It's about time! Mood: cheeky Topic: shred report
new snow: 9" conditions: powder
thursday. the only day of the week i can sleep in. i must have a sixth sense because the silent sound of snow settling on the surface was all it took to get me out of bed. grabbed some grub and i was out the door. going 20 miles an hour all the way to skyline village. typical, on a snowy morning, and not entirely unexpected. made it out to the village and parked at the very end of the ranch lot - again, not a surprise.
bypassed the tram and went straight for the gondola. that line moves pretty fast though, so I was at the top in no time. went straight for my favorite gully which is certainly not a secret. lots of tracks, but still lots of pow so it's all good. played on the sides near the bottom of mushroom chutes, and that was fantastic. wish i could say the same about the lift line at thunder, but alas. apparently the concept of alternating lines is just too complicated for the feeble minds of some. all i can say is, chill out people. there's plenty of powder up there, and waiting one more chair isn't going to change that (or the fact that there are still 200 people already in front of you.) sheesh.
powder on thunder was pretty good, but i had a feeling it would be better up higher. besides, a little birdie on the gondola had mentioned that headwall might be opening in a couple of hours, and I wanted to be on Sublette when that happenned. besides, i couldn't handle another wait at the bottom of thunder. Bivouac woods was fabulous, as was pepi's ridge / alta woods. decided to traverse into tensleep bowl to see what was up. only half of it was open, but it was powdery and soft. managed the traverse with minimal hopping but no unstrapping. since headwall was open and cirque was looking a bit rocky.... well, i would have hiked anyway.
worth it. SO worth it. headwall was pure bliss, made even more exciting by the sheer exhileration that hiking always brings. for the first time ever, i managed to hike up without having to stop and let people pass by me. that's a good feeling. anyway, despite the few rocks at the top, which were obvious enough to avoid, total face shots in knee deep powder the entire way down. Lo and behold, it dropped me in my favorite gully near the top of the gondola, so I decided to stay on the gondi line for the remainder of the run. as always, the further down you get, the less tracks there are because everyone drops down, seduced by the steep powdery slope. eventually, I too laid down some nice turns through the fresh snow, but the last part of the fall line (just above sundance trail) got a little sketchy. As in, slightly covered rock which exposed itself as I rode over it, causing me to fall and hit my quadricep on the other part of it. evil rock. luckily there was enough snow (and enough flesh on my thigh) to result only in a bruise, but it's going to be a big one and it's pretty sore. ah well, it was my last run anyway, since i had to be at work. didn't really affect my riding for the last little traverse back to the tram, so i'm sure i'll be fine, just a little purple.
went home and stuck to my strict regimen of lifting weights. still was showered and ready for work with time to spare. I feel so efficient today. can't wait to do it all tomorrow.... wait, I don't have to work tomorrow.... woo hoo! happy new year. as i told the guys who shared the lift with me, I don't want to see the sun till 2005. keep snowing. keep snowing.
Brrrrrrr Mood: cool Topic: shred report
Temperature: 0 New Snow: 1 inch conditions: powder & packed powder
ever grateful for the gondola, rode up without the biting cold wind for my first run. hit my favorite gulley, which had a couple of inches of powder over a hard packed mogul layer. still pretty good riding, but you get going really fast without trying. zoomed over to thunder - there were snow guns on ampitheather and the snow under them was great. buttery carveable corduroy. same for the rest of ampitheather, only without the visibility limitations. the woods between grand and laramie bowl looked pretty fresh. as with the gully, nice powder over a hard layer that quickly gave you speed. by this time my toes were numb and I was thinking about all the errands I needed to finish when I got back to town (never a good thing to be concentrating on when you're riding.) Decided to check out the halfpipe, which was recut yesterday, so I traversed all the way across the mountain. BIG mistake. still sore from my weightlifting adventure a couple days ago, my calves were completely burning by the time I made it to Apres Vous territory. As expected, the pipe was in good condition, but the sidewalls were a little scratchy and my edges just weren't sharp enough to hack it. bailed.
Hiking the pipe Mood: energetic Topic: shred report
New snow: 0 conditions: packed powder
Started off with a couple of corduroy cruisers with a new friend (who happens to be the roommate of an old friend.) Upper mountain was nice and toasty, stayed on the groomers on Thunder & Casper, then he went to work and I went to the halfpipe.
Electrical problems had temporarily downed the rope tow, but it takes a lot more than that to get ME down. Decided to hike, and it was the best decision I made all day. After 3 runs, I shed the jacket and made the entire operation more comfortable. They got the lift working, but I didn't care, I just kept on hiking. I've discovered that I ride so much better when I hike. I actually made it out a couple of times today, and I did a little alley-oop at the bottom (although I ate it hard when I caught my heelside edge, but i landed it the other times.)
As if that wasn't enough exercise, i went home and worked out. GRRRRRRR.
Halfpipe days are here again! Mood: celebratory Topic: shred report
New snow: 0 Conditions: packed powder
It's open!!!!! The halfpipe is open. Earliest halfpipe in the history of Jackson Hole. Nothing like a new record to start your day off right.
Actually, I took a couple of cruisers to start my day off right - the upper mountain was sunny and the grooming was immaculate, as usual. After a few runs I was feeling dehydrated so I zipped over to Casper for some much needed water. Enough screwing around already. Time for halfpipe!
Perfectly groomed packed powder, completely smooth transitions, and if that's not enough for you, there's a rope tow to get you back to the top. I love what they've done to the entrance - it totally improved the traffic flow (although I have it on good authority they really did it to make it easier for the snowcat to turn around.) There are 2 shelf platforms, then the usual sloping drop in, so you can get enough speed and drop in like a wuss or drop in from the highest point. I'm about 2/3 of the way up the wall right now, which is better than last year, but not quite aggressive enough. I'll get there. I made it to the top of the wall a couple of times, and maybe made it out once. I definitely notice a huge improvement due to the fact that I've been skating all summer.
Aerial Tram & Sublette open Mood: chillin' Topic: shred report
New snow: 0 conditions: Powder/packed powder
Tram line was insane this morning. I guess that's why there was no one on the gondola. no messing around for me, blasted ampitheater to Thunder, flew down Grand to Sublette. Took the first run down bird in hand - the top was floaty and perfect, but the face was crust. yikes. Decided to try the other side of cheyenne bowl and hit bivouac woods. superior. Total powder, all sizes of rock drops, spent the entire morning carving turns around the trees.
The halfpipe is opening tomorrow and I decided to check it out. Met the entire crew (you guys ROCK!) and got a good look at the pipe. Perfectly shaped and just as big as ever - this is going to be the earliest opening in the history of Jackson Hole. The setup has changed a bit, with the entrance a bit more graded so you can just dive right in instead of hiking or traversing up the shelf and dropping a quarterpipe to get to it. Plus the area where you offload from the rope tow gets you right in the pipe instead of having to unstrap and climb like last year. (Did I mention pipe and park crew ROCKS!) Helped JP measure the tube - FYI it's 375 feet long and 17 feet high and 50 feet across. approximately. I was actually holding the end of the measuring tape that said zero, so I'm going on hearsay and memory. Can't wait to hit it tomorrow. 11 hours and counting.
Thunder opened yesterday - my roommate and I decided to check it out today. After a lazy start, got to the mountain at noon-ish. Headed straight to thunder. yummy. took the little gully from the gondola and it was still fresh, then hit all the little rock jumps at the bottom of paintbrush. Since it was mostly untracked, it was still soft - not enough warmth to melt it so it froze into crust. Took a few runs through the woods off grand and cut under sublette chair to the roller coaster liftline. Had a blast, left early to go to work. c'est la vie.
who needs to see anyway Mood: lazy Topic: shred report
New Snow: 2" Surface: spring conditions / wet snow
driving to the village it was raining. kept an eye on the thermometer - it hit 34 as i pulled into the parking lot. at least it's snow up on the mountain.
visibility was nonexistent. although 2" fell overnight, it was still rain at the top of AV. Of course, that means there was NO ONE at the mountain and NO WAIT at any of the lifts, and, oh yeah, CASPER opened today! Hmmmm..... sometimes even the rain works in your favor. even if it is coating my goggles with a layer of water so I have to keep smearing them with my specially designed goggle-wiping mitten. gotta love kids gear. (yes, i have little hands... and little feet.... and i'm 5'2".... any other questions? don't go there.)
Thought about taking a run down AV but couldn't resist the lure of Casper. to my surprise (and joy) not only was the lift open, but ALL the trails were open, including moran woods, the gondi line, and gros ventre. blasted a few runs down sleeping indian woods. the snow was wet and fresh, which is second only to powder for a landing pad. hit lots of small jumps and tore through the less bumpy areas like a maniac. took another run straight down the lift line through the steep powder field above the race course that normally drops you right into a fence when NASTAR is in full swing. Luckily, the course isn't open yet, so there aren't any fences and you can rip through the woods and still get back onto the trail instead of getting stuck in the flatter part of the woods.
Decided to venture into casper restaurant to use the facilities, and discovered that since the staff was there training anyway, they had decided to serve the food they were preparing instead of throwing it away. yum. my favorite on-slope restaurant. a lot of the staff from last year returned, and those guys are a blast.
timing is everything. on my way out the door, a kindly gentleman made a comment to me about how it was a 'good thing we're here.' I inquired further, and he told me that AV was down due to mechanical failure (again.) didn't feel like doing laps on teewee again, so i made sure i didn't miss the last traverse back to casper.
spent the rest of my day doing laps in moran woods. there's an 8 foot cliff drop that i don't remember (because it's probably filled in after a couple of storms....) which I inadvertantly plummetted. I noticed what it was just in time to jump out off the lip instead of carving down its face, but it was already too late to adjust the position of my body. (perpendicular to the jump due to my trying to stop and see what I was standing on top of.) Had I intended to go over it, I probably could have navigated my way through the landing, which was totally soft, but also totally wet mush. since I didn't land gracefully it sucked me under. I made a lot of noise so no one else would decide to hit the drop while I was extracting myself from the quagmire. only one rider came down (again the rain working in my favor) and she wasn't really interested in dropping an 8 foot cliff - besides she saw me yelling and waving and figured out what was going on. I really love it when people remember to take their brains with them in the morning. Thanks chica, whoever you are.
eventually, my body was telling me it was time to go home. I decided to make my last run a good one. besides, i've had enough of lower moran & lower werner for a while. I traversed over to the intersection of ampitheater and croaky point, and dropped into the trees. there were only a couple of other tracks, so it was pretty much an open field for most of the descent. that dropped me onto upper sundance, which i crossed over to hit gondi woods. the fall line sends you right back out onto sundance, but i unstrapped and hoofed it up the traverse to drop back into the woods. i followed the liftline down. it was so thick that I had to stay close to the other tracks so as to not lose momentum, and before long it dumped me down a steep face of fresh snow back onto sundance trail. by then my legs were jello anyway, and i was too tired to bemoan my exodus from the ungroomed terrain. carved my way through soft corduroy (mostly untracked) and crossed over the teton club bridge to come to a stop in front of the v.c. what a fabulous day. sleep will be good tonight.
powder to the people Mood: chillin'
got the ski report this morning via text message on my cell phone. 17". 'nuff said. i was outa there so fast i forgot to take my phone with me. i never do that. except for today. so i guesss i do that sometimes.
mechanical failure on AV started the morning off right. I took several lovely runs on teewinot, and was about to bail when I noticed that AV was finally loading people (10 AM-ish.) after an unusually long wait in line (though not unexpected) was finally en route to the top.
first run down av more than made up for the wait. so much so that i didn't even mind waiting in line again. i cut into the trees and found a lovely steep untracked area, which i proceeded to tear through. 3 runs in a row.
as i reached the top of the lift a few runs later, i noticed that ski patrol was replacing the 'closed area' signs with 'caution' signs. teewinot face was officially open and i was one of the first 20 or so people officially on it. that of course, doesn't take into account all the poachers who cut through it earlier (some of whom got chased and threatened by ski patrol. i actually know more than one person who has had their pass pulled for such behavior.) the snow was heavy, wet sludge, but it was incredibly fun, and the coverage was good except for a few twigs here and there. I went over this one rather large mogul / kicker / roller near the top of a.v. and some people on the lift started whooping at me. probably people i know. in fact, now that i remember, I think i did see some guys i know about 10 chairs behind me when i was getting on the lift.... anyway, it was still pretty kewl. I feel like I'm going bigger than last year, at least. and isn't that what it's all about? progression.
mmmmm... powwwder Mood: chillin' Topic: shred report
major snowstorm hit jackson yesterday - we already had a foot this morning and another 12 inches fell during the day. so it probably won't surprise anyone that i went to snow king after work.
took 2 runs down cougar, hitting the untracked powder on the sides of the trails, but the coverage was sketchy at best (even theough the powder was soft and light.) then i headed over to elk (or whatever that other trail is that's open) because the ski racers were done with it. Of course, they only use one little part of it, and the rest was mostly untouched (due to the racers clogging up the trail all day) so the left side was phenomenal. go figure - when it's snowing and blowing all day, the gulley is where the powder is... who woulda thought? took the rest of my runs throught that fluffiness, until finally the sun was setting, the temperature was dropping, and my not-so-waterproof snowpants were starting to soak through. headed home thoroughly satisfied. boo-ya!
day two Mood: spacey Topic: shred report
didn't ride today. not enough new snow to brave the elements, but at least it started flurrying while i was in the office....
yesterday i took a few runs with my snowboard instructor roommate, so at least I got to concentrate on my form. it was fast, and for the first few runs the corduroy was carveable. there were some fun little kickers on the sides, but the pow from yesterday was pretty much crust today. so the landings weren't as smooth as i'd prefer, but still navigable. did a mini photo shoot due to the fact that my companion wound the disposable camera, thus creating the potential for a wasted shot while the camera was in my pocket. so i hiked up and hit it again, and he wound it AGAIN. so then he took a glammour shot of me sitting on the trail. oh joy, can't wait to develop that one.
still waiting for the accumulation the weather channel seems to think we're already receiving. in the meantime, it's time to catch up on some much needed sleep.
JHMR is open! Mood: celebratory Topic: shred report
another season begins, and it begins with an inversion. temperatures dropped consistently at the base while rising up at the summit, and by 9am it was about 6 degrees at the base. I went shopping. that's not entirely true - I actually got a macchiato, then i HAD to shop so i would have time to finish it before hitting Teewinot.
two shots of espresso later, I was on my way up the hill. the bottom of AV was engulfed in a freezing cloud of death, but about halfway up the lift we emerged into a bright, clear, warm, bluebird day. I took a sharp left down the steeper side of Moran, and discovered 6 inches of fresh powder just waiting by the side of the trail. There were a few tracks through it, but all in all, a super-freshie fiesta. Of course there was also a semi-covered rock with one track leading over it, so I had to jump. what a perfect little shred grrl kicker. anyway, i mostly stuck to that area (since only 2 trails are open anyway) but after a while I headed over to the other edge of moran and dipped a little ways into moran woods - as far as I could without crossing the boundaries. for those of you who would call me a goody-goody, i'll have you know that i learned the hard way - if JHMR has a closed sign, there's a reason it's closed. The don't just hoard the powder or save it for the tourists on the weekends. i have a huge glop of p-tex on the bottom of my board to prove it.
after a few hours, i decided i couldn't hang with my 12 dollar goggles that i bought in colorado anymore. my face was pretty much frozen and while they don't fog, they also don't keep the wind out so my eyes were watery. went to 2 shops and tried on dozens of pairs of goggles (not counting the dozens i've already tried on) and finally found a pair that fit with my helmet. Spy Soldier. headed back to the hill and had a much happier day.
by 12:30 or so, the surface was starting to solidify. Hours of ski racers tearing up the corduroy took their toll on the groomed runs. still found plenty of soft stuff off the beaten path. I could tell you exactly where, but then i'd have to kill you.
hijacked! Mood: celebratory Topic: shred report
yesterday, my roommate showed up at my work just as my shift ended, kidnapped me, and made me go to snow king. gee whiz, what a horrible way to get off work. hehehe.
surprisingly, the conditions were not what I would call icy. definitely hard packed, but carvable, with enough sluff from the ski racers to find an edge. by the time the lifts closed, it was getting a bit less cooperative, but that's why they close the lifts, then, isn't it. the real treat was the fact that there were a couple of mini kickers on the side of the traverse on the way to lower elk (skier's right off cougar lift.) that was fun - I even managed to grab the board once.... during the half a second I was actually in the air.
this morning it wasn't even snowing in town, but halfway out to the village I had to dim my headlights just to see through the spiraling flakes. Don't you just love it when Mother Nature decides to cooperate? tomorrow JHMR opens its lifts (at least 2 of them.... Teewinot & A.V.) and from what I hear, the halfpipe should be ready before xmas. tune in tomorrow for a full recap of the festivities.
anticipation is making me wait Mood: caffeinated Topic: snowboarding
JHMR held it's annual pep rally (aka orientation) yesterday, so everyone's excited about the lifts opening on saturday. not that we weren't already, but around here all you have to do is show some TGR clips of deep powder and people tend to forget that we don't have enough snow to open the gondola (let alone the tram....) add our impatience to the instability of the snowpack and you've got a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. it's not that i'm cynical, i've just been suffering from a cumulative lack of sleep this week. i'm actually very excited that i'll finally be able to come out of hibernation and be sociable again (although skating definitely alleviated some of that cocooning behavior this past summer.)
Hmmm.... did I have a point? never. I have no points - I only have curves.
dust on crust Mood: chillin' Topic: skateboarding
decided not to bother getting all geared up for a couple runs down the slightly covered slope of ice and went to the colosseum instead. took me a few tries but i finally remembered how to skate. sunday afternoon so the usual crowd of kids was there, which is always much more interesting than rolling around an empty park, at least for me. didn't realize how long it had been since i'd visited the park until i noticed that what used to be a quarter is now a slant, and the other little launch was totally gone. where have i been? oh yeah, right.... denver. loveland. hehehe. how come they're getting all the snow anyway? we need some of that here.
opening day at the king Mood: hungry Topic: shred report
well, it's official. snow king is finally open, and conditions are exactly what we've come to know and love. there's a reason it's called the 'ice queen.' i guess it figures that if you're going to have a race all morning, the slope is going to be mostly skied off all along the course. Luckily, there's plenty of east coast powdere (aka the sluff piled up on the sides of the trail) which allows for some control as you're coming down cougar, which is of course the only trail open. when they say experts only, they mean it.
snow continued to fall all afternoon, but it was a strange almost-hail type of snow, so it didn't really make the turns any softer and there wasn't enough of it to make much difference. the one surprise was the temperature - it was warm enough for the bottom third of the slope to be soft and slushy, almost spring-like.
guess what - I DON'T CARE! I got to go snowboarding today. WOO HOO! maybe later in the season i'll get picky and turn into a snow-snob, but not today.
where is the snow? Mood: lazy Topic: personal
can't believe it's been over a week since my last comment. especially since i failed to mention my experience with the snow skate on the p-tex rail the guys from never summer had set up at the base of loveland.... which ROCKED. but now i'm home, slowly sinking further into the depression caused by continuous sunshine....
until today. today it is snowing. very light snow flurries, but still snow nonetheless. already got my pass for the king, and filled out all the paperwork for the village. oh yeah... they said anytime after tuesday i could get my pass... things are looking up. maybe i'll do that this afternoon. anything to postpone doing laundry!
first day of my season Mood: celebratory Topic: shred report
wow. i'm in denver. apparently the delivery service bringing the snow to wyoming got stuck here. they must've sent it airborne express or something. anyway...
went to loveland ski area today and had a total BLAST! first days are always exhilerating and this one was no exception. only took one run by myself before i started meeting cool people on the lifts. i was blathering on about how i wanted to demo a never summer infinity board, and one of my lift-mates informed me that there was a demo tent at the bottom of the hill. FATE. i guess i really was destined to be here today.
on to the conditions report - a few inches of new snow had fallen over a sufficient but hard-packed base. coverage was surprisingly adequate, and the snow was very carveable for most of the morning. by noon there were a few icy patches, but still enough sluff had been skied off into little piles to allow for some controlled turns. what really blew my mind, though, was the fact that the park was OPEN. 3 rails had been installed, and there were little mini-kickers off the sides of them where all the wusses (for example, yours truly) chose to go for the grab instead of the grind. i did do a nice little mute grab on the never summer demo board (side note to self - BUY THAT BOARD.) there were also numerous little kickers off the sides of the traverses and between the tree islands in the middle of trails. lifts at loveland don't have names, they have numbers - lift 2 was rather packed with beginners and a little less steep than what i'm used to (go figure...) so i pretty much stuck to lift 1. besides, that's where the park is.
all in all, a great day and a great start to another great season!
driving distracted Mood: bright Topic: snowboarding
early morning frost on the windshield easily dissipates with the aid of wiper fluid. side windows are not so conveniently cleared, but that's a good thing. driving down broadway i couldn't help but notice all the snow that's being blown at snow king, and it's hard to concentrate on the road with that in plain view. maybe this afternoon i'll join the sledders and shredders who are hiking the 10 vertical feet of man made snow at the foot of the hill.
election day Mood: energetic Topic: couch potato commentary
so i currently have 3 different news websites up as well as election coverage on CNN playing on tv. polls aren't even closed on the east coast, let alone here, but i voted on friday anyway so it seems like the election is over and should be tallied by now. really don't see why all the states don't do it the way we do here - go into the county clerk's office and vote whenever it's convenient with a deadline of nov 2.... seems crazy that there are these ridiculous lines everywhere and the places where it's really close are the places where it's hardest to vote. sheesh. not like i even care who wins anyway.
on to more interesting topics - like the weather. it's been cold here, cold enough for the king to blow snow. the hardcore are hiking the pass, i hear it's pretty tracked out at this point. then again, that's not exactly unusual for jackson terrain. i had 3 different people offer to hike with me on sunday, but apparently halloween took too much out of them because nobody called me. i happen to know that's because they slept in. so did i. i guess that makes it all even.
snow is in the air Mood: mischievious Topic: skateboarding
slowly the snow line is creeping further down the mountain. just a few more vertical feet before it hits the valley floor. today there are flurries in town, and a haunting hazy fog blocks out any view of the sunshine.
big halloween party tonight and as usual i've procrastinated the entire planning of my costume. i'm sure i can dig something appropriate out of the back of my closet.
speaking of cold..... went skating last night and for once didn't even take off my sweatshirt. it was very cold, or maybe i just wasn't trying hard enough. the long exhausting week took its toll on me. there were a bunch of friendly kids there, though, so it was all good. it always boosts your enthusiasm when there are youngsters to remind you how much fun life can really be. your focus shifts to play instead of wandering from one stressful obligation to the next. very soon i'll be able to release all my frustration and aggravation on the mountain. keep coming, little snowflakes. keep coming.
cheeky
cool
energetic
celebratory
chillin'
happy
lazy
spacey
caffeinated
hungry
bright
mischievious