Crystal - 12/26 Big Sun

AaaaHaaaa! I'm back...praise The Force! Finally the shacking hands got relief from the lack of skiing! Early to the mountain - to get to park
just below the A lot (dang!)...no car pool for me (car pool lot not in full enforcement mode since the guy following me parked in the A lot with his #1).
Blue Bird sky, coldish temps, got the prime spot on CHex for first chair, fairly light early crowd (lift load at 8:30). Fast icy early groomers on
LS and MIFB - shoulda brought skis with non rounded edges (BMW's worked okay, but their edges are not prime anymore). Best for me was GV Bowl anywhere
center to skier right - nice packed powder baby bumps, with alternating runs down icy MIFB and even icy Lucky. MIFB got some what better as the sugar
scrapping got deeper. Did a mid morning ride of FQex to check out CB lodge early, so did Rolling Knowles back to Rex - not recommended with edgeless
skis. Skied till the weather looked like it was changing (leading edge cloud front which did pass through). Did one more ride on FQex to check for soup?
And finished with a Queens run for #1 - skied okay, better than the last time we did it. Snow quality good up high and north facing, rocks in a few
places like lower MIFB, but not bad - looks like the Experimentals will be out next time I ski. Heard Northway was nice in places.

Other - No real soup at CB lodge, pizza was good and fancier than last year, definitely a different menu at CB lodge this year and even more so at the
base plaza shack - which looks like TexMex food this year.

Other Other - Pay lot was big and not full, the "new" car pool lot was full - but no clue about how many were actually 4 person car pools. Whined to
the second in command boss about it - oh well, whined at customer service even more when it sounded like its planned to be every day! Ouch! Low
key response was that in January weekdays will be a test period and maybe not really fully implemented.

Other Other Other - Drive up was fast and furious and drive down (kinda early do to achy quads for the first real ski day for me) was mostly at
happy speed...except for the litter bug driving in front of me flinging orange peels at me.

Otherwise a very very very happy fun day on the slopes finally.

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐤𝐤𝐚𝐡!
Screaming groomers with more questions than answers.
I stopped at the ticket window even though I had a pass.
Q: How much is cash price today?
A: Sorry?
Q: What is the total cash price for 1 adult?
A: $113
Q: Is $113 the final cash price?
A: Hold on -- let me ask. Sorry, the final total is $129.72.

Over the day, I asked this one question over and over.
Q: Why is chair 6 not running?
A: Don't know (3x)
A: Mice ate the electrical.
A: Mechanical failure. It will be a couple more days.
A: Electrical failure. It will be a couple more days.
A; Mechanical break custom part being made in Europe by Dopplemayr.
A; Electrical panel issue caused mechanical failure with custom part coming from Utah.
A: No coverage at the top

Leftovers were hard to find but it was sunny, 20 F all day and generally not crowded. We bumped into many amigos and found that groomers were very nice with north facing bumps not too bad. Exposed bumps like Willies was a yuckfest. Avoiding the icy scrape of lower Lucky Shot was easy -- go around it. I liked the switchbacks on the left side so as to get under Rex into Upper Arwines. The trees of lower Bear Pits weren't too bad. Middle Ferks required a strategy. Exterminator, Right Angle, and gates 8-10 have yet to open. Some of the best snow was found on the lower mountain. Big piles of snow are being stockpiled in the shade on Deer Fly and Lower Bull Run. Extensive snowmaking has saved Crystal's bacon once again.🌲⛷🌲

CascadeSkier,

Like your post.
😊

New ownership is ruining Crystal for families with the ticket prices. Crystal is not worth $113 or even $100 day especially considering I bought passes for Whistler for $90 a day. I feel sorry for the people who can't afford a season pass and have to pay these ridiculous prices which will result in fewer trips to the mountain and less spent on consessions.