NW STILL BRAGGING: Crystal follow-up
There isn't enough hyperbole in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary to describe the emotions that Pacific Northwest skiers are feeling right now. Jubilant. Delirious. Enraptured. Euphoric. But none of those terms border on exaggeration. On the heels of one of the region's worst seasons ever, suddenly Washington, Oregon, and southern British Columbia are the envy of a continent that can only gaze in shock and awe as powerful Pacific fronts all but erase last year's nightmarish season.
On Friday Nov. 11, Whistler's Blackcomb Mountain opened for the second early-season weekend in a row, and will remain open daily. Oregon's Mt. Hood Meadows also opened Friday with something it hasn't seen in a while: fresh powder. Washington state's Mt. Baker, Stevens Pass, White Pass, and Summit West at Snoqualmie ski areas-all covered in white goodness and open weeks sooner than originally scheduled.
But the biggest story may be 90 minutes southwest of Seattle at Crystal Mountain, where over the weekend the resort opened both its north and south backcountry areas at the same time that a passing system dumped two feet of cold, light snow so unlike the infamous Cascade crud these slopes are known for. The resulting powder feeding frenzy would have more than satisfied locals in, say, mid-February, but considering the time of year-and last year's virtual powder drought-Western Washington skiers were positively spastic with delight.
Saturday dawned with light overcast and temperatures in the 20s. The usual suspects began lining up at the base of Chinook Express during the seven o'clock hour, and by 8:30 a snake of eager, powder-hungry carbon units stretched nearly to the lodge. Loading commenced about 20 minutes before nine, and soon soaring views of Powder Bowl, Green Valley, and the South Backcountry beckoned from the lift instigating a ritualistic game of chance-take the faster route up the Rainier Express to instant laps of freshies, or take a chance on two more lifts to score the coveted goods off of Chair 6?
Careful study of the three chairs ahead of you is required in such instances. When most skated quickly for Rex (good choice for them), we bolted left for Chair 9, which we rode in haste to the still-warming-up High Campbell double (Chair 6). Amazingly, we scored second chair and ascended to the summit of Silver Queen (7002') in tense anticipation. This would be one of those days you dream about.
The patroller at the top of Chair 6 advised a quick traverse into Campbell Basin, which he said had better snow, but our eyes were on the prize: Powder Bowl. It's to Crystal Mountain what Extreme Couloir is to Blackcomb-a typically skied-out line best left to tourists in favor of more secretive stashes. Except this morning it was completely unblemished save for a lone set of tracks, presumably left by a mountain employee who undoubtedly was reminded hours ago why he or she took this job.
Thirty or so virgin turns later in knee-deep blower on top of firm crust, it was a race back to the Chair 9/Chair 6 circuit to test the patroller's Campbell-Basin better-snow theory. Turned out he was right--several times. Then it was off to the South Backcountry for a couple of laps of fresher and deeper tracks that lasted well into the afternoon.
As the day wore on, reports from the bro-brah wire service came in-similar goods were scored all over the mountain, from The Throne to the North Backcountry and everywhere in between. It started snowing lightly in the afternoon and would dump another foot overnight, spawning a repeat version of Saturday's events on Sunday, with slightly warmer temperatures but equal amounts of euphoric jubilee. If it were mid-January during a normal snow year one could write off the events as just another weekend in the Cascades. But it wasn't. Nov. 11-13 was the second helping of the Great Feast of Early November following the year of denial, and it proved filling indeed. But like those scrappy orphans in a famous Charles Dickens novel, most of those lucky enough to sit at the table were left wanting more. Much, much more.