Blog Crystal Ski Patrol Crystal Mountain Washington

Ski Smarter, Not Harder

By Corey on Posted in Closures, Conditions, Events and Activities

I hear some of my Homies got quite the earful today.  Apparently some folks were peeved because out South, only Silver Basin was open today, as Avalanche Basin was held for some movie-shooting that Warren Miller’s crew was doing for one of his upcoming annual ski season teasers.

 

My heart goes out to anyone who feels like they didn’t get what they deserved.  I know how it feels when a certain thing I get attached to, doesn’t come through.  But my point here isn’t to discuss THAT.  My point is to share a little ski secret about sniffin’ out the pow

While my radio was squakin’ about all the discussions taking place out South, those of us assigned to Northway were gettin’ some pretty sweet freshies–even ON SWEEP at the end of the day!!  (I crossed exactly 3 tracks down the entirety of Glory Days except for right at the exit chute)   It made me think of something I heard come from one of those pick-up soccer games at Green Lake last summer…."Are we gonna argue or are we gonna play?"

Does this sound too preachy?  I don’t mean to!  My point is just that there’s some wisdom to be had to get the most fun out of your day!  I don’t know how you learn to be where all the other people AREN’T, but for me, today was a good day to stumble upon that!    Anyone want to share their powder sniffing tips?  (No, of course they don’t!  We all gotta learn the hard way!)

 

HEAD’S UP!

There’ll be a little more of this limited access to particular terrain for the next few days, for the Mountain Challenge Silver King Freeride competition.  In the past, the location has varied a little based on visibility.  Come watch some crazy hucks and sick lines that’ll turn your stomach!

Do you want your turn to be one of the "Special People"?  If the weather cooperates, you can get a jump start on Silver Basin tracks this Saturday (March 7th) by entering Crystal’s somethingth-annual Powder 8′s competition. $60 per team of 2 skiers, boarders, 3-pinners (how do you spell tele-ers?) or mixed.  Bragging rights and sweet valuable prizes abound!   Keep an eye on that little "events" list on Crystal’s website (not here on this blog!) for updates.  It’s a fundraiser for the Ski Patrol education & avi dog training fund, so it’s near-&-dear to my heart!

 

  • Kyle

    Thanks for the heads up…can you let us know exactly what will be closed for the comps and when it will be closed? Will people be able to get out to Crystal Lakes or past 3 way via Southback this weekend?

  • wapiti_bob

    I’m surprised it took you so long to make a mention of this. Personally I thought it was fine and actually started last Friday. It was a perfect day for shooting a Warren Miller movie, bluebird and Pow Pow! South was only closed in the a.m. and was properly tracked out by the end of the day, what’s the problem. There sure was a lot of complaining but I’m sure they will all cheer at the movie next fall. I wish the Warren Miller crew and the Backstrom family all the best and think they deserve a lot more respect then they where shown this last week.

  • Stina

    OH PLEEEEEZ, Cory! Come on- this Warren Miller bull has been going on for a week! CM doesn’t receive powder for 2 months, and then at the first snowdump, a bunch of premadonna warren millerites are flown in and paid to ski at our area where we PAY to ski…. and it was closed just for them! Of course us “Homies” are peeved. What gives them the special right to ski permanently closed areas (rock face), duck rope lines, and have parts of the mountain open just for them? They are setting a horrible example. JK is encouraging it, and not making any friends from his paying customers. Why can’t they just ski with us (they might learn how to ski)? To add insult to injury, one of them was very rude to me personally, and did nothing but complain about the locals. I was stunned at his “above though attitude”. There are plenty of locals at this area (and I’m not just talking about the CM ambassador group) that ski just as well as these warrenmillerites. If Northway is so good, I’m sure many would agree that it should be closed for their filming instead…….or maybe they should just ski out of bounds, since that is same as skiing permanently closed areas like rock face, and it wouldn’t affect any of the paying customers.