Date(s) Skied: January 24, 2012
Resort or Ski Area: Grand Targhee, WY
Conditions: Powder, bluebird
Trip Report: After spending Monday night in Bozeman out at the brewery we convinced Jimmy's (vdk03) sister (who we were staying with) and her boyfriend to continue on our little road trip with us to Grand Targhee. We got on the road about 8 and arrived at GT a little after 12. The road trip in was worth it for the sight seeing. We drove through Idaho and back into Wyoming instead of by passing Big Sky again. I haven't seen that much snow in one place in a long time. Swans in the smoky Madison River with endless snow...pretty picture. I definitely got nervous at one point like WTF is this mountain? You can't see it coming into Wyoming and it's pretty much right over the border. GPS said we would be there in 4 miles or something I was like uhhh... it was about 16 miles up an access road which gave us amazing views of the surrounding ranges.
We pulled in and got suited up right away...half day tickets were $45. We got on the chairlift and could see what seemed like forever. Besides heliskiing which was SO long ago, I have to say I haven't been to a mountain this wide open in a long time...it was just a mountain to ride...trails didn't seem to exist. Trees were existent but sparse and where they were they seemed to clutter together which made the tree skiing fun. We got about 3 1/2 hours of riding in and we ended up lapping one run over and over again.
GT has three main lifts. Dreamcatcher, Sacajawea and Blackfoot. We only rode Dreamcatcher to the top. Blackfoot and Sacajawea were not running. I don't know how much it is but you can pay for a Cat to take you behind Sacajawea and up to different bowls and from there you can hike to Mary's Nipple which looked awesome. Somebody got some awesome tracks back there (see pic at top of GT with Tetons in the back). Our first run we went right off of Dreamcatcher heading down Hunting Ground into some black trails like Patrol Chute and Instructors Chute which threw us into really nice trees at the bottom. I was blazing through some trees and came over a hump that threw me down like a 15 foot drop into a natural half pipe. Pretty sure the whole mountain heard me scream. Landed it when it was unexpected and biffed it the next go round 8) Groomers back to the Dreamcatcher lift.
The majority of our day was spent under and to the right of Blackfoot lift. Since it wasn't running that snow was mostly untouched. We had to walk quite a bit to get back to Dreamcatcher but it was totally worth it. Truly played in the snow over here...hitting natural jumps and winding between trees. It was fun to fall which made it fun to push yourself. We kept lapping this and kept staying farther and farther right to get more untouched snow. We made our last chair around 3:55 just in time to make it to the top to snap some pictures and have one more run down which took us back into Happy Hunting Ground.
Headed to the parking lot with some PBR's, busted out the grill, let the dogs play. Got a cabin to stay in that night and relaxed in the hot tub. Next morning Marie and her friend took off around 6:30 back to Bozeman and we continued our journey to Jackson Hole.
We had so much fun today..yes because of where we were and the conditions we were riding but mostly because we were with family and friends. I'm so happy that I got to ski/ride this these people...wouldn't have asked for it any other way.
Pics Below!
Tetons on the ride in!
we made it!
On Dreamcatcher
Happy Hunting Ground
Jimmy on left, Pete under the tree
Coming down between the Chutes
The drop I launched into
Nice view..Blackfoot side
Powwwwderrrrr
more Pow
Jimmy...not sure if it's a tumble or he's makin sweet turns, pretty cool either way haha
Last run of the day..top of GT...Tetons in the back. Love. You can see Mary's Nipple and some lines on the left side..looks sick.
Annnd,...doing our grilling thang
Resort or Ski Area: Grand Targhee, WY
Conditions: Powder, bluebird
Trip Report: After spending Monday night in Bozeman out at the brewery we convinced Jimmy's (vdk03) sister (who we were staying with) and her boyfriend to continue on our little road trip with us to Grand Targhee. We got on the road about 8 and arrived at GT a little after 12. The road trip in was worth it for the sight seeing. We drove through Idaho and back into Wyoming instead of by passing Big Sky again. I haven't seen that much snow in one place in a long time. Swans in the smoky Madison River with endless snow...pretty picture. I definitely got nervous at one point like WTF is this mountain? You can't see it coming into Wyoming and it's pretty much right over the border. GPS said we would be there in 4 miles or something I was like uhhh... it was about 16 miles up an access road which gave us amazing views of the surrounding ranges.
We pulled in and got suited up right away...half day tickets were $45. We got on the chairlift and could see what seemed like forever. Besides heliskiing which was SO long ago, I have to say I haven't been to a mountain this wide open in a long time...it was just a mountain to ride...trails didn't seem to exist. Trees were existent but sparse and where they were they seemed to clutter together which made the tree skiing fun. We got about 3 1/2 hours of riding in and we ended up lapping one run over and over again.
GT has three main lifts. Dreamcatcher, Sacajawea and Blackfoot. We only rode Dreamcatcher to the top. Blackfoot and Sacajawea were not running. I don't know how much it is but you can pay for a Cat to take you behind Sacajawea and up to different bowls and from there you can hike to Mary's Nipple which looked awesome. Somebody got some awesome tracks back there (see pic at top of GT with Tetons in the back). Our first run we went right off of Dreamcatcher heading down Hunting Ground into some black trails like Patrol Chute and Instructors Chute which threw us into really nice trees at the bottom. I was blazing through some trees and came over a hump that threw me down like a 15 foot drop into a natural half pipe. Pretty sure the whole mountain heard me scream. Landed it when it was unexpected and biffed it the next go round 8) Groomers back to the Dreamcatcher lift.
The majority of our day was spent under and to the right of Blackfoot lift. Since it wasn't running that snow was mostly untouched. We had to walk quite a bit to get back to Dreamcatcher but it was totally worth it. Truly played in the snow over here...hitting natural jumps and winding between trees. It was fun to fall which made it fun to push yourself. We kept lapping this and kept staying farther and farther right to get more untouched snow. We made our last chair around 3:55 just in time to make it to the top to snap some pictures and have one more run down which took us back into Happy Hunting Ground.
Headed to the parking lot with some PBR's, busted out the grill, let the dogs play. Got a cabin to stay in that night and relaxed in the hot tub. Next morning Marie and her friend took off around 6:30 back to Bozeman and we continued our journey to Jackson Hole.
We had so much fun today..yes because of where we were and the conditions we were riding but mostly because we were with family and friends. I'm so happy that I got to ski/ride this these people...wouldn't have asked for it any other way.
Pics Below!
Tetons on the ride in!
we made it!
On Dreamcatcher
Happy Hunting Ground
Jimmy on left, Pete under the tree
Coming down between the Chutes
The drop I launched into
Nice view..Blackfoot side
Powwwwderrrrr
more Pow
Jimmy...not sure if it's a tumble or he's makin sweet turns, pretty cool either way haha
Last run of the day..top of GT...Tetons in the back. Love. You can see Mary's Nipple and some lines on the left side..looks sick.
Annnd,...doing our grilling thang
