1,1,2019 Crystal Mountain

The whirlwind of life finally died down for a quick morning ski. I thought the timing was perfect with the call for warming temps and clear skies. Oops, odd black clouds blocked the sun and cool winds held them in place. North Facers held good packed pow bumps, South Facers were good where skied out then turned to chunky frozen leftovers where the previous crowds spread out. Grooming was good, but one run down Iceberg scoured the carvable topping. Luckyshot lasted till late morning. Green Valley Bowl bumps were prime all day. Grubstake won top honors leading to C-3 Chairline. Lower Frontside was horrible after a just OK upper. An odd interspersing of icy junk and nice packed pow on our one T2B. Powder Bowl looked like it needed some skier grooming to chop up the crunchy bumps between the windblown stuff - not many takers.

No lift lines in the morning. When we left there was a line of cars circling looking for spots. A steady stream of hundreds, thousands? of cars coming up for a 1:00 arrival. A 2 to 4 ski day? A tourist Gondy ride into the black bruise of fog? Mid-day Luckyshot was packed on the skidded ice, but no lift lines.

Ken
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