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November 27, 2019, Free Human-Made Snow!

11/27/19
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Posted by telemack on 11/27/19 12:49pm
Rusty Knees and I skinned the Crystal runs, with some others around. Good snow reported in Silver Basin.
Snow guns blasting, winds howling, great turns bouncing off the rocks on Quicksilver. Lots of snowcat grooming going on. We climbed to CB Lodge and had a nice lunch (outside). The special was cold Sausage Muffin with Cheese and tea from a flask.  The upper slopes of Campbell Basin looked really wind-scoured in places.
The run down was a mix of filled-in cat tracks and light powder, with little-no base. Waist shots were had.
Best skied without letting the skis touch the snow! Or keeping that image in your mind  8)
Thanks for the update! Hope to hit it the basin on saturday and get some laps in on quicksilver

Hey Tele and Rusty - I got up to Campbell Basin today too. There was enough coverage both up and down so no rocks though caution was required to avoid low brush carnage being chewed up by cats that were active all over. Cold and overcast but not much wind. I met split boarders Tyler and  Porter who kept ascending after lunch at CB and I returned to the parking lot where more than one Thanksgiving visitor took advantage of the slick and mostly empty parking lot for some tire spinning donut action.

I hope your day was as good quality as ours!
We had an interesting visit to the ski patrol. We tried to check in, esp. since we expected lots of grooming. A patroller let us in, then kinda told us to check the website, because when they have to answer people's questions they can't do other work. The patroller told us the new uphill policy now requires an uphill travel card to be carried by everyone, and to look at the website to find out how to obtain one.
Hmmm....
-If there is a change in uphill policy, why not post an alert or news item?  I had to search the website in depth to find it; the new site is much easier for giving them money than information. It's in The Mountain - Mountain Safety - Uphill Travel.
-There was no information on what the card required, a waiver to sign, or anything else.
-But it DID say to get the uphill travel card from the ski patrol  ::)  That was not mentioned when we visited.
-How are uphill travelers supposed to find the new policy?  Will they post signs or alerts once the lifts are open?
I think I see the purpose of an uphill card, but it's hard to know when you don't know what it says. They could get the word out better. How do skinners comply when the new policy is unknown?
It's not a super big deal, but we felt under-served when we were trying to be polite and do the right thing.


There is also a light board at the chapel and if their terrain is closed, might not be able to ski up to the cat track heading toward East peak or gold hills. If they enforce as strongly as they could, you can't hike uphill anywhere on CM (inside the boundary) when uphill travel is prohibited. The card is new also and obtained at the ski patrol office. Daily issued or once a season? Hope it's not a mandatory every time requirement. Saw it in a dream, clusters of touree's in a line extending out the door waiting for the card fairy to visit.

I was unaware of the new policy until just now.  When I talked to patrol last season I was given the impression that their primary concern was people skinning up into Silver Basin when it was closed and they were potentially doing avy work (a situation that has occurred more than once in the past).

If you start from C lot you can access Bullion Basin and East Peak without ever entering the ski area.

FWIW: The website uphill travel info page is here

https://www.crystalmountainresort.com/the-mountain/mountain-safety/uphill-travel

Also the last couple of times I've headed toward Silver Basin/Besr Gap I've followed the hiking trail that is on the east side of the creek draining Hen Skin Lakes.  This is a little more effort, but more relaxing when making a late start (i.e. not early enough to get to the top of Quicksilver before the lifts spin)

It stinks that  skinning up Silver Basin is no longer allowed.  This makes getting to Crystal Lakes a lot more convoluted.  I believe this policy is the result of an increasing number of close calls between uphill skiers, snow control operations and lift skiers.


Also IME the first few days of operation,  there can be the "fog of war" in ski patrol and resort operations, so expect some chaos and random events.  A few years ago I toured on the first day of lift spinning, filled out the forms with ski patrol indicating a planned return time of 4:30. -  but the ski patrol called my emergency contact number at 3:30 as they were going through their "close the hill" check list.  My wife had a heck of a scare.

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november-27-2019-free-human-made-snow
telemack
2019-11-27 20:49:33