Grand Targhee, 3/20

I've got lots of data suggesting that Targhee has the most consistent snow in North America, but I've now seen it in person. I don't count Feb. 1995, when I took half a run and then went down the hill in the meat wagon with a torn meniscus. <BR> <BR>Consider that Targhee had its worst January ever with 4 feet snowfall, tie for worst February with another 4 feet, and only one foot so far in March, most of that 4 days before my visit. <BR> <BR>The result? Coverage is complete with no rocks showing so you can ski any line you want. The lowest 20% of the hill had a soft spring surface, but everything else was packed powder. This includes the longest fall lines, which face southwest crossing under the high speed quad. Is it always cloudy here? The cloud touched the top of the mountain for about an hour in the morning; otherwise visibility was OK. <BR> <BR>I asked how often the snowcat skiing had operated and was told most days from mid-December to February, but very little over the previous 3 weeks.

Seeing as how this little BBS is one of my own pet projects, I suppose that I have little excuse to have not posted from our own trip. Chalk it up to not skiing with a laptop. <BR> <BR>We were at Targhee on the 15th-16th. As Tony mentioned, tons of cover. Alas, the surface was quite variable. It had been warm, then refroze, so anything with even the slightest southerly aspect was Captain Crunch. Sounds from Tony like the situation straightened itself out a few days later. <BR> <BR>Fortunately for us, there was the north side of Sitting Bull Ridge and Mary's Nipple, the latter a hike-to area with a northern aspect. We got a few inches overnight on the 15th, so the 16th held boot-top on Mary's where it blew in. Most of the trip, though, we repeated laps dropping off of Sitting Bull Ridge, their steepest in-bounds stuff. We'd ski down, traverse left, ski more trees, traverse left, ski more trees, traverse left, etc., most of the way down the hill. Divine. <BR> <BR>Full story will follow soon.