The south face of Crown Point has some of the best tree skiing in the area with open slopes followed by the occasional tree. With its aspect you have to be fast if the sun is out because the snow can get cooked. It’s located on the Eastern side of the crest so if you are looking for good weather it is a great place to go. Being early in December with a solid snowpack and a little bit of new snow we decided to head out there for some bluebird pow turns.
Heading up the Bullion Basin Trail
A couple days earlier I had received a phone call from Justin.,He was an old lift op from Crystal Mountain back in the mid 90’s and was looking to check out the terrain. Conditions weren’t looking looking to inspiring with only a few inches of new snow foretasted and a potentially cloudy day. Since it was still December and reasonably cold we decided to focus our attention on Crown Point riding the south face as it was at a high elevation and had a good chance to be in the sun.
We quickly reached the trail head and were soon breaking trail. There was anywhere from 6 inches to over a foot of freshly accumulated snow. We were surprised as it was much more then the forecasted two inches. Making our way up the steep slope focusing our attention on putting in a clean skin track until arriving upon the low pass beyond Bullion Peak.
Heading Along the Ridge to Crown Point
Once we were up on the ridge we were greeted by howling winds under a thin layer of clouds. We watched the sun attempting to break through the clouds as we made our way towards Crown Point. Once we were on the last little bump to the peak we were out of the clouds and into the sun. From our vantage point we could see that the South facing slopes of Crown Point were in sunshine compared to the flat light everywhere else.
On the summit we chatted a bit while soaking up the sun. We could see the clouds swarming around the area but the peaks we starting to come out. Like a light switch the weather had changed dramatically. We didn’t know what to expect but the forecast was calling for clouds.
Dropping into Crown Point’s South Face
After a quick discussion we were riding the perfect fall line of the wide open south facing slopes. The biggest part of the discussion was who wanted to go first. With Dan already on his skis and ready to go he got to lay first tracks down Crown Point on the slope.
After Dan had rode down to a safe spot Justin made his way halfway and over to the side. He had set up so he could snap a shot of me dropping in. After watching both of them riding in good snow I was excited to ride the face all the way down to Dan. Once Justin gave the green light I rode a little bit to the right of there tracks into the valley below.
Before long we all arrived at our stopping point 1500 vertical feet below. We greeted each other with huge grins and snow covered beanies as we quickly switched to uphill mode. We were ecstatic at the conditions we had encountered and quickly made our way up for another lap.
The Second Lap on Crown Points South Face in the Sun
Arriving back at the summit by now the clouds had burned off and we had full sun. Being that it was still early in the season the slopes hadn’t be cooked yet. Knowing this we chatted for a few minutes before dropping in for our second lap.
We made sure to ride a little bit to the left of our previous tracks to have a clean canvas. The route had a bit more trees but they were well spaced and in great condition.
Once at the base we looked up at our tracks on Crown Points south face now with 6 tracks on it. 30 minutes later we were back on the summit of Crown Point and preparing to drop the western face into Pickhandle basin.
Heading Back via Pickhandle Basin
The light was flat as we dropped into the clouds. Not knowing what to expect we were surprised to find that the turns were phenomenal. Milking the fall line it turned out to be more then a foot of powder. It was exhilarating as we rode open slopes followed by a perfect natural half pipe.
Soon we arrived at the waterfall at the base of Pickhandle Basin. It was billy goating at its finest at we traversed along its steep sidewalls. Below us was a raging creek but before long we were at the base and crossing a small snow bridge. From here on it was effortless as rode down to the top of the Gold hills chairlift. Looking down we were happy to find that they had just groomed slopes. We went from powder to corduroy snow as we rode all the way down to the base. It was a great day and the we celebrated with beers at the Snort Elk.
It had been around 7 hours of climbing for less then 20 minutes of riding but was it worth it. We had a great day riding Crown Point south face and the line down into Pickhandle basin was a huge bonus.
Thank you for reading this trip riding down Crown Point’s south face. If you want to see more ski tours within Crystal Mountain Backcountry check out this link.