Jackson Hole MR 12/19 to 12/23

[jojo_obrien]

Jackson Hole has always been on my skiers "bucket list."

I took the 835 am Friday flight on United from LAX to Jackson. I brought two pairs of skis and boots for $25 and a small carry on bag with some base layers. I must say, I do lean towards Southwest's free baggage (2 bags) policy -- I had to be really smart with my gear/clothing selection. For an LA skier, slight edge to SLC and Denver, since SW flies to these destinations. There is one shuttle from the airport to town for $17 in Jackson. Car rentals this week were outrageously priced.

I took a day to acclimate to the altitude and hydrate accordingly (which ended up meaning cleansing my system with beer from Snake River Brewing). Great craft beer, btw.

Headed to the mountain on Saturday the 19th for the opening of the new Teton chair -- a high speed quad that now allows access to the "Crags." JHMR had a live band for the ribbon cutting ceremony, a chaplain/pastor delivering a blessing, and a speech by the owner of the mountain highlighting all of the investment in the mountain over the years. They did a really nice job. I spent most of Day 1 familiarizing myself with the mountain and lifts and acclimating -- mostly groomers and warming up the legs on the first day of the season.

Day 2 and 3 (Sunday and Monday) offered some really fun lines -- between 6" and 8" fell each day.

On Day 2, I took first tram -- headed down Rendevouz Bowl to Sublette lift, and several (maybe 4) laps through Bernie's Bowl. It was remarkably pretty moderate to light skier traffic. I was skiing solid untracked or lightly tracked snow until noon. There were scraps to be found from about noon to 2:30pm. I took the 3 pm bus back to town. Day It was

Day 3 offered more of the same, although, the afternoon turned out to be fairly heavy snowfall and surprisingly really good afternoon session. I'd say from noon to 3:30 was solid -- very few people on the hill.

Day 4 -- which was surprisingly supposed to be the biggest day (15" new snow) -- well, suffice it say I think most of the town took the day off. The lines were pretty long and the delayed opening on Bridger gondola had me on the south side of the mountain (Sublette/Thunder) later than I had preferred. The snow was seriously deep in some spots, but I was surprised (or maybe not) how FAST things got tracked up. Not only were there a lot of outsiders (meaning East Coasters), the locals came out in full force. I had some really fun lines but ended up spending the entire day on the north side of the mountain (Teton and Apres Vouz) because the lines on Sublette and Thunder were so so long (steepest part of the mountain). Big surprise, eh?

Day 5 was interesting........8" fell over night. It was quite cold this day -bout 5 degrees mid mountain and 30 mph gusts. Visibility was a real challenge. I had some really fun lines (including Expert Chutes off of Thunder) and a nice line off of the Cirque with some really fun untracked powder. I still skied with conservatively, unfamiliar with the terrain and the visibility was limiting. At noon, I got message that the lower faces had opened -- and I headed over there immediately. The faces were lightly tracked, the snow got heavier as I approached the bottom. The first line was a blast -- lots of hooting and hollering. I wanted more, and headed back up. It took about 30 minutes to get back, and I found that most of the previous untracked line was tracked. I tried to push the boundary to get some untracked (where the closed/thin cover signs warned of hazards) and summarily took ptex/base out of my skis as a result. Having been spoiled skiing midweek at Alta a few seasons ago, I found myself a bit frustrated at the pace at which good lines became tracked. Welcome to Jackson Hole!

I took a ride on the tram and found it probably the gnarliest weather I've experienced.....although I've been in some gnarly weather at Mt. Baldy (white out), at least I knew where I was going. Up on Rendevouz Bowl, having no idea of the terrain, complete white out, it was a bit scary......I was looking for signs of other humans or a tree line -- the 50- 60 mph gusts, completely frozen/fogged goggles, and 0 degree ambient temperature had me desiring getting off the mountain rather quickly.
Took a few more runs off of Teton and headed to Casper Resort at 4 pm to warm up in front of the fire. Even the locals admitted it was pretty damn cold out there, although the next few days are supposed to be getting even colder.

All things considered, I'm happy to have gotten out on the mountain and inaugurate my Mountain Collective Pass.

Some general comments on JHMR:
-It reminds me of Park City but with more steeps and local skiers/boarders. The facilities are first class and well oiled. Ski schools, repair shops, mountain hosts galore, ski schools, etc etc were first class.
-If you have a shit ton of money, you can pay to take the 830 am tram (30 min ahead of opening) and seriously score big time.
-Food is quite pricey on the hill. I didn't stop for lunch any day (Cliff Bars and fruit for me). $5.50 for a draft beer. Fairly reasonable.
- There are serious locals here who know where to get the goods. Lines get tracked pretty damn fast here. Being here close to a holiday doesn't help either.
- None of the hiking areas which separate the men from the boys were closed because of the avalanche danger. Some of these lines off of Teton (i.e. Sheridan Bowl), the lines must be incredible.
- Sure seemed like a lot of people were poaching / skiing through "CLOSED" areas which claim passes will be pulled. Case in point - the Hobacks were closed on Dec 23rd but I saw skiers/boarders riding right past the red sign. SMH...........
- Jackson gets people from all over the USA. There's no secret here.
- There are boarders here but skiers are in the majority.
- Tickets this time of year are $130 for adults!!!!
- Nicknamed the "Sausage Hole" , I can now understand........

JHMR is a killer resort and I'm glad I got to ride Big Red. I liked the fact I didn't need to rent a car here and the lodging was pretty dang cheap this time of year ($65 a night for a nice hotel room in town). The locals kept telling me how lucky I was to have scored 5 straight days of snow in December. I did manage to get face shots 4 out of 5 days and pretty much untracked or lightly tracked the entire trip. Santa delivered the goods.

Time to go home, ptex the bases and get ready for the next Mountain Collective destination...........

 

[lono]

Nice report , I think it's safe to say it's been a very good week in the west.
Those new owners down in Jackson have sure tuned up the cash registers.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Jackson was 47% open Dec. 16 and 62% open Dec. 23. Jackson was well below average in snowfall mid-month and made up most of the gap while you were there. Interestingly, Jackson's 90% of normal snowfall (mid-mountain, since Nov. 1) is the lowest percentage in the West where I have the info to calculate and one of very few below average.

I think the reason for getting tracked out so fast was normal crowds but only half the terrain available. To me, the Lower Faces are the key to good powder days. That terrain is immense and as you noted takes a minimum of half an hour to lap. This is part of why I raise the red flag for late season. The Lower Faces are low and SE facing, so March powder lasts maybe an hour before the sun turns it to elephant snot, and there better be a lot of it because the subsurface is a coral reef.

Early season the issue is obviously when do the Lower Faces get adequately covered, and the median answer to that question (Jackson getting 80+% open) is right around Christmas. Thus I conclude that Jackson's sweet spot is from whenever the holiday crush is done (as noted the lift system does not have huge capacity so there can be lines) until just before President's weekend. My last 3 visits (2006, 2012 and 2015) were scheduled accordingly and all were delightful even though only the 2006 trip had a lot of powder.

I think it's safe to say it's been a very good week in the west.

It has been a spectacular week. About half of western areas are far above average, and the places that were deficient mid-month, notably Utah, are close to average now after that week.

 

[jojo_obrien]

Thanks for your observations, Tony. To your point, January has to produce some serious cold smoke....I'd obviously prefer to be here when everything is 100% open....

I chose this week because 1.) my boss shuts down the office for this entire week and I had to go somewhere.... 2.) i had frequent flier miles that were expiring very soon -- the airline ticket was "free" and only 20k miles 3.) lodging was super cheap this time of year (motels in the $50 price range) 4.) when I made the reservation in November, it seemed like Jackson had more snow than Banff. I definitely considered going to Calgary during this time frame, but , after looking at lodging costs, car costs, ticket costs, JH was a far cheaper trip. I also looked at an Aspen trip, but considering Denver's popularity during Christmas, I nixed those plans......

And yes to your point, you've got the first big storm causing locals to salivate plus holiday traffic = tracked out quickly. When the gondola opened at 9 am, it was like Black Friday at the mall as people slammed through the turnstiles........guy behind me said "I wanna see blood people!!!!" You get the picture.

It was 6 days of snow/wind......speaking of coral reefs on the lower faces......I think I need to look at your Rangiroa pics to defrost or take a trip there myself (yes, I even looked at Tahiti for Xmas which surprisingly has very good airfare this week)

 

[Tony Crocker]

I think Whistler was the best call among the MCP areas for before Christmas, with Mammoth second. Not sure when you had to book, but those two looked like the best since about mid-November. Whistler became obvious a few days into December when that monster forecast for the PNW was first predicted. FYI it validated well, as Whistler got 9 feet from Dec. 5-23.

Xmas may be low season in Tahiti, think mirror image latitude and weather of the Caribbean in June/July. It's probably less steamy than a Caribbean summer (ocean is not as warm) but still can see a lot of rain in summer wet season.

Jackson town lodging is always reasonable in ski season because there are 10x as many tourists in summer. So it's good for storm chasing for people within drive distance. Of course many of those people are jaded SLC locals who can't be bothered. Do we know any of those here on FTO? :-k Admittedly it's not that common for Jackson conditions to be better than LCC. However, that did happen several times in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

 

[jojo_obrien]

Of course many of those people are jaded SLC locals who can't be bothered. Do we know any of those here on FTO? :-k

no idea who you might be referencing ........

i did consider whistler and mammoth .....i considered every place, in fact.

i have a VERY cheap, nice place I stay when I'm in Bend $30 a night in someone's house (airbnb), but, Bachelor isn't on the Mountain Collective........

mammoth lodging is way overpriced IMO. i was a big fan of mammoth in the 80's.......i don't like the changes that have happened over the past 15 years..... even air bnb in mammoth isn't that cheap. even though i have two free days on the MC, i'm not sure I'll take advantage......

whistler accommodations aren't that cheap, even with the strong dollar.......... airbnb isn't that cheap ( i checked all of the places in whistler village)

SLC is pretty dang cheap (will be renting a room in a nice house for $37 a night in sugarhouse in january) .......car for 5 days is $100 and there is lots to do in the city apres ski.

all things considered, i figure SLC is the cheapest place to ski if you're willing to stay down in the valley, try to get a cheap car or no car at all, and have a mountain collective pass.

 

[Marc_C]

Of course many of those people are jaded SLC locals who can't be bothered. Do we know any of those here on FTO? :-k

no idea who you might be referencing ........

It's not so much that we "...can't be bothered..." nor that we're "jaded". Speaking just for myself, it's more a matter of a few things that additively argues for staying in the backyard:
* a lot more driving (5+ hrs. vs 25 minutes)
* a lot more logistics on a relative basis
* lodging and dining costs

Yeah, one of these days I'll probably get to JHMR and Targhee and perhaps a return visit to Big Sky, but then again I've been saying that for the 15 years I've been here.

SLC is pretty dang cheap (will be renting a room in a nice house for $37 a night in sugarhouse in january) .......car for 5 days is $100 and there is lots to do in the city apres ski.

all things considered, i figure SLC is the cheapest place to ski if you're willing to stay down in the valley, try to get a cheap car or no car at all, and have a mountain collective pass.

This. It's even cheaper when you live here, for obvious reasons. I'll also admit to being incredibly squirrely, uncomfortable, and reluctant about using AirBnB.

 

[Tony Crocker]

It's still a different mindset along with the convenience factor. It's inconceivable that Patrick or I would live in SLC for 15 years and never ski Jackson Hole once. Particularly now that the lift tickets are half price with an Alta or Snowbird pass.

 

[Marc_C]

It's still a different mindset along with the convenience factor. It's inconceivable that Patrick or I would live in SLC for 15 years and never ski Jackson Hole once.

Perhaps. Although you guys do have an obsessive single-mindedness about skiing that not all of us share.

Particularly now that the lift tickets are half price with an Alta or Snowbird pass.

No, they're not.
You do get 2 free days and 50% off after that if you purchase the $400 Mountain Collective Pass. The only perks with an Alta pass are 3 days at Snowbird and 3 days at Deer Valley.

 

[Admin]

Particularly now that the lift tickets are half price with an Alta or Snowbird pass.

No, they're not.
You do get 2 free days and 50% off after that if you purchase the $400 Mountain Collective Pass. The only perks with an Alta pass are 3 days at Snowbird and 3 days at Deer Valley.

I can't believe that I'm typing this, but Crocker's right. All unrestricted Alta, Snowbird and AltaBird season passes give you half price at any other Mountain Collective resort, including Jackson (the "Mountain Collective benefit"). You just don't get the two free days at each that the Mountain Collective pass provides:

http://buy.alta.com/season-passes[/url] when you click on Adult Season Passes, in the pop-up that appears Alta":27vwbkuw]As a proud partner of the Mountain Collective, this season pass includes 50% off day passes at each of the Mountain Collective destinations (no black out dates):

Furthermore, the Wasatch Benefit is apparently done:

http://buy.alta.com/season-passes[/url] Alta":27vwbkuw]As of October 14th, Wasatch Benefits are no longer available. Qualifying purchases made before this date will include the three free days at Snowbird and the three free days at Deer Valley.

 

[Marc_C]

I can't believe that I'm typing this, but Crocker's right. All unrestricted Alta, Snowbird and AltaBird season passes give you half price at any other Mountain Collective resort, including Jackson (the "Mountain Collective benefit"). You just don't get the two free days at each that the Mountain Collective pass provides:

http://buy.alta.com/season-passes[/url] when you click on Adult Season Passes, in the pop-up that appears Alta":2fm5qgj6]As a proud partner of the Mountain Collective, this season pass includes 50% off day passes at each of the Mountain Collective destinations (no black out dates):

Ah. I never saw that since I never clicked on the description, just the "Add to cart" button. But JHMR is still 5.5 hrs away. :twisted:

Furthermore, the Wasatch Benefit is apparently done:

http://buy.alta.com/season-passes[/url] Alta":2fm5qgj6]As of October 14th, Wasatch Benefits are no longer available. Qualifying purchases made before this date will include the three free days at Snowbird and the three free days at Deer Valley.

Now that I interpret as being done for this season. I believe there are only a limited number of passes eligible and once that number is reached... I kinda think I remember something along those lines when I bought my pass in August. There was definitely a cut-off date if not an upper limit number.

 

[Tony Crocker]

All unrestricted Alta, Snowbird and AltaBird season passes give you half price at any other Mountain Collective resort

I should know this because I'm skiing those other places half price on my Mammoth Premier pass; it's Liz who has the Mountain Collective.

 

[Skrad]

Was at Whistler Dec 19-20 and conditions were excellent by Alta standards. Deep fluff at the bottom of the mountain...
Everything was open. Sure that it was the best skiing in the west at the time (though the Washington areas were also great that weekend).

Room was $150 USD in Whistler Village (3.5 stars).
With my Alta Pass, day tickets were less than $50 USD.

Alta is OK right now - sure, Skidog got first tracks on Suzie's but to get there he traversed pass a Backside full of slide bed surface and chunky debris. Also, the good stuff above the traverse was all closed. Thirds is similarly a mix of slide bed surface and chunky debris. High Boy is soft but getting bumpier. I think Stonecrusher is the best call right now - smoother than High Boy. West Rustler stuff is too stiff. Baldy Shoulder stuff is too short. Catherine's is too short and too flat.

 

[RainbowJenny]

Thanks for the TR and tips for future reference. Car trip to Brian Head, Sun Valley, Grand Targhee, and JHMR from LA peri-Xmas was pretty long but tolerable with audio books.

How fun to see postings by couple people I know in person...

 

[longshanks]

Was at Whistler Dec 19-20 and conditions were excellent by Alta standards. Deep fluff at the bottom of the mountain...
Everything was open. Sure that it was the best skiing in the west at the time (though the Washington areas were also great that weekend).

Room was $150 USD in Whistler Village (3.5 stars).
With my Alta Pass, day tickets were less than $50 USD...

Whistler may indeed have been the best but I was at Red Mountain in the interior from Dec 18-22...just one week after Red opened and I am certain it was in the top group as well. Everyone was in perma grin, all the locals agreed... best opening in a decade. Conditions were excellent with a good base and deep untracked with 15" of fresh while we were there. Low skier density is always common at Red, but this was like Cat Skiing with lifts. My son is there for the winter so I had a place to stay...waited to book flights until conditions were good and it paid off. My other son is attending university on the Island and went to Whistler this week before classes resume. It was his first time there and he had a blast...reporting that conditions were still excellent with great coverage everywhere except Creekside which had been pounded by the Holiday crowds.