1/16 - Woke up in our kitschy
Parkway Inn hotel. It was nice but had
that antique, lacey curtain vibe I like to make fun of. Off to Jackson Hole! Drove 20 min up to the resort and hit the mid
mountain lift first to warm up. Lots of
tree runs and we sought out stashes of powder.
Fun, but exhausting. Then more runs
and we stopped for a couple beers and a snack.
Back to the top and down a steep descent, following Ilja right to a
cliff. Both of us hiked out, then rode down
a gulley to a dead end and had to hike out again. Lots of jump turns today and 16,000 feet of
vertical. Beer and nachos at the slope-side
Saloon. Jacuzzi and rest before the bar
back in Jackson. Snow in the forecast
for tomorrow!
1/17 - Light snow on and off making for a nice, soft
covering on the mountain. We hit the
Bridger Gondola up and traversed to Aprez Vouz for some more deep stashes then
the tram to the top. Holy cow! Hurricane winds and whiteout conditions! We should have guessed by the dozen people
who took the tram back down and were getting off at the bottom.
I was afraid my board was going to blow off
the peak before I could strap it on.
Finally ready, we slid off the ridge into the white abyss. I hoped the wind would relent as we dropped
but it kept up for at least the first 500 feet.
Luckily we were up here yesterday and I saw the same row of signs
(planted every 20 feet or so – maybe just for this reason!) and we followed the
path down the black diamond slope. We
successfully avoided the cliff area and followed the ridge right to the bowl
then dropped into a nice long gully that seemed to go on forever (and we didn’t
get stuck this time!). No more runs from
the top today – but we did ride a lot more (and got 17,000 ft. of vert) before
calling it a day. Beers at the Snake River Brewery, dinner (Bison Burger) at
Local and drinks at the Cowboy Bar, then back to Local for a night cap. Big day!
2025-02-15