The Best Freeride Lines at Washington’s Crystal Mountain

A wide array of the best freeride lines at Washington's largest ski resort: Crystal Mountain.

Greg Heil

Images

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by Crystal Mountain Resort

Creative Commons: Attribution

Description

If you live in Seattle, Crystal Mountain is likely your go-to ski resort. Boasting over 2,600 acres of skiable terrain and a whopping 486 inches of snow per year, this massive resort not only serves the local Seattle population but draws in visitors from around the world.

While any skier or snowboarded can head to Crystal Mountain and enjoy a fantastic day filled with cruise-y groomers and wide-open powder bowls, this mountain is renowned as the “freeride capitol of the Pacific Northwest,” according to SnowBrains.com. Crystal’s abundance of gnarly big mountain freeride terrain attracts numerous freeride competitions, including “the Northwest’s only Freeride World Qualifier 4-star competition,” according to SnowBrains.

You can go as big or as conservative as you’d like on the expansive freeride terrain here. This guidebook provides a wide array of the best and most popular freeride lines at Crystal Mountain.

One pro tip: "you don’t find the best skiing by going up, you find it by spreading wide,” according to RootsRated.com. "Northway and Chair 6 are undoubtedly the best two chairs on the mountain, and the two are both the easiest access to the steepest terrain and are closer to the outskirts of the boundary lines.” Most of the lines in this guidebook are accessible from those two chairs at either edge of the resort.

Sources:
https://snowbrains.com/crystal-mountain-resort-wa-the-freeride-capitol-of-the-pacific-northwest/
https://www.crystalmountainresort.com/
https://rootsrated.com/stories/insiders-guide-crystal-mountain-resort
https://www.crystalmountainresort.com/the-mountain/trail-maps

Adventures

NW Slot

A classic Cascade couloir in Northway Bowl

Longshot

A classic PNW expert run with cliffs, glades and open faces.

Hourglass

This popular, wide-open chute is one of the easiest couloirs on the north side of the King.

Brain Damage

This iconic and challenging couloir is for experts only.

Powder 8s

This is one of the best lines in Silver Basin, starting in an open face, funneling through a wide and shallow couloir and opening again to the lower basin.

Three Way Peak

The SE flank of Three Way Peak offers numerous alpine lines.