Mountain layout—Snowboarding

The Crystal Express high speed quad is the lift of choice when looking for a long continuous run. This chair climbs a decent pitch and accesses a number of north facing runs.  Fall line down from the top of the lift enters into “The Glades.” This steep, consistent shot is a good first run on a powder day, as the trees are perfectly spaced all the way to the bottom. Riding down the Crystal Ridge, four black diamond runs are lined up on the rider’s right. Most of these runs are pretty open and all of them are north facing. The “Diamond Black” run usually gets bumped out, but the trees on the side are a good place to look for hidden powder.

From the peak, a boot track traverses up and across to the rider’s right.  This short hike leads to Solitude Canyon and is well worth the few minutes of walking. When the rest of the resort is tracked, this secret powder stash will still have a few good lines to hit. With a little luck some natural hits and hips can be found. Get to know some locals, and maybe they will share some of the resort’s secrets.

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Parks and pipes
The terrain park at Diamond Peak is great for intermediate and novice riders. Nothing here is lethal, so parents can relax when the kids are out jibbing. The main park is on the Spillway. When lapping the Crystal Express, riders can get a good run through “The Glades” and finish it up in the Spillway Park. A few medium size kickers are lined up on one side of the run and a decent rail/box progression is on the other. The boxes and rails are pretty average, but are perfect for kids and rider’s just learning how to jib. The Popular trail off of the Lakeview quad has a few little jumps and some ride-on features. This empties onto the Lodge Pole trail, which also has two ride-on boxes.