Crystal - 1/18

Drove into the A lot at 8am and got a good parking spot. The pay parking was reasonably sized for the MLK holiday. Weather was great with broken clouds and sun breaks off and on all day and the crowds were light until the late arriving folks showed up around 11:30 making for our only 5 minute line on REX. Other than that, no lines and relatively light crowds where we were skiing. However, Lucky Shot was a mess of people. Good thing we no ski there. We skied from Campbell Basin to Northway. We were a little surprised by the poorer snow quality on the Campbell Basin side of C6. Everywhere else on the mountain was packed powered with no signs of any powder stashes from the previous snowy days. Bear Pits skied about the best of anything off groom, but Showtime under REX was a close second. However, I'm really splitting hairs because the coverage is great and the snow pretty consistent every where we went. No idea what the soup was.

When we left, pay parking was full! They sized the lot perfectly today. We were shocked to find A - E lots completely full and F lot 1/3 full. Where were all those people? Oh, that's right…Lucky Shot.

Not the normal so-called epic snow, but a really fun day. Some places the snow quality isn’t great and there’s no rhyme or reason to the elevation or aspects. Paradise Trees to Sphincterville, Powder Bowl, and Bear Pits won with Showtime a close second. Disappointment was Campbell Basin and the horribly cut line in Outer Ferks. Excellent grooming made for some fast T2Bs until the hordes filled the groomers. The less than good aspects responded to skier grooming and by day’s end, just about everything was in fine shape. Pegged the Fun-O-Meter today.

The only line was for the Gondy, 20-25 minutes all day, when Chinook had zero. Go figure, and Go Holiday Warriors. Nobody in the way for off-piste.

Ken
+

Soup was chicken noodle. No red chili, but there was white.

We found good sized fields of pow on the skier's left of Morning Glory Bowl and top of Brand-X yielding some very nice turns... Other than that our favorite runs of the day was lapping the fresh corduroy on Green Valley first thing in the morning.

What's the deal with the pay lot that you always refer to in these reports? Is that open to all comers, or for folks lodging somewhere on the mountain, or what?

What's the deal with the pay lot that you always refer to in these reports? Is that open to all comers, or for folks lodging somewhere on the mountain, or what?

It's the front ⅔ to ¾ of the upper, A, lot that Crystal reserves for people who fork out 450$/yr (might be more now) to have reserved parking. There's a 2-3 year waiting list to get/pay for a parking permit. Crystal is really poor at estimating how many payers will show up, so usually, half or more of the pay area remains empty. Or, late coming non-skiers park without a permit in the afternoon.

Some of the pay area is reserved for busses that people pay to ride up skiing. Or, schools, most of which arrive after 2:30-3 on friday.

The west side of the lot is reserved for the Alpine Inn people, all other lodges have parking above or past C lot.

Ken

Thanks for explaining. Yikes! Good on Crystal for being able to monetize the lot like that.