CRYSTAL NORDIC
A Mother's Dream

CAMILLE HAD JUST RETURNED from skiing the Otter Trail "Cross country skiing is a mother's dream," she said, a wide smile on her face. "It's so nerve-wrackingly quiet. I kept expecting any minute to hear someone shout, 'Mommy!'"

Our trip to Crystal Mountain had been my daughter-in-law's introduction to cross country skiing--and I can't imagine a better way to begin. The Otter Trail, which passed right by our condo, is the ultimate, green, beginner's trail. Otter is flat, short, impeccably groomed, and lit at night. It winds in and out of trees along nine holes of Crystal's Mountain Creek golf course without ever giving you the feeling that you're skiing on a golf course.

The distance is 2.6 kilometers--about right for a beginner's first hesitant glides--and if you want to go just a bit further, Outer Otter adds another 800 meters to the experience. Few resorts do as good a job of daily grooming as Crystal, setting double tracks for classic skiers with a wide area in the middle for skating.

Some ski resorts, that include cross-country skiing among their activities, make the mistake of hiding their nordic centers off property. Crystal's nordic center (the golf clubhouse in summers) is near one of the chairlifts and next door to the day-care center. Head one way and you're on the resort's main trail system (which also can be accessed at the top by one of the other chairlifts); step across the street, and you're on the Otter Trail. Skiing that trail, you can see the downhill skiers on the side of the mountain (an impressive sight nighttime when slopes are lit), but the next minute you're into the woods. When Camille went out alone our final day at Crystal, she said she paused several times, not from fatigue, but to enjoy the silence.

Enjoy The Silence

Camille skied Otter Trail three times: once each morning and evening, when I took her and the rest of the family skiing, and once again on her own. Had she not been so content, I would have introduced her to Stag Hollow that starts beside the nordic center. Stag Hollow, which also is lighted at night, requires a bit of climbing going out and a return descent, but nothing Camille couldn't have handled without a few words of instruction. Stag Hollow is 3.6 kilometers long; Jack's Rabbit, the final green trail, adds another 3.8 kilometers to the total of 10.8 kilometers for beginners.

Not that Crystal's cross-country trails are for sissies. Far from it: The resort boasts the Midwest's only double-black diamond trail, and that's more than marketing hype. Screaming Eagle is aptly named, because of the twisting downhills, and you'll need to do a lot of herring-boning to get to the top of the uphills before starting to scream at what confronts you. Proud of your technical ability? You'll need every trick of the trade to stay upright on Screaming Eagle. (See: Screaming Eagle.)

Between the extremes of the Otter Trail and Screaming Eagle is plenty of additional terrain for intermediate skiers. If you like going down more than going up, you can ride a chairlift to the top of the mountain and cruise down Badger Pass to the central trail system. Or, if you want a long, aerobic workout, you can do what I did and ski Jack's Rabbit into the Aspen Trail. Aspen winds around the outer edges of the property. Because of the construction of nine new holes on the golf course, Aspen was recently rerouted, but covers about 11 kilometers if you return along Doe's Delight. There's one long uphill just before the connection, but the trail earns its blue status for being long more than being technically difficult.

If you're familiar with the trail system and don't feel embarrassed about clambering across some logs placed to block your access, you can ski the Betsie River Pathway. The Department of Natural Resources, which manages Pere Marquette State Forest, prefers skiers to enter the Pathway from its trailhead (Longstreet Road, south of Highway 115 west of Thompsonville). Only 250 feet separate the two trail systems, but you have to know where to make the traverse. The Betsie River Pathway is ungroomed, but tracked by many skiers.

In his book, Northern Michigan's Best Cross Country Ski Trails, Mike Terrell describes the Betsie River Pathway as well marked and easy to ski. "Your tranquillity is seldom disturbed, except for wildlife. You rarely encounter another skier." Terrell's book describes forty-six trails, many of them within driving distance of Crystal Mountain and Traverse City. You may order a copy of Terrell's book online from his website at: http://www.northguide.com/terrell.

Screaming Eagle | Crystal Mountain Family Skiing

Copyright © 1997 by Hal Higdon. All rights reserved. Requests to reprint will be considered.

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