SAM Magazine—Enumclaw, Wash., March 7, 2022—A recently unveiled $100 million capital investment by parent company Alterra will address key capacity concerns at Crystal Mountain, Wash., according to resort president Frank DeBerry, through expanded parking, skier services, lift, and terrain.

The projects, he said, address "the issues that our skiers have told us are important—more parking, more food space, more restrooms, more lifts, and more terrain.” 

This spring, Crystal will add several hundred parking spaces and break ground on a $26 million, two-story, 25,000 sq. ft. skier services facility designed by Bull Stockwell Allen. The facility will expand the resort's capacity for F&B, retail, and restrooms, among other guest services. The former skier services facility, Cascade Lodge, will be repurposed to accommodate expanded rental and demo services and an enlarged Crystal Kids facility. 

The base area redevelopment will be ready for the 2023-24 season. General contractor HHJ Construction, out of Tacoma, Wash., will oversee construction.

While details are still being finalized, DeBerry confirmed that plans to upgrade lifts and expand terrain at Crystal have also been accelerated to support the increased parking and facilities capacity. “Originally, lift upgrades weren’t planned until 2025 and 2026,” he said, “but given that the reservation and mass-transit system has allowed us to fit many more skiers into the parking lots, we now see the need to bring lifts to the top of the list.” Construction on the upgraded lifts and terrain expansion is now slated for 2023, said DeBerry, pending USFS approval.  

In the second phase of development, Crystal will replace its Summit House with a 14,000 sq. ft., two-story lodge. The building will seat 350 indoors and up to 560 guests inside and out combined. A new 100-room hotel is also planned, although the timeline for that project has not been finalized.

Additionally, the master plan provisions for a summer operations expansion. According to DeBerry, summer ops additions will be handled piecemeal, and are contingent on USFS approval. For this year, the resort has contracted Bonsai Design for construction of a ropes course. In addition, the ski area has allocated funds for further summer business investments, to be finalized this summer. 

“We’re excited to bring new facilities to the mountain and to redesign the guest flow, gathering spaces, and lift infrastructure for our skiers and riders,” said DeBerry, “and to expand our offerings in the summertime so that we can highlight the fact that Crystal is as extraordinary a place in the summer as our skiing and riding is in the winter.”