Jackson 12/29/2024

Sbooker

Well-known member
Early this morning Grand Targhee were reporting 2” and Jackson 4” and the predicted heavy snow late in the day and tonight made me think the pass might be difficult tomorrow so I decided to go to Jackson today. Add to that we can do more justice to a powder day at Grand Targhee than Jackson……

We had to make an early start because Teton Pass was due to close at 8am for avi mitigation. We arrived relatively early and found the Sweetwater gondola and Apres Vous chair started at 8.30am so we started that side. That was my intention anyway as Tom had his first day on skis since 2020. The lifts over there were ski on or less than 30 seconds wait and the snow was great. In fact I think the cover at Jackson is fantastic. It’s pretty much set up for the season in my amateur opinion.
We rode Casper and Teton and Apres Vous chairs. It’s like Tom last skied yesterday. Everyone was loving the soft turns. We then went to the other side of the mountain. We didn’t ride the tram as there was a wait and the only thing we would achieve that we couldn’t on the other chairs was Rendezvous bowl which we’ve skied before so we lapped Thunder and the new Sublet. The sun made an appearance and we quickly noticed the snow feel change as it was pretty warm. The limited north facing slopes that I was qualified for were night and day better than the ones facing the sun.

IMG_1329.jpeg

^
This was at about 9.30am. No crowds.

IMG_1330.jpeg

^Tom on skis and better visibility today.
IMG_1332.jpeg

^The mountain looks pretty ready for more acreage to open after this next storm.
IMG_1333.jpeg

The longest line of the day at the new Sublet chair. Understandable as it serves a great variety of terrain for mere mortals like us or expert skiers of which there are quite obviously many at Jackson. (The most amount of gun skiers that I’ve observed anywhere on the planet?)

IMG_1335.jpeg

^Rendezvous Bowl looking covered. We didn’t ski it.
IMG_1336.jpeg

^The north facing short runs were lovely in the afternoon compared to the lumpy and sticky sun touched runs.
IMG_1340.jpeg

^Kylie took this pic of me with some nice snow under my skis. There were no crowds off the main blue marked thoroughfares in the afternoon.
IMG_1341.jpeg

^It started snowing as we left the parking lot. I’m from the sub tropical flat lands so will admit driving in snowy surfaces with some gradient is still a little stressful.

A side note. Tom is officially a snowboarder. He enjoys it more (for now). Emily is a bonafide skier. I’m so impressed with her ski ability as she has never had formal instruction. She skis steep stuff and messed up and bad snow with aplomb.
 
Last edited:
Rendezvous Bowl looking covered.
Powderchaser Steve told me that there is a rock band running across Rendezvous Bowl. It's almost buried but visible in Sbooker's pic. Did you venture into the recently opened Lower Sublette Ridge or North/South Colter Ridges? So how warm was it to affect sunny exposures at this time of year? Liz and I have not experienced much effect aside from direct south on our 2012, 2015 and 2022 visits with temps in the -15C range. At any rate it's nice to hear from both you and Steve about better than expected conditions with fewer than expected crowds. :eusa-clap:

What are "gun skiers?" Is that Aussie slang? Powderchaser Steve alleges that lots of the historic JH hotshots can't afford to live there anymore so the JH skier profile is more touristy now. However, I doubt ChrisC believes this from some of his comments here.
 
Last edited:
Did you venture into the recently opened Lower Sublette Ridge or North/South Colter Ridges? So how warm was it to affect sunny exposures at this time of year?
By the time we were over that side it was over 32 that’s for sure. I commented to Kylie that I believed the temperature was far higher than typical for the time of year. (My phone was showing Jackson Hole at 3 degrees Celsius and as we were leaving it was just starting to rain in the carpark).
We have been in Jackson early January once before when it was about 15 degrees colder than it was yesterday. The snow was sticky on those general exposures above the base of the Thunder and Sublet chairs so those areas would not have been pleasant. I was keen to ski them though but when I peeked over there was not a sole on it that I could see and I took that as evidence that my assumption was right. In hindsight I should have skied it first thing in the morning but as I have 3 others to consider…..

What are "gun skiers?" Is that Aussie slang?
Sorry. I thought it was English speaking world wide slang. Gun meaning expert or sometimes the best. It obviously doesn’t relate to skiing only though. One could be a gun poker player or salesman or stock trader.
 
Sorry. I thought it was English speaking world wide slang. Gun meaning expert or sometimes the best. It obviously doesn’t relate to skiing only though. One could be a gun poker player or salesman or stock trader.
LOL, absolutely not used in North American English.
 
We didn’t ride the tram as there was a wait and the only thing we would achieve that we couldn’t on the other chairs was Rendezvous bowl which we’ve skied before so we lapped Thunder and the new Sublet.

The crowds look minimal, especially for the holiday period. I am surprised - especially with some of the liftlines I see coming out of Park City, Crystal, and others. Lines were worse on my last visit in late January 2020. Maybe the locals are working during the holiday week? However, I did see some decent crowds on the webcams this AM at Jackson after 11" new. Again, typical local ski day - 3 hours in the morning when the snow is fresh, then go to work/do something else.

The Tram can often get you more vertical/hour even with the wait, but sometimes it is more fun to stay in motion and take the gondola and chairs

Powderchaser Steve alleges that lots of the historic JH hotshots can't afford to live there anymore so the JH skier profile is more touristy now. However, I doubt ChrisC believes this from some of his comments here.

I can not comment on that. Jackson is very expensive for home ownership. Some friends bought in during the 2000s (Wilson, WY). Afterwards (2010s), they would buy over the pass in Idaho.

I am not sure where you can go if you are a JH hotshot? Revelstoke is surprisingly expensive. Maybe somewhere else in the NW?
 
I thought this was an interesting Jackson Hole story. Link

They are planning a Lower Faces HS Quad in the future. This is likely OK since the Lower Faces do not get skied too much and could use a little maintenance. It would be better than the very slow Union Pass Quad. Also, it would let you lap the Hobacks more easily (plus Sublette HS Quad).

I am surprised to see Rock Springs and Green River canyons on the docket, too, but where else can Jackson expand?

jackson.jpg



Here is a good photo showing how dire the snow situation was in Jackson in Mid-December:

1735594249870.png


A screenshot of an Instagram story posted in mid-December shows the “brush cutting” (at upper left) completed by Jackson Hole Mountain Resort last summer on Sublette Ridge. The cutting follows the rough alignment of a chairlift that the resort aims to build, dubbed in planning documents the “Lower Faces Lift.”
 
Back
Top