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.
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.
