1960s Crystal Mountain Resort opened in December 1962 with two double chairlifts. The first of these lifts, Miner's Basin, was decommissioned in the summer of 2011. Its route was close to that of the Gondola and ended by the top of the Exterminator and Deerfly runs. The other original lift (Iceberg Ridge) was removed when the Rainier Express was built. The site, just northeast of
Mount Rainier National Park, was chosen after some
Tacoma skiers were unable to start a resort within the boundaries of the park. The Green Valley double chairlift was built the following summer, and the Quicksilver lift followed in 1964. In 1965, Crystal hosted the
collegiate ski championships in late March and the following week the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships, which included famous racers such as
Karl Schranz of
Austria, Olympic medalists
Jimmie Heuga and
Billy Kidd of the
U.S., future triple gold medalist
Jean-Claude Killy of
France, and future gold medalist
Nancy Greene of
Canada. Crystal hosted the national championships again in 1968, a few weeks after the
Winter Olympics. Kidd, Heuga, and Greene were again in the field, as well as
Spider Sabich. Back from the Olympics and the World Cup tour, local
Judy Nagel won the women's slalom and combined titles at age sixteen. Five years earlier, her father Jack Nagel (1926–2004) and the racing school at Crystal were featured in
Sports Illustrated, with her older sister Cathy, then fourteen, on the cover.
1970s The Campbell Basin chairlift opened in 1970, which opened Campbell Basin to skiing for the first time and traveled from the base area all the way to the site of the current Campbell Basin Lodge. Two weeks after the
1972 Olympics, Crystal hosted the
World Cup tour in late February
1972 with two
downhills for both men and women, with the start above Campbell Basin. Weather forced a low start; the winning men's times were under 90 seconds. Newly-crowned
Olympic downhill champion Bernhard Russi of
Switzerland won the Saturday race and took second on Sunday. American
Mike Lafferty of
Eugene, Oregon, took second and fourth in the two downhills. A women's slalom scheduled for Sunday was cancelled due to weather. In 1974, Crystal added its first triple chairlift, Bullion Basin. High Campbell, the highest lift at Crystal, was added in 1976. It was pre-owned, purchased from the defunct Yodelin Ski Area near
Stevens Pass. High Campbell serves the summit of Silver Queen and provides access to The Throne, Silver King, Campbell Basin, Avalanche Basin, and Silver Basin.
1980s In 1984, Bullion Basin was moved to its current location as the Gold Hills lift. That same year, the Rendezvous and Discovery triple chairlifts were installed.
Washington's first
high-speed detachable quad chairlift, the Rainier Express was installed in the summer of 1988, replacing the original chair 2. A fixed grip quad, Midway Shuttle, was added to connect the base area with Rainier Express. The Campbell Basin double was shortened because the lower half was no longer necessary. These upgrades were funded with money from investors, who in return would get future discounts on lift tickets and season passes. Today this group of investors is the Crystal Mountain Founder's Club.
1990s In the mid-1990s, Crystal Mountain became deeply in debt and was unable to pay for further important improvements such as new lifts and lodges. The original investors sold the area to
Boyne Resorts in March 1997. The deal directed Boyne to spend at least $15 million in capital improvements during the first ten years. and Forest Queen Express lifts to replace Midway Shuttle and Rendezvous, respectively (Midway Shuttle being relocated to
Loup Loup Ski Bowl). Boyne also made other improvements such as a new rental facility, paved parking lots, and five new Bombardier
snowcat grooming machines.
2000s The Green Valley double chairlift was replaced with a high-speed quad in the summer of 2000, constructed by Doppelmayr. In the summer of 2007, Crystal underwent a major expansion, building the Northway chairlift in the former North Backcountry. This increased developed terrain by 70% to . In addition, the Summit House restaurant was remodeled.
2010s During the summer of 2010, a terrain park was constructed and the Mt. Rainier
Gondola was installed by Doppelmayr, which travels directly from the base area to the summit house, and its first day of operation was New Year's Day 2011. During an extremely severe avalanche period on March 10, 2014, the ski patrol triggered an avalanche as part of normal control work, which destroyed the High Campbell chairlift. During the summer of 2014 work to replace the High Campbell and Quicksilver chairs was initiated. A Skytrac double chairlift was built quickly to replace High Campbell, renamed Chair 6,. The Quicksilver chair was replaced with a fixed grip quad that had originally operated at
Deer Valley Resort as Deer Crest. The top station was lowered to cut off the steep top part of the Quicksilver Run, now rated a green, over a blue. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for both chairs was held on January 8, 2015, at 9AM for Quicksilver and 10AM for Chair 6. Crystal Mountain was acquired by John Kircher on March 31, 2017. This lasted one full season until
Alterra Mountain Company agreed to purchase Crystal Mountain on September 6, 2018.
2020s In March 2022, Crystal Mountain Resort and
Alterra Mountain Company announced a $100 million redevelopment program that would include a new food and retail building, a 100-room hotel, and additional parking lots. The announcement also brought a $700 increase in season pass costs for the 2022–23 season in addition to increased parking costs. ==World Cup alpine racers==