Dec. 1, Crystal lifts

Being in the middle of a vice-like stretch at work, I jumped at some quick lift-served today.
Better than I expected. It's really thin down low, but decent higher up. Some nice powder turns mixed with rock/root dodging and fast groomers. Campbell Basin looked awesome, but patrol wasn't letting anyone go anywhere other then Powder Bowl off Chair 6. People were hiking it. The ridge was a mess, but the bowl proper had some great moments early in the day, and decent ones later.

Still needs at least a foot and half to really open up. It was COLD and not very crowded. $35 for a ticket. Was snowing hard when I left at 2:30 p.m. Might be pretty fun tomorrow if the expected snow arrives. Get it before the rain!

Thanks for the report.... I might try to get a free ride off my midweek season pass.... Sunday.

my stuff is sitting by the door. I'm so there sunday... Though I note that the wind up there now is 20+ and gusts of 50+. It could be skiing in conditions...

As the season gets underway please accept this bit of advice:

Keep your tips up!

I remember her

Sunday, December 2nd at Crystal:

Well... the goods were certainly there.... Crystal got a dump and it was dumping all day with fog and winds. So it was kind of stormy. Skier groomed and chopped. Lots of skiers and boarders. After a couple of hours of just cruising, it felt good to stop for that hot chocolate and pizza at the Campbell Basin Lodge.

I made a right hand turn at the bottom of Rolling Knolls and flatted out over my knees in deep stuff. I talked to some ski patrollers and they were very concerned about the avalanche hazard. They were trying hard to keep folks in bounds.

Put on my studded snow tires yesterday... needed them today. I got up a little late to avoid traffic and parked at the bottom of lot C. When I hit the Forest Queen Lift... an excited bc skier type let out a rebel yell and tried to get the wave going....

I skied until about 2:30.. my legs got tired from all those turns... help a guy dig out of the parking lot, stopped a W. Wooley's for a mocha and new gloves until the traffic jam moved down the road, so I had a clear shot home.

I second Larry on the conditions today. Really good early, then skier chopped, but still really fun for my first lift day this year. Speaking of patrol keep things in bounds. Makes sense to me, but I unfortunately fell prey to their cop-like stake outs. After skiing chop most of the day and having a bomber powder day at Paradise yesterday, I wanted just a FEW turns of untracked. So, i decided to throw the skins on just above Stump Farm and come down the cat track from the top station of Miners Basin chair. As I was skinning up, a patroler asked me wat I was doing, and I told her that I was going to the top of Miners and was going to come down the cat track I was skinning up just because it had like 6 inches of smooth untracked over firm that I really wanted to ski. Seems like much effort for little return, but hey 100 feet of untracked pow sounded good. She then told me that it was FINE and I proceeded on my way (no ropes or signs to tell me not to not to mention patrol telling me it was OK to proceed). I proceeded to about 75ft. above the top station of miners, where I deskinned and prepared to head down. Then I hear a snow machine coming after me, then shouting to come down immediatly because I was in a closed area with extreme avy danger. OK. So i get down to patrol and they ask me what the hell I think I am doing. I then proceed to ask why this is such a big deal when patrol gave me PERMISSION to go there and back. They then told me that none of their patrolers would say that, then called me a liar.and radioed to the head hauncho patrol cop who informed them to CLIP MY TICKET. At that point after being given permission then busted for it, then called a liar, I was pretty pissed and demanded a supervisor. Finally got to ski my cat track (it was good) while being escorted by patrol to the base lodge. He (head cop) didn't believe me either, but didn't pull my pass, but am now on the "bad guy" list. Some one needs to get their s*&t straight up there and get their people on the same page. What happened to Crystal?, what about bagged lunches (had to eat mine in the doorway cause they patrol for that too), No, I dont have 15 bucks for a "gourmet burger" c'mon guys this is skiing not a frickin Holiday Inn. Crystal lets me down, has before and will again. I would love to stop going there, but mother nature has blessed it with so many qualities; and unfortunatley greed and f'ing Kircher are in charge now. Kiss it all goodbye local ski bum.....they want you gone. I undestand avalance danger and its components, really think I wanna be stupid? Think I'm gonna go somewhere I shouldn't? Dont think so. Last time I checked I know what a terrain trap is and I'm pretty sure that groomers have a low avy hazard. Sorry for the rant everybody, it needs to come out sometime!!!

Yee-haw! Surf was up today!

We expected to stop pretty early for our first day out, but skied up to the bumper at 3:15 with tired legs. I enjoyed the turns all day long - I found the semi-skied-with-stuff-blowing-in to be best. Plenty of bottomless feel even there and you could keep your speed up. Untracked was way wallowy except on steep stuff - and not much of that given that chair 6 wasn't open. Saw one orange tobbagan hauling a guy down with an arm in a sling and an oxygen mask, and another one being loaded up the lift a little later.

I ate my bagged sandwich in the Campbell lodge - maybe just lucky. My buddy paid $9 for a bowl of good-smelling curry soup and a slice of pizza. He said it would have been maybe $6 at his work cafeteria.

"Last time I checked I know what a terrain trap is and I'm pretty sure that groomers have a low avy hazard. Sorry for the rant everybody, it needs to come out sometime!!! " Quote from Alpy!

Couldn't agree more. That's why I'm heading to Mt. Rainier this winter, with my $30 yearly pass.

I used to camp overnight in the RV lot in my Chevy Blazer, equiped with generator, heater, and all the comforts of winter camping. Get up in the morning and have a tailgate breakfast of bacon and eggs.

Now, they want to charge me $10, to camp?

I'm pretty much done with Crystal for now. Maybe I'll come back in the future, but for now, see ya.

<thread jack> Alpymarr - I feel your fustration. They were concerned cause that area is in the slide path of Iceberg, which is quite a runout. Right now the CM patrollers are pretty dysfunctional. They are overwelmed since a decision was made not to bring back alot of voli's. I'll reserve the rest of my opinion about them. Calling you a liar, yeah that would have pissed me off. I like rolling with escorts too. Makes me feel so special. Especially out of North on a pow day and the patrollers can't keep up so I sometimes stop, wait and ask if they are okay. The look on their face, as they expected me to keep going, was priceless. Just remember next time to tell them you skinned up and when they ask for your name, give them an alias. Welcome to the list! </thread jack>

I did 3 runs, at the end of the rope on the left at the top of rolling knolls, traversing through the trees. The pow was way over my knees. However, on most every turn on the steeps all the snow down to the ground would slide. The second run and third run I waited at the rope until I found a pow hound or two to go with me.

I saw a patrol screaming at people who were traversing over toward the bear pits off the forest queen.

I enjoyed my usual bagged lunch, gorp in a baggie, on the lift. In all my years of skiing, I have never bought a bit of food or drink at a ski area except for a cup of coffee at Snowbird once during a lightning storm. No one is forcing anyone to be exploited eating at the resorts. If I want to ski, I go to Crystal. If I want to dine, I go to the el gaucho's.

Saturday was good stuff indeed; I have big smile-shaped gouges in my bases....

"As I was skinning up, a patroler asked me wat I was doing, and I told her that I was going to the top of Miners and was going to come down the cat track I was skinning up just because it had like 6 inches of smooth untracked over firm that I really wanted to ski. Seems like much effort for little return, but hey 100 feet of untracked pow sounded good. She then told me that it was FINE and I proceeded on my way (no ropes or signs to tell me not to not to mention patrol telling me it was OK to proceed). I proceeded to about 75ft. above the top station of miners, where I deskinned and prepared to head down. Then I hear a snow machine coming after me, then shouting to come down immediatly because I was in a closed area with extreme avy danger. OK. So i get down to patrol and they ask me what the hell I think I am doing. I then proceed to ask why this is such a big deal when patrol gave me PERMISSION to go there and back. They then told me that none of their patrolers would say that, then called me a liar.and radioed to the head hauncho patrol cop who informed them to CLIP MY TICKET. At that point after being given permission then busted for it, then called a liar, I was pretty pissed and demanded a supervisor." Quote from Alpymarr.

That's an unfortunate encounter... for all parties envolved. But Iceberg did slide to the ground that day and the debris went past the bottom of C 1. Remember that Patrol has no way to know what your training/ experience is. But for sure you should not get mixed signals.