Crystal Mountain

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐The gondola was a not-to-miss experience. The views are incredible & it was a marvelous experience. The ticketing process could use improvement. ⭐⭐⭐The restaurant on the mountain wasn't well stocked. ⭐⭐ The restaurant near the parking lot closed sporadically. ⭐I had a mouse join me in my hotel room the first night.

— Lisa Henry

Amazing skiing, provided you enjoy administrative improv. Season-pass holder here. Crystal’s parking reservation system has the structural integrity of a wet napkin. On Friday, it deleted people from the waitlist with the calm indifference of a Roomba eating a phone charger. By Saturday it was “working” again, except enforcement appeared optional, which sort of defeats the entire point of having rules. Wind shut lifts down — that’s skiing. What didn’t need to happen was the chaos that followed. Lift lines were organized the way toddlers organize soccer, with rope lines so badly designed that one side moved like a conveyor belt while the other sat in DMV purgatory. The result was predictable: congestion, frustration, and rewarding the worst behavior on the mountain. Crystal has world-class terrain. It just needs operations and crowd control that don’t feel like an improv exercise.

— Ross Henry

Great skiing resort. I used RV lot G for 3 days, Wed-Fri. No water just electric for RV's, 30 & 50amp available. It is best to go during weekdays, it less crowded.

— Sorin Realty

2nd and 4th Tuesday are the cheap lift ticket days so no need for reservations. Best mountain around the lower Puget Sound.

— Llew

I visited this place with my husband during a weekend in the month of August. We reached the place at around 5pm on a Saturday. Thankfully the gondola rides are open till 8pm on weekends and hence we took two tickets and joined the folks who were waiting to take the ride. The gondola ride was smooth and the view throughout the ride was beautiful on that sunny summer evening. After reaching the view point, one can see the mesmerising view of Mt. Rainier across what seemed like a small stream. You can do a bit of hiking if interested. There are a few benches put up at the top. In a nutshell, it’s a great place to just chill out amidst nature.

— Deepthi Rao