Crystal - 01/22 Fun

Hhhhmmm..where is the CD report?...anyway....
Short Report - Some Sun, Some new snow (nice), Some great groomers (MIFB early), Some very nice deep snow (PB!), Some very happy runs in BP, Doors, SunnySide, GV Bowl(very nice!), Grubstake, and lower GV Tree slots!  Crowds Not! Lift lines Not! (except for maybe HC during the mid morning rush)....Today? Big Fun!

Lots of Words Report - Arrived early to park behind a massive weekend Pay lot (was exhausted just getting to the lodge), lots of new snow at the base and snowing nicely a fair part of the morning, got sun breaks and big views looking out to the King.  Lots of fun early runs in the center of GV Bowl (!) to MIFB(primo smooth groomed with a very nice layer of new)...Did a few be nice runs with #1 just before HC opened...Heaven! PB was worth two very happy big deep smooth untracked lines (second lap was the big lotto win.....fair sized lineup -  call single! Front of the line Yee Haa!)  After a nice social with #1 in CB lodge late morning...it was do another PB/BP's and off to the Hamster Heaven of runs on REX and GV chairs....There was firm crispy's under the new in lots of places, but there was a lot more nice carve packed happy for the  RockCoombas today!  All in all way better than expected. #1 had a great day on her long lost Powder skis. Was getting a little fuzzy on the vis when we left...or I could have stayed a lot longer.

Other - #1 had the Triple C soup(pretty spicy from my one taste), I had a nice slice of pizza and beer(bad me).  As noted earlier the Pay lot was massive and massively empty when we left...a fair number of cars in B lot and C was way past ¾ full....so there was a pretty fair sized crowd today.  Final comment - a great day, tomorrow will be a bigger day (wish I was going) and the rest of the week looks like a gotta ski day - everyday!

A great 3 out of 3 day. Early morning best runs were just right of REX (door .5) and between Showtime and Breakover. When 6 opened with a big crowd, Campbell Basin bested the front side of REX, but the really big runs were in Powder Bowl. Finally, deep light powder. Close second was Exterminator far left side. Untracked at noon. Worth a repeat. Closed out the day with hamster runs in GV, then out Kelly's Gap. A great day.

Just a friendly reminder. If you're driving 40 mph on 410 with 20 cars backed up behind you, please pull over. You'll be less stressed with no cars on your butt, the drivers behind you will thank you, and it's the law. Really liked my time in Italy this fall where a fast approaching car from the rear just does a headlight flash and the slower car pulls over before the faster car gets there. Nothing weird or inconsiderate about it. And, not knowing the Tuscan roads, I was the one getting flashed. Wish that was the norm here.

Who needs groomers on the first ski-anywhere day of the year. Well, I guess you can always ski anywhere, but today, anywhere was fun. Door One was my early call, and second, and third and still good late in the day. Chair Six had a big line (if you aren't the loud Single guy) when it opened, making only one Campbell side run worthwhile. Powder Bowl was terrific. Exterminator variations were great. Next in the lineup was everything else. Coverage is really good other than the Campbell side off the top of Six. Hit all the semi-secret stashes - smiles all around.

Not elk on the road today, but trees. Two trees down, quickly removed by the snow plows. But, not before JD hit a 10"er and broke a wheel. Luckily, the tire held till he got to ski the day, but, it was a nasty put-on-the-spare side of the road delay on the way down.

Ken
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6 elk in the morning and another 6 in the evening. in between we ripped some very fast skiing as my crew brought their A game. Hamster laps on REX, followed by many Hamster laps on C6. Lots of fun puttying down avalanche basis to Ben's point. Very nice through FF and nobody got stuck at the lake. All creekbeds skiing nicely, expecially Elizabeth creek that parallels Boondoggle. Scored early runs through C6 chutes 1,2 and 4 -- all easy peasey! Then 3 aspects of Powder Bowl were very nice, especially off the west ridge between the 2 canons. Right Angle was in great shape, as was hole in the wall, meadows under Rock Face and a little transport via 1 switchback into mid Exterm.

I really couldn't complain at all! Very nice 20C no sun nice deep snow. Some spots (top of BPits chutes) were a tad scrapey, and some rocks atop C6 exit area. Back traverse to Hamburger is pretty rocky -- Patrol keeps on setting their rope another 6" into the Park just to avoid rocks. Front traverse at the beginning was sketchy. The solution was to exit the chair to the right, side step past the hut, take the 3rd path through the trees back to Campbell Basin, hang a right, ski under the chair (dont forget to duck) and get on the traverse. A couple gates were open that allowed direct access to chute 1 and 1.5. Easey-peasey effortless turns back to C6. Amount 12 turns total -- the snow was very good (but now quite excellent and certainly not outstanding -- simply very good).

Crystal had their machine humming along today, minimizing their labor force and taking our money.