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Snowboarding Jackson Hole
Story by Shannon Brooks
KMTN Weather Report: "Today will
be a snowy one, folks, with accumulations of four to six inches in
the valley and eight to ten inches in the mountains. Look for
the storm to increase intensity this evening, with overnight
accumulations of four to five inches."
My childhood friends Colin and
Elizabeth arrive on the last SkyWest flight from Salt Lake City,
thrilled at their good fortune: Jackson Hole is in the middle of a
storm cycle. Both are snowboarders from the East who have yet to
experience the nirvana-esque experience of floating upon layers and
layers of bottomless snow. The darkness is unable to hide the
monstrous white flakes that coat the luggage and my car, which needs
a good wipe down after a 15-minute idle in the airport parking lot.
Our drive back to town has the dizzying effect of traveling at warp
speed, with strobe-like flurries bombarding the windshield.
Despite their request to sleep
in, the next morning Colin and Elizabeth are up before I am, running
in and out of the house in disbelief at the new 10-inch carpet of
snow. In search of their mountain legs and lungs, we decide to hit
the convenient in-town slopes of Snow King for a few hours. Snow
King, as usual, is void of lift lines and we lap the steeps of
Grizzly and Elk runs, the continuing snowfall filling in our tracks
before we can make it back up. The lunchtime crowd arrives so we
escape into the trees and find big, deep pillows to slash. Our
afternoon is spent checking out the shops in town, and while
rummaging through the racks at the Boardroom, Snow King lights up in
preparation for night boarding. We head back to the King for some
final night runs on Bison and Bighorn, littered with pockets of
fluff from the day’s dump.
Grand Targhee Snow Report,
1-800-TARGHEE: "We’ve received fourteen inches of snow since
yesterday morning, with six inches overnight. Bluebird skies this
morning guarantee that today will be an amazing one. Get out here!"
We’re on one of the first
Dreamcatcher chairs of the day, blinded by the early morning
sunshine glittering off of the slopes of Targhee below. We pause at
the top to inspect Mary’s Nipple, deciding it’s the perfect warm-up
for our plan to hike Teton Pass tomorrow. But first we’ll hammer
the in-bounds, with a trip into the powder fields of Blackfoot
Bowl. After a few screamers down the groomed thoroughfares of Big
Thunder and Sitting Bull, we duck into the deeps off the north
side. A quick refuel at Snorkel’s energizes us for the afternoon
and we head to Targhee’s newest lift, Sacajawea quad, finding some
great stashes under the lift. A final trip up Sacajawea, a
traverse, and a boot-pack lead us to the bowls of Mary’s Nipple,
where we ride, jump, and play until our legs are numb. Pitchers at
the Trap Bar are the perfect end to the day.
Bridger-Teton National Forest:
"The ridge of high pressure that arrived yesterday will continue for
most of today. By the end of the day another large trough of
Pacific moisture arrives, bringing more significant snowfall across
western Wyoming."
Bellies full of Nora’s huevos
rancheros are not the jet fuel we had hoped for - we struggle at the
start of our hike up Glory Bowl on Teton Pass. But the haul to the
top is worth it - the pristine slopes are dotted with pines and
scarred with the occasional track, but most have chosen the expanse
of Glory Bowl, and we are on our own. We chase each other’s huge
white plumes down the meandering slope and arrive at the bottom much
too soon. The south side of Teton Pass allows for several descent
options, so we travel the up-and-down ridgeline to Edelweiss Bowl.
The snow is bottomless, and we want to continue lap after lap but
our legs turn to rubber on our second run. We agree to call it a
day and hike out to the road to grab a ride back up to the car.
 JHMR Snow Phone:
1-888-DEEP-SNO: "This new storm system is delivering what Jackson
Hole is known for: light, fluffy cowboy powder. Six inches arrived
overnight and we’re expecting another six today ."
The Big One has been saved
for the final day of Colin and Elizabeth’s vacation. We tackle the
upper mountain first, working our way over to Thunder and Sublette
chairs from the Gondola, finding that areas like Tower Three,
Mushroom Chutes, and Bivouac Woods have much more than the reported
six inches of snow. The Hobacks are prime and we drop off into
their steep open expanses, filtering into the gullies that deliver
us back to the base area. A quick stop by the superpipe and terrain
park finds the crew busy keeping the features ridable during the
heavy snow. We try to hit as many of the bowls as we can - Cheyenne,
Laramie, Bernie’s - and our final run of the day has us ducking the
trees and boulders in Saratoga Bowl, a somewhat secret stash due to
its location adjacent to mellow intermediate terrain.
A farewell dinner, a bottle of
wine, and Colin and Elizabeth are ready to return to the flatlands,
having experienced the best that riding in Jackson Hole has to
offer.
Shannon Brooks, now with
Stanwood and Partners Public Relations, spent the last few years
handing out complimentary lift tickets to film crews and dignitaries
at the Jackson Hole Resort. This year she’s looking for paybacks,
especially after 10 inches of new snow.
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