Crystal Mountain
42 degree day, no strong wind.
Packed powder conditions, no fresh snow for ~ 1 week.
First impressions of driving up to the ski area- HOLY CRAP, THIS IS ONE TALL MOUNTAIN!
I rented a set of Vokyl Mantras from Steudevearts in Bellevue, WA to use for the mountain. The ski choice was overkill for the conditions. I took 2 runs on the lower mountain to warm up for my first turns of the season. No idea what the trails were, but they felt pretty decent and some of them had a steeper pitch and some black diamond runs out here in the East. I skied into the Rainer Express and stayed between there and the other upper mountain life, Green Valley. Lots of fun snow, I made some wide turns down the main bowl (between Upper Ferks and Snorting Elk) until I was comfortable to go bigger and faster. I ended up meeting up with some friendly Washington folks who decided that it was necessary to “introduce you into western skiing.” They took me to Snorting Elk bowl which is incredibly steep, bumpy and icy. Oh, and without more snow there, is about a 6ft headwall to drop in on. Note that this is (well, was) beyond my ability, but I wasn’t about to look like a sissy. I jumped in line after the first guy and shoddily made my way down the slope in and out of frozen bumps. I got to the bottom without any real incident and the guys were talking about how they didn’t think I was actually going to go through with it! I skied with them a while longer but ended up getting separated in some trees later on.
Cascades from the air. No, the plane did not crash because my cell phone was on.
Not all of the mountain was open, but most of my time was spent at the bottom half of the Campbell bowl. After growing tired of this, I started to explore and traverse some of the mountain until I felt like going down. Eventually I made my way down to Campbell Basin and Powder Bowl. The basin was closed off, but the bowl was open and was the only way down. After I got off the lift, I realized that I was in for something nuts- there was a sign stating, “Save our snow, please don’t skid.” I made my way to a chute with a little less exposed rock than the others and jumped on in. With no real powder to slow the slide, the descent was speedy and until I got about 1/3 of the way down, windblown and ICY! As soon as the skis started grabbing again, I had some confidence and made my way down with ease. The rest of the mountain and everything else that I skied that day and the rest of the trip was nothing in comparison!
Mid way down Campbell Bowl. This photo does NOT do justice for the terrain.
Powder bowl
Steep, but not so deep. Mid way down Snorting Elk bowl and associated runs
Mt Rainier came out of the clouds to play
Left of Rainier
Last shot of Rainier for the day
42 degree day, no strong wind.
Packed powder conditions, no fresh snow for ~ 1 week.
First impressions of driving up to the ski area- HOLY CRAP, THIS IS ONE TALL MOUNTAIN!
I rented a set of Vokyl Mantras from Steudevearts in Bellevue, WA to use for the mountain. The ski choice was overkill for the conditions. I took 2 runs on the lower mountain to warm up for my first turns of the season. No idea what the trails were, but they felt pretty decent and some of them had a steeper pitch and some black diamond runs out here in the East. I skied into the Rainer Express and stayed between there and the other upper mountain life, Green Valley. Lots of fun snow, I made some wide turns down the main bowl (between Upper Ferks and Snorting Elk) until I was comfortable to go bigger and faster. I ended up meeting up with some friendly Washington folks who decided that it was necessary to “introduce you into western skiing.” They took me to Snorting Elk bowl which is incredibly steep, bumpy and icy. Oh, and without more snow there, is about a 6ft headwall to drop in on. Note that this is (well, was) beyond my ability, but I wasn’t about to look like a sissy. I jumped in line after the first guy and shoddily made my way down the slope in and out of frozen bumps. I got to the bottom without any real incident and the guys were talking about how they didn’t think I was actually going to go through with it! I skied with them a while longer but ended up getting separated in some trees later on.
Cascades from the air. No, the plane did not crash because my cell phone was on.
Not all of the mountain was open, but most of my time was spent at the bottom half of the Campbell bowl. After growing tired of this, I started to explore and traverse some of the mountain until I felt like going down. Eventually I made my way down to Campbell Basin and Powder Bowl. The basin was closed off, but the bowl was open and was the only way down. After I got off the lift, I realized that I was in for something nuts- there was a sign stating, “Save our snow, please don’t skid.” I made my way to a chute with a little less exposed rock than the others and jumped on in. With no real powder to slow the slide, the descent was speedy and until I got about 1/3 of the way down, windblown and ICY! As soon as the skis started grabbing again, I had some confidence and made my way down with ease. The rest of the mountain and everything else that I skied that day and the rest of the trip was nothing in comparison!
Mid way down Campbell Bowl. This photo does NOT do justice for the terrain.
Powder bowl
Steep, but not so deep. Mid way down Snorting Elk bowl and associated runs
Mt Rainier came out of the clouds to play
Left of Rainier
Last shot of Rainier for the day
