Home > Trip Reports > November 22, 2009, Crystal Mountain Sidecountry

November 22, 2009, Crystal Mountain Sidecountry

11/22/09
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4808
6
Posted by CookieMonster on 11/22/09 3:58pm
Glad to hear that everyone managed to have fun and stay safe.

My day started with 3 hours of sleep and a hangover. Not a drug or alcohol-related hangover, but a hangover nonetheless. That's all I want to say about Saturday night, except to add: Thank god for Starbucks on Sunday morning.

Arrived at Crystal to fierce weather, lots of new precipitation, and very obvious loading in progress. Absolute no go for touring, no alpine travel, and besides, it wouldn't have been very much fun. Unless of course you enjoy having your face sandblasted by ice particles, which while good for brightening the complexion, should be limited to 15 minutes per week according to my dermatologist. I understand she now charges $1750 for a similar treatment, though I received my ice crystal dermabrasion today at Crystal for only $55.

Spent most of the day in Snorting Elk area. Weather very pleasant below ridges. Ski quality good to excellent in protected areas before the hungry hordes scraped the slopes bare. The new snow felt unstable and seemed eager to move. If anyone who skiied Crystal today is curious about how snow feels when it is teetering on the brink of serious instability, go ahead and file today away in your brain.

Ran into Scotsman later in the day. I had a working lighter ... but he missed the part where I nearly burned my face trying to light a cigarette on the gas warmers on the lodge's patio. Coincidentally, my dermatologist charges $125 for heat treatments and Crystal somehow managed to include a heat treatment with the $55 ticket price.

Great day on the slopes, but my dermatologist is going to be really pissed.
Is this a new blog for you, Cookie?  Bookmarked!

Yes, it's a new a blog, and I don't know how to use the blogging software very well. Working out technical details. Bookmark and share if you feel the information is valuable - it's a totally non-commercial blog.

Rather than starting a new topic, I wanted to add this post to Kyle Miller's discussion of Crystal Mountain backcountry but ended up creating a new topic by accident. Seems I can't use this software very well either!

There is a non-backcountry posting section : )

author=artiszen link=topic=14583.msg61010#msg61010 date=1259015280]
There is a non-backcountry posting section : )

...ah, but then many of us would have missed the opportunity to learn of some serendipitous alternatives to expensive medical treatments. I plan to avail myself of the experience at the nearest opportunity. Perhaps our esteemed political leaders should be encouraged to explore more of these, in lieu of meaningful healthcare reform. If anyone knows of any experiences in the $55 price range that result in unintended repairs of fractured ankles, torn rotator cuffs, ACLs, hammertoes etc. I'll be first in line.





I like the heuristic perspective-out of curiousity, are you a self taught recreational or academic? Thanks, regardless

Self-taught recreationist.

Software developer full-time, researcher part-time, some qualitative, some quantitative.

Mostly interested in:

Perception, techniques to aid perception for terrain, other stuff.
Approaches to backcountry avalanche forecasting that people can actually learn.
Systems-thinking approaches / information science methods for avalanche education.


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november-22-2009-crystal-mountain-sidecountry
CookieMonster
2009-11-22 23:58:10