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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This is what a season of 605 inches looks like on the last day of lift service.

It had been a few years since I came out to Teton Village on closing day, so it was a great and pleasant surprise to discover the festivities have morphed into Mardi Gras at the base of the slopes. The last tram celebrations of yore are JV by comparison.

In the absence of an emptying tram car to pelt, the party lacked a climactic snowball fight. Then Dick Cheney, after a day of skiing the resort in jeans, got up to address the crowd. His appearance triggered a shock-and-awe-caliber fusillade of snowballs that forced him to fall off a table and flee.

This is a new feature on JH Underground. Click on the above image to enlarge and watch a short slide show of the day’s merrymaking. Use the arrow keys to scroll through the photos.

The over-the-top outrageousness was befitting of an incredible winter that gave us four straight months (and counting) of powder skiing. I can only hope the summer of Two Thousand Great is as bountiful with warmth and sunshine.

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