January 19, 2002, Crystal Mountain backcountry

Was supposed to lead a trip for the Tacoma Mountaineers to the Paradise area. No signups! Maybe my reputation has something to do with it? So hooked up with the usual buddies and we all decided for Crystal/East Peak/Bullion Basin/Cement Basin. Met Nick D. in the parking lot whose partner had bailed so he joined Roger, Kevin, Tom and me. Climbed up to the top of Wooden Cross Peak and dropped into Cement. Pretty windblown up high but not too bad. That is until we dropped into what we call "The Hourglass", the little necked down chute that seems to collect lots of debris. We had maybe 8-12 inches of new which covered (to the eye at least) all the frozen crap. But our skis found it! Pretty bumpy ride down, taking lots of concentration (and ski luck!). Decided the westerly aspects were better so did 3 more runs here. Patches of crust/ice up high but pretty sweet fluff lower down. Roger on his brand-spankin'-new Hydrogens w/T9s was smilin'! Come to think of it, we all were smilin'! Everything seemed...  (Note: incomplete report received)

Tim