New Gondola Photos
The construction of the Gondola is moving along on time. Here are some recent photos of the top and bottom terminals, gondola parts, and the helicopter hard at work carrying batches of concrete for the tower footings.
Does technology help or hinder backcountry rescue?
I recently wrote a post about cellphones in the backcountry on my blog: www.kimkircher.com. Last year, three bc rescues at Crystal Mountain were aided by the victim's use of cellphones. Here's a link to the post:
http://kimkircher.com/2010/08/29/does-technology-help-or-hinder-backcountry-rescue/
Coming this season: Crystal Mountain Jib Park
I recently caught up with JP Sokolowski, the Jib Park Manager for Crystal Mountain's new park. JP was nice enough to answer some of my questions, and I have included them here. Any questions for JP, just ask them here. I will forward them on and try to get back to you.
Kim Kircher: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? What experience do you have with terrain parks?
JP: My name is Josh Sokolowski, and I am the new Terrain/Jib Park Manager at Crystal Mountain. I was born right there in Renton and grew up in the South Sound area. My home base is currently Bonney Lake, soon to be Greenwater! I first strapped into a snowboard at Crystal Mountain the record snowfall winter of 98/99. I remember going down Sunnyside as my first run, and to this day, I can't exactly explain how either terrified or excited I was at the time! Needless to say, I escaped without injury, and fell in love with snowboarding. Ever since, my world has revolved around the adventures of winter season and the culture that it brings. It wasn't until several years into my snowboarding career that I wanted to pursue Terrain Parks. I always had the goal of "making it big" one season and have always wanted to push my own limits, therefore, Terrain Parks began to have a huge influence in my life. In 2006 I traveled to New Zealand where I concentrated on my riding and helping out when I could. After the season's finale, I returned stateside to Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah where I got onboard with their renowned Terrain Park Department. Soon, I realized that snowboarding was all I wanted to do, and to sustain that lifestyle, I thus had to follow the snow. I bounced back and forth from Park City and New Zealand for several years where I worked with amazing Terrain Park Departments and crews. If you asked me years ago, I would have told you that I would have never thought to see the day that Crystal Mountain would be doing a Jib Park! And now, that is a reality, a childhood dream come true to say the least!
Kim: Where will the jib park be, and what will it be called?
JP: The Sasquatch Jib Park is going to consume the Mr. Magoo run, located just beneath the Forest Queen Express chair. I believe it was Justus Hyatt's suggestion to name it Sasquatch, adequately named after the elusive Pacific Northwest Native. It was agreed on instantly and we haven't looked back since!
Kim: What's special about the Sasquatch Park? How many features will it have?
JP: What makes the new Park unique is that its going to be strictly Jib (Rail & Box) focused, no jumps. The run itself could be a great location for jumps, but as it sits right now, the run needs to undergo a full re-grade before jumps are considered. However, that shouldn't hinder your opinion of the new plan! With the absence of jumps, I am planning to have around thirty features in the snow. Ranging from all levels of difficulty, length, and caliber. Boxes, rails, bonks, butter pads, and good times will all be in abundance!
Kim: Why is the Sasquatch Park so good for Crystal Mountain?
JP: The new Jib Park will round out the terrain at Crystal Mountain. Growing up riding at this mountain, the terrain couldn't be any better. The new Jib Park adds a new element to the equation, and balances the scale between the freeriding exploration and Terrain Park progression.
Kim. Thank so much. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about it?
JP: Having a good Park is potentially a resort's backbone, offering fun and adventure even when the conditions aren't the best, and that's what I see the Sasquatch Jib Park doing. As a Pacific Northwest Native, my personal goal is to build and maintain the most innovative and progressive Jib Park in Washington State. I look forward to taking some laps through the new park this season, and I hope to see you up there!
Axess Cards and Trail Map Status Signs--upcoming innovations at Crystal
This season Crystal Mountain will have a new ticketing system. It's called Axess, and it's pretty simple. Each time you ride a lift, you won't have to pull out your lift ticket or season's pass since the system will read it electronically. When the machine reads the card or season's pass in your pocket, the gate lets you through. It's going to be quick and painless. Plus, you'll be able to save money.
Here's how: when you buy your first Axess card, it will cost 65$ at the ticket window. You will want to save that card (it can be reloaded indefinitely), because the next time you use it, it will be cheaper and much easier. The card can be reloaded at home, on the internet, for only 60$. That's right, last season's ticket prices. Plus, you won't have to stand in the ticket line anymore. Just go straight to the lifts. I know, I sound like I should be in marketing here. But I'm pretty excited about the Axess system. I've skied at other resorts that use this kind of system, and I've always liked it. Other resorts in Washington use this system, such as Stevens Pass and White Pass.
The most exciting part in this blog post, from the ski patrolling point of view, is the new trail map/lift status signs (you know, the ones that have those little open/closed red/green flippy signs that you check each time you get off Rex and hope that southback has opened). The new signs will show the status of all lifts and southback (open, closed, standby), and will be electronically controlled by the ski patrol dispatch. Just think, no more flip signs that make you wonder if perhaps Northway really has opened and someone just forgot to flip the sign, begging the existential question, should I go back there and risk it, or take another lap down the frontside while there's still a few lines to be had? And let's face it, even when we patrollers are super johnny-on-the-spot, flipping our little hearts out, there's always been a little lag time between the radio announcement and the actual moment of flippage.
Now you will know the instant it's open. No more equivocation. There will also be two new sign locations in the base area, in addition to the sign locations that we currently use. Therefore, before you even get on a lift, you will know, instantly, what's open, what's closed and most importantly, which lifts and terrain are currently on hold, but plan to open. I suspect that we patrollers will still get the world's most commonly asked question--"So Dude, when's southback going to open?"--but these new signs will certainly help all of us. If the signs read that southback is "closed", then that means it will not open at all that day. If the sign reads "standby" that means the patrol is working on it, and if all goes well, it will open that day. In the case of a chairlift, "standby" means that the lift is planning on operating. It could be on wind-hold or simply not open yet, but we are hoping and planning on it running.
Crystal has some big changes planned for this season. Stay tuned for further ski patrol point of view on other upcoming stuff.
Gondola Update
Work on the Gondola continues. Both the bottom and the top terminals are taking shape, while the line is cleared of trees. Check out these picturs taken today: The first one shows the new line between Bull and Exterminator. The second picture shows the top terminal with the top of C-3 in the background.
Winter Forecast
Hola La Nina! Looks like we just might have a banner year approaching. Can't wait. Stay tuned for more upcoming gondola progress photos. Check out this link for the "winter's worst" forecast for the pnw. http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/34891/winter-2011-heavier-snow-for-c.asp
Gondola Update
Flagged the Gondola line today. Did it in snow shoes, but we should have worn skis. There's still plenty of snow in Green Valley (several feet in places) and no rocks showing through. Surveyors marked the tower locations a few days ago, and now the sawyers can start cutting the line. The bottom terminal will be located where the Market used to sit in the plaza (see photos below). The first six towers will be on Lower Exterminator. Then the next five towers will start along the bottom of Upper Exterminator, then cut into the treed area between Exterminator and Leo's Rock (the cliff on Upper Bull below the dogleg), then finally across the top of Upper Bull and Middle Ferk's. This middle section of the line should even open some hitherto unskiable terrain, which is a nice bonus. Tower 12 will sit on the knoll above Middle Ferk's. Tower 13 will be just to the right of the tree island in Green Valley. Towers 14 and 15 will be on either side of the cat track just below the top of Rex. The top tower will be to the left of the offload area of Rex. Finally, the top terminal will be located slightly uphill of the old radio building on the ridge between the Summit House and the trail map. It's an exciting project and nice to see it come alive.
All Good Things Must Come to an End
Another fabulous season at Crystal Mountain has closed. The patrol took down the ropelines, signs and tower pads, storing them away for the summer. Skiers enjoyed a final hoorah with sunny skies and warm temps. At the top of the King, Martin Rand hosted the first annual Tacky Tiki Party while bikini clad women and brave men fought for a season's pass at the Second Annual Bikini Downhill on Gold Hills. See photos below.
Keep checking in over the summer. I will periodically post photos of the Gondola project and other Crystal news. See you all next season!
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Martin Rand at the Summit of the King
The Fabulous Tacky Tiki Bar
Early Morning as a Ski Patroller
This was actually from CHRISTINA, and I forgot to post it back when it was snowing!
4:15 AM: Ring, ring. My phone wakes me up. “Hullo” I groan, full of sleep.
“Christina, we are out the door at 6,” Says my fellow patroller doing the morning call-outs.
“OK,” I mumble and roll back over; it’s another avalanche control morning so we are in two hours early today.
At 5:45 we're in the Patrol room and booted up ready to go, all ears for the weather briefing. We receive our route assignments—which could be one of the 23 on the mountain. At 6AM we check our avalanche beacons and head to the bottom of Chinook, headlamps blazing and a tangible excitement for the powder ahead. When we get to the top, we lace our explosives with fuses and wait for first light—which can be as late as 7:20am early in the winter.
Our routes take anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours depending on conditions, winds, visibility, and about a million other factors. If all goes well, this early morning work is completed on time. Some days, however, things don’t always go as planned—lifts get rimed in bad weather, high winds keep us sitting at the bottom, snow drifts make hiking the ridges sometimes waist deep. We have perfected the hurry-up-and-wait technique.
While avalanche control is often considered the best part of our job (who wouldn’t love it?), it is surely not the easiest. We need to be fast, safe, and efficient to get the mountain open on time. In addition, we also need to know that when we call our routes in clear, we did our best to mitigate the hazard for our guests that are chomping at the bit to shred the powder. Once our routes are complete, we must cycle back up to do our daily opening runs—checking boo, rope lines, slow banners, tower pads, medical gear, and other features that are all an integral part of mountain operations.
Dirt Bag Ball Pix
This year's King and Queen: The very deserving, Zach Kurferst and Terry Kilbourne. Congratulations you two!! Thanks to everyone that attended this spectacular event.
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Extremely cool King & Queen "crown" hats courtesy of Past Queen Debbie Grubb and Wapiti Woolies, Greenwater, WA
