Jackson Hole Conditions

SkiBumOfVT · 02-23-2007, 08:26 PM

Hows Jackson doing heading there on Wednesday 2-28 leaving a week after, any big storms coming? base alright?

**FREESKIER_FIVE-0** · 02-23-2007, 08:42 PM

I would say it's a little bit rough. Icey in a few places. Can't really say anything else, I haven't been there for a week.

The Ghee MIGHT be in a little better shape.

**kush1** · 02-24-2007, 10:07 AM

lastweek was great, skied pow everyday althuough there was a warm day on thursday. But the upper mtn and north facing are in great shape, looks like more snow this week (atleast a few inches everynight)

**rideit** · 02-24-2007, 12:27 PM

The Ghee is in MUCH better shape, and has been all season.
http://www.grandtarghee.com/the-moun...ions/index.php

SkiBumOfVT · 02-27-2007, 11:29 AM

thanks, I plan on heading to targhee for a day or so

**Tye 1on** · 02-27-2007, 11:53 AM

Conditions are deteriorating each day. Dang snow is getting everywhere. Big Sky might be a better choice.

**schwerty** · 02-27-2007, 11:56 AM

Big Sky reported 11 inches this morning!

**Tye 1on** · 02-27-2007, 12:48 PM

And Moonlight 8. Big Sky's always had a creative marketing department!

**rideit** · 02-27-2007, 01:28 PM

The groomers are in really bad shape...too much damn snow.

**schwerty** · 02-27-2007, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by Tye 1on

And Moonlight 8. Big Sky's always had a creative marketing department!

Yup. Big Lie has a crack team of bullshitters in their Mkt Dept. Nothing against the place though. I've had some good times there.

**upallnight** · 02-27-2007, 06:48 PM

targhee is better. you should do 6 days @ targhee & 1 at jackson. that is the popular thing now. rideit lives there and can attest to this.

**char** · 02-27-2007, 07:02 PM

Moonlight was good today. Until I did this.

**schwerty** · 02-27-2007, 07:20 PM

Char,
Are you still headed this way?

**rideit** · 02-27-2007, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by upallnight

targhee is better. you should do 6 days @ targhee & 1 at jackson. that is the popular thing now. rideit lives there and can attest to this.

I think you have me confused with Ghee-Pup.

As of last week, Targhee DID have far, far better coverage,(and powder) but the village is catching up. At least for two hours on any given morning.

**upallnight** · 02-27-2007, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by rideit

I think you have me confused with Ghee-Pup.

As of last week, Targhee DID have far, far better coverage,(and powder) but the village is catching up. At least for two hours on any given morning.

i was pretty sure you lived in "victor, victoria" and do most of your riding on that side of the tetons, no?

you've said you've ridden @ the village for many years...do you really believe jackson gets skied up in 2h?? i'm pretty sure i was skiing thigh-deep snow most of the day today, although it ain't on GV. stephen koch would have found it, too -- we know how mobile he is with those approach skis.

then again, i like at least doing some work for my turns, whether that's BC or sidecountry.

**rideit** · 02-28-2007, 12:11 AM

SHHH, UAN...don't give it away!

(I actually live closer to T.V. than I do to Targhee)
I probably get twenty days at the village, more or less, with more days than that (30-40 a season) in the west slope BC...housetop, Darby, Beard's, Oliver, Palisades, Taylor, etc. I have had a season's pass for Targhee for nine years, so yeah, I go up there a lot. But it is more for the vibe and the local comraderie than for the vert and pitch, really. it still feels like a small town hill, where you are going to run into all your bro's any given day.
I LOVE the village, but coming from this side in the A.M., it is kind of a turn-off to deal with the zoo. When it is ON, nothing beats the village, no doubt.
I just always seem to be doing two-four thousand foot tracked out runs at the end of the day, or spending a lot of time traversing/hiking/skinning out of the sidecountry. This is the first year that I have 'priveleges' to ski there without paying for it, so now it is much more appealing to do a Granite or Four pines with what time I have...paying for 10 days or whatever in the past generally left me wanting to use the lifts I paid for.

I am NO 'Ghee is better' proponent, big picture wise...but it is a whole different kind of ski experience. Especially on a dumping weekday.

They both have their strengths and weaknesses. Sidecountry at Targhee is pretty intense, too, peaked to the valley floor is unreal. (as is steve-baugh and Beard's wheatfield). Not the same or comparable to TV, just...different.

Side note: Is Stephen not using a split anymore?
I used the approach skis for Oliver last Friday, they work O.K., but a split is better, IMO.

**upallnight** · 02-28-2007, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by rideit

They both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Side note: Is Stephen not using a split anymore?
I used the approach skis for Oliver last Friday, they work O.K., but a split is better, IMO.

fully agree... no real need to compare two different products. they both have their own charms. even if you go sidecountry, you still are using the lifts you "paid for"!

not sure what stephen is using these days. to be honest, i think watching a good boarder slay it is fantastic -- but one of the reasons i don't ride much with boarders is due to the transitions.

example: heading out to a south sidecountry excursion the other day, there are tons of small transitions where you're riding down but then need to take 5-10 quick steps up. a boarder might have to unstrap and walk, then strap in again. this is in addition to all the standards spots to unclip & hike. all those minor transitions start to add up, no matter how fast you are.

this is a small issue for me, as one of my mentors taught me a huge lesson when doing descents on big peaks. when you break it down, for a given descent one might be skinning, using crampons, booting w/o crampons, and switching back and forth a number of times between them. it's realy easy to go slow during the transitions, or linger & talk, or have a bite to eat....and an extra 5 minutes each time winds up being 1-2h over the course of a day = the difference between soft snow and crust... or between getting out by headlamp or alpenglow.

last i heard he was using approach skis, but i don't know if that was generally or just for a specific objective.

in either case, if i'm in a party with a boarder in the BC and they go down before me, i have little confidence that they would really be able to ascend to search a slide path in time (they're likely to be postholing alot more than a skier -- or those 2 minutes to switch to ski mode on their splitboard will be lost), so i always treat it as if i'm solo. but that's just me.

i wish JHMR's base was at the elevation of targhee's base! if those targhee expansion plans go through (the actual ski area...not all the RE dev), then that would make it world-class!

**rideit** · 02-28-2007, 12:34 AM

There really isn't any 'new' terrain being added to the resort...just ditching the snowcats and adding a few access lifts (to more terrain that is like what exists now).
Basically it is just a real estate expansion.
It will spread people over the hill, though. Blackfoot has been proposed to be realigned to gain more vert, and drop all the way down to Rick's basin, adding a few hundred acres of 30 degree glades.

**upallnight** · 02-28-2007, 12:52 AM

Originally Posted by rideit

There really isn't any 'new' terrain being added to the resort...just ditching the snowcats and adding a few access lifts (to more terrain that is like what exists now).
Basically it is just a real estate expansion.
It will spread people over the hill, though. Blackfoot has been proposed to be realigned to gain more vert, and drop all the way down to Rick's basin, adding a few hundred acres of 30 degree glades.

good info. for some reason i thought there were plans that would double the skiable acreage. i must be mistaken.

**rideit** · 02-28-2007, 12:58 AM

I have some copies of the twenty-year proposal, or it is in 3D form in the main lodge check in. I am pretty familiar with it from working on the proposed Mt. Bike trail system...a LOT of what they are claiming as increased skiing acreage will be on their private land, for use by lot-owners on their 'private' chair that basically just accesses homes. (the area accross from the base where the nordic-fest is held)

Geordie is getting a little more realistic with each counter-proposal, so who really knows what will go down.

One interesting lift will be a lift from the bottom of Sac to the base area, so people can get out of the Peaked area without doing the long traverse...they also are talking about redoing the lower traverse to be 8-10% grades, up from the existing 2-5%.

**Free Range Lobster** · 03-01-2007, 09:20 PM

Can someone tell me what the Rain/Snow forecasted for next weekend means for the resort itself?
Unfortunately it won't list snow levels till probably a couple days out, but anyone want to shoot a long range guess?

**The Suit** · 03-01-2007, 09:35 PM

Originally Posted by Free Range Lobster

Can someone tell me what the Rain/Snow forecasted for next weekend means for the resort itself?
Unfortunately it won't list snow levels till probably a couple days out, but anyone want to shoot a long range guess?

Well the good news is that the NWS dropped their forecasted temps by a few degrees for the weekend. Forecasts here don't really seem to mean shit more than 2-3 days out anyway, so I wouldn't get too worked up over the forecast yet. This time of year, you really have to worry about sun more than anything. A couple of hours of mid-day sun will cook anything that doesn't face north.

**upallnight** · 03-01-2007, 09:44 PM

Originally Posted by The Suit

Well the good news is that the NWS dropped their forecasted temps by a few degrees for the weekend. Forecasts here don't really seem to mean shit more than 2-3 days out anyway, so I wouldn't get too worked up over the forecast yet. This time of year, you really have to worry about sun more than anything. A couple of hours of mid-day sun will cook anything that doesn't face north.

a sun crust was already starting to form yesterday @ 9,000' on e/se-facing slopes with 12+ of pow on them....and it wasn't *that* warm.

**Free Range Lobster** · 03-01-2007, 09:53 PM

Originally Posted by The Suit

This time of year, you really have to worry about sun more than anything. A couple of hours of mid-day sun will cook anything that doesn't face north.

Bring crud destroy boards: check.

**upallnight** · 03-01-2007, 10:13 PM

Originally Posted by Free Range Lobster

Bring crud destroy boards: check.

with 4k of vert and terrain facing all aspects, there's a good chance that you are going to experience pow, crud, crust, hardpack and everything in between...particularly if you are poking around and not sure where you are heading. bring boards that can do it all.

this is generally true for early march, even when new snow is in the forecast. as suit said, a storm can warm up, can get cold (it was pretty damn cold on tuesday when the wind was ripping), we can get snow/rain, the sun could come out and set things up/add a crust.... but that's absolutely what makes the mountain so amazing.

have fun!