SERIOUSLY...THE LAST DAY OF LIFT SKIING

This past weekend was one of the best that I have had in Jackson. Saturday morning I got up early and headed out the Grand Teton National Park where the roads are only open to cyclists and pedestrians right now. I rode about 30 miles on perfectly paved roads with zero cars...that in itself would have been amazing but add in breathtaking views of the Grand Tetons and it becomes the definition of epic. A great ride on Saturday could only be topped off with one of two things....1) another great ride on Sunday or 2) a great ski day. Since the number of days I have left to ski are numbered and I have all summer to ride I opted to go lift skiing one more time. So Sunday morning we made the 1.5 hour trek to the other side of the mountain to ski the final day at Grand Targhee. As you may remember this is where I skied my first day of the season since they opened a couple weeks before Jackson Hole did and it was my last day of lift skiing this season. I hope to "earn my turns" and do some hiking this spring for a little bit more skiing. We had already heard rumors of the crazy warm temperatures on the other side of the mountain and were stoked to FINALLY be able to shed our heavy winter coats and ski in t-shirts and sweatshirts. Once we arrived we realized the rumors we had heard were true and most of us skied in t-shirts, no long-underwear, light hats, and sunglasses instead of goggles. Needless to say it was AMAZING to finally feel the warm sun on my skin after such a long winter. I do think that this is the most I have ever appreciated Spring and sunshine in my entire life. Don't get me wrong I am in by no means complaining about the cold and snow because I seriously just got done with the most amazing winter of my life. Nothing beats skiing fresh powder almost everyday of the winter....except maybe the warm sunshine after a long record-breaking winter.


On another note, I fly home on Monday and cannot wait to see my family and friends and really get into some warm (and humid) weather. I never thought the day would come when I would crave humid weather but I actually do. My skin is the driest it has ever been in my entire life and is in some desperate need of moisture. This is really odd considering there is MASSIVE amounts of snow evaporating everyday....I know that the snow is evaporating into the sky so one would assume that with all the snow melting it would make the air a little less dry....but nope, it's drier then I have experienced all winter....go figure!

Megan and I about to descend our last Ski Resort run of the season....A wonderful end to a wonderful season

Megan and I at the base of Targhee for the last Apres Ski event of the season.

The Grand.....I want to climb the middle peak this summer!

Goofing off before our final descent

I love that my final fall of the season is while trying to get into position to take a picture....can we say graceful!

Yep! There I am facefirst in the snow...lovely

Still trying to maneuver myself over to Megan

More end of season pictures....

Did I mention I bought new skis a week before the mountain closes?? Nothing like waiting till the very last minute....view of my new skis on my last Gondola ride of the winter season

View of Sundance Run from the Gondola

Apres Ski party outside Nick Wilsons and the VC on the last day of ski season.

Rachael and I on the last day of the season....I am dressed like this on purpose! Rachael is dressed up too but you can't tell b/c of her jacket.

First sighting of SPRING!!!!! Green grass outside our office!!

END OF A SEASON....

This past weekend marked the end of an epic winter. Not just epic in the amount of snowfall we had but epic in the sense that it was the best winter I have ever had in my entire life. Below is an account of how we ended up by the end of the season....
1. one torn ACL
2. one pair of stolen poles
3. two pairs of lost goggles
4. one lost glove
5. nothing lost off the ski lifts...which is surprising considering how many times we took pictures or used our phones on the lift. I thought for sure that someone would loose their phone by the end of the season.
6. 1 ski patrol escort down the mountain
7. 1 time having to hike out of a cliff area we accidently got into
8. a million memories that will last a lifetime

Check out the article link below regarding Jackson Hole's epic record breaking season in Freeskier Magazine
http://community.freeskier.com/articles/article.php?article_id=2260

Although Jackson Hole is now closed our ski season is not quite done. Megan and I hiked up Snow King yesterday morning to ski down and we have plans to go to Grand Targhee this weekend to partake in their season closing festivities and skiing.

More Pictures from Gaper Day....

Megan, Rachael and I goofing off before getting on the Thunder Lift

Rachael and I on the ground after Jay (the guy in orange) pushed us....total Gapers!

Rachael, Megan and me outside Nick Wilson's at the Gaper Day Apres Ski party

Nice face Megan

Gelande Quaffing World Championships

Only in Jackson Hole is this what the Ski Patrol does once the mountain closes......atleast we hope the mountain is closed at this point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiBWWPbYZjo

GAPER FOOL'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

April 1st in a ski town = Gaper Fool's Day ...... oh how I wish there were words to describe the spectacle that I witnessed at the mountain on Gaper Day but unfortunately words do not do it justice. Imagine a couple thousand ski and snowboard bums dressed up in their finest ski attire (circa 1950-1990) and acting like the most ridiculous tourists you have ever seen all while drinking.....lovely mix as you can imagine. Not only does everyone dress up on Gaper Fool's day but they also act and ski like a Gaper (tourist) as well......It was by far the funniest and most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Below are some picture and video that I took on Gaper Day. Be sure and take the time to watch the videos....they aren't too long.

Hanging outside Nick Wilson's at the end of the ski day.

Some guys from work heading up the mountain early. Mike (the guy in the white) didn't even make it to the lift before he split a hole along the but of his pants and had to tape it back together with electrical tape.

Rachael and I on the Gondi heading up for our first one of the day....little did we know what we were about to experience.

Rachael and I atop Thunder Bumps

The view from Casper Restaurant at mid-day

Nick Wilson's Apres Ski Party

Crazy guy running across the base of the mountain. Good summary of how people were acting all day. We even saw a girl ski down topless and a guy in a girls 1 piece bathingsuit

View from the bottom of Thunder Bumps run....everybody just did laps on this run all day. Be sure your volume is turned on.

A crazy stupid guy jumping off the roof of Nick Wilsons......The mountain ended up closing Nick's early because it got too rowdy.

Mountain Festival

In conjunction with the Hill Climb was the Jackson Hole Mountain Festival which was a week long festival at the base of the mountain that was topped off with a free outdoor concert by Michael Franti and the Spearheads. Everyday there was live music, races, and various other activities. The best by far though was the free concert Saturday night. The stage was set up against the base of the mountain and when the sun set it reflected off the snow and looked amazing. I wish I was able to get some better pictures of it b/c the ones I have don't nearly do it enough justice.

Megan, Rachael and I at Nick Wilson's Cowboy Cafe for the Mandatory Air concert.
View of the stage with the Mountain in the background.
Jenny, Megan and I at the Michael Franti concert. One concert where I did not mind being in the middle of the crowd......much much warmer

Megan and I goofing off at the arch after the concert before going out to the Tavern.Brief video of the concert.

Snowmobile Hill Climb

This past weekend was one of the biggest weekends in Jackson during the winter. Just two blocks down from our house Snow King held the World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb which is a 4 day competition where people race their snowmobiles up Snow King. This didn't sound too hard to me when I first heard about it but once you see how steep Snow King is you'd understand why it is supposedly such a big deal. People kept trying to tell me that I was going to be amazed at all the rednecks that would roll into town for the weekend....that is until I reminded them where I was from and then I'd hear "oh, well then you'll fell right at home".... and they were right, it did remind me of being back in the south and made me miss home....everywhere you looked this weekend there were big trucks and rednecks. Quite a change when I have gone all winter without seeing any rednecks or mullets....oh, yeah I forgot they aren't called rednecks here...they are called "Slednecks". If you have time I highly recommend you check out the video HERE....it is a video from last years hill climb and has some amazing crashes in it. Keep in mind these sleds they are crashing cost around 10 grand a piece.

View of Snow King from our favorite bar, 43 North. This is where we watched a good portion of the event because we could sit on the roof of the bar.

Megan, Jenny, Rachael and I standing outside our "2nd Home".

What redneck weekend would be complete without a snow sculpture.

Rachael, Jenny, Megan and I at the base of Snow King

One good thing about winter here is that you don't have to carry a cooler around with you at events......You just put your drink in whatever snowbank you happen to be standing by. This happens to be on Megan's back porch while we were watching the X-Gamer snowmobilers doing tricks......and yes that is Megan's christmas tree in the background.

This is a video I filmed from Megan's back porch. Many of the guys who participated in the X-Games came to Jackson this weekend as well to do some shows at the fairgrounds which just happen to be in our back yards. Megan's porch had the better view though so we watched from there. Be sure and watch the video all the way through (it's not long) so you can see the backflips......these guys are crazy!!!

WILL WE BREAK THE RECORD???

Check out the article below about record setting snowfalls.....it would be amazing if the year I moved to Jackson was the year we broke the alltime snow record..........we are close and it is still snowing heavily outside

http://www.jhunderground.com/2008/03/25/will-we-break-the-record/#more-811

HIKING THE HEADWALL....FINALLY

So after months of talking about it Megan and I finally set out to hike the Headwall in hopes of some end of season fresh powder. Seeing amazing skiers on a day to day basis can sometimes easily be intimidating and thus one of my main reasons for not hiking the headwall earlier this season. For those that don't know the Headwall is about a 20-40 minute hike depending on where you decide to ski down. It's famed because up until the late 1990's/early 2000's it was closed and considered out of bounds. Now however they do avalanche control there and have opened it up to those who are willing to strap their skis to their back and bootpack straight up in search of the ever sought out untouched powder. Once at the top of the headwall Megan and I had no idea where to ski down. We knew that there were cliffs everywhere and of course we wanted to avoid all cliffs so we just kept traversing across the headwall to the Crags which is on the complete opposite side of the mountain. While we were traversing we passed some guys who called out to Megan and oddly enough Megan had gone to high school with 2 of the guys. They were currently living in Chicago and were just in Jackson for a long weekend vacation. Talk about a small world. It was their first time on the headwall as well so we all ended up skiing the rest of the day together. Once we finally made it to the Crags we put on our skis and took off down the steep slope that was still knee deep powder much of which was untouched. Nothing like just letting loose and pointing your skis straight down knowing that the massive amounts of powder will help keep your speed in control and will provide a soft landing if you crash....which we did numerous times. Hands down it was one of the most fun runs I have done all season....the hike up was well worth it and I completely understand why some many locals are obsessed with backcountry skiing and continually hike up in search of untouched runs. If I had the money I would definitely invest in backcountry gear and opt for more out of bounds skiing then the tourist packed skied-out runs at the village. My only complaint and regret so far from the season is that I let intimidation get the best of me and didn't hike the headwall earlier in the season. We still had knee-deep untouched powder 2 days after the last snowfall so I can only imagine how amazing these runs were on days were we got feets of snow overnight. Next year I'll know better and will be waiting in line for those first tracks.

One of the guys with us took some video skiing down from the Headwall....if I can get a hold of it I'll post it up.

Looking up at one of the descents off the headwall.

Megan and I atop the headwall.....this was after about 20minutes of climbing...we still had another 20 minutes of traversing and slight climbing till we dropped in

Me atop the headwall

View of Corbets from the Headwall....I still can't believe they allow people to ski it

View of the Tetons from atop the Headwall

A DAY OF MANY FIRSTS....

1. Yesterday was the first day of spring.....we also got 9 inches of snow yesterday........(545 total inches this year)
2. I saw my first cyclist out on the road training yesterday....still too cold for me though....39degrees on a bike on a road littered with snowmelt is not my idea of fun
3. I did however go running outside for the first time this year....SOOOOOO much better then being stuck inside on the treadmill or elliptical....

Now I'm looking forward to the first day I can ride outside and the first day that I see some color around town.....green grass, budding trees, wildflowers, etc etc etc

New Camera and New Ski Boots!!!!!!!

So I finally caved yesterday and bought a new digital camera.....it didn't make much sense living somewhere as beautiful as Jackson and not having a functional camera or as in my case any camera at all..... I bought the highly rated Canon Powershot SD 750 and have so far loved it! It is the coolest (not to mention smallest) easiest to use camera I have ever seen.....since I bought the camera last night and had to work today I haven't had anything picture worthy to try my camera out....so, since I'm so bored at work I decided to take pictures of my new ski boots (well, they were new in January)....and since I'm on a rant about new products that I love, I am absolutely obsessed with my new ski boots...hands down the most comfortable ski boots I have ever worn not to mention that I have somehow been lucky enough to avoid any of the problems that most new ski boots cause....these fit my feet like a glove....too bad I don't have ski's to wear with them though :( why oh why does outdoor equipment have to be so daggum expensive?


Lots of fun end of season events are about to start happening and I

Its Official!!!

The mountain is reporting 501 inches of total snowfall for the 2007-2008 winter season as of 6am this morning....... and we still have 3 weeks left of ski seasons

SNOWMOBILING!!!!!

So, after 2.5 months of winter I finally got a chance to go snowmobiling. Rachael's parents came to town to visit and scheduled a snowmobiling trip and lucky for us since we work at Jackson Hole Resort Lodging we got to go free....just another one of our many perks. The day started off with a drive down to Alipine, Idaho where we ate breakfast and headed out into the National Forest surrounding the Grey's River. Megan and I got really bored riding in a line on a wide flat path...especially when were behind idiots that kept braking for the smallest thing. So we decided that we would have more fun stopping and letting the group get way ahead and then gunning it to see how fast we could get the snowmobiles to go.........the fastest I was able to get mine up to was right above 80mph. I'm sure they would have gone faster but that was about as fast as I was willing to go and that the terrain would let us go before the road would start to twist and we would have to slow down.
All in all it was a great trip with some great company. Rachael's parents were amazing the whole week they were here and even treated us to some of the best food I've had in Jackson.

What's a trip snowmobiling without some super posed pictures??? I'm the one in the light purple down jacket and black pants on the end.

MORE SNOWCAMPING PICTURES & VIDEO!

Video of two of the guys trying to make the snowcave collapse the next morning.....

Galen making some coffee in the morning and me trying to stay warm..

A couple shots of the entrance to our snowcave.

SNOW CAMPING

So I finally got the chance to go snow camping this past weekend. I was kinda nervous about doing it because I get cold easy so I was afraid I was going to end up being freezing the whole night. Originally our plan was to snowshoe to Huckleberry Hot Springs and camp out there so that we could keep warm in the natural hot springs. However, after being the good citizens that we are and stopping in at the Ranger's Station for Grand Teton National Park we learned that not only could we not camp at Huckleberry hot springs but that camp fires were not allowed inside the National Park during the winter. Since obviously we weren't going to camp in 10degree weather with no camp fire we scratched that idea and opted to head over to the Slide Lake area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Slide Lake is a natural lake that was formed in the 1920's by a massive landslide. It's a pretty cool story how the landscape was formed in this area and you can read briefly about it by clicking HERE. Once we backtracked over to the Slide Lake area we strapped on our snowshoes and our packs and started out across the frozen lake in search of the ideal campsite to build a snowcave. We snowshoed across the lake and up a steep slope searching for a spot. It was by far one of the hardest hikes I've done in awhile. I felt like I was on a stairclimber because the slope we went up was so steep and the snow was so deep that each time I took a step I ended up sliding further back down then where I originally started from. Not to mention the fact that I had a pack on my back as well. It ended up taking us about an hour or so to find a place to camp and by that time we were all dripping in sweat. Once we found our camp spot we immediately went to work setting up camp. All I know is that setting up a winter campground is MUCH harder then a summer campground. For those of you who don't know, when you go snow camping you build a snowcave to sleep in instead of a tent . This sounded like a fun idea to me but it ended up taking us about 2 hours of physical labor to build the cave. Then when we went to sleep I kept freaking out thinking the snowcave was going to collapse on us and we were going to be buried alive. However, luckily for us it did not collapse and once we tested the strength of the snowcave the next morning we learned that it was much stronger then we originally thought. Once we finished our snowcaves we built a fire and cooked a nice warm pasta meal . It was super basic (noodles and sauce) but I was so hungry from all the work that it could have been dirt I was eating and it would have tasted good. After dinner we sat around the campfire and talked and tried to dry out all our base layers that got soaked with sweat earlier in the evening. We ended up sleeping 3 in one snowcave and 2 in another snowcave and being the nice person that I am I volunteered to sleep in the middle of the 3 person cave so that I would have body heat on both sides of me. Our cave was so small that the 3 of us barely fit. I had to sleep on my side because there was literally not enough room for me to lay on my back or stomach. I was really surprised how warm I actually was throughout the night. Of course I slept in 2 pairs of long underwear, my ski pants , my down jacket, a fleece sleeping bag liner and my big down sleeping bag. Outside the cave it was probably around 10degrees but it was around 30degrees inside the cave. The next morning we were planning on cooking breakfast but opted to just pack up camp and head back to the cars instead. But before we left we decided to see how strong our snowcave was. There were 3 guys jumping on top of the snowcave and it was not budging. We finally cut holes in the side of the cave until standing on it caused it to collapse. The hike back out was so much easier then on the way in. We quickly realized that we were unable to snowshoe back down the huge slope we hiked up the night before so instead we sat on our bottoms and just slide the whole way down. What took us 30minutes to hike up took us about 30seconds to get down. Grant you I had massive quantities of snow down my pants and up my jacket from sliding down but it was worth it. All in all it was a great experience and was a nice little tease of the camping and hiking opportunities here in Jackson and has made me look forward to summer all the more.

Below are some pictures of our snowcave. I will post more pictures of the trip and a video once I get them from the other people that went on the trip with us.

The 5 of us sticking our heads through the holes we cut in the snowcave. The guys and me sitting in the snowcave holes.

Standing on the connecting snow pieces between the holes and it is still not collapsing.

NEXT POST.....SNOWMOBILING PICTURES AND STORY!!

Up Top To Corbets....

This past weekend Megan and I made our first trip to the top of the famed "Corbets Couloir". For those of you that don't know, Corbet's is considered the hardest "inbounds" ski run in North America. It took us 4 lifts to get to the top and by the time we got there there was 30mph winds. It was so windy and steep that Megan took her skis off and crawled to the edge because she was afraid of falling down. We waited and waited hoping to see somebody drop in and just before we left a snowboarder came up and immediately dropped in without any hesitation. He didn't land it cleanly but he did it which is more then I will ever be able to say.