What a season!  Over 600 inches of snow at Crystal since November 2010 and a brand new Gondola to help us enjoy it!  But all good things must come to an end, and we don’t know about you, but we’re actually ready for summer! 

The snow was getting pretty thin, but we had to go up one last day —just because we could!  We had some great runs (one down Snorting Elk where the snow completely petered out) and a delicious lunch at the Summit House.  The sun and Mt. Rainier even came out to help us celebrate the… Read Full Story

The newly remodeled Sunrise Visitor Center opened yesterday, for the first time in 2 years.

It’s gorgeous with new exhibits that will take your breath away.  The original Visitors Center was built in the 1930s and is a gorgeous log lodge (the kind you wish you could live in).  The 1970s era gray painted floors were replaced with beautiful Douglas Fir flooring.  The old information desk and sales area were replaced by cabinetry and counters built from cedar.  The old exhibits from the 1970s were replaced with wonderful, informative exhibits the complement the building’s architecture.

Summer ranger programs and interpretive… Read Full Story

Crystal’s new Mt. Rainier Gondola is now pet-friendly, so we decided to take advantage of an absolutely gorgeous day and take our dogs for their very first gondola ride!  We grabbed their leashes, a water bottle, a plastic bowl and zipped up the road a quick 10 minutes from Alta Crystal.

We were actually a little surprised at how easily the dogs got on the Gondola.  Georgia hopped on like she was a pro, and Jebbie just took about 15 seconds of coaching.  (You could tell he was trying to get the timing right—kind of like the first time a… Read Full Story