Crystal Mountain

Freeriders, miss this place and you’re missing out on life; the terrain is pure freeriding and South Back is the place to check out if you’re willing to do some hiking. A 10 minute bootpack from Chair 6 (‘Silver Queen’) takes you to the summit of The Throne, one of the pitches used for Freeride Competitions. If you’re willing to go a little further, an additional 15 minute hike takes you to ‘The King’. Silver King peak stands at 2135m and gives you access to over 100m of 40 degree north-facing paradise. This is not for the faint-hearted though, strong riders only in this double black terrain.

The other end of the resort, and lift-accessed, is the Northway Chair offering more black and double black terrain than you can ride in one day. In fact, the Northway zone is the same size as Mt Baker’s inbound terrain total! Northway also gives you access to 5 of the 8 Backcountry control gates into Mt Rainier National Park for endless split-boarding adventures. Even though everything inside of the gates is patrolled, adhere to the closed signs, flashing lights on the light boards and don’t duck any ropes. We recommend always wearing a transceiver in this avalanche-prone slack-country terrain (& in fact, it’s recommended to wear one when riding any of the freeride terrain).

Freestylers won’t need man-made facilities at Crystal Mountain, as there is plenty of natural freeride terrain to catch big air. However, there are two small parks; a jump line on Lower Arwines and a rail line on Quicksilver, both best accessed by the speedy Chinook Express from the base of the mountain.

 

Boarders who stick to the piste can have as good a time as those looking for the untamed terrain, with a choice of excellent slopes (mostly blues and a few blacks) that will please advanced and intermediate riders, even if some of the trails are not too long. Check out the website to see what has and hasn’t been groomed that day. For a long, steep groomed run from the top of the Mt Rainier Gondola check out Upper Ferks – Middle Ferks – Deer Fly – Lower Arwines as a lap. Avoid Kelly’s Gap Road (unless Cat-tracks are your idea of fun).

 

Crystal Mountain wasn’t designed for beginners but they’ve had a good go at it. Only 11% of its trails are beginner which is totally fine for novices. That being said, what is on offer is excellent and easily reached from the base. They are wide, quiet, well-groomed runs which are out of the way of most the steeper blue, black and double black terrain, meaning the more expert riders won’t always be whizzing past you while you’re still gaining confidence. Like many US resorts, a number of the higher rated runs are not that tricky, so many of the blue trails can be ticked off by a competent, fast-learning novice.