| Jackson Hole, 2/19 - 2/23 |
We spent 7 nights in the Hostel X
at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort,
near Jackson, WY. This is my 4th time at Jackson Hole since 00/01, and
Helen's 3rd. We really love this ski area. It's got wonderful terrain,
great atmosphere, and it's big. Sometimes the snow conditions can be a
bit iffy, but not this year. Coverage is excellent with things filled in
better than I've ever seen them. Apparently they got hammered in
January, and it's remained cold enough to retain all of that snow.
We're staying in the Hostel X once again. It's super cheap, with no frills, but it's also super-comfy and perfect for us. The atmosphere here is unchanged from years past: they've still got a waxing area down in the basement, and you can still use the area outside your room as a refrigerator without anyone messing with your stuff.
Conditions for each day:
2/19: cold and clear, with a little fresh snow. Great groomers, great off-piste.
2/20: same.
2/21: very cold and blowing wind and light snow at the top. 3" of fresh. Great off-piste under Sublet.
2/22: high winds and poor visibility. Sublet closed. Our day off.
2/23: 7" of fresh, cold temps, and great powder to be found all over the place! Epic!
Thursday, 2/23, was Helen's 35th birthday. We asked at the ticket window if they gave any kind of birthday discount (some areas do.) The guy said "No, unfortunately we don't, but we did get you 7" of fresh for your birthday!" We had a great day on the hill. The wind was still blowing hard up at the top of the tram, but it didn't matter. We had many epic runs under the Sublet chair, and we went down the South Hoback again before lunch to get it while it was still pretty fresh. The last pics on this page are from that day.
2/19: view of the top of Thunder from the top of the gondola. You can see Tower Three Chute, Paint Brush, and the left edge of the Expert Chutes.
2/19: top of the tram from the top of the gondola. You can see Corbet's and the right half of the Expert Chutes.
2/19: zoom in of Expert Chutes from the top of the gondola.
2/19: Laramie Bowl from the Sublet chair.
2/19: looking back up at Paint Brush from Laramie Bowl. Though there was little new snow, the run was in excellent shape. The very cold temps (near 0F) had kept the snow quality high.
2/21: Helen near the top of Rendezvous Bowl. The snow here was quite nice. Smooth and windblown, but still very soft. We realized quickly that most people had either hugged the trees skier's left or the line of green dots far skier's right. The best conditions were right down the middle.
2/21: another shot of Helen in Rendezvous Bowl.
2/21: Helen coming down Rendezvous Trail. There were "crowds" on Sunday and Monday, especially over on Apres Vous, but as you can see on Tuesday there was no one around!
2/21: Helen continuing down Rendezvous Trail.
2/21: Helen in a nice stash of fresh we found in the trees she found on the North Hoback. We took Cheyenne Gully to get here, which was a great deal of fun.
2/21: Helen in the same area of the North Hoback. We hit the South Hoback later in the day, but I didn't get many good pics.
2/21: The tram leaving the top station. Not a sight to be seen after this season :(
2/23: The wind up near the top was brutal, so we bought some face masks :)
2/23: Mike below Bernie's Bowl.
2/23: Ditto.
2/23: Ditto.
2/23: Mike on the South Hoback.
2/23: Ditto.
2/23: A typical tram line that day. This is only half of the line...