Crystal Mountain got 10 inches of new snow fall Sunday and two more inches overnight putting the ski area within a good storm of opening.

“We’re close, really close," said Crystal GM John Kircher in a prepared statement. "We just need another 6-8 inches of snow to open."

The ski area has 12 inches at the base and 20 inches at the summit.

A statement from the resort said "It’s still too early to say when Crystal will open but preparations are being made; groomers are out packing down the snow, crews are busy plowing the parking lots, and local members of the Ski Patrol have been called in to begin set-up work later this week. Wax those skis and boards, the ski season is near!"

Here are some pictures courtesy of Crystal's Tiana Enger.

Mount Rainier National Park superintendent Dave Uberuaga has been named acting superintendent of Yosemite National Park in California. Uberuaga will take over at one of the nation’s premiere parks on Jan. 4.

National Park Service
Dave Uberuaga

He is filling the post following the retirement of superintendent Mike Tollefson.

Deputy superintendent Randy King will be in charge of operations at Mount Rainier.

The moves were announced today by Jon Jarvis, the National Park Service’s western regional director.

"I have enormous confidence in Dave," Jarvis said in a news release. "Dave and Mike have served together on leadership councils within the NPS and their relationship ensures a smooth transition."

"It will be difficult to fill Mike’s shoes," Uberuaga said. "He retires having achieved tremendous success and a solid relation with the community, and it will be a pleasure to work collaboratively with him as he assumes the position of president of the Yosemite Fund."

Uberuaga, has spent 24 years at Mount Rainier after working 10 years with the Geneal Accounting Office. He is expected to be in Yosemite for several months.

This will be Uberuaga’s third temporary post. He once served six months as the deputy regional director for administration in Seattle and spent four months running Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco.

His primary role at Yosemite will be to provide continuity for the staff, Uberuaga said.

“The key is to support the staff. The difficult issues at Yosemite have been there for a long time. I’m not going to take care of those in my short time there,” Uberuaga said.

In the meantime, King will find himself more involved in efforts to finish flood protection work at Mount Rainier and the work to write an environmental assessment for the Carbon River Road corridor.