When we arrived in Jackson Tuesday just after sunset it was 27F, but the temperature inversion set in the next few days just as it did on our prior visit in early February 2012. Early morning temps were 0F at the hotel and -5F when we pulled into the Ranch parking lot. The Ranch lot is now $10 but the buses that serve it are frequent and I’m not sure we ever waited more than 2-3 minutes for the shuttle in either direction all 4 days.
Given prior rave reviews of the Jackson ski school from both Liz (2004) and Adam (1995), Liz decided to take a group advanced class with an instructor we had contacted via another forum. So I was on my own for the day. The camera issues EMSC noted on my Vail TR’s persist and are random but gradually increasing in frequency. So some pics are good, some are just adequate and there are no pics for some areas we skied because they came out too blurry. We will be home by the end of the week, so I should have time to investigate camera options given the dismal state of skiing in California in the near term.
It snowed about 10 inches Sunday/Monday, so needless to say there was no uncut powder. But there was a lot of soft snow and conditions were a cut above the 2012 trip. There was not a cloud in the sky, no wind and the upper mountain was in the teens while the base temps maxed out at 10F, exactly what you want at Jackson if you don’t have fresh snow.
I took a couple of cruisers on Casper and then moved to Apres Vous. I decided to check out Saratoga Bowl, which I had only skied on the first day of the trip with Patrick in 2006. There was an underlying crust that time but this time it was all good with soft snow and just starting to form well-spaced bumps among the scattered trees. The long traverse out was a bit firm so I had arch cramps by the time I returned to Apres Vous. I cruised St. John’s to let my feet relax and then headed for the tram.
Jackson locals are a bit like LCC locals in terms of being powder princesses, so I never waited for more than one tram all 4 days. The only significant line-up was at the Bridger Gondola Saturday morning in somewhat inclement weather. Here’s Rendezvous Peak at they top of the tram.
This would be an ideal spot to view the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, but time will tell whether that can be satisfactorily arranged.
I went to check out the obligatory (but blurry ](*,) ) view of Corbet’s.
It’s roped off because there’s a rock showing right in the landing zone of a ~20 foot drop-in. The air time/scariness of the drop-in tends to be more when Jackson’s snowpack is abundant.
I skied Hanging Rock and Center Chute to Sublette, where I loaded the chair with locals Cathy and 22-year-old daughter Kira. Kira has no left leg from a birth defect but led us to Alta 2 chute.
Kira disappeared down Alta 2 in no time. I skied deliberately due to steepness and some confined spots. There was one crux where I had to step over a small exposed rock, so it’s humbling to contemplate a one-legged skier flashing that line nonstop. We skied down and rode another Sublette together.
Cathy said Kira has been skiing that level of terrain since 4th grade.
They skied another Alta Chute while I headed for the Hobacks. Middle Hoback was wide open, soft and just great skiing.
My enthusiasm for the Lower Faces is the reason I make my seasonal recommendations about Jackson. When the Lower Faces have good snow, Jackson has the best terrain quality in the US IMHO.
I rode another tram, skied Rendezvous Bowl then cut over to ski Alta 1.
I passed Sublette this time to ski another Lower Face, Rawlins Bowl. By this time Liz texted that her group was having lunch at Rendezvous upstairs at the top of the gondola. So I took the gondola up and eventually found them as there are 4 dining spots in that building.
After lunch I skied 2 cruisers, Campground and Kemmerer before taking my last tram around 2:45. I had not visited Thunder yet, so I skied Tensleep Bowl and an Expert Chute to get there. View across top of the Expert Chutes.
I finished with 2 laps on Thunder chair: Thunder Run and Tower 3 Chute. Total for the day was 30,500 vertical, easily my best non-powder day at Jackson. When you do get the powder, the experience is raised to a new level, as Patrick will also attest from our 2006 trip.
Liz’ NYC ski club the Diamond Dogs was in Jackson for the week. We met Christine and Karen at Bin 22 for dinner.
Bin 22 serves Italian/Spanish/tapas food as an adjunct to a retail wine shop with excellent selection and fair prices. We had a 2008 Von Siebenthal Montelig for the same price that I paid for the 2004 in Santiago airport at the end of my 2007 Chile ski trip. They also have some premium California cabernets for similar prices as from direct mail wine vendors.
Given prior rave reviews of the Jackson ski school from both Liz (2004) and Adam (1995), Liz decided to take a group advanced class with an instructor we had contacted via another forum. So I was on my own for the day. The camera issues EMSC noted on my Vail TR’s persist and are random but gradually increasing in frequency. So some pics are good, some are just adequate and there are no pics for some areas we skied because they came out too blurry. We will be home by the end of the week, so I should have time to investigate camera options given the dismal state of skiing in California in the near term.
It snowed about 10 inches Sunday/Monday, so needless to say there was no uncut powder. But there was a lot of soft snow and conditions were a cut above the 2012 trip. There was not a cloud in the sky, no wind and the upper mountain was in the teens while the base temps maxed out at 10F, exactly what you want at Jackson if you don’t have fresh snow.
I took a couple of cruisers on Casper and then moved to Apres Vous. I decided to check out Saratoga Bowl, which I had only skied on the first day of the trip with Patrick in 2006. There was an underlying crust that time but this time it was all good with soft snow and just starting to form well-spaced bumps among the scattered trees. The long traverse out was a bit firm so I had arch cramps by the time I returned to Apres Vous. I cruised St. John’s to let my feet relax and then headed for the tram.
Jackson locals are a bit like LCC locals in terms of being powder princesses, so I never waited for more than one tram all 4 days. The only significant line-up was at the Bridger Gondola Saturday morning in somewhat inclement weather. Here’s Rendezvous Peak at they top of the tram.
This would be an ideal spot to view the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, but time will tell whether that can be satisfactorily arranged.
I went to check out the obligatory (but blurry ](*,) ) view of Corbet’s.
It’s roped off because there’s a rock showing right in the landing zone of a ~20 foot drop-in. The air time/scariness of the drop-in tends to be more when Jackson’s snowpack is abundant.
I skied Hanging Rock and Center Chute to Sublette, where I loaded the chair with locals Cathy and 22-year-old daughter Kira. Kira has no left leg from a birth defect but led us to Alta 2 chute.
Kira disappeared down Alta 2 in no time. I skied deliberately due to steepness and some confined spots. There was one crux where I had to step over a small exposed rock, so it’s humbling to contemplate a one-legged skier flashing that line nonstop. We skied down and rode another Sublette together.
Cathy said Kira has been skiing that level of terrain since 4th grade.
They skied another Alta Chute while I headed for the Hobacks. Middle Hoback was wide open, soft and just great skiing.
My enthusiasm for the Lower Faces is the reason I make my seasonal recommendations about Jackson. When the Lower Faces have good snow, Jackson has the best terrain quality in the US IMHO.
I rode another tram, skied Rendezvous Bowl then cut over to ski Alta 1.
I passed Sublette this time to ski another Lower Face, Rawlins Bowl. By this time Liz texted that her group was having lunch at Rendezvous upstairs at the top of the gondola. So I took the gondola up and eventually found them as there are 4 dining spots in that building.
After lunch I skied 2 cruisers, Campground and Kemmerer before taking my last tram around 2:45. I had not visited Thunder yet, so I skied Tensleep Bowl and an Expert Chute to get there. View across top of the Expert Chutes.
I finished with 2 laps on Thunder chair: Thunder Run and Tower 3 Chute. Total for the day was 30,500 vertical, easily my best non-powder day at Jackson. When you do get the powder, the experience is raised to a new level, as Patrick will also attest from our 2006 trip.
Liz’ NYC ski club the Diamond Dogs was in Jackson for the week. We met Christine and Karen at Bin 22 for dinner.
Bin 22 serves Italian/Spanish/tapas food as an adjunct to a retail wine shop with excellent selection and fair prices. We had a 2008 Von Siebenthal Montelig for the same price that I paid for the 2004 in Santiago airport at the end of my 2007 Chile ski trip. They also have some premium California cabernets for similar prices as from direct mail wine vendors.