12/11/07 Crystal

Groomers are fun.... for a few hours at least. It was hardpacked, with occasional crust on dust on crust. Big climax slide under REX was cool to see. We really need snow.

I skied Crystal today as well. Snow off -piste was not too bad either. Hard but very carveable styrofoam.

Snorting Elk Bowl skied surprisingly well but they had a no hiking sign up preventing you from climbing up to have a look at the new Northway lift which I though bogus as it prevented you from getting the top part of the bowl which had a nice dust on smooth crust .

Crystal patrol and management really p*X# me off at times with all their fricking ropes and no hiking signs !!!!! >

Thanks for the report. Any pics of the carnage?

Any word on the lost boarders ??

Bandit...where have you been? Search has been called off and those 3 souls are now presumed dead.

Scotsman - just hide your pass or lift ticket and start skinning. Your just taking a peek right. :

Welcome to your national forest........feel free to be restricted. They took my pass last dump for skining up a cat track. Crystal is a real bummer. Hey snoslut....we sound a lot alike on our Crystal views.....meet up in C lot sometime for a few brews and east peak shots??

I was there Tuesday. My wife and others were using their free warren miller coupon.

Hardly anyone there.

Best run I thought was the big snorting elk face. Smooth, carvable hard pack. There was a trail through the avalanche debris at the base.

Groomers were very fast. Off piste in the morning was breakable crust but it softened later and was do-able

I'll be there wed, thur, and friday so BRING ON THE SNOW

If anyone gets snoslut or any others on camera getting chased by patrol i'd pay to see it. in fact maybe we should start a "Crystal Mountain - The Lawless" film festival or some s--t like that. That'd be cool.

Personally, I've always had a hankering to illegally poach the "yellowstone club" near bigsky montana. but that is private land.

There are, btw, ways around the rules arn't there? If patrol doesn't witness you crossing their permit boundary...one could be on the other side of that rope (not on the cat track) and have a good shouting match with patrol and they can't do anything about it. Just be careful re-entering the area...while there's nothing illegal about it...they can pull your pass. National Forest is public access.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong...

You are allowed to leave the ski area boundary--the designated permit boundary.
Skiers take the rex and ski off the back side to crystal lakes and down to highway 410.

What gets you in trouble is crossing ropes and entering closed areas within the ski area boundaries, which includes the north or south back country. It's a liability issue. Inside the boundaries, Crystal is responsible and can open and close areas at their discretion.

Outside of the ski area you're on your own and they have no jurisdiction and no responsibility.

Do I have this right?

Is this the understanding of other folks?

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong...

You are allowed to leave the ski area boundary--the designated permit boundary.
Skiers take the rex and ski off the back side to crystal lakes and down to highway 410.

What gets you in trouble is crossing ropes and entering closed areas within the ski area boundaries, which includes the north or south back country. It's a liability issue. Inside the boundaries, Crystal is responsible and can open and close areas at their discretion.

Outside of the ski area you're on your own and they have no jurisdiction and no responsibility.

Do I have this right?

Is this the understanding of other folks?

I think you nailed it. Patrollers at Crystal get a little ambitious when it comes to patrolling inbounds. Had a few run ins with them, but cool , calm conversation seems to calm them down.

Got accused of ducking a rope to ski K-2 face. I denied it. He (patrol) saw some tracks , but actually didn't see me go under the rope. It was too late, I was committed, the patroller skiied off pissed as hell., Oh well........I had a good run of fresh powder. (Last year)

Since one death and several close calls climbing up into the upper area from the ski area is no longer OK, when Chair 6 and Rex for example are close you cant hike up.  If you feel the need to hike start at the top of C4 or drop into the Park from an OPEN area.   Those are the only places ticketed people can hike besides north and south.  There are some tricks but you guys are finding the ones that dont work.  Your all smart people figure out the rules they are not as bad as some places.

Sneaking into a closed area from an open area without crossing a rope will also cause problems. If your can say sorry sir alot and kiss ass you may keep your pass but next time it will be gone.

If you guys(gondor, slut etc) keep messing with the patrol they are going to crack down harder.  If you feel the need to do this go to Alpental.  I would be happy to talk about this over a beer too but please dont give the patrol any more reasons crack down on our playground.

The patrol is really a good crew and will save your ass when you get hurt even out of bounds, in the park, crystal lakes, east peak etc. Give them a break.

Closing the mountains is like trying to keep teenagers off drugs.

Good Luck with that one.

Hey snoslut....we sound a lot alike on our Crystal views.....meet up in C lot sometime for a few brews and east peak shots??

Alpymarr - sure just drop me a line.

If you guys(gondor, slut etc) keep messing with the patrol they are going to crack down harder.

Matt, do you have any proof to back up this claim of cracking down?  Had a good convo with Furky about this one a few weeks back.  Too bad he's retired.  Real cool guy.  Patrol was/is? still tackling how to handle the expanded north situation and shorthand staff.  They seem to be more concerned with the general public.  Not me.

Believe me, I'm not the reason why they would crack down.  I wish patrol could enforce a bc policy like Baker but there's too many entrance and exit points.  I would love that crack down!

Sure there once were days that I would bend the rope lines and boundaries with my mind.  And days when people skied naked. ;D  Time and place for everything.  Now a days if I'm touring the resort, its before they open or before their boo run.  Otherwise I'm somewhere else.  Hard to mess with patrol while their sleeping.

Since I only buy lift tickets during blue moons, how does this even apply to me???  The land is leased, I'm not using the lifts, getting in the way and most of the employees are still nursing their alcohol/drug induced hibernations, meaning the mountain is closed.

Matt, who are you to be singling me out.  Do you normally talk shit about people you don't know or have never ridden with?  Why don't you go to Alpy, as you suggested I do (no disrespect to Alpy).  No need to be a JONG here, there's plenty of other forums for that.

LOL...what a great post! First off, Jayme (Savegondor), if you poach the Yellowstone Club, you've got a partner in crime for sure! And being as MT is old stomping ground, I'm sure we could get quite a contingent to track out their stupid fucking private area! I'm game for sure!

Jenprince is right, keeping people from ducking ropes (more specifically) is like trying to keep teens from drugs...it's just not going to happen. People have been ducking ropes for as long as Tommy Chong has been smoking pot. And it's not people like savegondor or snoslut that are going to make them crack down harder. From what I know (from riding with them), they are the types that patrollers WON'T worry about as much. They may want to get into some yelling matches if the occasion called for it, but all in all, these guys are familiar with the bc and bc tactics. They know their stuff. We all have used lift-serviced terrain to access the bc, and if it serves the purpose, I'll continue to do it. Lifties can be great friends too...save you $50 if you're only going to be riding up once...they know some good tricks.

How many people do you see (or see tracks) ducking ropes inbounds? How many people get on the lifts, duck ropes, and ski the north or south without a beacon, probe, or shovel? Maybe it's just me, but I doubt they're as concerned about the bc traveller equipped for their terrain as they are about those actually doing the resort thing - and maybe attempting some unsafe bc or rope ducking too.

I think this is redundant, but most bc'ers do respect the patrol...on their ground - in-bounds terrain. We (speaking for what I believe is the collective) respect what they do and also realize that they have to deal with some pretty dumb people. I would definitely not group savegondor and snoslut into that category. We also (as Snoslut said) are up earlier, out later, and almost never in-bounds unless it was like Paris Hilton day or something. We could also outdrink any patroller on anyday...lol!

BTW - Alpental and Crystal are owned by the same people. A change in policy (such as "cracking down harder") would most likely be applied in both areas then I'm guessing? So don't send the supposed perpetrators to Alpental...send them to California or Tahoe or something...

Crystal + King county = not so much fun.....

Minor but perhaps relevant correction: Alpental and Crystal do not share ownership, just management.

Minor but perhaps relevant correction: Alpental and Crystal do not share ownership, just management.

Good catch...true it is...MANAGEMENT, not ownership.

I hear what Matt says but something is definately up with Crystal Patrol at present. They are all freaked out or something as I've had several run ins with them in the last few days.

One day, chair 6 was running with nobody on it and I asked a Patroller if they where considering opening it( a fair question I thought as the actual chair was running) . The reply I got was a full on sarcastic reply about the avy danger being too high and the rocks still showing. Really rude and the guy obviously had a real attitude.

Same kinda thing when I was heading over to Rex and a patroller started screaming at me and waving his arms as I approachedd him screaming it was closed.I told him I knew that but was going to ask him a couple of questions and that he needed to go make love to himself for being so rude.

The patrollers are on some kind of power trip at present and all need to take a chill pill and get over their self-importance. They've become like the power crazed flight attendents.I respect what they do , but they are acting like little wierd at present.

I hear what Matt says but something is definately up with Crystal Patrol at present. They are all freaked out or something as I've had several run ins with them in the last few days.

well, if you weren't so bloody difficult to get along with all the time.....

I think it must be the yellow pants.

and that he needed to go make love to himself for being so rude.

Scotsman, I wish I would have been there for that one.  Perhaps you were smoking a cig too?  That would have killed me.

Really rude and the guy obviously had a real attitude.

One patroller really comes to mind.  Actually several do.  Without all the voli's maybe the pro's got stuck doing the crap jobs that the voli's did. ;D 

Scotsman, sounds your gonna get guff either way.  In that case sometimes its better to ask for forgiveness than permission. ;D  Take how you were recently treated and apply it the next time you check in for traveling into the bc.  Hmmm...all the sarcastic bs and inflatted ego/attitudes.  Don't we have enough of those already, like cops. ;D

I never seem them so unorganized and dysfunctional.  Really sad.

I heard a report that two patrollers got caught in a natural avalanche while doing control work in the northback to protect the workers still finishing the new lift. One was partially buried and self-rescued -- the other was fully buried and was rescued by the other as he was nearing blackout. I wonder if that event on top of the three missing boarders tragedy has contributed to some of the tension you are experiencing with the patrollers.

Maybe red isn't their color...

Ducking Ropes and touching the untracked backcountry is bad you shouldnt do it. Drugs are bad you shouldnt do them either but Ski patrol and the summit house fine eating establishment now those are good things


Here is a good question How many people do you think will get injured if not killed this year because of dry Niagrias being a main run right off the edge of a groomer???

: Ironically enough, the patroller caught in the avalanche is the head of the program.....little bit cowboy don't ya think??? I have been lucky enough to know a few really great ski patrollers, unfortunately they seem to be the exception to the rule. Anyone else sick of the ego that goes with the red/ orange/ yellow jacket??? Jeez....it's a job, and it's good to be passionate about what you do, BUT GET OVER YOURSELVES!!!!
In my humble opinion crystal and it's owners/ managers are a necessary evil, luckily, i don't live anywhere near there nor do i choose to give them my money to be barked at, yelled at, glared at and snubbed. I am glad they are there so that all the king co weekend warriors stay close to home.
For some reason there is just a huge amount of attitude by the folks that run/ manage crystal...karma will catch um!
Did i see you....at crystal....nope, but i am glad you were there....meanwhile, i'll take the mountain where duct tape is king, and there ain't no freakin' village or high speed any thing.....BAKER ROCKS...