Freshies

Sitting at home looking at the several inches of snow outside the window, I wondered skeptically if the snow reports could really be accurate. And even so, would the first dump of the season be enough to avoid any core shots or traumatic injury to my skis? Dreaming about the pros and cons I woke up comfortable with my decision from the night before but as the morning progressed, the clouds dissipated revealing a much whiter mountain range than I had remembered.

Heading out towards the pass, Ryan and I both silently imagined what lay ahead of us. Seeing a couple of flashing signs that a chain law was in effect was unnerving but figured we wouldn't worry until the pavement got wet and slushy. And then the pavement got wet and slushy... but only for a piece of the road that didn't get the morning sun. After a quick scare, we were practically at the top and ready to park and gear up.

Having only driven 25 minutes, it was odd to already be gearing up. Back east, car rides up north to ski never lasted less than 2 hours and sometimes as much as 6. Once Ryan and I had exchanged several pounds and a high five all before touching snow, we took the advice a local had given us and started climbing. It wasn't long before I had to indulge just a little bit.

The great thing about Wyoming is that you can pretty much do what you want, where you want, and probably whenever you want. Living among the best terrain in the U.S. it's amazing that any mountain I look at I can hike up and ride down as I please. Staring at Glory Peak, which we hiked four days ago, we decided to take a less grueling route.

At the peak of our hike we were treated to a wintry October view of Jackson and the mountains.

And the backcountry scene out here is ridiculous. By noon the bowl behind us had been mostly tracked out.

My first turns confirmed that there was a lot of powder and that I was going to get a solid work out. Being in this fantasy world, the smiles were hard to wipe off. We may not have gotten above 9,580' where 41" were recorded falling in 48 hours (presumably more atop Glory Peak at 10,086'), but at somewhere slightly below that, we enjoyed untouched turn after turn of the light stuff. Making turns in thigh high powder in October still has me giddy eight hours later. Thank you La Niña.