Report from December 23rd, 2018 at Jackson Hole, WY

The morning started out grey in Jackson Hole with temperature inversion and 1″ of overnight snowfall reported. Forecasts pointed to incoming weather and possible storm riding was to be expected. 

Light amounts of snow have been steadily falling over the last week, keeping most of the open terrain soft.

8″ has accumulated throughout the last 5 days.

However, it’s been three full weeks since the last significant single day storm – 12″ on Dec. 1st.

Jackson Hole currently has 72 of 129 trails open. Rendezvous Bowl skied well where the wind hadn’t scraped it clean. Corbet’s needs at least a couple of good storms. Cirque was open. Expert Chutes remain closed. Alta Chutes remain closed as well as Pepi’s and Split Rock.

Headwall was open and provided some of the best turns found. Wind drifts still offered some nice corners, which was nice considering there was no wind blowing just before the snow started falling. Riverton Bowl held some good snow but was boney towards the bottom.

Yesterday the sun burned bright but the temperature stayed cold. Most of the mountain was unaffected, however some of the more exposed, south-facing slopes including Table Rock were a bit crunchy today. 

Jackson Hole opened all of their lifts today for the first time this season. Most of the lower mountain remains closed. Lower Tram Line opened today and offered a couple good turns before getting heavy.

The slow moving storm we’ve been waiting for made an unfashionably late appearance at 2:00. All is forgiven as most of the moisture it brings will fall after lifts close. We can only hope that delayed appearances equal slow movement and longer snowfall duration.

Fingers crossed that tonight will deliver.

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