ADKmike
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
I had an opportunity to pull this off in route to a work trip, as two quick in and outs over one weekend at both these places in the form of redeye flights, some sleeping in rental cars, and just making it for closing day in AK, all while showing up for work Monday, on time, thousands of miles away from home in NJ...
**Trying to write this in between diaper changes and other baby care, TR in progress! Might show up in pieces so I don't lose what I write - sorry bout that in advance**
So, I had around 72 hours to pull this off. Being that it was closing weekend, the purpose of the trip was to check out new places, conditions were not important.
Day .5, Friday: Early flight from NJ to Seattle...get rental car and head out of Seattle as quick as possible to check out as much as I can in the mountains outside the city before heading to hotel Friday nite...head up Snowqualmie Pass to see what its like up there and scope out Alpental for future trip. Hit up random brewery at top of pass as well as WA State Ski and Snowboard Museum next to said brewery. Swing by Alpental (closed for season) just to scope it out. Pouring rain...get concerned about what's going on in the next pass for my ski day tomorrow (Crystal). Figure it's April 20th...so what if it is rained on snow. Temps looking favorable for spring skiing anyways. Stop at Snowqualmie Falls on way down the pass...pretty cool.
Day 1, Saturday: Stayed in Snowqualmie cause I had some hotel points and it just worked out there was a spot there to use them. Woke up extra early to make hour or so drive up to Crystal. Nice morning drive from Snowqualmie down to Enumclaw then up 410 to Crystal. Extra bonus getting AWD minivan for economy car rental price. Didn't need AWD this day, but the extra room made parking lot changing pre and post skiing pretty nice, plus not having ski bag spanning the whole car onto the dash!
This was going to be the day before closing day at Crystal, which I also learned would be the annual Bikini Downhill race and post-party sponsored by some beer company. Nice! Plan was to ski all day, hang out for some "apres", then drive straight to the airport for an overnight flight to AK. Got there early and scored a close up spot in the lot, perfect for stashing my hotel "free breakfast" seconds, aka Lunch. Would plan to supplement with resort priced brews for extra energy!
What I really liked about Crystal was how it was mostly no frills, despite being a pretty big name "resort". The lack of base amenities and development was perfect, just a couple small hotels and a base lodge. The place really has a deep in feel despite being pretty close to Seattle, just that once you get on 410 the only road in and out, you don't see much aside from forest which is nice.
The day started out pretty socked in, but forecast was for clearing skies, so was banking on the afternoon being better for pics. Pretty stiff start to the day, as it was below freezing, so stuck to groomers. I had heard the term "Crustal" thrown around on TGR forums...guess this was a Crustal morning. All good tho, it was April 20th!
Sun started to poke thru and while it wasn't overly warm out (maybe 35-40), snow started to soften up into some nice spring conditions.
Looking back at that line...
Worked my way around, trying to sweep the whole place and see all the different aspects of the mtn. The peak in the background looked to be pretty accessible from the resort as side country, you could see that it had been skied. Looks like some sweet lines in there.
Views finally starting to come out
First look at Rainier barely poking thru the clouds
Great PNW views around here
There seemed to be a line of clouds blocking a full view of Rainier off the backside of Crystal all day long, I was really hoping to get that shot, but it was Bikini Downhill time! Skied my way thru some nice chutes to get to the base, featuring wet slides, and very wet soft snow at this point it was around 2pm.
Bikini Downhill
A couple more runs and one more attempt at getting a good photo off the backside...never quite got the cloud free shot I was hoping for...but still, not too shabby of a view...
Called it a day, and headed down for the Eleysian Brewing sponsored party on the patio w/band, then over to the Snorting Elk, cause I had to check that out of course.
Crystal was such a cool place, with great terrain and non-commercialized/overbuilt vibe. Would love to get back there on a pow day. Hope to make it part of a larger PNW tour in the future.
Finally got a clear view as I popped back into town off 410.
Off to the airport for a overnight flight to AK. To be continued...
**Trying to write this in between diaper changes and other baby care, TR in progress! Might show up in pieces so I don't lose what I write - sorry bout that in advance**
So, I had around 72 hours to pull this off. Being that it was closing weekend, the purpose of the trip was to check out new places, conditions were not important.
Day .5, Friday: Early flight from NJ to Seattle...get rental car and head out of Seattle as quick as possible to check out as much as I can in the mountains outside the city before heading to hotel Friday nite...head up Snowqualmie Pass to see what its like up there and scope out Alpental for future trip. Hit up random brewery at top of pass as well as WA State Ski and Snowboard Museum next to said brewery. Swing by Alpental (closed for season) just to scope it out. Pouring rain...get concerned about what's going on in the next pass for my ski day tomorrow (Crystal). Figure it's April 20th...so what if it is rained on snow. Temps looking favorable for spring skiing anyways. Stop at Snowqualmie Falls on way down the pass...pretty cool.
Day 1, Saturday: Stayed in Snowqualmie cause I had some hotel points and it just worked out there was a spot there to use them. Woke up extra early to make hour or so drive up to Crystal. Nice morning drive from Snowqualmie down to Enumclaw then up 410 to Crystal. Extra bonus getting AWD minivan for economy car rental price. Didn't need AWD this day, but the extra room made parking lot changing pre and post skiing pretty nice, plus not having ski bag spanning the whole car onto the dash!
This was going to be the day before closing day at Crystal, which I also learned would be the annual Bikini Downhill race and post-party sponsored by some beer company. Nice! Plan was to ski all day, hang out for some "apres", then drive straight to the airport for an overnight flight to AK. Got there early and scored a close up spot in the lot, perfect for stashing my hotel "free breakfast" seconds, aka Lunch. Would plan to supplement with resort priced brews for extra energy!
What I really liked about Crystal was how it was mostly no frills, despite being a pretty big name "resort". The lack of base amenities and development was perfect, just a couple small hotels and a base lodge. The place really has a deep in feel despite being pretty close to Seattle, just that once you get on 410 the only road in and out, you don't see much aside from forest which is nice.
The day started out pretty socked in, but forecast was for clearing skies, so was banking on the afternoon being better for pics. Pretty stiff start to the day, as it was below freezing, so stuck to groomers. I had heard the term "Crustal" thrown around on TGR forums...guess this was a Crustal morning. All good tho, it was April 20th!
Sun started to poke thru and while it wasn't overly warm out (maybe 35-40), snow started to soften up into some nice spring conditions.
Looking back at that line...
Worked my way around, trying to sweep the whole place and see all the different aspects of the mtn. The peak in the background looked to be pretty accessible from the resort as side country, you could see that it had been skied. Looks like some sweet lines in there.
Views finally starting to come out
First look at Rainier barely poking thru the clouds
Great PNW views around here
There seemed to be a line of clouds blocking a full view of Rainier off the backside of Crystal all day long, I was really hoping to get that shot, but it was Bikini Downhill time! Skied my way thru some nice chutes to get to the base, featuring wet slides, and very wet soft snow at this point it was around 2pm.
Bikini Downhill
A couple more runs and one more attempt at getting a good photo off the backside...never quite got the cloud free shot I was hoping for...but still, not too shabby of a view...
Called it a day, and headed down for the Eleysian Brewing sponsored party on the patio w/band, then over to the Snorting Elk, cause I had to check that out of course.
Crystal was such a cool place, with great terrain and non-commercialized/overbuilt vibe. Would love to get back there on a pow day. Hope to make it part of a larger PNW tour in the future.
Finally got a clear view as I popped back into town off 410.
Off to the airport for a overnight flight to AK. To be continued...
