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February 18th Tour of Crystal

By Christina on Posted in Avalanche Hazard, Closures, Conditions, Employment, Events and Activities, Place Names, Safety Patrol/Speed Control

I’m really excited about all the feedback from the last blog post about skiing with a patroller and learning the ins-and-outs of Crystal.  Kim and I will go through all the input and come up with a way to go over all your questions on Saturday February 18th.  We’ll meet by the Easy Searcher on the South side… Continue Reading

Photo of the Week: Bluebird

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Conditions

After several inches of snow yesterday, it looks like are headed into some high pressure. That means fewer wind holds, fast groomers and plenty of snow off-piste. Larry Schick is calling for a bluebird powder alert for today and tomorrow. Come and get it. Since we are headed into some photo-taking weather, feel free to… Continue Reading

Tour of Crystal through Patrol Eyes

By Christina on Posted in Avalanche Hazard, Closures, Conditions, Employment, News, Place Names, Safety Patrol/Speed Control

Who here would be interested in taking under an hour to ski with a patroller and go through some of the ins-and-outs of Crystal?  We would like to offer a chance to ski with a patroller to our locals (you), in hopes to answer any questions you may have, share avalanche conditions, and ski some secrete… Continue Reading

Storming

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Avalanche Hazard, Conditions

The past few days we ski patrollers have been a little busy. With the “Storm of the Century” upon us and a flip-flopping weather forecast on the heels of a busy holiday weekend, we’ve been remiss in updating the blog. So here’s a quick recap: Over the weekend, we were involved in several rescues off… Continue Reading

Photo of the Week

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Conditions

We’ve had some nice weather days up here with just enough snow to keep things soft. Looks like next week could be a return of cold and snowy weather, which means fewer views but better turns. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed.

Photo of the Week

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Conditions

Michelle Longstreth took this photo from the top of the Gondola on an early avalanche control morning last week. Season’s Beatings are over. Now back to our regular programming.

Snow!

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Avalanche Hazard, Conditions

It’s 4am, it snowed, and we’re about to head out for avalanche control for the second day in a row. We got 8″ on the stake at my house and 10″ 13″ (updated at 5am) at the top. What’s more, it’s still snowing. Hard. For those of you that come to Crystal today you can… Continue Reading

Photo of the Week

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Conditions, Weather

Thanks Michelle Longstreth for this week’s photo. Last week a strange cloud formation covered Rainier just at sunset. Perhaps this was a sign that winter was on her way back home. Indeed she’s returned, and it might be some time before we see Rainier again. And I’m fine with that.    

All I want for Christmas is…SNOW

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Conditions, Weather

What It’s Been Skiers and riders in the PNW are all in the same boat. We have some of the best conditions in the lower 48, and still we know it’s not good enough. Maybe we’re spoiled here. Perhaps our skis are too fat. We want more than fast groomers and bluebird days. We expect… Continue Reading

Photo of the Week

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Conditions, Skier/Snowboarder Stories, Weather

Up here at Crystal, it’s been a best-of-times/worst-of-times scenario, in which one day it’s bluebird powder and the next is, well, rain. With the launch of the Photo of the Week post, I’m focusing on the best of times from this past week. While retail stores enjoyed Black Friday, we pegged the awesome-o-meter with a… Continue Reading

Crystal Mountain Opening Tomorrow

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Avalanche Hazard, Closures, Conditions, Events and Activities, News

It’s finally here. The 2011-2012 Crystal Mountain Ski Season will commence tomorrow, Friday November 18th. We are starting with a limited opening, then hopefully adding more terrain over the weekend. Tomorrow the Gondola and Green Valley will be running for skiing in Green Valley only. Be sure to bring your rock skis and get ready… Continue Reading

Gearing up for the ski season

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Conditions, Events and Activities, Weather

  Last week, the Crystal Mountain Ski Patrol conducted our yearly pre-season training. For a job that requires plenty of outside activity, the rigors of training include sitting inside when the first snowfall of the season has blanketed the base area and the surrounding peaks are finally pasted in snow. It wasn’t always easy to… Continue Reading

A Look at the Weather Forecast

By Kim Kircher on Posted in Conditions, Weather

I’m not a weather forecaster, but I do spend an enormous amount of time studying weather models and making predictions–especially this time of year. I’m an optimist, so whenever I see moisture in the models I automatically assume it will fall as snow at Crystal. I used to be able to get away with this…. Continue Reading