Pacific NW/AK/BC Crystal Mt. or Stevens, early December?

[Eddie S]

Business calls me to the Hanford site in Richland, WA the first week of December. A handful of ski mountains are easy to reach on the way back to the Seattle airport, and I could ski Friday the 6th and Saturday the 7th. Crystal Mountain and Stevens Pass look worthwhile - preference to Crystal because of the views of Rainier, where I have backpacked Wonderland trail.

Question: is there a decent chance of enough runs being open at one or both mountains to be worth spending a day or two? Should I consider other places, too? (I looked at others, but these two seemed best in the area.) I'm an intermediate skier, happy to be on fun groomed blues or modest powder through trees - don't need steeps or fancy après-ski offerings to have a good time. Just to be skiing would be a treat.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

[David Chaus]

Yes.

Chances are they will both be open by Thanksgiving, and when they do open there is usually quite a lot of terrain available after the first few days of operation. Crystal is a larger resort with longer runs, however neither has a lot of groomed runs (the way grooming works outside of the PNW). The maritime snow tends to get skied out easily, so what starts out as a groomed run become an off-piste-ish run after the first couple of hours, so I find early season skiing is sometimes more tiring than I anticipated. But don’t let that discourage you. It won’t just be WRODs and there will probably be enough open terrain to keep you busy and smiling for a couple of days.

Tip: If you’re coming from Hanford to SeaTac, you’ll probably take I-90. You will go over Snoqualmie Pass which also has 4 ski areas. There is lodging at the Pass as well, so you could stay there the night of the day you leave Hanford. They tend to open later than Stevens and Crystal, but if open it might be easier to ski a day there (maybe split your time between Summit Central and Alpental, they’re on the same ticket), then take Hwy 18 to Hwy 169, stay in Enumclaw for the night, take Hwy 410 to Crystal.

Alternatively, skip Snoqualmie, take the above route to Enumclaw, which is 45 minutes from Crystal, and stay there. Or splurge and stay a night or two at Crystal.

If you decide to go to Stevens instead you would take Hwy 2. If Mission Ridge is open, consider a day there, as the terrain there is a better match for you than anywhere else in WA, lots of nice rolling groomers and 2,000’ vert. However they don’t get as much snow, so might not be open, or if so, just a few runs (they do have snowmaking, so it might just be WRODs.). But if there’s snow, Mission is a lot of fun. Either way, stay the night in Leavenworth, have dinner at the Crepe place or the bratwurst stand, then in the morning it’s 45 minutes to Stevens.

 

[John O]

Early season can be a tossup in the PNW (like anywhere, I suppose). I have seen both mountains 100% open with good conditions by that point, and have also seen both struggling to get any terrain open at all. The normal expected opening is Thanksgiving. It's a good start if they open before then, but some winters they don't manage to get open by then. Both ski areas have almost no snowmaking so the season basically starts whenever the weather turns. It's not unusual for the season to start with little to no notice... a big storm cycle and all of a sudden there's enough snow to start spinning lifts.

That said, Crystal is probably your better bet for early season intermediate terrain. With a little higher summit elevation than Stevens as well as the gondola, they can get skiing going up in Green Valley even if the bottom of the mountain is still sketchy.

Most winters you have a good chance of getting some decent turns in by that point, but it's never gonna be a guarantee.

 

[Tom Co.]

I have season passes to both Crystal and Stevens and prefer Crystal for early-season conditions. Crystal expanded its snowmaking this summer and now has enough snow guns to get you from mid mountain back to the base. This will allow Crystal to open the Forest Queen high speed six pack which has a lot of good intermediate cruising runs. The Green Valley Area is fun for intermediates but takes a bit more snow before they can start grooming. At Stevens the chairs open early season are pretty much all at the same elevation and require a bit more snow before you can get off the groomers as in the trees.
Your best bet would be to bump this thread in December. I can give you a real-time update.

 

[Eddie S]

Yes.

Chances are they will both be open by Thanksgiving, and when they do open there is usually quite a lot of terrain available after the first few days of operation. Crystal is a larger resort with longer runs, however neither has a lot of groomed runs (the way grooming works outside of the PNW). The maritime snow tends to get skied out easily, so what starts out as a groomed run become an off-piste-ish run after the first couple of hours, so I find early season skiing is sometimes more tiring than I anticipated. But don’t let that discourage you. It won’t just be WRODs and there will probably be enough open terrain to keep you busy and smiling for a couple of days.

Tip: If you’re coming from Hanford to SeaTac, you’ll probably take I-90. You will go over Snoqualmie Pass which also has 4 ski areas. There is lodging at the Pass as well, so you could stay there the night of the day you leave Hanford. They tend to open later than Stevens and Crystal, but if open it might be easier to ski a day there (maybe split your time between Summit Central and Alpental, they’re on the same ticket), then take Hwy 18 to Hwy 169, stay in Enumclaw for the night, take Hwy 410 to Crystal.

Alternatively, skip Snoqualmie, take the above route to Enumclaw, which is 45 minutes from Crystal, and stay there. Or splurge and stay a night or two at Crystal.

If you decide to go to Stevens instead you would take Hwy 2. If Mission Ridge is open, consider a day there, as the terrain there is a better match for you than anywhere else in WA, lots of nice rolling groomers and 2,000’ vert. However they don’t get as much snow, so might not be open, or if so, just a few runs (they do have snowmaking, so it might just be WRODs.). But if there’s snow, Mission is a lot of fun. Either way, stay the night in Leavenworth, have dinner at the Crepe place or the bratwurst stand, then in the morning it’s 45 minutes to Stevens.

Thank you, David! That is very helpful guidance. If conditions are ready, I think I'll spend the two days at Crystal (I take a red-eye flight home at the end of the second day). I visit Hanford 3-4 times a year, and enjoy eyeing the Snoqualmie Pass slopes on the drives, but I'll save those for later. Enough terrain to keep "busy and smiling" would be a treat!

 

[Eddie S]

Yes.

Chances are they will both be open by Thanksgiving, and when they do open there is usually quite a lot of terrain available after the first few days of operation. Crystal is a larger resort with longer runs, however neither has a lot of groomed runs (the way grooming works outside of the PNW). The maritime snow tends to get skied out easily, so what starts out as a groomed run become an off-piste-ish run after the first couple of hours, so I find early season skiing is sometimes more tiring than I anticipated. But don’t let that discourage you. It won’t just be WRODs and there will probably be enough open terrain to keep you busy and smiling for a couple of days.

Tip: If you’re coming from Hanford to SeaTac, you’ll probably take I-90. You will go over Snoqualmie Pass which also has 4 ski areas. There is lodging at the Pass as well, so you could stay there the night of the day you leave Hanford. They tend to open later than Stevens and Crystal, but if open it might be easier to ski a day there (maybe split your time between Summit Central and Alpental, they’re on the same ticket), then take Hwy 18 to Hwy 169, stay in Enumclaw for the night, take Hwy 410 to Crystal.

Alternatively, skip Snoqualmie, take the above route to Enumclaw, which is 45 minutes from Crystal, and stay there. Or splurge and stay a night or two at Crystal.

If you decide to go to Stevens instead you would take Hwy 2. If Mission Ridge is open, consider a day there, as the terrain there is a better match for you than anywhere else in WA, lots of nice rolling groomers and 2,000’ vert. However they don’t get as much snow, so might not be open, or if so, just a few runs (they do have snowmaking, so it might just be WRODs.). But if there’s snow, Mission is a lot of fun. Either way, stay the night in Leavenworth, have dinner at the Crepe place or the bratwurst stand, then in the morning it’s 45 minutes to Stevens.

Thank you, David! That is very helpful guidance. If conditions are ready, I think I'll spend the two days at Crystal (I take a red-eye flight home at the end of the second day). I visit Hanford 3-4 times a year, and enjoy eyeing the Snoqualmie Pass slopes on the drives, but I'll save those for later. Enough terrain to keep "busy and smiling" would be a treat!

Early season can be a tossup in the PNW (like anywhere, I suppose). I have seen both mountains 100% open with good conditions by that point, and have also seen both struggling to get any terrain open at all. The normal expected opening is Thanksgiving. It's a good start if they open before then, but some winters they don't manage to get open by then. Both ski areas have almost no snowmaking so the season basically starts whenever the weather turns. It's not unusual for the season to start with little to no notice... a big storm cycle and all of a sudden there's enough snow to start spinning lifts.

That said, Crystal is probably your better bet for early season intermediate terrain. With a little higher summit elevation than Stevens as well as the gondola, they can get skiing going up in Green Valley even if the bottom of the mountain is still sketchy.

Most winters you have a good chance of getting some decent turns in by that point, but it's never gonna be a guarantee.

Thank you, John! I'll say a few prayers to the snow gods, and hope for the best.

 

[Eddie S]

I have season passes to both Crystal and Stevens and prefer Crystal for early-season conditions. Crystal expanded its snowmaking this summer and now has enough snow guns to get you from mid mountain back to the base. This will allow Crystal to open the Forest Queen high speed six pack which has a lot of good intermediate cruising runs. The Green Valley Area is fun for intermediates but takes a bit more snow before they can start grooming. At Stevens the chairs open early season are pretty much all at the same elevation and require a bit more snow before you can get off the groomers as in the trees.
Your best bet would be to bump this thread in December. I can give you a real-time update.

Thank you, Tom! That's a good suggestion - I'll bump this as the travel dates approach, and keep an eye on conditions. With really good luck, something will open up before I have to book flights, enough to be worth staying for a couple of extra days.

 

[David Chaus]

Thank you, David! That is very helpful guidance. If conditions are ready, I think I'll spend the two days at Crystal (I take a red-eye flight home at the end of the second day). I visit Hanford 3-4 times a year, and enjoy eyeing the Snoqualmie Pass slopes on the drives, but I'll save those for later. Enough terrain to keep "busy and smiling" would be a treat!

Thank you, John! I'll say a few prayers to the snow gods, and hope for the best.

Ah, since you are taking a red-eye flight home after the 2nd day of skiing, definitely Crystal, much easier to get to SeaTac than from Stevens.

 

[Eddie S]

Ah, since you are taking a red-eye flight home after the 2nd day of skiing, definitely Crystal, much easier to get to SeaTac than from Stevens.

Hi, David. And a prettier and generally lighter driver than coming in on I90 - have taken it a few times (but not in winter) after backpacking around Mt. Rainier NP. United offers a midnight non-stop back to Houston that is usually quick and quiet. With luck, I'll be tired enough from skiing to actually sleep on the plane. Just the right way to go home...