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Crystal Mtn.
16 reviews
4.25 of 5
At this place you buy a lift ticket(~$10) and ride down. This is for the lazy people who dont want to ride uphill.
Summary: Heh this is such an awesome place. There are so many trails and it is so beatiful, especially up near east peak where there are rolling hills of green meadows.
Going up is tough, best if you're into hiking. I can ride up most of the first 1/3 of the mountain but after that is gets really steep and I have to walk. You can ride the chair if you want, but I think it's pricy, and that's the easiest part to get up so I don't mind riding/hiking it. They won't take you up to the top, which I think is actually kindof nice cause it makes this a less used trail since most people are not willing to hike their ride, fine with me :).
It's a long ride down and you can cover a LOT of terrain in a run.
Recommended Route: Hike up to the summit house, take the backside to the bottom of powder bowl, and traverse bear pits to chair 9 area. Riding across the bottom of powder is a great place to get some real speed up on a narrow trail.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Victor Falls in Bonney Lake, and the Lake Sawyer trails in Black Diamond.
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Summary: I tend to rate trails on a Porcupine Rim (Moab) scale - Porcupine being a 10. Based on that scale I give Crystal Mt. about a 9.
The only shortcoming of this trail is the fact that the downhill section could be more technical. Even so, it is the best smooth singletrack that I have ever ridden (I don't normally like smooth singletrack). It is super fast, the turns are banked, and it goes on forever. The lower 1/3 of the downhille does have some air opportunities if you look for them.
The ride itself is awe inspiring. I'm not easily impressed by views anymore but this competes with anything I've ever seen.
This is a ride for seasoned riders only. Do not use this ride as a way to break in a new riding buddy or impress a girl. Also, this is a fair whether ride - literally. Don't do this ride in anything than less than perfect weather. Even then you will find yourself cold in the shade and baking in the sun.
Oh yeah, the climb is not trivial. I like to climb so I didn't complain much. I do recommend that you be in pretty good shape for this on or you may not enjoy it so much.
Those things aside, I would argue that this is a ride that every serious mountain biker should do at least once.
Recommended Route: As mentioned elswhere, get the book "kissing the trail". I would also use this ride as an excuse to buy that ninety dollar GPS that you have always wanted. There are lots of spurs from the main trail. The trouble is that you can loose several hundred feet of elevation in no time by taking the wrong path. Personally, I liked parking at the ski lodge and meeting up with the trail at the first lake. Long mind-numming fire roads don't do it for me.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Ranger creek and deep creek are awesome donwhills. Suntop sucked!
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Review Date March 26, 2003
Overall Rating 3 of 5
Ridden Trail: Ridden Once
Reviewed by: Mellow Yellow
, from Seattle, WA
Summary: If you love to climb... and climb... and climb... nd climb; then this is the trail for you. Like someone else mentioned below, bring as much H2O, Powerbars, food, Gu, etc. you can pack. From the parking lot to the very top it's a near 4000' elevation gain. I am not a strong climber, so it was a hard day of riding for me. What made it worth while were the views of the Cascades, Mt. Rainier, and the surounding valleys. Once you do this ride, you'll be spent for a day or two after. Crystal also has a very poor chair lift policy for bikes. It is by far the lamest system I've ever seen. For $20(US) the lift takes you less than 1/3 of the way up the mountain; then you still have 2500' of climbing to go. My opinion, do it once just to say you did it. The views are awesome. If you like punishment, it's the place for you. The climb to 6850' will challenge you. Otherwise, stick to the trails in the surrounding areas.
Recommended Route: We took the clock-wise rout. I don't remember the name of the trails, but it was beautiful
Other recommended trails in the same area: Dalles Ridge; Skookum Flats, Boyscout
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Review Date July 21, 2002
Overall Rating 3 of 5
Ridden Trail: Once a year
Reviewed by: Skookum
, from Seatac
Summary: Being a trail rider I do like riding up what I ride down, but I love taking the ski lifts at Snoqualmie Pass and doing those trails. If you like it too or are exclusive dh guy/girl don't bother with this place for that, if you can fork over a few extra bucks for a lift ticket and can get to Snoqualmie Pass, do it. It's much much....yes much better for that. The loop trail is nice, grueling and the payoff isnt as great as the Noble Nob rides. Still the views are nice, the trail down is technical to a point, long and fun. The lodge view is great. But ultimately falls short of being as good as the Noble Nob area period. I really think this place could be a mt. bikers paradise. The potential of technical dowhill/xc mountain trails here could be unlimited. There is sooooo much untapped terrain here it's pitiful. And the ski lifts only bring the dh'ers up a quarter to a third up the hill. I don't understand why the people at Crystal can't see how bad they are missin the boat here, this place could be so awesome. I think something is tying their hands, or they are dumb, or they care only for the skiing and winter recreation here. This place has the capability of being a six tire, but i give it........sadly a
Recommended Route: There is some dh runs, dry and rocky, ski lifts are not the best option here. Looking for great downhill go to Snoqualmie much much better. The loop trail that wraps around is nicer but compared to other trails in area it also does not live up to the hype. The real gem of this ride are the views mainly the one from the lodge.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Definately All of them!
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Review Date December 5, 2001
Overall Rating 2 of 5
Ridden Trail: Every few months
Reviewed by: Patrick
, from Seattle
Summary: Crystal is very over-rated. I found it to be limited and would rather ride almost any other area that has technical singletrack.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Victor falls. A few runs at Snoqualmie.
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