Conditions Report
words by Liza Sarychev photos by Austen Sybert
“Get out of bed Jackson Hole! 12 inches of new snow, 11 of which have fallen overnight” said the snow report voice-recording at 6 am. And so I did, along with thousands of other eager skiers. A foot of fresh for Sunday morning means crowds. If you didn’t make it to the base by 7 am, chances are you didn’t make the first box.
The Jackson Hole ski patrol managed to get the mountain open on time and up we went. Skis click on and my first though was “bottomless.” Hooting and hollering, smiles, and high fives were exchanged all morning. The bowl skied great, Alta chutes, Expert chutes, Cheyenne, the Hobacks, skied great. Anywhere you went was deep, there were no bad aspects.
Bridger Teton National Forrest Avalanche center rated the avalanche danger “high” above 7500 feet and with over 50 avalanches in the last 48 hours (most of which were triggered by ski patrol bombing) we decided to stay inside resort boundaries. Sunday was no doubt a great day of skiing. By Monday morning we had another 10 inches, 6 of which fell overnight. And although it wasn’t bottomless like Sunday, there is nothing like floating down through fresh snow. A system of high pressure is coming tomorrow, so it’s time to wait until the snowpack stabilizes and get after it in the backcountry when it does.
