Blog Crystal Ski Patrol Crystal Mountain Washington

Northway Moguls Redux

By Corey on Posted in Conditions

A while back I responded to a comment about the moguls going around the last little corner at the bottom of Northway before you load the chair. 

I thought it might require a winch cat to get around that side-hill corner but apparently it doesn’t.  At least not last Saturday.  The Grooming crew smoothed it all out!  Folks I talked to were pretty psyched!

 

It seems unlikely that they’ll be grooming there nightly, as Northway IS diamond and double-diamond terrain (advanced & expert skiers & boarders, only) but it’s nice to know they have the ability to stomp down those bumps from time to time!

  • bizweasel

    I’ll give Crystal Ops some props for grooming that, and giving at least this customer what they want. Regardless of whether it’s expert terrain or not, NO ONE is riding Northway to ski bumps. They are riding Northway to get to pow lines in Paradise, Morning Glory etc. When your legs are quaky from 1500vf of pow, or quakier from 1500vf of manhandling Cascade Concrete, the LAST thing you want is a bunch of speed bumps in the no-more-powder runout between you and another lap. The bumps were particularly nonfun a couple years ago, and are a real pain on a snowboard.
    Doesn’t seem like you would ever need a winchcat, particulary if could get to it regularly, or as long as you hit it during a soft time when you could put the back blade down and push big files around.
    Even now when groomed flat, the bottom part of the Northway runs are still not the funnest due to how it ices up (and at the moment, a few sawed off trees and rocks poking thru.)

  • Wil

    I’m in the minority. I thought the bumps at the bottom were fun and presented a unique challenge.
    By the way you guys (and ladies) do an excellent job ski patrolling. Thanks for your hard work.
    Corey Responds:
    It’s our pleasure…I’ll pass it on!
    And thanks for writing. I talked to a guy a while back who was sad to see those moguls, uh, diminished. He said he’d reached a plateau in his skiing and watching Keith Rollins swoosh through those bumps gave him a whole new horizon to strive for.