin became the last place we'd want to ski.  Not only would you be impeding skier traffic but if patrol wasn't finished with charging the slope...

Dogleg Bowl, Pickhandle, Bullion's...Cement was good that day. 

However, here's something to consider given the air of this thread:
What about when Warren Miller was wanting to film at Crystal. Patrol told us to stay out of Silver Basin to allow him to helicopter in and film lines. We contemplated setting a track WAY early and dropping some lines that might turn up in the shot...lol.

Crystal Mt or any leasee of USFS land has the right if safety to the public is the issue to bar access to the are in question. The leasee is responsible for public safety, so they can close an area deemed unsafe.

As for Silver Basin as a backcountry area, the patrol does control work there and uses gate to limit access. As a ski tourer, it is important to recognize the difference between slack conutry and back country and not treat to two the same.