Grand Targhee 12/30/2024

[Sbooker]

Our best ever day skiing as a family.
I don’t know how much Grand Targhee reported but it was plenty. And because it was cold the snow on the ground and falling was fluffy and dry. You people call it Rocky Mountain ‘cold smoke’ powder.

I opted to go to the Sacajawea lift so we could get to the Colter area but that move was a wrong one as patrol was slow to open the Colter side so we got stuck in big lift lines on Sacajawea. We still had awesome fun lapping that a couple of times before we were lucky enough to get off that lift just as patrol dropped the barricade to the Colter lift for the best runs of my life.

We got separated this morning so I skied with Tom and Kylie was with Emily who was having a day snowboarding. We eventually met up about noon and skied until 4pm. The kids were happy to skip lunch as even the left overs were great because it was so light and we were getting refills until at least 2pm. There were no lift lines after the unexpected problem early in the morning when Colter didn’t open.
A few pics.

^ An elated kid. (With a dodgy eye).

^ I’m amazed at how this hill gives an opportunity to ski alone on a powder day.

^ Kylie declared it her best ski day ever.

^Emily had great fun but will remain a skier most of the time.

^ A happy crew.

^ A memorable day. Better still that the kids were with us.

^The sun started to break through about 3pm.

 

[EMSC]

You people call it Rocky Mountain ‘cold smoke’ powder.

It's more of a competition to come up with the best adjective really. In Steamboat that would be called 'Champaign Powder' for example.

I note that the female half of the family like stickers on helmets and the male side of the family not so much. Not that means anything in particular, just an interesting observation from the pics in your various TRs.

Glad that it's turned out to be much snowier than you were worrying about a couple weeks ago.

 

[Sbooker]

I note that the female half of the family like stickers on helmets and the male side of the family not so much. Not that means anything in particular, just an interesting observation from the pics in your various TRs.

We’re far from cool. We do novelty. Kylie usually has at least one conversation with a stranger a day about a place in her sticker collection. Yesterday it was the Dolomites.

 

[ChrisC]

I don’t know how much Grand Targhee reported but it was plenty. And because it was cold the snow on the ground and falling was fluffy and dry. You people call it Rocky Mountain ‘cold smoke’ powder.

Looks like you had a great day! I generally ski on Sierra Cement or Cascade Concrete. Or some wind-compacted surface.

Grand Targhee is one of the best powder mountains in North America. Not only do they get the snow, but they also have an expansive treeless mountain providing the acreage that allows for many potential ski lines.

The problem with many Colorado resorts is that you are forced on trails that quickly get skied out. And unless the woods have been thinned manually, they are typically too dense. Some exceptions are Vail and Steamboat to an extent. Thankfully, Colorado mountains have unlocked their alpine areas in recent years (post-2000): Breckenridge, Copper, Loveland, A-Basin, Crested Butte, and Telluride.

Personally, I think the Pacific Coast mountains have more treeless and/or less dense terrain available to ski powder: Whistler, Crystal, Alpental, Mt. Bachelor, Palisades, Alpine Meadows, Mammoth, Alta/Snowbird, Targhee, Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, Sunshine, Lake Louise, etc. Sometimes, you get wind impacts, but there is simply more potential space for turns.

 

[Sbooker]

Some exceptions are Vail and Steamboat to an extent.

Snowmass has a lot of nicely spaced trees at the Big Burn area.

 

[EMSC]

Snowmass has a lot of nicely spaced trees at the Big Burn area.

Also in Hanging Valley.

 

[snowave]

congrats... looks like you scored!

I lived in Alta, WY/Driggs in 2013-2014. It was so awesome having it as a local hill that year. A lot has changed since then, with the Coulter lift and lift tix prices more than doubling what they were back then. However, the powder is probably just as good as always.. which is about as good as anywhere.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Personally, I think the Pacific Coast mountains have more treeless and/or less dense terrain available to ski powder: Whistler, Crystal, Alpental, Mt. Bachelor, Palisades, Alpine Meadows, Mammoth, Alta/Snowbird, Targhee, Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, Sunshine, Lake Louise, etc. Sometimes, you get wind impacts, but there is simply more potential space for turns.

+10 (you forgot Castle). It not just the powder days. The wide open terrain often retains some smooth fall lines while ungroomed cut trails in Colorado turn into massive mogul fields. At least this produces competent local skiers who create well formed bumps in places like Mary Jane, Grouse at Beaver Creek and Highline/Prima at Vail.

The problem with many Colorado resorts is that you are forced on trails that quickly get skied out. And unless the woods have been thinned manually, they are typically too dense. Some exceptions are Vail and Steamboat to an extent.

The abundant open terrain is the reason Vail is my favorite mountain in Colorado despite the shortage of steeps. Steamboat has zero open terrain but by far the best tree spacing in Colorado. However the primary SW exposure is a negative.

Colorado mountains have unlocked their alpine areas in recent years (post-2000): Breckenridge, Copper, Loveland, A-Basin, Crested Butte, and Telluride.

Still far short of the areas in other regions ChrisC cites:
Peak 7/Imperial at Breck is the most similar to Mammoth's upper bowls that I see in Colorado.
Copper's above tree line is short vertical. Maybe Tucker which I have not skied has a little more.
Loveland's above tree line is flat, windswept and often not open before February.
A-Basin is not a huge ski area but overall terrain quality is as good as anywhere in the state. But it's slow getting best terrain open.
Crested Butte has unique technical expert skiing but no real wide open spaces. Only a local can probably avoid hitting rocks on a powder day.
Aside from the very modest sized Revelation, all of Telluride's above tree line terrain requires lung busting hikes above 12,000 feet.
Snowmass has several sections of short open spaces. I find that the tree areas in Hanging Valley are typical Colorado, funnel into a few lines that become choppy bumps within a few days after new snow. I may have missed something there due to lift logistics limiting the number of Hanging Valley runs one can get in a day though I do have 10 days and 213K vertical lifetime at Snowmass.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Loveland's above tree line is flat, windswept and often not open before February.

My non-skiing Denver-based brother took this clip of me in January 2011 (I almost needed to tuck the lower half) and then followed with his first-ever powder run. He made it through without falling and appreciated the flatness! I don't believe he's skied since.

 

[EMSC]

Maybe Tucker which I have not skied has a little more.

Yes it is more vert than Copper's other bowl areas. Max is probably around 1200 vert roughly under the lift itself with some fun to ski features dropping as low as 600-700 vert of good pitch before becoming low angle (eg the Taco).

 

[EMSC]

I find that the tree areas in Hanging Valley are typical Colorado, funnel into a few lines that become choppy bumps within a few days after new snow. I may have missed something there due to lift logistics limiting the number of Hanging Valley runs

Scratching my head a bit at this. I find hanging valley to have lots of options with only light trees - if you know how to get to the good parts of the valley anyway...

 

[Tony Crocker]

Rule of thumb in Colorado is a transition at tree line to stunted trees and spaced trees, but usually the trees get tight about 500 vertical below tree line. I don’t think Snowmass deviates much from that pattern, but as noted I have only a limited number of runs in Hanging Valley, none of them with local guidance.