happy Holidays everyone! It sure has been an intresting season here for all of us at Crystal and the rest of the Pacific Northwest!
the week before christmas was filled is new snow every night, tons on avi control ever morning and amazing skiing everyday. We were working hard and all we had time for was work and sleep. by christmas eve we were all pooped but i gathered my whole house together and we "I" made a big family dinner, chicken and eggplant parn, pasta, mashed sweet potatos, garlic bread and salad. we all sat together and hung out, had a few beers and went to bed becasue christmas day would be another early avi morning.
Christmas day was great as well, becasue i was so preoccupied with work it didnt feel like christmas day, so i wasnt lonely or upset about being away. we skiied powder, hiked our tallest peak, and skiied more, i did some snowmobile training, went home and again we all went to bed.
new years week was similar to christmas week with many early morning, and not enough sleep. we did go out new years eve for a few beers after work, but we were all home and sleeping by 8:00pm...it was nice, id rather be having fun with cool people and going to bed early then getting crazy and not loving every day of work!
In the weeks between then and now everything has been a little hectic, as many of you had read in the news papers. we were loaded with more and more snow, then the rain hit and the roads flooded. 410 the only road to the mountain was covered in multiple land slides and running water across it. becasue the road only accessses crystal mountain, it was not hight on the DOT's priority list of what to fix first when I-5 the major road connecting seattle and Portland was also closed!
we were trapped on the mountain without work for a few days due to the rain but the top was still getting only snow! would have been good skiing, but my body def needed a lil break!
On friday the 9th, when we finaly were told we could leave the mountain, that the road would be open for local and emergency traffic only and that the mountain still couldn't open for a few days my housemates packed up and headed to seattle for the night and then a day skiing at Stevens Pass, north of us!
The skiing was wonderful, our ski patrol hosts were awesome and we thanked them for the free tickets with copious amount of beer we left for them!
i am now in Portland with three of my housemates, staying at one of their borthers, planning on doing a day of city life, maybe a tour up mt hood, and tomorrow skiing at one of the resorts on the mountain! i will go back to work on tuesday and then the next two weekends are avalanch courses i will get my level I and II!
well once again life is great, snow is plentaful and i couldnt be happier!
