kcyanks1
New member
Where: Jackson Hole, WY
When: 3/18 (last 1-2 hours of the day), 3/19, 3/20
Weather: HOT (at least for March and what I was expecting). I skied in a long sleeve t-shirt and jacket liner on 3/18, a short-sleeve t-shirt and jacket liner on 3/19, and a turtle neck and jacket liner on 3/20. By the end of 3/20 it was snowing somewhat at the top, but I can't imagine that it was below freezing. Perhaps it was a little hotter further up and the precipitation just never changed from snow. Or maybe it was the sun. But it felt warm still.
Conditions: Spring conditions - standard icy/corn/slush cycle, the amount of each depending on how high you were on the mountain, time of day, direction the trail faces, and how much sun the trail receives. The base up top is pretty good still, though less than it was another time I was here in March, and I suspect well below average considering they have had under 300" this year and they average over 400".
Boring paragraph you can skip if you want (airline troubles): I was supposed to arrive on the 17th so I could ski on the 18th, but due to flight issues I didn't arrive until the afternoon of 3/18 ... without my baggage. Thankfully Jackson gives you a free ticket and rental for the afternoon you arrive if you present your boarding pass, so I did that for the first afternoon. Nothing too much to report then since I didn't get much skiing in. Though I never thought I'd be very picky about equipment, but I felt like I was skiing like crap with what I had.. I think it was the boots more than the skis--they just didn't fit tightly enough. I then skied full days on 3/19 and 3/20. On 3/19 I had to demo skis because my stuff still had not arrived (I demoed Nordicas, not sure what model, but they were wider than my own skis and quite fun), and then my stuff arrived the afternoon of 3/19 so I had my own equipment for 3/20. So, sorry for the boring stuff. Now on to my report which pales in comparison to dmc's reports. And even though I did finally buy a camera, I only took a couple pictures and they are all awful.
Report: My description of the conditions sums it up well. I was able to ski a good amount of the expert terrain -- Expert Chutes, Tower 3 Chute (it was open on 3/19 but closed on 3/17 and 3/18 for some reason), Paintbrush, Hoops Gap, and Alta 3 (Alta 1 and 2 which I like better were closed. 1 looks very skiable, 2 would have some more rock dodging). Even found the Mushroom chutes (thanks dmc!). Of those Expert Chutes and Paintbrush were probably in the best condition. Tower 3 was good at the top and bottom but the most challenging part was somewhat icy. Our first attempt to find the Mushroom Chutes on 3/18 led to some pretty icy stuff which might've been Hoops Gap or the bottom of the Mushroom Chutes, but then we skied it further up on 3/20 and it was nicer..Still a bit hard, but fun, and as dmc said, narrow. We also hiked to Casper Bowl on 3/20, but the snow up there wasn't as good as on other trails and was skied out enough so it might not have been worth the effort. It is lots of fun being on a big mountain with such great terrain... I think the snow was much better for dmc though.
As for Corbets, haven't gotten me on that yet. The report actually said it was closed, and we actually took a lesson today and the instructor thought it as closed (though he wasn't positive it seemed), but on 3/19 when we were traversing below it we did see someone exiting it and a bunch of others looking down. I still wish I had the guts to ski it, but it really depends on the drop I guess. If it were as low as 5 feet at the easiest entrance I might (emphasize might) go for it (the instructor estimated it at 5-7 feet at the easier part, though when I was here last time and there was more snow but still below average, and I looked down, it seemed like more than that). Not sure if I should just continue thinking it's probably closed so I don't have to face my fear, or go and look
I'll update later in the trip unless I complete bored everyone with no pictures and not much detail Hope everyone is enjoying the huge storm from this passed weekend in the east!
When: 3/18 (last 1-2 hours of the day), 3/19, 3/20
Weather: HOT (at least for March and what I was expecting). I skied in a long sleeve t-shirt and jacket liner on 3/18, a short-sleeve t-shirt and jacket liner on 3/19, and a turtle neck and jacket liner on 3/20. By the end of 3/20 it was snowing somewhat at the top, but I can't imagine that it was below freezing. Perhaps it was a little hotter further up and the precipitation just never changed from snow. Or maybe it was the sun. But it felt warm still.
Conditions: Spring conditions - standard icy/corn/slush cycle, the amount of each depending on how high you were on the mountain, time of day, direction the trail faces, and how much sun the trail receives. The base up top is pretty good still, though less than it was another time I was here in March, and I suspect well below average considering they have had under 300" this year and they average over 400".
Boring paragraph you can skip if you want (airline troubles): I was supposed to arrive on the 17th so I could ski on the 18th, but due to flight issues I didn't arrive until the afternoon of 3/18 ... without my baggage. Thankfully Jackson gives you a free ticket and rental for the afternoon you arrive if you present your boarding pass, so I did that for the first afternoon. Nothing too much to report then since I didn't get much skiing in. Though I never thought I'd be very picky about equipment, but I felt like I was skiing like crap with what I had.. I think it was the boots more than the skis--they just didn't fit tightly enough. I then skied full days on 3/19 and 3/20. On 3/19 I had to demo skis because my stuff still had not arrived (I demoed Nordicas, not sure what model, but they were wider than my own skis and quite fun), and then my stuff arrived the afternoon of 3/19 so I had my own equipment for 3/20. So, sorry for the boring stuff. Now on to my report which pales in comparison to dmc's reports. And even though I did finally buy a camera, I only took a couple pictures and they are all awful.
Report: My description of the conditions sums it up well. I was able to ski a good amount of the expert terrain -- Expert Chutes, Tower 3 Chute (it was open on 3/19 but closed on 3/17 and 3/18 for some reason), Paintbrush, Hoops Gap, and Alta 3 (Alta 1 and 2 which I like better were closed. 1 looks very skiable, 2 would have some more rock dodging). Even found the Mushroom chutes (thanks dmc!). Of those Expert Chutes and Paintbrush were probably in the best condition. Tower 3 was good at the top and bottom but the most challenging part was somewhat icy. Our first attempt to find the Mushroom Chutes on 3/18 led to some pretty icy stuff which might've been Hoops Gap or the bottom of the Mushroom Chutes, but then we skied it further up on 3/20 and it was nicer..Still a bit hard, but fun, and as dmc said, narrow. We also hiked to Casper Bowl on 3/20, but the snow up there wasn't as good as on other trails and was skied out enough so it might not have been worth the effort. It is lots of fun being on a big mountain with such great terrain... I think the snow was much better for dmc though.
As for Corbets, haven't gotten me on that yet. The report actually said it was closed, and we actually took a lesson today and the instructor thought it as closed (though he wasn't positive it seemed), but on 3/19 when we were traversing below it we did see someone exiting it and a bunch of others looking down. I still wish I had the guts to ski it, but it really depends on the drop I guess. If it were as low as 5 feet at the easiest entrance I might (emphasize might) go for it (the instructor estimated it at 5-7 feet at the easier part, though when I was here last time and there was more snow but still below average, and I looked down, it seemed like more than that). Not sure if I should just continue thinking it's probably closed so I don't have to face my fear, or go and look
I'll update later in the trip unless I complete bored everyone with no pictures and not much detail
Hope everyone is enjoying the huge storm from this passed weekend in the east!
