Jackson Hole Underground

I’ve added a link to the new Jenny Lake climbing ranger site, where mountaineers can get updates on popular climbing and hiking routes in the Tetons. There’s also a lot of information about backcountry camping in the park. (Alas, no permits online.)

DG at The Snaz has the scoop.

Hard to believe we’re a week past the Fourth of July, and still so much snow in the mountains. Won’t be long before it begins piling up again.

I’m holding onto summer as long as I can.

(Click to enlarge this largeness.)

It’s mid-May, and yet he’s peculiarly enthusiastic about skiing. At a time when most of us are looking ahead to boating and biking, he wouldn’t dream of stowing away the skis. In fact, he never stows away the skis.

He’s Ed Bushnell, journalist, videographer and adventurer turned law scholar. And he’s in Jackson this week to keep alive his streak of skiing every month of the year.

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Today was January 126th up on Teton Pass, where nearly a foot of fresh powder triggered one last all-out frenzy.

I say “last,” but of course, given the weather lately, I’m tempting fate. We could be headed for powder days in May, June … July?

Today’s run on Glory will be my last.

(All photographs © Jim Stanford. Click to enlarge.)

Spring break came, and I did not get very far away: the Gros Ventres, the mountains behind my home.

Most of my winter-loving friends — those who “can’t wait” for the snow to come each fall — had fled to the beach or desert for sun and surf and sand. I, eternally yearning for warmer climes, got invited on a hard-core ski trip.

Bemused by this irony, I gathered my gear and loaded my pack for a two-day trek into the Gros Ventre Wilderness. The weekend weather forecast looked good, and I had never been to the ski cabin by Goodwin Lake, where we would spend the night. Plus, it’s not often you get to explore pristine country with experienced mountaineers.

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It’s almost April, and yet the snowstorms show no signs of abating. Nearly another foot of snow was measured in the Tetons today, and the forecast calls for 14 inches by tomorrow night, with still more on the way.

It’s been a winter of nearly continuous powder skiing. Naturally, after we eclipsed the 500-inch mark earlier this month, people began to wonder whether this season would set a new record for snowfall.

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