Crystal Mountain, WA – Less than a year after opening an $8 million gondola, the first ski lift of its kind in Washington, Crystal Mountain Resort continues to invest and expand. For this winter Crystal added two retail shops, a new rental fleet, snowmaking, a PistenBully winch cat and five new gondola cabins.
“The extended ski season and summer operations kept revenue coming in when we’ve otherwise been closed, allowing us to increase spending on some additional improvements,” said resort spokesperson Tiana Enger. Crystal was open for skiing until July 16 last season and the Mt. Rainier Gondola carried nearly 50,000 sightseers to Crystal’s summit between mid-June and early October.
The RDL Test Center is a new retail store and demo center located at 6850′ underneath the top terminal of the gondola. It will feature cutting edge ski technology from Rossignol, Dynastar and Lange. At the base area, the Mountain Shop will house ski and snowboard demos, bootfitting services and ski and snowboard retail — the first hardgoods to be sold at Crystal Mountain.
Next to the Mountain Shop, the Snowsports School and Rental Shop have been upgraded with a new fleet of Head rental skis, and a remodel focused on providing a better guest experience.
The Green Valley ridgeline is armed with four new snowguns, supplied by an 85,000-gallon water tank. As soon as temperatures allow, Crystal will begin building a solid base in Green Valley. The snowmaking will also supplement the snowpack to hopefully extend the spring skiing season on a more consistent basis.
The new PistenBully cat will be dedicated to Otto Bahn, a black diamond run accessed from Northway chairlift. Rarely groomed in the past, this run will now be buffed out almost nightly.
Five new gondola cabins are set to arrive early spring. This alone cost Crystal $200,000 and will bring the count up to 27 cabins to increase the lift’s uphill capacity. The gondola cable can ultimately carry 36 cabins.
Other changes at Crystal this winter include extensive tree limbing and stump removal on Upper Exterminator and Bull Run, a new event plaza in the base area and rock work at the bottom of the gondola.