Gaper Day 2011

With temperatures hovering in the 50s and the sun out in full effect, the mood was set right for Gaper Day at Jackson Hole and everyone came out in full force. The perfect conditions on the mountain plus a 3.5 hour ski break made up for my being so miserable about having to work all day. Unfortunately, I was not as prepared as Ryan who had the day off.

Once I got out and met up with Ryno, we went straight to Thunder bumps under the lift per his request. Heading up the chair I realized why he was so adamant about heading there.

There was well over a hundred people hanging out above the Thunder bumps most in full costume looking absurd. And by the time we got there they had already started building a little booter.

Even though my gaper outfit wasn't nearly as flamboyant as people like my buddy and coworker James and his lady friend Claire...

I had to make up for it with plenty of hot doggin'. Flashy pole plants and tricks of yesteryear like helicopters, daffys, and spread eagles were a must. You know the routine.

Some people were throwing back flips and one kid even threw one with snow blades on. The landing was almost but not quite.

As if the little booter wasn't fun enough the Thunder bumps were a perfect place to witness anything from a dude in a cow suit flying down the bumps on a shovel to impersonations of awful skiing... and retro moves always welcome as well. This was the most people I saw on any given trail at Jackson all year. It was the perfect spot coming down under Thunder and with all the non neon/costume outfitted skiers looking down from the tram above.

Gaper Day was basically and end of the winter halloween on the mountain. Couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

Corbet's Couloir

With closing day (4/3) fast approaching, one of the few things I had left to accomplish before leaving town was Corbet's.

 
Usually it's a ten to thirty foot drop but with the 538" of snow to date and the manicuring from ski patrol, successfully skiing Corbet's requires only a side step down the goat path into the couloir, and entering off a five foot jump over the rock at the bottom, and a hard right then left.

Due to the lack of sun and abundance of wind, skiing the 50 degree slope down the soft snow in Corbet's was pretty mellow. I only took a quick break up at the top to examine the cave dedicated to Doug Coombs, a Jackson Hole legend. Pretty awesome.

The only thing left for me to see on the way down was a more up close look at S and S Couloir. That's an in bounds drop open only for those who gain permission from ski patrol.

I'm all set hucking that far into a couloir, but you never know. It's dumping right now and there's snow in the extended forecast, still. That's been the story of this winter.

Giving Props

Always needing to know the conditions of the day, checking weather has gone from a daily occurrence to more of an hourly necessity. With over four thousand feet of difference in elevation from valley floor to summit peak, snow conditions can widely vary. Especially at work, we're always refreshing several weather sites to see who will give the best report. I have all these guys to thank for keeping me up to date and in the know for specific reasons.



NOAA - forecasts at any specific coordinate (latitude, longitude, and most importantly... elevation)

mountainweather - a more accurate local's forecast (usually)

jhavalanche - all weather, snowfall amount, snow pack and avalanche essential information

WY22 web cam - illuminated, nocturnal view at elevation of falling snow

Satellite Loops - Western and Northeastern Pacific satellite loops

TetonSnowInfo - incomprehensibly detailed summation of all websites listed above, and then some

town web cam - sunset vista with town, buttes, elk refuge, Apres Vous peak, the airport and the tetons painted by the sun

OnTheSnow - snowfall amounts for last 30 days, and detailed, daily snow report


These websites, in addition to the snowline (888-DEEP-SNOW), are the reason why I, for example, was able to take advantage of the first snowfall in October when it rained hard in town but dumped 42" in 48 hours. That's one example of countless times I've been able to figure out what's going on at elevation when it's doing some very different in town. Meteorology probably isn't in my future, but I'll miss needing to check the weather this much when it's all said and done.

Ryan's new Igneous skis

Finally having a day off that coincided with Ryan's day off we decided to hit the pass and do some laps. And it just so happened that Ryan finally had his custom made skis from Igneous here in Jackson ready to shred. Ryan's liftie buddy, Matt, came with us to ski the pass for the first time. After a short hitchhike to the top, we started the short climb.

We've both been hitting these cornices for a while now with the stable snow and you can pick your line to make it a small drop or send it and go pretty big. Even without deep new snow, it was still a soft landing.

Ryan decided to send it huge and boy did he go big. You can see his bomb hole where Matt, in the blue jacket, is standing. Unfortunately, I was only able to catch the aftermath of his huck. It was probably around a 20' drop. Nice work, Señor.

I ended up hiking half way back up to them from where I had stopped after sending it myself because Ryan single ejected and tomahawked losing one of his skis. After frantic digging, cooler heads prevailed and Ryan spotted his ski at the bottom of the ravine. Lucky dog.

I fetched his ski and he worked his way down on one ski. After one lap, we decided to hit it up again. This time, we took a back seat in someone's truck. It was cool climbing up the pass with such an unobstructed view.

Just another day in Jackson.

Keegan, Tawny, and friends

A few days after saying 'goodbye' to Lauren I was saying 'what up' to Keegan and Tawny. After getting an early lap skiing the pass we headed out to pick them up. We actually saw their plane fly in over us as we were driving to the airport. Before boarding in Denver, Ryan told them to get ready to shred it on the pass first thing off the plane. I'm still amazed at how awesome skiing is here everyday so for them to just fly in and hike and shred the pass on a bluebird day with great views must have been unreal.

Although it hadn't snowed in over a week, the snow at the snow at pass was still relatively light. It was a great first day of shredding for them. And the traverse out wasn't too bad for the knuckle-draggers.

Skiing all the way back to the car was pretty convenient. Only a little sidestepping to do. This was next to where we were parked.

In the days that Keegan, Tawny, and friends were here we did a lot of skiing the pass and resort and plenty of hanging out at their house they had for the week. The main attraction was the ping pong table down in the basement where many heated battles were had. Just like I had taught Carolan and my previous PHA students a lesson, I put on a clinic. Unfortunately staying unbeaten proved difficult.

Showing them around Jackson Hole we went into the Blue Room, a boulder hut that's near the top of the Hobacks. Apparently after dropping down into pit under these massive boulders there is a way out down through the bottom and out the other end. I'm not claustrophobic but being that I'm not petite either I was all set tempting fate. I do that enough jumping off of things. Plus, I thought a baby cub was going to pop out of here anyway.

Unfortunately due to my work schedule I only got to hang out for a few nights and a couple days with our buddies. Either way, it was still good to see old friends and make new memories. In a few short weeks more Fidelity friends of Ryan will be out here for a bachelor party/week. That will definitely be a good time.

Lauren's adventures in Jackson

After sleeping in as late as possible with the sun pouring in through the only 2'x2' window in my basement lair, we decided to venture out and enjoy the beautiful bluebird day at hand. After getting a huge breakfast downtown at The Bunnery,

our first order of business was to go to the pass so Lauren could get a taste of where I've been living. And there were dumps like a truck up top.

After getting a very good view of Jackson and the surrounding area from the pass, we were off to check out the Snake River; the same Snake River we followed all the way back from Oregon.

And the same one that, here in Jackson, people surf.

It was too cold to surf but we got a good shot with the river and The Tetons in the background.

From there it was out through the National Elk Refuge, past the thousands of elk just chillin' way off in the distance, and to a good spot to snap The Grand in all its glory. First the elk...

Then The Grand.

In addition to all the sightseeing we did, we managed to shred Jackson Hole for a couple of hours on my ski break (because I had to work all day) and also hit up Lost Creek Ranch out where Dish lives on my day off to snowmobile for the first time ever and hangout.

Parking at the TX Ranch a few miles up the highway, we were greeted by dish and two sleds. The trek back to Lost Creek Ranch was awesome on the snowmobiles.  Once we went up and around all the rolling hills and trees the path opened up and straightened out. Stopping to see why Dish had pulled over he just yelled at us, "Alright, let 'er rip". He's told us he hits 60 mph cruising between the ranches. With Lauren on back I didn't want to push it so I only hit 50 mph. Man, what an adrenaline rush. Lauren got to cart me around as well and she was cruising around 40 mph at one point. All in all, good times.

Although, Lauren was becoming a true sled neck working this thing around the ranch.

Once we met up with Dish again after he did some work, 

he decided to show us what the Thiokol (like the one in The Shinning) could really do now that it was fixed.

Lauren and I had cruised the whole ranch by ourselves so we were ready for Dish to take us up to higher ground. Cruising up behind him breaking trail through the deep pow with the stronger sled, we managed to make it to the top of the butte right behind the ranch where they have big picnics in the summer.

 

And the reason they have picnics up here.

Thanks to Dish we got to enjoy an awesome day snowmobiling out on the ranch with what turned out to be awesome weather once the clouds broke.

The ranch is such a cool place to be but unfortunately for Dish he's usually by himself most of the winter.  It's beautiful but I imagine quite lonely.

The boss of the ranch loves us and has offered both Ryan and I jobs for this coming summer on multiple occasions. Unfortunately for us, he tends to be grumpy when there are unannounced visitors and gets all congested. So we hightailed it out of there. Great first snowmobiling experience.

That night, Lauren's last in Jackson, we went to have dinner at the Westbank Grill where I work. If I weren't an employee getting hooked up I wouldn't have chosen such a fine dinning establishment. And in addition to the food being awesome, we got taken care of huge time by the staff. It was a great way to cap off a great night and overall trip.

Unfortunately the next day meant back to reality. Dropping Lauren off at the airport and going to work the rest of the day was a pretty good one-two combo to the jaw, but having had such an awesome time the last week it wasn't too bad saying goodbye again. A couple more months and it'll be Boston bound through a pit stop on the west coast to see some friends. For now, back to skiing.

We're going to Jackson

Mt. Hood and Portland were an awesome time but unfortunately all good things must come to an end. After dropping Beth off at the airport Sunday morning, Ryan, Lauren and I embarked on our estimated fourteen hour drive back home to Jackson with only some snow in our forecast in Wyoming. Leaving Portland was great as we had daylight this time to see the sights along the Columbia River. Having visited Oregon last summer with my boys Carolan and Spencer, I got to see the mountainous and high desert landscape in Oregon. This drive was different.

The majority of the ride out involved high rising rolling walls with giant wind turbines. It's impressive how big these things really are.

As the light faded and Ryan and I switched driving for the last time, I decided to take the last leg of the trip into possibly a snowy mess at the pass. But before I had to think about that too much we all were distracted by the mountains in the distance going through Idaho.

Getting to bed around 3 a.m. was rough but it was exciting to think about showing Lauren around Jackson for the next several days.