Crystal Mtn, May the 4th be with you

[swamphox]

Non Ski related observations:



1. Seattle has two kinds of people. They either look really good or they are grizzled. There's almost no middle ground. The females all either look like yoga instructors or Eileen Wuornos.



2. The traffic is horrendous. I don't know who planned the interstate highway system there but they were hopefully fired for gross incompetence.



3. Most of the gas stations don't have public restrooms.



Anyway onto the skiing goodies. I decided to hit up Crystal Mountain based off a couple factors. It was the cheapest, had the best weather forecast, and it was closer than Whistler by an hour and a half.



As I drove there I went through some really pretty county. I got to Enumclaw, passed some horse farms, got a little creeped out and got on past it deep into the heart of Sasquatch country. There are some really dense forests with lots of very tall trees on the way. It's really pretty. It's also really dark.



So I got to Crystal. It wasn't very expensive at all and all the people that ski there are friendly. I got asked by a lot of people what conditions were like on runs and people were friendly and engaging. My usual answer was "I'm not the best person to ask My standards are probably a lot lower than yours and I'm probably not as good as you anyway." I think the duct tape on my jacket gave me undeserved street cred. BTW, Duct tape doesn't hold well to PVC.



They had terrain served by the Green Valley lift and the Gondola open so there was top to bottom skiing. The problem was figuring out why anyone would want to. The Green Valley lift was way better as all of it's territory was above the snow line. Down below it it rained heavily. 2 days prior it was 84. This made for a combo of crust on top of really weak slush. The slush I am talking about was not nearly as dense as it is in NC. You sink right into and it's hard to turn in. I was leaning on a pole in it at one point and the pole sank half way in. It was slow grabby and exhausting to ski in.



The green valley territory saw snow the entire day. I lapped it over and over after doing an initial top to bottom run. It was a lot of fun.



The way the mountain was laid out kind of reminded me of Solitude.



The only draw back besides the skiing below the snow line was the fact that I didn't get to see Mt. Rainier. It was obscured by clouds the whole time.



The skiing was great. It was May. I had fun. I went from morning rope drop until thighs started cramping uncontrollably about half an hour before closing. It was a great day. I'd like to go back when they have more open, it isn't raining and I can see.



Onto the pics.



This was about as sunny as it got. God couldn't make up his mind with the weather that morning. At one point it was rainy, sunny, and snowing all at the same time in the parking lot.





Some tailgaters with a 1337. Must be Ga tech alum.





Parking is pretty close to the lifts and it's free.





Some art by Warren Miller













A view from the Gondola.







Over where Mt. Rainier should've been, it was covered in clouds the whole day









Avalanche.





Green Valley lift terrain

















Some of the Gondola terrain. Very soft slush with crust on top. It was raining pretty hard at the bottom of the mtn.







I met a koopa.







I liked this quote.





I just thought the following pics were pretty



















Here's a little video of the day's fun.

[ROYMERCER]

What a way to close the season ! looks like you had a blast .

[Ski Bunny]

Looks like you had a great time. Great TR!

[pagamony]

nice ! I was there on a clear late spring day a few years ago, just a few months before the gondi went in. green valley terrain was the best on that day also, start in the bowl, swing left, find some new lines through the sparse trees, exit down the drop off to the lift. repeat. great bbq on the patio. one of my favorite ski areas anywhere. glad to see it.



this is what you should have seen.





and this is the same terrain back then...

[swamphox]

Dang I think we took those shots from within a couple feet of each other:)

[THA HATTER]

excellent! glad to see you making it happen in may!

[davidski]

Really cool, congrats on some late season skiing -- the terrain at the top looked great, as you said at the bottom very wet but still skiiable in so far as you skied it.... liked your write up too .

[RMacSki]

mucho enjoyoed

[skipink]

Nice job!

[skipanther]

Sweet,nice pics,I always wondered what skiing in May would be like!The terrain there is awesome and the woods look real squatchy!