jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
My previous three visits to Wyoming over the past eight years all took place at the end of January, because that seems to be a great weather sweet spot for this region. But this fall, with all the long-range forecasts for the coming winter going on about La Nina, and how it would "almost certainly" give much of the west a huge early season snowfall, I rolled the dice and booked a flight here for mid-December.
The Wxers turned out to be right on target; by the time I arrived on Sunday, Jackson Hole had received 171 inches year-to-date, the most in its history. Unfortunately, a rogue warm front was moving through the area (part of La Nina's volatile nature?), and this is what I got during my first three days.
But whenever I go to Grand Targhee, powder days have a way of showing up, so after a dramatic trip over the Teton Pass late Tuesday afternoon in a two-wheel-drive rental with onion skins for tires (my CNY lake-effect driving skillz were key), I got what I came for. Accompanied by local knowledge courtesy of the Bret and Brett team from the gorgeous Teton Springs Lodge, where I'm staying, we headed off to Grand Targhee yesterday morning, which was reporting 12 inches of fresh snow.
Driving past the iconic Spud Drive-In:
The Grand Targhee Cloud hovering above:
Heading toward the main lift:
The goods were good under the Dreamcatcher lift:
A couple shots of Bret on our first run:
After 2.5 days skiing Jackson Hole's steep hardpack, it took me a couple runs to transition back into powder mode. Bret correctly counseled me to demo wider planks, so I grabbed some Volkl Gotamas, which were a huge improvement from my 95-waist Chubbs. The Goats make a foot of powder feel like three inches.
The big news is that I'm booked for my first-ever cat skiing tomorrow.
The Wxers turned out to be right on target; by the time I arrived on Sunday, Jackson Hole had received 171 inches year-to-date, the most in its history. Unfortunately, a rogue warm front was moving through the area (part of La Nina's volatile nature?), and this is what I got during my first three days.
But whenever I go to Grand Targhee, powder days have a way of showing up, so after a dramatic trip over the Teton Pass late Tuesday afternoon in a two-wheel-drive rental with onion skins for tires (my CNY lake-effect driving skillz were key), I got what I came for. Accompanied by local knowledge courtesy of the Bret and Brett team from the gorgeous Teton Springs Lodge, where I'm staying, we headed off to Grand Targhee yesterday morning, which was reporting 12 inches of fresh snow.
Driving past the iconic Spud Drive-In:
The Grand Targhee Cloud hovering above:
Heading toward the main lift:
The goods were good under the Dreamcatcher lift:
A couple shots of Bret on our first run:
After 2.5 days skiing Jackson Hole's steep hardpack, it took me a couple runs to transition back into powder mode. Bret correctly counseled me to demo wider planks, so I grabbed some Volkl Gotamas, which were a huge improvement from my 95-waist Chubbs. The Goats make a foot of powder feel like three inches.
The big news is that I'm booked for my first-ever cat skiing tomorrow.
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