Crystal Mountain Ski Tours

Whether you are interested in North facing or South facing slopes this page has you covered. The Crystal Mountain ski tours provide everything from tree skiing to open chutes. Once you start understanding the layout of the backcountry you can get numerous different styles of slopes within a single ski tour.

Crystal Mountain to Stampede Pass Ski

Ski touring from Crystal Mountain to Stampede Pass Washington

Over the years I have fallen in love with self supported long distant travels. There is something special about traveling long distances through the snow covered mountains. With all the silence you become in tune with your surroundings. Over a decade I’ve been piecing together a traverse through the Washington Cascades. The Crystal Mountain to Stampede Pass section was a trip I had been putting off for years. The area consisted almost entirely of tree covered peaks, clear cuts and logging roads. This is one of the only areas in the crest of the cascades that’s not in Wilderness or National Park.

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Crystal Mountain Southback Complete Traverse

With the end of the lift accessed resort season coming up fast I decided to make the most out of the powder and daylight. It had been a few days since it had last snowed but conditions were still good if you worked for it. Seeing that there were skin tracks everywhere I decided to link them up. I would do a full traverse from 3 Way Peak all the way to East Peak and ride the main lines along the way. It was ambitious but time and energy was on my side as I set a goal to ride all the lines in the Crystal Mountain Southback.

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Silver King Attempt at Breaking the Record

It had been a while since Crystal had opened its “Southback” (or lift accessed southern backcountry), the crowned jewel of which is the Silver King Peak, a 7000′ peak with north-facing laps to be had back to the base of the chairlift. The hike out to the top of the peak can take anywhere from twenty minutes to over an hour, depending upon the individual and snow conditions, and consists largely of traverses and some bootpacking.

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East Peak Multilap riding the Best Lines

East Peak at Crystal Mountain Washington

The west faces slopes of East Peak are some of the best easy access touring options around Crystal Mountain. Being directly South of the ski resort they ride over 2,500 feet from the base parking lot. Within a few hours and a few well laid switchbacks you can be riding through wide open trees and numerous different aspects. Being that I had a short afternoon to go riding I made my way up for an East Peak Multilap.

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Southback Tour Beyond the Gates of Crystal

About reading to drop into Crystal Lakes Basin from the top of the King in the Crystal Mountain Backcounty
Hitting up a high bank off the Dog Leg chute on our way back to Crystal Mountain ski resort
Skiing the Southback backcountry near Crystal Mountain

The Crystal Mountain Southback is usually referred to as the end of the resort boundaries. Most people consider this to be the anywhere from the Silver King to 3 Way Peak. I know for many years I had the same though as I made it out up Chair 6 to do the dreaded traverse. But as the years went on I started to look beyond the rope at the surrounding peaks. This trip was one of those early day trips Heading up to the King and dropping into what at the time was the unknown.

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East Peak Storm Riding near Crystal Mountain

When the storm if dropping crazy amounts of snow there is no place like East Peak. With direct access and over 2,500 feet from top to bottom it can be great fall line. The hardest part of the day is breaking a safe and efficient trail but well worth the effort. The upper 1,000 feet is amazingly open trees but with a bit of navigation you can get a much longer run. After the Cascades had gotten nailed with over a foot of fresh snow it was time to break trail. Scott, Dan and I made sure to be early to get some riding on East Peak storm riding.

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Crown Point South and Amazing Tree Skiing

Dan skiing off the summit of Crown Point
Climbing up to Crown Point in the Crystal Mountain Backcountry

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.




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Gunbarrel Ridge in Silver Basin Storm Day

John gaining the ridge up to Gunbarrel in the Silver Basin in the Crystal Mountain Backcountry
John gaining the ridge up to Gunbarrel in the Silver Basin in the Crystal Mountain Backcountry
Snowboarding down Gunbarrel Ridge Crystal Mountain Backcountry

Gunbarrel Ridge in the Silver Basin of Crystal Mountain is one of those places that’s easy access and steep and relatively anchored. Being that you can find safe and open treed slopes it is great during storms. With a northerly aspect it holds great snow while other places get cooked by the sun. This was not one of those days as the storms were raging in the Pacific Northwest. Travel would be limited by the distance we were willing to break trail. With well over a foot of snow overnight John and I went through our options. Wanting to get a great line that wasn’t far away and semi stable we set our sights the north facing slopes of Silver Basin.




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