Grand Targhee, WY 3/3/2015

tseeb

Well-known member
After having the most difficult day of trip at Big Sky on 3/2, I had the best at Targhee on 3/3. There was 3-4" new in Driggs when I woke up and it was still snowing heavily. I heard Targhee claimed 4-5" new at 6 AM and there did not seem to be more new snow at ski area base at 8K than at Diggs 2K lower. I knocked on the door of DanoT's camper before booting up and said hello, then joined him and other EpicSki gathering attendees in Dreamcatcher lift line 10-15 minutes before 9 AM opening. On a day like this, there was no waiting at the base for the 20-30 attendees to assemble. On our first run down the 2K vertical lift, we found 6-8" on the barely tracked W-facing slope, then when we turned to an untracked S-facing, the snow was not as deep and we found a crunchy layer underneath the powder on most turns. Our 2nd lap, we skied left off the top, then into Headwall and Chief Joseph Bowl, again finding the bottom when we turned S-facing. We were careful not to go too low and not be able to make it back to Dreamcatcher. For our next two laps, we stayed on the more W-facing, skiing the now lightly tracked 8-10" new fast and barely ever feeling the hard snow underneath. On our 5th lap, we rode with the Mountain Manager who recommended Happy Hunting Grounds which skied well although it did cross a rock band where it got steeper.

At about 10:30, we connected at the top with a group of about 6 from EpicSki who were being guided by Sal (Harkin Banks) who has patrolled at Targhee for 25 years, We repeated the Headwall/Chief Joseph Bowl with the group, then skied to low-speed Shoshone lift which tops lower. We explored the far looker's left boundary, skied Powder Cache and took North Boundary traverse, rode up Shosone, then skied back to Dreamcatcher. We did a lap on Happy Hunting Grounds, then a couple on the short but steep and lightly tracked Ugly, not quitting for lunch until a little after 1 pm with 22.5K vertical.

After lunch, we bootpacked up to the Millcreek Traverse, then skied three laps on Sacajawea lift, another high-speed quad that starts at about 7,700 feet and climbs to almost 9,000'. First we hiked up and looked at steep chutes that cross a rock band back to valley between lifts, then skied Dreamweaver to Shadow Woman run. New snow was not as deep on last S-facing pitch, but I still skied a very lightly tracked left edge. We then did somewhat N-facing Medicine Bowl, near their cat skiing area and enough of the group liked it enough to repeat while I and a couple of others skied Wachabe Woods, where snow was nearly untracked, but new snow got thinner under trees. Then we skied edge of steep rock band to return to Dreamcatcher lift where we lapped The Ugly and I eventually skied a couple of laps between the Bad and the Ugly. I quit a little before 4 with 32.5K and a lot it powder. Some got another lap. I had a quick beer and some tacos at the Trap bar, then made a stop to fill my growler at Teton Valley Brewing in Victor before driving over Teton Pass. I stopped at a party at house way behind The Aspens on road the JHMR being hosted by CO EpicSki crew. I did not arrive my motel, where I get to stay three night in the same place for the first time since Mustang, until about 10 pm. (edited to fix a few typos and other errors)
 

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Interesting. I'm driving to Jackson tomorrow for skiing at Jackson & Targhee... Sounds like you leave just as I show up.
 
I skied Jackson today and will also be there tomorrow and Friday. The EpicSki gathering ends today, but Thurs and Fri are bonus days and we may still have some very knowledgeable local guides. We meet outside Bridger Center at 8:45 and today and it sounds like on previous day ride slow chairs to get to Casper lift where we ski fast laps on groomers to get warmed up and let tram and gondola lines subside. Meet us on Friday or send me PM with your contact info if you want to make some turns together. I will be quitting early on Fri to drive to SLC.

Here are a couple of pictures taken by matchstix from EpicSki of me at Targhee
 

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15-18 of the Epic people went back to Targhee today. I'm fairly sure the snow is much better there.

tseeb should have taken his Mountain Collective bonus day at AltaBird.
 
Looks like a classic Grand Targhee day. No fog on the upper mountain too!

Tony Crocker":1fgzaefw said:
15-18 of the Epic people went back to Targhee today. I'm fairly sure the snow is much better there.
Epic is having its annual gathering at JH? I'm shocked that Tony didn't filibuster or stage a protest to keep them from going there so late in the season!
:rotfl:
 
jamesdeluxe":kv9ss9sp said:
Epic is having its annual gathering at JH? I'm shocked that Tony didn't filibuster or stage a protest to keep them from going there so late in the season!
:rotfl:
I did and it failed. For those with some time and :popcorn: http://www.epicski.com/t/125638/vote-re ... on-hole-wy

The sequence of events that led to this year's gathering being at Jackson in this timeframe have all been corrected:
1) There were 2 gatherings in 2014 and it was unknown whether there would be two or one in 2015.
2) The Utah gathering was the earlier one (Feb. 1-7) so there was implicit belief that the vote there for Jackson might be for a similar timeframe. There had been two prior gatherings at Jackson and both were first week of February.
3) Most importantly Jackson was selected but the organizer was not. Prior practice was that the person who nominates a location is volunteering to be the organizer. The organizer has the final word on dates as he/she has to do a lot of work.
4) The second 2014 gathering was at Mammoth and the vote was to resume having only one event.
5) After Mammoth a prior organizer with an outstanding track record stepped forward, but he was only available in this late February/early March timeframe. No one else volunteered.

It is now set that there is one gathering and the nominator must be willing to be the organizer. In the meeting before the vote it can thus be known what dates that organizer is available. The 2016 vote was for Aspen and it is known that it will be one of the 2 weeks after the X-Games, primarily because Aspen is an expensive place and someone is able to cut a group lodging deal in that timeframe.

I've received some feedback from attendees.
I wanted to let you know the snow in Jackson sucked. I've made a couple dozen trips out west in the last 9 years and Jackson had the worst snow I've ever encountered......I was in Utah just over a week prior to Jackson and while Utah had the same warm dry spell as Jackson, the on piste snow quality was far superior to that of Jackson. Every single groomer at Jackson including freaking Teewinot was scraped off hard icy crap by 11 AM and the steep stuff was done by 10......Your recommendations on general time frames to maximize potential for good snow are spot on and there is zero flaw in your logic.
I have always agreed with your analysis of JH skiing. I have been there several times, including Feb 26, 27 this year, and the skiing was terrible due to the exposure. The friends I were with could not believe how bad the snow was (especially since the website says 'Best Snow in North America'; that is a joke. I don't believe a word the website says about snow). Even with the drought in Utah this year, the snow at Alta stayed fairly good due to north exposure and altitude. The only decent snow at JH was in a few north facing chutes......keep up the good fight. People sometimes can't face the truth even when it is staring them in the face.

I'm guessing the next time Jackson is chosen for a gathering, it will be prior to President's Week.
 
I rode Sublette chair at JHMR yesterday with a guy from SF Peninsula who had been helicopter skiing in the Jackson area (out of Victor, ID I think he said) last weekend and bragged about the 15K vertical of untracked he got cat skiing on Tuesday at Targhee. I told him we got 28K of powder using Targhee's lifts that day. Really I got 32.5K and others took another run and may have been over 34K although they rode slow lift earlier in morning which probably got them more quality than quantity. I think I got between 20 and 25K of powder on Tuesday, my best day in a long time.
 
I haven't been to Grand Targhee in four years now. In 2011, it sounded like they were planning to put a lift on the cat-skiing area. I assume that didn't go through?
 
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