Blog Crystal Ski Patrol Crystal Mountain Washington

Ski Conditions (aka Powder Day)

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Conditions

After the busy day yesterday, I had my fingers crossed for new snow last night to fill in all the turns and jibes of our biggest day so far this season.  Dutifully clearing my snow stake at 8pm last night, I checked the forecast and shrugged. It was calling for .5 inches of water and cooling, which could mean up to 6 inches of new.  When I opened up my door this morning, this is what I saw:

Someone on the chairlift yesterday asked me if I worked for marketing.  I had to laugh.  It might seem like that sometimes.  I blog and tweet about Crystal daily (follow me at @kimkircher on twitter for status updates on south and north opening), but I tell it like it is.  Even though the very scientific telemetry is showing only a few inches of new, I still go my the snowball method–lifting the new snow into my hands and feeling its heft and bulk.  Plus I also have my very unscientific snow stake sitting right out my front door, reachable when still in my robe and slippers.  The temperature up top is 10 degrees, there’s 9 inches of new right out my front door, and I have the day off.  I think you all know where you will find me today.  

 

  • Carls

    Kim,
    Do you happen to keep track of the current number of skiers and boarders visiting Crystal? People were turned away due to meeting parking capacity.

  • http://kimkircher.com Kim Kircher

    Carls,
    We do keep track of number of visitors. However, turning away cars has solely to do with parking capacity. One day last week we turned away cars because all of the parking lots filled up. We even had cars parked in my driveway. RVs take up quite a bit of space for only a few people, whereas a bus (about the same size) could bring 30 skiers or riders. I’m not sure how many people we had here on that day–close to 6,000 I imagine. However, we only keep track of those that buy tickets or use the Go Card System. For those that drive up and buy a hot chocolate in the lodge or just look around, we have no way of knowing. Hope that answers your question.
    Kim