With little new snow over the week and persistent cold temps, not much changed here at Crystal Mountain. That is, not much changed until today when temps went up slightly and we got some of that good old “PNW Hot Pow!” Crystal got the Sasquatch jib park features put into the Mr. Magoo run, but I’d skied my fill of that run last week. The park is a spectator sport f0r me but draws some folks nonetheless.

chairlifts groomed peaks — Silver King looking good from Downhill over the weekend. Reid Pitman Image

backcountry skiing pnw mount rainier — Reid finding some powder at Crystal Mountain

Surprisingly, there has still been really good snow getting recirculated in the trees despite not much precip. Yet to stay entertained and take full advantage of the perfectly groomed runs I went to the RDL to demo some carving skis and had a blast making more turns than I ever have. ALL THE CARVES HAPPENED! The cold, clear days are a blast for their scarcity up here.

Crystal mountain skiing chairlifts — Low crowds on Saturday testing carving skis on REX. Reid Pitman image

Monday morning the snow returned, back to what we consider “normal” here. Five inches of higher moisture content snow that the PNW is known for. It wasn’t quite “cascade concrete,” but rather, as Zach put it, “perfect room temp cream cheese you can’t wait to spread.” Perks of that “cream cheese pow” are that it covered the churned up gravel along cat tracks and packed in over other early season hazards. It felt great to snowboard that familiar powder on the front side and stomp off the side hits along Downhill. Northway opened unexpectedly on a Monday and skied good from the top to the bottom, despite feeling a little heavy after the cold light snow we’ve had for the last 3 weeks. I know now why Utah skiers say it’s hard to ski here. I’d felt like I was on vacation to a continental snowpack since Thanksgiving.

More snow in the forecast just in time for the holidays. With the resort open wall to wall it’s going to be a good one.
Cheers!