Jackson, 2/1-7

Staley

Member
Figured I’d provide daily reports as the weather and conditions in Jackson this week are likely to get interesting.

I woke up early this morning to get first tram—that’s a decision that needs to be made before the snow report is published. They reported 8-9”, which seemed accurate, but it was fairly low density, so you felt the ice bumps under the snow. So the first run from the tram wasn’t epic, but at least it got me ahead of the crowds for a few Sublette laps. I realized I needed to find high elevation terrain without bumps underneath, so that meant hiking the Headwall. I hustled to do two laps and put in the first track down both Coombs and Headwall skiers left trees, both perfect boot deep pow. Those were the only photos I took today.

After those runs, Sublette went on wind hold (it never reopened), so I headed to the tram to lap the Rock Springs sidecountry. I got 4 laps in there (the tram line was a 2-3 car wait), all excellent pow, with the snow getting noticeably deeper during the afternoon at upper elevations and creamy snow/graupel at lower elevations. Lower Hobacks (where you exit each lap) improved throughout the afternoon and I found mostly soft turns. I finished the day with one Bridger Gondola lap that was entirely unnecessary—the worst conditions of the day and I was quite tired at that point.

Around 34K of vert including the hiking, maybe 20K of good powder?

The question is what the next days will bring. Lots of moisture and wind, but potentially too much warmth. I’m expecting it to be deep up top, but wind and avi concerns could prevent those parts of the mountain from opening. My sidecountry adventures will definitely stop around midday tomorrow as the snow gets even heavier—heavy on top of light is a bad combination.
 

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Sunday started deep. The snow report said 13” but it was dumping all day and skied deeper. The snow was surprisingly decent quality all morning, even down near the bottom of the Hobacks.

I caught first tram again and the ice moguls were fully gone today. Alta 2 skied well on my next lap, then I went to the Hobacks after my second ride up Sublette as the wind was picking up and I thought the chair might shut down imminently. Top to bottom untracked face shots (today’s only photo is from near the top of the Hobacks, visibility was terrible all day).

The tram line was well out the corral, so I went for the Bridger Gondola to Thunder to Sublette circuit and got one last ride up Sublette until it shut down for wind. Out the gates this time, more face shots and no instabilities noted in the more protected trees that I skied.

At that point, the tram was probably a 70-80 minute wait, so Thunder was the highest altitude terrain I could access. I took two Tower 3 laps that were good, but the groomer back to the chair was pretty brutal with moguls, too many people, and no visibility. I tried to check out the Teton lift but it was down (maintenance), so headed to Apres Vous for a Saratoga Bowl lap that was decent up high but way too heavy down low. That was my call to end things early, with the tram line still >60 minutes. I’m sure Rendezvous Bowl was skiing well throughout the afternoon, but mid-mountain and below was not.

I decided to take today (Monday) off as temps weee only going to increase and I want to use my 7th Ikon day before my flight home on Saturday, when there’s a chance for lower density pow. Lift openings were delayed this morning, and once again, I bet the top skied well, but doubt it was so good below there.
 

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Tuesday, 2/4. The warmest day of the week, with temps reaching about 50° at the base. Thankfully no rain, though.

Started the day with good wind buff in Rendezvous Bowl and Cheyenne Bowl. Expert Chutes was soft winter snow for multiple laps.

The Crags provided untracked pow, but the bottom part of the run got pretty heavy, as the sun poked out today. Lower mountain groomers were mashed potatoes by the afternoon.

Overall, an unexpectedly very good day, skiing mostly good winter snow.
 

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Did you divert from British Columbia to Jackson, WY?

I was just looking at forecasted snowfall on OpenSnow, and there was not much good news for BC. Looks like you made the right call.
 
Yes, the weekend looked great in BC, but then temps were getting frigid to the extent of lift shutdowns. I also wasn’t excited about rental car driving on frozen roads.

Jackson’s just so easy with the airport and bus system.

Today, 2/5, was way better than expected. 1” reported but it skied like a few inches for the first Bowl lap, then went straight to Alta 1. I put the first tracks in there, occasionally feeling the bottom, but most turns were over the head blower with how much wind loading had occurred. Then out the gates for a good Rock Springs lap before we got skunked a bit by the tram shutting down for wind (and Sublette never opened today). To be fair, it was quite windy and snowing much more than expected, so we skied nice pow all afternoon off Thunder and the Bridger Gondola.

No pictures except for a mom and baby moose that showed up on the mountain.

Tomorrow morning should be really good up top and on Sublette.
 

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2/6. The bowl was smooth and windbuffed first thing and stayed pretty good all day. Headed to Alta 1 again on the first run and found more pow, also it wasn’t skiing quite as deep as yesterday. Then headed up Sublette and took a long sidestep to Insomnia, the furthest chute above the Expert Chutes. Fun line in good pow, it’s short for a big effort, but fun to do and look back at the tracks all day.

A hike yup the Headwall to the very far side of Casper Bowl provided untracked creamy pow all the way down, then I did one White Spider hike to an untracked Headwall line. Finished the day with another R Bowl lap and one more untracked chute past the Expert Chutes, Paranoia, I think.

It’s been a week of pow days despite the mountain not always reporting big totals. And on that note, today will hopefully be deep, although winds look too high for Sublette as of now.

Pics of Cody this morning and one from the top of Insomnia.
 

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2/7 — awesome storm day. 8” had fallen by first tram with another 6” falling during the day. High winds were buffing everything smooth between runs, and Sublette never opened.

I pretty much only skied pow today, with the best runs being Alta Chutes and Expert Chutes. 5 trams, 3 Thunders, 3 gondolas = 33K vertical feet with about 25K of pow. Jackson’s hard to beat when it’s good.

Only photo from today was the last Expert Chute of the day. Every run through there was deep and untracked. Also got one grainy clip from a video from Insomnia the other day, which is unfortunately too zoomed in to capture the terrain.
 

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I booked the Steep & Deep camp for Tuesday-Friday specifically to cut the tram lines. It clearly allowed for much more skiing and we found the best quality lines, but I would’ve preferred a faster pace.

2/8. Could only ski the morning before an afternoon flight. 4 inches of blower on top of yesterday’s foot+. Got first tram and took it to the Expert Chutes and it was thigh deep. My best ever run through there. Skied more untracked to Thunder and then more u tracked to Sublette, where I got two untracked runs in the Split Rock/Two in the Hand zone. Then out the lower Rock Springs gate, no signs of instability on my mellow line.

At that point, lines had grown considerably, so I did one Bridger to Thunder to Sublette to Headwall circuit to wrap up my trip. I followed my favorite guide-led lines from the previous days and didn’t cross too many tracks, even after 11am. The groomer back to the base was finally smooth today.

Jackson’s an exceptional last-minute option, direct flights from most western cities, plenty of reasonably priced hotels, and excellent public transportation.
 
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