The first day on Crystal Mountain presented us with a bluebird day, something the locals had been waiting for after a few weeks of major snow storms. However, couple that with a Sunday and it had all the perfect ingredients of a busier day on the slopes and lift times.
I had been eyeing a couple of bowl areas at Crystal accessible by 2 person chair that took us to one of the mountain's peaks, allowing us to put our legs into drive and hike through the windy ridge. Whilst this route was also populated, we couldn't really complain comparing to what the lift lines looked like.
Most of the easily accessible powder was already tracked forcing us to earn the goods, and it showed that a hike is never wasted!
For our second day on the mountain we decided to replay the hikes but opting to go further out to areas less tracked, which was definitely worth it.
There was a mix of clouds, snow, and outbursts of sun that added to the challenge. Although the calmer winds and the lack of a weekend crowd offset the general weather conditions - we literally had an area of the resort to ourselves!
We finished the day Alpine Inn restaurant for some quality food. There may not be a substanial amount of choice for places to eat or lodging at Crystal but that shouldn't put anyone off, the mountain delivers and it justifies visiting.
Keep an eye out on the SnowboardProCamp youtube channel for some upcoming videos.