Keeping the culture war alive at Crystal

It's true Crystal is and has been a skiers mountain for as long as I can remember. Would I call skis more efficient for travel? Of course I would as you have far more mobility. I choose to snowboard because I love the feeling of riding down the mountains and I prefer fall line instead of traversing.

When coming up with multiday expeditions I try to focus on ups and downs compared to traversing. I know I look at terrain differently then friends but we make it work.

Who even cares? Ski or snowboard, or don't do either. Crystal Mountain, and all ski resorts that want the lift ticket money from snowboarders might want to think about ways to keep them coming, and snowboard companies might want to be concerned, but anyone else?

Do you think putting skis on the feet of those kids sitting cross the hill right under a roll over would make them choose a better location for their smoke break?

Do you think that the snowboader scraping down a run wouldn't learn real quick that you can do the same thing on skis?

Remind me again why I have only bought 2 lift tickets this season?

Thanks’ Andrew for taking the time to explain the mechanics of deep powder formation. After supplementing my copy of “The Secret Powder Stashes of White Pass” with the unabridged edition I’ll give it another try.

Now, I would wish someone could explain to me why the NWAC telemetry for pptn and snow sometimes seems totally unrelated to what is out on the slopes; maybe it is in a snow shadow for some storms. Even the White Pass ski area reports often under-report the snow. I've not gone at times because of new significant new snow only to find others found very significant new snow. Like Robie says: You gotta go, if you want to know! Or, I guess, you would be in the salmon-steelhead fisherman category of "You should have been here yesterday!"

I need to get some up-to-date orthophotoquads of White Pass because it seems that is where I'm going to spend more time sidecountry and backcountry instead of Mt. Rainier, closed for winter weather.

What is this person smoking? Snowboard participation is no longer "growing significantly" so therefore it is dying? Huh? Maybe she should buy a lottery ticket (aka a tax on people who have not studied statistics).

Kim's blog post is noise. The disciplines are just a bit different, not better or worse. I love to ride with my ski buddies just as much as my boarders. I wait for both the same amount of time. Trying to dismiss the expert boarder position that they don't experience the disabilities Kim lists is to further weaken her point. Of course beginners to intermediates blow it on traverses, lose their skis & poles, twist their knees, sink in deep pow, get skis pulled apart in trees and sometime wallow. The discipline makes the weaknesses differ but to point at one alone is silly. People who write this divisive crap should get back in their hottub time machine.

WRT to splitboard efficiency, again lots of noise. I'm not faster or slower on the transition than any of our crew. Fitness and technique overshadow any inherent equipment differences. Plus, who's racing out the gate at the top of a line in the backcountry? That just isn't the ethos of touring.

Maybe this post is really about trolling to get more attention for the mountain with 1/2 the base as better WA areas?

Snowboarding is going to have ups and downs of popularity just like skiing has. A year from now it will still be younger and better looking that skiing. I suggest trying both, it might just be your year to find a good deal on a snowboard.