Dec 17, 2005, Silver Basin
12/17/05
3157
2
Skinned up the Quicksilver lift at Crystal into Silver Basin. There were pockets of buttery soft snow but encounters with breakable crust and wind scoured concrete were much more common. Stick to wind sheltered, north facing slopes. I inquired about a rumored one ride backcountry ticket up the Quicksilver lift but was told it doesn't exist. Does anyone know if this is true and if not, how one goes about acquiring the lift ticket?
Here's what Crystal emailed me:
When the Quick Silver chair is running we offer a one way ride for those have tele gear and check in with our patrol staff. You must come to Guest services to purchase the $10.00 ticket.
When the Quick Silver chair is running we offer a one way ride for those have tele gear and check in with our patrol staff. You must come to Guest services to purchase the $10.00 ticket.
That's pretty much the way it's always been, except it was only $5 for the one ride ticket. The other areas that provide backcountry lift access are all at $10 (or more) now, so I guess I can understand them raising the price.
Probably of greater impact to bc skiers, more than the price increase though, is the reduced operations of C-4 (the Quicksilver lift). My inquiry on the subject to CM received a response that the mountain manager intends to only run C-4 when deemed necessary to mitigate skier traffic on more popular lifts on busy weekends. So there seems to be a greater probability of non-availity to the backcountry user, unless you plan to climb on the busiest skier days at Crystal.
Too bad we couldn't use the ticket to ride to the top of the highest lift that is running. There's ways to access the backcountry from just about any lift at Crystal and save a lot of climbing.
Probably of greater impact to bc skiers, more than the price increase though, is the reduced operations of C-4 (the Quicksilver lift). My inquiry on the subject to CM received a response that the mountain manager intends to only run C-4 when deemed necessary to mitigate skier traffic on more popular lifts on busy weekends. So there seems to be a greater probability of non-availity to the backcountry user, unless you plan to climb on the busiest skier days at Crystal.
Too bad we couldn't use the ticket to ride to the top of the highest lift that is running. There's ways to access the backcountry from just about any lift at Crystal and save a lot of climbing.
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