Somehow, I had never been to the Crystal Backcountry, and with the new year that had to change. The goal for these two trips was to check out Bullion Basin and the supposed wealth of backcountry skiing options that radiate out from the basin.
January 1st 2023
Katie and I got a late start, so only had time for a quick tour. We started up from the C lot at Crystal and began touring up the Blue Bell Loop, a nice, groomed trail, which took us up to the start of the Bullion Basin Trail system. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we were feeling great. At this point, a skier or snowshoer is presented with three options to take up to Bullion Basin. The right path will take you on Bullion Loop, which eventually connects you with the middle option, “Chutes and Ladders”. These two trails merge and eventually join the left option, which is the official Bullion Basin trail in the summer and the main winter route to Bullion Basin as well.
Having never been to the area, Katie and I foolishly chose Chutes and Ladders, because it looked like the most direct route. After a pleasant first few feet, the trail dramatically increased in steepness. We were cautiously trying to switchback up it on our skis and splitboard, before eventually choosing to boot the steepest part with our skis over our shoulders. It was unnecessarily difficult and tiring and at this point we were a bit confused because we thought Bullion Basin was a popular enough destination that access would be easier.
After regaining our breath a bit, we hit the top where Bullion Loop rejoined our route, and finally felt good that we were on track. About 100 feet later, though, we were hit with another very steep section that would have been dicey to skin in the conditions we had. Well, time to boot again, we thought with a little bit of frustration, and gained the 100 feet or so to finally rejoin the main Bullion Basin trail.
FINALLY, we were on the right path. When in doubt – take the Bullion Basin Trail. It seems like obvious advice, but we were easily suckered into taking different approaches.
From here, we had a very pleasant skin up through a winter wonderland until we hit the basin, about a mile and a half from the parking lot. We had wasted so much time wondering if we were going the right way, back-tracking, and just moving slowly on steep terrain that it had taken us almost 2 hours to get to this point!
By now, light was already fading in the basin as it disappeared over ridges, so we only had time for a quick run. We ended up touring around the west side of the basin and up towards Bullion Peak. The basin itself was a dream, the trees were plastered with snow, and we really tried to savor it. We toured up only about 300 feet toward the peak before having to call it for time concerns. Despite it being so short, we had great snow and it was a lot of fun. I’m now jazzed about coming back and skiing some great lines out of that basin.
Our skiing time in the basin was short and sweet, but the ski back to the car was fun in its own right. We simply reversed the way we came, this time sticking to the Bullion Basin trail, which lo and behold was MUCH better and took us all the way back without any annoying steep bits. I only briefly had to get out of my snowboard and walk for a bit on one slight uphill. We then skied all the way to the car, excited about more to come in the Crystal backcountry in 2023!
January 7th 2023
A return mission to the Crystal Backcountry, this time equipped with more knowledge about the skin track. Fern, Eric, Katie and I had to park all the way in the F lot (Crystal can be crowded on the weekend!) and walk up to C lot to begin our tour. As we started, it was actively snowing pretty hard. The snow seemed wet, and we didn’t have super high hopes about the skiing, but our optimism grew as we continued to ascend.
We were much more familiar with the area this time and had no problem choosing the correct way to skin up to the basin. This time we were significantly faster and the tour up towards the basin seemed to take almost no time at all. Our objective for the day was to skin up towards East Peak. Eric and Fern had tentative plans of skiing some of the basins on the other side of the ridge, while Katie and I were mostly going to stick to the front side.
The tour up was kick turn central. We left the main trail about a quarter of a mile before the main basin on an obvious skin track. The track took us up slightly under 1000 feet in under three quarters of a mile. It was fascinating entering the burn area towards the top of the ridge. The bare and blackened trees made for a very interesting, if a bit sad, visual contrast with the snow. It was still snowing lightly, and visibility wasn’t the best, but we made it to the top of the ridge without much issue.
Fern and Eric decided to stick to the front side as well because of the poor visibility. They are faster skiers and had time for multiple laps, so they proceeded down before Katie and me. We essentially roughly followed the skin track down, enjoying great snow and weaving amongst the generally widely spaced dead trees. It was honestly great skiing! And I’m sure the view of Rainier would be spectacular on a clear day.
We had other commitments that day, so we had to call it after one run, but we were very satisfied with our effort and once again enthused about the Crystal Backcountry!
Feb 5th 2023
Bullion Basin has been the center of our ski touring attention this winter. With a pleasant and scenic route up and many different lines to ski, it has a lot to offer.
Eric, Katie and I went out for a mellow but fun tour on February 5th, 2023. Starting from the customary C lot, we made our way up to the basin. Some new snow had fallen so spirits were high as we toured higher up into the winter wonderland. Our goal for the day was to get to the top of Bullion Peak and ski the north-east face back into the basin.
We followed the well-used skin track up to the peak (which I’m sure would have a great view of Mount Rainier and the ski area if there was any visibility). Nevertheless, we enjoyed the summit before plotting our route down. Avalanche danger was moderate above and near treeline for the day, so we tried to assess any wind loading of the slope we were intending to ski. The snow seemed well bonded, and several different parties had already skied it earlier in the day – so we were good to go!
Fun turns were to be had all the way back down to the pond. The snow was borderline powder but was just wet enough to have some Cascade concrete qualities too as we descended. Either way it was a super fun ski down.
To top off our day, we skinned back up the opposite ridge in the direction of Platinum Peak for some bonus turns. We didn’t go all the way to the top of the ridge, but it was still fun to do some skiing through the open burn zone. The snow conditions on this aspect were a bit crustier, which made things more difficult. After returning to the skin track, we made the long descent back to C lot. My calves were burning from being on one edge for so long! At least there were a few switchbacks to give them a bit of a break.
Red is our skin track up and blue is down!
Comments