By Craig Sailor

 
The News Tribune
 

It’s easy to forget that a whole mountain of fun gets buried under the snow at a winter-focused ski area. But take a summer trip to Crystal Mountain and you’ll find more than just rocks emerging from the ice.

 

The centerpiece of the resort’s transformation to a year-round recreation destination is its new $8 million gondola that opened in January. It whisks riders 2,500 vertical feet up from the main lodge in a little over nine minutes. While the open-air lifts quit running when the ski season closed July 16, Crystal has kept the gondola running this summer. And that has opened a whole new world for folks without boards attached to their feet.