Crystal Mountain Opening Day 23/24 (Backcountry Snowboarding)

Day two of the splitboard/snowboard season was a pleasant surprise. We decided to head to Crystal Mountain WA to get into the backcountry and check conditions. If traveling within the ski area you need a free uphill pass and to check which uphill trails are open. It's really cool they allow uphill travel and we don't want to lose the ability to do so.

Abiding by the uphill policies, we transitioned our boards to ski mode and skinned past discovery chair. The only two chairs open on Friday December 1, 2023 were Discovery and Chinook. Chinook was placing people halfway up the run next to Quicksilver chair. After we passed that junction point we only saw 3 other peopler the whole day. The powder was definitely good but we had concerns on finding the base when it came to our descent.

Nonetheless, we continued upward. After leaving the ski area and entering the trees to Southback a sense of peace is felt. The sounds are soft and nature is vibrant. The conditions out there were all time and I immediately got hypoed. Ashton didn't have as much energy as I did so I know I was going to get an extra lap in. I transitioned my board from ski mode to board mode. After Ashton got settled and with radio contact I dropped my first line while he watched.

The PNW has been storming and the window before a warm up was small. We timed it perfect. My first few turns were complete blower powder and I didn't find the bottom. It was on. I rallied turns and went into the white room for what felt like eternity. after completing my run I quickly transitioned back to ski mode and made it to Ashton right when he was catching his breathe. It worked out perfect.

We then decided to climb even higher to our drop in spot. After tucking away into the trees to dodge the elements, we were ready to snowboard. PLaying it safe we went one at a time and had glory turns. Found some drops and a nice gully. We got to a wind exposed section of the ridge that was showing some debris. After quickly navigating that we were back into the pow game.

after reaching the bottom we had to transition back to ski mode to make it back into the Crystal Ski area. This was quick and easy that also required a little downhill skiing. The first section of the ski area had been closed so we were snowboarding in a foot plus of untouched pow. After reaching the spot that was open we slowed it down a little and hit a few side hits and the terrain park. All in all it was an epic 2nd day of the season and i'm looking forward to some more fresh!

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Snowboards / Splitboards: Weston Range // Ride Splitpig
Camera: Insta 360 ONE RX2