Jackson Hole Underground

These guys have good timing.

Powder magazine is in Jackson Hole this week for its annual ski-demo junket. Representatives of 31 ski companies are on hand to let Powder scribes, local rippers and assorted p.r. types test the boards on some of the most challenging terrain in North America.

The goal is to ski as much powder and vertical as the legs can stand, consume as much free beer as the liver will tolerate, and sometime later assemble a buyer’s guide to the best 2007-08 ski gear.

And in a gift from the heavens, two feet of feathery-soft snow have fallen in the last two days, providing the best ski conditions of the season.

I’ve been invited to participate, an unlikely selection for a self-professed gear minimalist who a) still wears the same ski jacket from 1999; b) has zero interest in what’s cool at Teton Village; and c) believes 95 percent of skiing either depends on the snow or is in your head.

Although this will require me to take part in industrial skiing, I plan to blog about the week’s events and give a different take on some of the new gear, including a couple of local products. And I’m looking forward to taking the START bus to Teton Village to lessen my carbon imprint.

It’s no surprise that Powder chooses the Big One as its destination for gear demos year after year. The trip brings Jackson Hole News/Guide alumni Tom Bie, Porter Fox and Matt “Boogie Nights” Hansen (at right) back to their old stomping grounds. The three former local sports reporters have gone on to various editing jobs at the magazine.

Asked about the timing this year, Fox wore the grin of a kid who’s been handed the keys to the candy store. Of the seven years Powder has convened the event at Jackson Hole, six have coincided with a deep storm cycle, he explained.

Fox, by the way, has forged a career as a freelance writer based in New York. He is under contract to the magazine to write a number of stories each year. Soon he will have a small collection of short stories published, perhaps as a step toward a book deal.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 9:49 am and is filed under skiing, media, ski resorts. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.