Jackson Hole Underground

The News&Guide has a front-page story this week about growing concern among Teton County officials over the cost and frequency of backcountry rescues, particularly of skiers in extreme terrain.

One source of irritation, not mentioned in the article, stemmed from the all-night rescue of snowboarder Toby Kuznia on New Year’s Day. Kuznia, 23, walked out on a cornice on the edge of Unskiabowl, in the southern Tetons, and triggered a slide that carried him several hundred feet over cliffs. N&G reporter Cara Froedge wrote a gripping narrative of the ordeal, with Kuznia, who suffered a broken pelvis and other injuries, pictured flashing the “hang loose” sign from his hospital bed.

Turns out that on one of the four helicopter trips needed to shuttle Kuznia’s party and rescuers off the mountain, a ski belonging to one of Kuznia’s friends fell out of the chopper and was lost. The friend allegedly asked the Teton County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees Search and Rescue, to buy him a new pair of skis.

Dude, thanks for saving my buddy’s life. How about a new set of twin-tip Salomon SPKs to go with that heli ride? And a fresh coat of wax.

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Ay, chihuahua!

Looks like a snowboarder went for a tumble down Taco Bell Chute last night. A cold tumble. The temperature at Jackson Hole Airport this morning was -15 degrees.

The debris ran all the way across Flat Creek but did not appear to form a dam. There is a layer of ice over the water at the bottom of the gully.

This dude looks to have been carried for perhaps 50 to 100 feet, before he got himself out of trouble and resumed making turns on the ridge. He probably crossed the creek and ordered a half-pound cheesy bean and rice burrito.

Sick, hermano.

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Ski patrollers at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort have triggered five-foot-deep slabs. The high, north faces that hold the cold, shaded powder we love to ski could be a trap, with several layers prone to avalanches.

Time for a primer on the snowpack, and to register for a backcountry safety course.

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The snowmobiler killed in an avalanche Saturday in the Snake River Range was Nicholas Gus Steinmann, 26, of Ogden, Utah, the AP reports via the Twin Falls (Idaho) Times-News.

In all, six people were killed by avalanches in the Rockies this weekend. Two snowmobilers died in a slide Saturday in Montana, two others were killed in separate incidents in Utah, and a young skier died after leaving the resort boundary at Snowbasin, Utah, bringing to 13 the total number of avalanche fatalities in America this winter. All but three were snowmobilers.

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Number of days since last significant snowfall: 18.
Number of nights during this span with low temperature of zero degrees or colder: 18.
Number of nights with low temperature of -10 degrees or colder: 9.
Forecasted low temperature for tonight: -11.
Days until first day of spring: 51.

While it seems like this has been the worst drought in recent memory, it isn’t.

Through January, this year’s snowpack ranks as the third-lowest total in the 40-year history of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, trailing only 2001 and 1977, the infamous “winter it didn’t snow.” But relief may be on the way.

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