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Trip Report    

Backcountry Ski/Snowboard - Crystal Mountain Backcountry

Successful outing -- conditions were significantly better than expected

Randy Oakley Randy Oakley
December 21, 2021
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Forecast conditions had us expecting  over a foot of new snow with possible upside down snowpack conditions -- however field conditions proved much more favorable.  There was some  rain crust from Saturday  undr the 4-6 inches of new snow.  However  it appeared that the transition from rain to snow had been gradual, so the new snow was well bonded and progressed from denser to lighter.

    We did observe some sluffs from other skiers tracks that skiied higher angle terrain in Silver Basin -- we stuck to <34 degree terrain and experienced no sluffs or other instability. 

We  did two laps in the "Threeway Peak Basin" area just outside Crystal's permit boundary.    The snow was enjoyable.  

I recorded a GPS track in GaiaGPS 
https://www.gaiagps.com/public/0KGBRIcCIRNZssNO0QTgEjdh
Clumsily I didn't start recording until we were partway up Quicksilver -- so my guess on our total ascent is about 2,000 vft.

I created a shared album in Google Photos with the photos and videos I managed to capture -- I think I got one decent "action" photo -- perhaps other managed to capture some shots -- I setup the album so you can share photos with the group if you so choose. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7CSouLv4Rh8mbvGZA