Rambling Jackson Summit TR

[Tippster]

slow and clanky?

Smelly and Flea-ridden.

[Mit]

I can't believe that it's already been a week since we left JH. I still find myself constantly thinking about all the great people, snow, chutes and having an all around fantastic time. So in an effort to keep the memory around here are a couple more pictures from the summit


A series of pictures of Gin who decided to take off in the wrong direction and almost landing on the photographer









A couple of Gin in Tensleep Bowl




Bad_Roo disapearing into the clouds


Shmerham kicking back in the Gondola


Bad_Roo in Tensleep


Mrs. Mit - Before and after



Uberheist taking advantage of the fresh pow in Tensleep

[Mit]

Some Scenic Pictures of JH and Area









Summit Trip To Targee


Hiking up Mary's


Mrs. Mit


Gincognito



Grinning Gin


Looking out towards Grand Teton and Mary's

[Mrs Roo]

Looks like a failed attempt at armpit steeze to me

[Z]

looks sweet!!!!

wish i could have come....next yr


nice vids basom, glad to see you back rippin

oh and yeah, slow and clunky, that would describe mildbill's steeze perrrfectly

[edg]

Excellent TRs and Vids! I see Roo's got his long-radius bouncy-bounce dialed in

edg

[gincognito]

Way to keep the post-summit stoke going! That shot of Uber is pretty damned tasty - don't think I've seen that one before. As for the sequence of me, well, all I can say is "silly skier, tricks are for kids."

Sick and ashamed and happy (and willing to give lessons to roo on proper armpit steeze),
d.

[Mit]

Will any guitar smashing, maggette wrestling, powder loving dog rapist in the house please raise their hand.

[teledave]

More ramblings from the other side of the pond:

or, the PowderMaggot Jackson Hole Summit TR as seen by a bunch of redneck gapers.

Day 1

Aaaaarrrrggghhhhh! Alarm clock going off at 4:30 AM, shut that *@#% thing off as soon as possible. Stumble into the kitchen to fix some coffee, head downstairs to wake up Mr. Stinky. Hit the shower, toss the gear in the back of Mr. Stinky’s truck and head off to McGhee-Tyson. That’s how it all starts.

We meet up with Eric and Rodney and all clear through security fairly easily, not too much traffic there at 5:30 in the morning. At 6:05 we are headed to Chicago, time to get this party started. Arriving in Chicago we proceed to make the best of our 3 hour layover by indulging in some adult refreshments, this would prove to be a recurring theme over the next five days.

After two uneventful flights we make Jackson Hole around 2 in the afternoon (local time), and proceed to load an insane amount of gear into our Subaru Forester. Twenty minutes later; with no visibility to the rear and 4 bags full of skis tied to the luggage rack, our traveling junk show is underway. Driving from the airport to our luxury accommodations at the Hostel X my passengers cannot see the surrounding mountains through the shroud of clouds that they wear. I know what lies behind all those clouds but I do not give up that information, my passengers are almost immediately impressed with the areas’ wildlife as we see two coyote meandering across a snowy field. They are then amazed; as we pass by the National Elk Refuge, to see literally thousands of elk as they winter in the valley that is Jackson Hole.

After arriving at the Hostel one thing becomes readily apparent, our room is small, very, very, small. So the obvious solution is to get the heck out of there and head over to the Mangy Moose for some grub and a few cold drafts. We are all of the opinion that there are very few problems that can’t be solved with a healthy dose of alcohol. After our dinner; well and a few after dinner brews too, we head into Jackson to meet up with the maggots for the evening Mardis Gras pub crawl. As the sun has long since set one thing becomes readily apparent, it is cold outside. Not just a little cold, real honest-to-goodness cold, cold. I hear lots of grumbling from my compadres as we meander about downtown Jackson in search of the Snake River Brewing Co. When asked if I know where I am going, well let’s just say I inferred that I knew the general direction in which we should be traveling and this was not met with great approval by the others. We join up with the maggots and proceed to begin our groups attempt to drink every drop of alcohol in the town of Jackson that evening as we hit the Brewing Co., Silver Dollar Bar, Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, and a couple of other locations that I can’t recall the names of. At some point during the evening, it suddenly became less cold to us all, Mr. Stinky began speaking in tongues, everyone realized that a saddle does not make a good barstool, and most importantly a light snow began to fall.

Hostel X


Elk



Day 2

As we awake the next morning I am disappointed to see that there is only a dusting of new snow outside our room. Once again it is cold, 2 degrees according to Hostel’s weather station. After some coffee and a shower the resorts report arrives, 3-4 inches of new snow between the mid-mtn and summit. Not exactly what I was hoping for. We catch up with the maggots for the 9 AM tram, most are headed OB to Cody Bowl since none of my group has the equipment or experience for this we pass. The replies of, “Oh come on, the avy risk is low today” will echo through my mind later in the day as I see places where natural releases have occurred. We hop off of the tram at the top of Rendevous Bowl and proceed to the top of the bowl. We start down toward the tree lined side of the bowl (skier’s left) and I find 10-12 inches of fresh. That’s the good news, the bad news is that the fresh is on top of a hard icy base from the previous week’s thaw/freeze cycle making for some extremely variable conditions. I soon found out that the best way to ski was with quick short turns down the fall line trying not to hit bottom. We made many tram laps hitting the fresh up high and then groomers to the base. Off of the groomers, the lower half of the mountain was rather miserable. Temps ranged from 2 degrees at the base in the morning to a high of 20 at the base and 6 at the summit. A long day was had, not the best skiing that I have ever experienced but definitely not the worst. More than once I mused that Utah powder had me spoiled, but powder is powder and it sure beats solid hardpack.

Corbett's from Toilet Bowl

Looking OB from the Cirque

Traverse above Tensleep Bowl

Eric in Tensleep Bowl

TD in Tensleep

[teledave]

Day 3

Today is another Jackson Hole day. I awake with my legs screaming from tele turns all day the day before. Today I’m going to alpine ski. We start off with another tram ride and back through Rendevous and Laramie Bowl, the conditions are not as good as they were the day before. Back at the base we decide to try a few runs off of the Bridger Gondola, on our first run down I cut through a gate and into the trees thinking we would find some freshies there. How right I was, once into the trees we find some little tracked snow, light and fluffy without the crusty base, ranging from shin to knee deep. We lapped this area the rest of the day, just easing farther and farther in to keep getting more fresh tracks and a new run every time. Talking to Benny Wilson (owner of the Hostel X and founding member of the Jackson Hole Air Force) later that evening I mentioned where we had been skiing that day, he asked me how I found that area and requested that we not tell anyone. It seems we had found one of the locals secret stashes that holds good snow for days after a storm and gets little traffic. You’ll have to find it the same way that I did; I told Benny that I had a nose for the snow so you’ll have to follow your nose to get there. Today wasn’t the last day that we would visit that area. We went out towards Yellowstone late in the afternoon and some pics.


Rodney under Bridger Gondola

Mr. Stinky near Casper Bowl

TD Getting Ready to Hit "The Stash"

TD Finds a Happy Place

JHMR Panorama

the tram goes to the peak in the dead center.
Tetons Panorama

Tourists

Gros Ventre Range Panorama

can you see the "Sleeping Indian"?
Sunset on the Teton Range

[bigtrubs]

So, JH (the week after the summit) was amazing! 6 days of skiing, the first two being amazing powder days and the last 4 we saw an inversion each day with bluebird skies. I definetly have a good understanding of the mountain now, got to adventure to Rock Springs, Crags, Sheridan Bowl and more while I was there.

The airport lost one of my bags the first day so I was forced to ski half blind (no contacts) on the first day but things got better when I got my belongings back! I didn't get many photos because we were too busy having fun, and the only time we really bothered to stop to take pics was on the hobacks, because they're so damn long- you can't help but stop every now and again! I can't wait for my next chance to go back, and I met some awesome people while I was there!

me (hobacks, day 2 I think)

me again, day three when the sun came out...

steve, teleing it up!

and last but not least, my brother and I for the obligatory brother/sister getting along shot...


p.s. snake river grill = best food EVER.

[teledave]

Day 4

Grand Targhee today. After having removed the ski racks from our vehicle, in order to make the trek to Targhee we had to put them back on. We went out at 7 AM to warm up the Suby and put the ski racks on, the in dash temp gauge read -10 F. I knew it was cold out, very cold out, but I didn’t think that the temp gauge in the car could possibly be right reading -10. Turns out my suspicions were correct, later that morning leaving for the ‘Ghee the radio reported the temp in Teton Village as -14 F. Now, that’s some cold weather. We arrived at GT before the rest of the maggots at around 9:00 AM. Nothing like pulling up to a ski area that’s bigger than all the SE areas combined and parking 12 spaces away from the main entrance just as they are firing up the lifts. We made a quick run before everyone arrived, the groomers were phenomenal, off of the groomed the frozen chickenheads made things pretty heinous. Met up with a bunch of maggots for a couple more groomers, then for some unknown reason I got elected to find us someplace good to ski. I failed miserably at this task, and ran the group through what looked from the lift to be good snow but was in fact horrendous. That was the last time they would ask me to lead. After that my group went down a face with runs named The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly; steep and north facing this area held some great snow which we made several laps on before breaking for lunch. After lunch we met up with BobMc and made some runs on the north facing ridge just off of the Sacajawea lift, this area was even steeper and held even more snow… shin to knee deep was the rule here although the skiing was very technical and high consequence in some areas. We wound up the day at the Trap Bar around 3’ish with several maggots, some of which (Utards) would later make a failed attempt to moon us on the road back through Teton Pass. Always good for a laugh from all involved. The clouds grew heavy and it started to snow lightly as we crossed the pass.

Bunch of Maggots at the top of GT (note Mini Maggette with the mad tongue steeze)

View of the Backside of the Tetons

Rodney in The Good, Bad, & Ugly

Mr. Stinky in The Good, Bad, & Ugly

TD in The Good, Bad, & Ugly

TD in East Woods

Eric in East Woods

[teledave]

More GT Pics:
Pics below taken in an unnamed area below the Sacajawea Lift by BobMc
Eric & Mr. Stinky

Rodney & Eric

Rodney

Eric in the Steep

Eric in the Meadow

KC in the Meadow

KC in the Meadow 2

[teledave]

Teledave takes a fall and makes a nice recovery in the steeps (sequence, shot at 6 frames per second) Poor defenseless, little tree.

[teledave]

Teledave Sequence in the Meadow (also 6fps)





The above sequences merged into a flash file,
Teledave Sequence (Flash Required)

The Aftermath

[teledave]

Day 5

Our last day to ski and we awoke to only a dusting of snow at the base, the snow that we saw the evening before decided to take a break until around 4 that morning when it started to fall again. We started off the day with the requisite tram ride and trip down Rendevous, Rendevous was okay; maybe 3 to 4 inches of new snow but it really needed more to be very good. After a quick tram lap we headed over to the gondola in hopes that our secret stash hadn’t been comepletely tracked out. It was starting to snow harder. The woods didn’t disappoint; not only were they not tracked out, they were even deeper than they were 2 days before. We lapped the woods the rest of the day; away from the crowds with the new snow falling in foggy low visibility conditions, and had a blast. There may have been better places on the mountain that day, but today that was our place and we were at one with it. I skied the trees better that day than I ever have before, fast, aggressive, and in soft, deep snow. It may not have been the deepest powder I’ve ever skied but it was one of my best days ever.

Had a screaming good time that night at the "Powder To The People" tour stop at the Moose. Caught me a pair of white & purple racing style gloves, nice gloves but butt ugly, won a Rossi tuning apron in the raffle, got hammered and watched a funky band. Good way to cap everything off.

Mr. Stinky in "The Stash"

TD in "The Stash"


Liquid Safety Meeting


Day 6

We left Jackson Hole in the throws of a big snowstorm with heavy hearts and some great memories. I hope everyone that stayed for that day got some, for me.

[basom]

this man apears to be skiing uphill!



and i think teledave takes the prize for most consecutive shots of oneself in a post by oneself. i counted 15, and it is the new benchmark.

[teledave]

and i think teledave takes the prize for most consecutive shots of oneself in a post by oneself. i counted 15, and it is the new benchmark.

[Elvis voice] Thank you, thank you very much, I'd like to thank God, and momma, and Col. Parker, and Bob Mc, and did I thank momma yet?.....[/Elvis]

and I prefer to go for quantity over quality, always worked before when those late Sat. nights were turning into Sunday mornings......

[frozenwater]

Bumping this from page 3 so I can just piggy back on this thread.

I have probably started half a dozen posts about the summit experience for me, but have never actually finished any of them.

For me it was really bitter sweet, I was so stoked to see old friends and meet new, but it was REALLY hard to sit at work day after day in a cast while you guys just killed it out on the slopes.

However I did have some incredible experiences with a lot of maggots. Those that stopped in to say hi made my days, those that allowed me to party with them at night helped me forget that I couldn't ski.

I should probably appoligize to any of those that witnessed me dancing, my bad. I also really want to tell all of those that went out of thier way to meet me how awesome you were to do so.

And Karl Stall, thanks for letting my family hang with your family man. Can't wait to get together again.

For those that graced my house by crashing here - I miss you guys already.


SO - to wrap this crap up. Helluva good time and I didn't even ski. For those who think summits are about skiing, your missing 75% of the picture. I don't care what the snow conditions are, if you want to meet some of the best people on earth and have a helluva good time go to the nearest summit asap!

[Karl Stall]

SO - to wrap this crap up. Helluva good time and I didn't even ski. For those who think summits are about skiing, your missing 75% of the picture. I don't care what the snow conditions are, if you want to meet some of the best people on earth and have a helluva good time go to the nearest summit asap!

Well said, my man. We so much appreciated the oppprtunity to spend time with your beautiful family - Thank you. Your daughters are extraordinary, sweet young ladies, and your wife is a classy person. It's cool to see a family living the dream and loving it. We miss you guys.

[SherpaStyle]

I've been pretty busy lately, so I havent been on the board much at all since the Summit. I just wanted to write a quick thanks to everyone that made the Summit happen.

Frozen- for taking on the role of Summit organizer and enduring the curse. You did an awesome job and kept a positive attitude despite the fact that you were on the bench....I don't think I could've kept my spirits high through it all like you did. I can't wait to make some turns with you next month!

Karl Stall- for helping out with the fundraiser, giving me a rabbit to chase in the BC, and being fun hang out with.

Jibij- for designing, ordering and paying for the stickers. (I'll get that check in the mail today, promise!)

Theo Meiners- for donating your time to talk about avys and risk management in the BC. Everyone enjoyed the talk and I'm pretty sure each of us walked away from it with some new knowledge and a different perspective of skiing in avalanche terrain.

TGR- for sponsoring the Summit, donating schwag and giving us a place to congregate.

Corey Gavitt and Todd Jones for shedding a bit of light into the behind the scenes world of TGR and ski film production.

John (at marketing)- for hooking us up with cheap tickets and going above and beyond to make it work.

Teton Mountain Lodge- for letting us use their banquet room free of charge for the fundraiser.

Teton Plaza Liquors- for giving us a good deal on the keg that wouldn't die.

Summiteers- for making it the Best Summit Ever! (not that I would know if it really was the best Summit ever, b/c its the only Summit I've been to, but it seemed to go pretty well, I think...) Thanks for the turns, the drinks, the stories, the laughs, the new friendships, and everything else that maggots brought to the Summit!
(and a special thanks to JoshBu for dinner that one night- Sorry you got sick and had to go home early.)

I'm sure I missed a lot, but thats all I can come up with right now.

To all those that got sick or injured at the Summit- Get well and heal up soon! I hope you still enjoyed the Summit despite the fact that you couldn't enjoy all that this place has to offer.

It was an awesome week! I'm glad I got to meet and ski with most of you (as for the rest of you, you know who you are- I hope I never have to see you again ) I'm looking forwardto thenext maggot gathering I get to attend. Maggots are rad! (I miss that word...)

[bad_roo]

(and a special thanks to JoshBu for dinner that one night-

How did this bit of smooveness manage to escape me?

[stump832]

just bumpin this up because i've been thinkign about skiing jackson alot lately, and this kind of gives me a boner.

[bad_roo]

That was such a fun week. Good times indeed.

[gincognito]

Nice bump. I just read through the whole thing again and, man, am I ready for the snow.

Sick and ashamed and happy (and planning is half the fun (well, okay, maybe a fourth)),
d.