Crystal has woods, ridges and carving slopes that keep freeriders coming back. A lot of intermediate and advanced riders enjoy the up-mountain area off Green Valley Chair, reached by taking Chinook and Rainier Express chairs.

Both the Rainier Express to Summit House and the Green Valley Chair to Grubstake Point will get you to the Northway Ridge and Northway Notch. From those you turn right to the double-black-diamond bowls of North Country, which is only open if the Ski Patrol says it is. This is legal backcountry boarding at its best, with the added bonus of a shuttle ride from the bottom of Lower Northway back to the main lift area. It operates daily.

Parks and pipes
For the acrobatically inclined, a halfpipe screams for action next to the Quicksilver Chair. The resort built an in-ground halfpipe that's 250 feet long, 50 feet wide, and has 18-foot walls. Not quite to superpipe standards, but the U.S. Forest Service prevents the larger dimensions.