My Jackson Hole TR thread..January 24th-February 2nd..

Hey GSS. No surprise but sounds like you are having a great week. I can't wait for my trip to begin. Looks like I'll have better luck traveling there than you but not looking good for the big dumps next week. I get there on Friday with my wife. She does the spa/shopping thing while I ski so I'll try to hit you up for a few runs and a safety session.

I'll be staying in town as well at the Elk Country.

January 28th 2009..

Day 4 of 8...

Hey All,

I'm back from a great powder day at Jackson Hole. As of 6AM this morning there was 6 inches of new snow but by the time the lifts opened at 9AM it was much deeper. I was first in the Gondola singles line at 836AM. I first skied a cool gully skiers left of Amphitheater then over to the Thunder Chair..serious float the entire run..then up the Thunder chair and down an Untracked Laramie bowl..Laramie bowl is larger than most PA ski areas and the 10 or so inches of powder was so light that I flew down in big GS turns..woo hoo..Some nice Smear turns and airplane turns thrown in as well. Up Sublette down 10-Sleep Bowl to the Cirque..the cowboy powder in the cirque was easily 14+ inches deep. I got first tracks right down the middle..then down to the Thunder quad and I skied the woods skiers left of Gannett for about 3 dozen untracked powder turns through widely spaced Douglas Firs down to the Sublette quad..up the Sublette Quad..down a powderiffic Bivoac Woods..then I traversed over to Bird in one hand for more Poe...mad Edgar Allen. Back up the Sublette quad and a repeat of 10-Sleep Bowl to the Cirque..by now there were alot more tracks so I traversed a little farther right for a few dozen steep fall-line knee deep powder turns. I had cotton mouth so I made a couple agressive turns and got a mouth full of light and dry powder.

By 11AM I was starving like Marvin so I skied over to the Casper Lodge. I had Chicken Noodle soup and a soft pretzal washed down with some Gatorade. I ate uber fast than skied Jackson Face down to the Gondola..on the lower mountain there was 4-6 inches of new powder which skied well but not the bottomless of the mid-upper mountain..I then took the Casper bowl traverse aka Mr. Toads Wild ride to the right and skied some sweet powder between mini fir trees..then across the cat-track where I ate shit last year and more powder in the woods of the Casper area..back down to the base..up the Gondola again and I skied the exact same run..then back to the Gondola again and I dilly dallied in lots of different woods down to the base of the Apres Vous chair. Then up Apres Vous and a run in some woods leading to the Saratoga bowl..by the bumpy traverse out..my legs were toast. I skied 10 runs in total including 3 off the Sublette chair, 2 off the Thunder chair, 1 off the Apres Vous chair and 4 off the Gondola for a total of more than 21,000 vert..The first 5 runs I skied 99 percent untracked powder and the last 5 runs maybe 80 percent untracked..best of all it's still snowing lightly and several more inches should fall on the mountain after the lifts are closed. I think I'm in the mood for some Pizza and beer..num num num..

jonhere said:

Hey GSS. No surprise but sounds like you are having a great week. I can't wait for my trip to begin. Looks like I'll have better luck traveling there than you but not looking good for the big dumps next week. I get there on Friday with my wife. She does the spa/shopping thing while I ski so I'll try to hit you up for a few runs and a safety session.

I'll be staying in town as well at the Elk Country.

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I'll be skiing with my friend Tom on my final two ski days..Saturday and Sunday..We'll likely ski one day at Jackson Hole and one day at Grand Targhee..maybe we can meet for some runs..PM me and I'll give you my cell #..

WOW, just realized you were gone. Have a good one!

Quality dumpage in Jhole as usual.

Yesterday after skiing, I had some pizza and beer and ended up falling asleep at 6PM...then I woke up at 8PM...took out my contacts and just woke up again at 1AM so I already have a full night of sleep so I have 6 more hours until my 8AM shuttle bus..It looks like there will be a few to several inches of new snow since the lifts closed yesterday. I talked to my buddy Tom last night and he's going to be rolling into Jackson around 4PM tomorrow night. We'll likely take a few shots of Jameson to toast him being a new father(he has a 9 month old) and just being in Jackson. He mentioned hiking to Marys Nipple at Grand Targhee or the Crags at Jackson Hole and he has an extra backback if I want to use it along with an extra beacan, probe and shovel. I haven't used Avalanche gear since I lived in Bozeman MT.

OK time to drink some coffee..

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Yesterday after skiing, I had some pizza and beer and ended up falling asleep at 6PM...then I woke up at 8PM...took out my contacts and just woke up again at 1AM so I already have a full night of sleep so I have 6 more hours until my 8AM shuttle bus..It looks like there will be a few to several inches of new snow since the lifts closed yesterday. I talked to my buddy Tom last night and he's going to be rolling into Jackson around 4PM tomorrow night. We'll likely take a few shots of Jameson to toast him being a new father(he has a 9 month old) and just being in Jackson. He mentioned hiking to Marys Nipple at Grand Targhee or the Crags at Jackson Hole and he has an extra backback if I want to use it along with an extra beacan, probe and shovel. I haven't used Avalanche gear since I lived in Bozeman MT.

OK time to drink some coffee..

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You've gotta take some pics of that!!!

Day 5 of 8

Janaury 29th 2009..

Hey All,

I'm back from another excellent ski day at Jackson Hole. The morning began sunny with temperatures in the teens on the lower mountain and single digits on the upper mountain. I ate a bacon and and steeze sandwich washed down with some grape gatorade at Nick Wilsons..then got in line for the Tram at 840AM...I was one of the last people to make the first civilian Tram at 9AM. Ski School and Steep and Deep camps get to take a 830AM Tram. First run was a wind buffed Rednevous bowl..I hauled ass down it and was the first person down out of the Tram..then I flew down Rendevous trail to Gros Verte to the Gondola..That 4000+ vert run took about 7-8 minutes..then up the Gondola and down Sundance to Croaky Point to Sundance..I got air off two of the cat-tracks..Mad Steezy Yo..then a top to bottom Gros Verte followed by some woods over the the Casper area. It was just after 10AM and I had already skied over 10,000 vertical feet..I was ready for some Nastar. The par time was 24 seconds. My first run I had 32.01 seconds which was just shy of a Bronze medal..the second run I got in a tuck a few turns earlier and skied a tighter line for 30.5 seconds and a solid Bronze..yes I got a medal in my pocket..woo hoo...Then over to Apres Vous where I skied some leftover powder in the woods..then some more Gondola action followed by a trip up the Thunder Quad..then down some fun gullies to the side of Rendevous bowl off the Nez Perce traverse and down to the Alpenhaus.

I had a cup of mulicatany soup and veal bratwurst with fries washed down with two pints of German Heffeweizen. Then in line for the Tram..it was a two Tram wait..at the top it was windy and snow was moving in. Another wind buffed Rendevous bowl to a safety meeting in the Bivoac woods then to the Sublette chair. Up Sublette down 10-sleep to the Cirque..which was creamy windblown goodness..down to the Thunder quad..then down the Thunder quad liftline which had some small bumps but it was mostly chowder..I wanted to ski the 1400 vertical foot run with no stops but I ended up taking two breaks..near the bottom right above the Thunder lift corral..I hit a little cliff I had scoped out before..right in front of some spectators..I straight ran right through the chowder after the drop to a hockey stop on the cat-track below..fa fa fa fun..but by this time it was 215PM and I was losing steam. I went back up the Thunder chair..and dilly dallyed down through woods, gullies and cat-tracks to the waiting 245PM Redline bus back to town..I skied 13 runs in total including 2 Trams, 1 Sublette, 3 Thunders, 5 Gondolas, 1 Casper and 1 Apres Vous for more than 30,000 vertical feet. I very satisfying ski day..I covered alot of the mountain. I need to hit the Hobacks and some of the other lower faces tomorrow when I'm fresh..Tomorrow will be my last solo ski day and then Saturday and Sunday I'm skiing with my buddy Tom...OK I think it's beer thirty..


Root...I'll hopefully have my friend take some action shots this weekend..OK time to go back to my room and take off my ski boots..I put them on 7.5 hours ago..

How bout some pictures lame ass. You could be sitting in a McDonalds in Scranton for all we know....

JD said:

How bout some pictures lame ass. You could be sitting in a McDonalds in Scranton for all we know....

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With all the safety meetings, he could be sitting in a McDonalds in Scranton for all HE knows. :razz:

JD said:

How bout some pictures lame ass. You could be sitting in a McDonalds in Scranton for all we know....

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Nope, I hear they banned him.

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Day 5 of 8

Janaury 29th 2009......

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great TR, sounds like you are having a blast.

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

I had a cup of mulicatany soup and veal bratwurst with fries washed down with two pints of German Heffeweizen......

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if i had that for lunch I'd be done for the day, or puking half way down the first run after lunch. uke:

JD said:

How bout some pictures lame ass. You could be sitting in a McDonalds in Scranton for all we know....

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I took 50 pictures the other day and when I'm back at work Tuesday I'll upload them..and JD you would like Jackson Hole..lots of old bearded hippies..8)but they ride the lifts..

gmcunni said:

if i had that for lunch I'd be done for the day, or puking half way down the first run after lunch. uke:

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I ate like a horse yesterday..I once again fell asleep/passed out at 7PM...today the dogsled race comes through town and there are fireworks..once again I'm up at 1AM surfing the net..I need some more rest..as I'm sure today will once again be totally legit followed by an evening bar hopping with my buddy. We'll probably hit up the Gunbarrel one night this weekend. It's a great place to get steak, bison, Elk and other wild game.

Good news: I just checked my Credit card statement and Hertz cahrged me alot less than I expected because I returned the car within 24 hours..the price they quoted me in Denver was a two day rental so instead of $480, it was like $260..saweetness..I've been keep a tally of how much trip has cost me so far and that $220 savings might make this year cheaper than last year. I saved $150 on my hotel due to a special and $250 on airfare due to a United Voucher so even with the car rental I'm actually ahead $140..fuzzy math..I better not spend it on hookers and blow..

My good friend Shawn works at the coffee house. Red head, Red Beard....He always bust my balss about coming out in the spring for corn in the pass.....one day...

January 30th 2009

Day 6 of 8

Hey All,

I'm back from another awesome day of skiing at Jackson Hole. I took the 8AM bus and was in the Tram line at 830AM...first Tram and a nice window spot. Definite inversion today..cool and foggy on the lower mountain..warm and sunny on the upper mountain. Rendevous bowl was naturally groomed by fierce overnight winds that blew right up the mountain. Today I was 2nd person down Rendevous bowl from the 1st civiliam Tram. Then down into Bivoac woods which still had some leftover powder to the Sublette quad..Up Sublette into a wind-drifted 10-sleep Bowl to the Cirque and into the fog in the Aphitheater below..then up the Thunder lift and down a chalky Laramie bowl to the Sublette chair..Up Sublette down Central Chute which was saweet so I skied that two more times..one or two icy moguls but mostly creamy snow..Then over to Thunder and down the gully skiers left of Amphitheater which is a natural halfpipe and down to the Alpenhaf for lunch. I had the Swiss mountaineers lunch...a bowl of mushroom barley soup..mini baguette with smoked meat and cheese..washed down with a quart of Wheat beer..lunch of champions..

After lunch I took the quad back up to the sunny peak above the valley fog. This time I hauled ass down Rendevous bowl and was first one from the Tram down. Straightlining Rendevous bowl in smooth conditions with good visibility is a must for any speedfreak..I did check my speed before the groomed Rendevous trail below because going from ungroomed to groomed can be herky jerky..then down Bivoac woods to Cheyanne gully to the Hobacks to the base..I think I made 3 stops which isn't bad considering the vert and variable snow conditons from powder to chalk to packed to some heavy areas in the Hobacks..then the Union Pass lift back to the base..up the Gondola down Amphitheater up Thunder right under the lift..extra steeze points for weaving through some cliffs above the Thunder lift corral..I got to the top of Thunder at 2PM..my legs were pretty beat and I had skied 13 runs for over 26k of vert... and I need to save them for 2 more ski days with my buddy. I knew I could make the 2:15PM bus but I needed to break a $20 bill since the bus only accepts exact change. I hightailed it to the Casper Lodge..no turns..bought a bag of MnMs for $1.50..got my three ones for the bus..I asked the woman at the register of the Casper lodge what time it was..it was 2:06...plenty of time...I clicked into my skeeze and straightlined it to the base..bullet tuck on the flats..and right across the slushy road to the waiting Redline bus..On the bus were a couple girls who graduated from UVM this past year..I got the one girls #, so maybe her and her friends can join me and Tom for some drinks later..hopefully it's not a fake phone #...lol..but it's 802 which is Vermont which seems legit..lol..My friend should be here in about an hour..so I might take a powernap...Hasta La Vista...Baby!!!

Come on, your killing me here! Take that little cable and connect one end to your camera and the other to the laptop and upload at least a picture or two for each daily post!! As you so aptly point out: This post is useless without pictures!! And the promise of pictures to come doesn't count either! By that time we'll have forgotten about your trip! I expect to see some picts of Grand Targee like The Good, The Bad, or The Ugly, or Nasty Gash!!

There now, off you go!!

Hey All,

I'm back from a fun ski day at Grand Targhee with my friend Tom. He rolled into Jackson last night around 6PM...I consumed lots of whisky, beer and Jager..I even ended up hitting the dance floor at the Cowboy bar with two hotties..at least according to my beer goggles....nothing wrong with a little bump and grind..This morning I was pretty hungover..a bagel with cheddar cheese and tomato along with some Applejuice and Sugar Free Redbull had me feeling better. We arrived at Grand Targhee around 9:10AM. It was pretty crowded for Targhee standards due to a Breast Cancer charity event like a walkathon but it involved hiking up..I'm not making this up..Marys Nipple which is a 15+ minute hike. I plopped down 69 dollars for a ticket and was ready to ski. Tom and I spent most of the day skiing leftover powder shots in the woods. 4 runs off the Dreamcatcher lift at 2,000 vert...4 runs off the Blackfoot lift at 1200 vert each and 2 runs off the Sacajawea chair at 1300 vert for a total of 10 runs and over 15,000 vertical feet. Not that much but it was more of a social day and almost all tree skiing which required alot more turns than on-piste skiing. Tom made boiled hotdogs in the parking lot with his camping stove and of course I drank some PBR..it was a totally legit day..The visibility became greatly reduced in the afternoon as another storm moves in. Wow I've skied so much powder this trip from two snowstorms and I might get to ski several more inches of fresh Poe tomorrow night. Anyway...it's beer thirty and then we're going to the Gunbarrel Steak and Game house..followed by another pub crawl..

Beetlenut..you'll get to see some pictures when I get home..I don't have the little cable..it's a work..I only took pictures for the sake of others..and you'll see some soon...

No pictures were taken at Grand Targhee...sorry..bad visibility..tomorrow looks like poor visibility as well but you'll love my shots from the other day from the Tram..the new Tram flys so high..the pictures look like were taken from a plane..Beetlenut close your eyes and imagine them..then on Tuesday you can see them with your eyes open..I miss all you New Englanders...LMFAO..luckily my buddy Tom is a Boston native with a wicked strong accent..time to drink beer.

Hey All,

I'm back from my final ski day of my Jackson Hole trip. Tom and I went to the buffet at the Teton Steak House..we didn't get to the mountain until around 910AM. No new snow..mainly packed powder conditions..with the northerly aspects seeing the best. We began on the Tram and Rendevous bowl was groomed by the wind..Bivoac woods were chalky..then up the Sublette chair and down the entire Hobacks. I made some agressive jump turns and on a bump my one ski ejected. Then up the Gondola then down some woods to the Apres Vous lift. We then decided to do a hike above and to the South of the Apres Vous chair. 15 minutes of hiking yielded us about 15 untracked north facing turns..and a few nice pillows and rollers..it was nice enough that we did it again then down to the base up the Gondola and then over to the Thunder chair through some woods...then down Dicks ditch to the base..it was about 2PM and we were beat and hungry..we went to Bubbas BBQ for a late lunch...Toms heading back to Bozeman in a little bit..I'll probably just chill and have a few beers..I don't care about the super bowl..maybe Different Strokes or Full House will be on..well I survived 8 ski days in a row at Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee..I hit the trip well with 2 snowstorm after 12 days of no new snow..it doesn't look like any new snow for awhile so I really hit the bulls eye. I managed to score untracked everyday of my trip..and I really enjoyed skiing on my burly Nordica Blowers..My flight to Chicago leaves around Noon or so and I'll hopefully be back in PA later tomorrow..

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly....

The Good:

Fresh Powder

Hardly any people

Computer in lobby 25 steps from my room

Chilling with my buddy Tom

Earning some turns

Some wicked fast runs

Gunbarrel Steak and Game house

Silver Dollar Bar @ the Wort

Snake River Brewary

Bubba's BBQ

$3 Start Bus


The Bad:

United Airlines

Liftline cutters in the Tram line..."Dude my buddy is 24 people in front of you can I cut in front"....response,"Dude give me $50 and you can cut in front of me"....The Tram at Jackson Hole is an icon and you have to wait in line..I wish they had a sign up that said,"Line Cutters will be shot"....

East Ridge double sitting still collecting dust...They should run that lift..getting a few powder laps in Rendevous bowl is awesome...what a waste of a lift if it doesn't run

$87 one day lift ticket...expensive..$69 for Grand Targhee seems like alot as well since they don't even have snowmaking..luckily my 6 day J-Hole pass was about $360 through Central Reservations..

The last three hours of my drive from Denver..white knuckle is an understatement..I got blisters on my hands..and was singing 80s music loudly to stay awake...GSS Likes to Party All the Time Party All the Time..


The Ugly:

All the one-piece fartbags

All the Bozeman barking spiders in my room

The Beards on some of the skibums..ZZTop called and they want their beards back..

Obese woman in the hot-tub..

All the people trying to scam lift tickets from people by the bus-stop.."Hey Bro can I clip your ticket"..."Sorry Bro it's a multiday"..."Dude everybody here has multi-day tickets"..."Dude this ain't Hunter mountain"...right right..

Seeing a dead bird fall from the sky in the Grand Targhee parking lot..serious anti-stoke..fucking bird-flu...

My dirty laundry

My next credit card bill..