My Retirement Year: An Ongoing Skiing TR

Day 66: Jackson Hole (Ikon Pass)

Took yesterday off and drove around eastern Idaho. Beautiful day and some amazing vistas along the Palisades Reservoir.

Awoke this morning to a pretty solid snowstorm. BH and I were skiing Jackson today while Goniff and his recently arrived college-age son went up to ski the Ghee. The drive over the pass was uneventful (for me) as I run Blizzaks on my FWD Golf wagon. The poor schmucks in the FWD Kias (2 of them) with all-season tires didn't fare so well. They were not popular with the line of cars and trucks behind me.

Met up with Kokomas and family and we went searching for good snow. Trees between Sleeping Indian and Wide Open were fun to a point but the lower we went, the mankier it got.

At some points, the sun came out and it was great but there were squalls all over the place:
Attachment 409396

We abandoned the lower mountain and opted for the tram. Less than a 1-box wait which was awesome. That's because the winds were howling at the top. We cruised down to peek into Corbett's (it was closed) and then followed the trees down. Bivouac skied great and we decided that skiing off Thunder was the play for the rest of the day. We skied several laps and finished with a Paintbrush/Toilet Bowl run.

Great day.

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest

Day 66: Jackson Hole (Ikon Pass)

Took yesterday off and drove around eastern Idaho. Beautiful day and some amazing vistas along the Palisades Reservoir.

Awoke this morning to a pretty solid snowstorm. BH and I were skiing Jackson today while Goniff and his recently arrived college-age son went up to ski the Ghee. The drive over the pass was uneventful (for me) as I run Blizzaks on my FWD Golf wagon. The poor schmucks in the FWD Kias (2 of them) with all-season tires didn't fare so well. They were not popular with the line of cars and trucks behind me.

Met up with Kokomas and family and we went searching for good snow. Trees between Sleeping Indian and Wide Open were fun to a point but the lower we went, the mankier it got.

At some points, the sun came out and it was great but there were squalls all over the place:
Attachment 409396

We abandoned the lower mountain and opted for the tram. Less than a 1-box wait which was awesome. That's because the winds were howling at the top. We cruised down to peak into Corbett's (it was closed) and then followed the trees down. Bivouac skied great and we decided that skiing off Thunder was the play for the rest of the day. We skied several laps and finished with a Paintbrush/Toilet Bowl run.

Great day.

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Awesome skiing with you guys! Thanks for the patience with the little ones

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Nice stretch there !
The payoff is starting!



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Originally Posted by Aldo

Nice stretch there !
The payoff is starting!



Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

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Thnx A. I'm actually worried that I won't be hitting my goal because of the complete shitshow the weather has been and continues to put on back east. Conservatively, I'll leave Wydaho with 80 days and 2 months to go in a normal NE season but I really fear getting 20 more days in April/May could be tough.

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest

Thnx A. I'm actually worried that I won't be hitting my goal because of the complete shitshow the weather has been and continues to put on back east. Conservatively, I'll leave Wydaho with 80 days and 2 months to go in a normal NE season but I really fear getting 20 more days in April/May could be tough.

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I hope to get in a few afternoons at Sunapee this spring if they have any bumps to ski…!


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest

Thnx A. I'm actually worried that I won't be hitting my goal because of the complete shitshow the weather has been and continues to put on back east. Conservatively, I'll leave Wydaho with 80 days and 2 months to go in a normal NE season but I really fear getting 20 more days in April/May could be tough.

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Not sure how the midwest season will be going but with all your passes you'll have a ton of options heading east from where you are if conditions/dates still support.

Terry Peak, SD is a must-ski if you're coming back on 90. Bonus -- you can take in the splendor of the Black Hills while you're at it.

Hit up Buck Hill, MN for the weekday lunch break and get carvy for an hour or so with the local cubicle escapees. That place is a trip.

MI has a slew of places that are short on vert but long on a good time. Boyne Highlands can be a blast, and Bohemia is worth the drive (and paying at the window) all on its own...as is the UP generally IMO. Never skied anything in WI but I've heard good things.

"We cruised down to peek into Corbett's (it was closed) and then followed the trees down."

So was there shear disappointment and stern cursing at your bad luck? Or did someone let out an accidental hoot of relief?

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Originally Posted by Speedfreak

Not sure how the midwest season will be going but with all your passes you'll have a ton of options heading east from where you are if conditions/dates still support.

Terry Peak, SD is a must-ski if you're coming back on 90. Bonus -- you can take in the splendor of the Black Hills while you're at it.

Hit up Buck Hill, MN for the weekday lunch break and get carvy for an hour or so with the local cubicle escapees. That place is a trip.

MI has a slew of places that are short on vert but long on a good time. Boyne Highlands can be a blast, and Bohemia is worth the drive (and paying at the window) all on its own...as is the UP generally IMO. Never skied anything in WI but I've heard good things.

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Yeah, I would probably drive up to my house to find all my shit in the yard if I tried to extend this.

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Originally Posted by slatham

"We cruised down to peek into Corbett's (it was closed) and then followed the trees down."

So was there shear disappointment and stern cursing at your bad luck? Or did someone let out an accidental hoot of relief?

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Kokomas wanted to ski it. I mangled my way down it 10 years ago and I have no desire to try it again. I was there to escort K's son to Tensleep Bowl if it was open.

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Originally Posted by savemeasammy

I hope to get in a few afternoons at Sunapee this spring if they have any bumps to ski…!


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Man, I hope they're open in early April. Would be sweet to get a bunch of days there because it's easy and on Epic

Day 67: Grand Targhee (Targhee Pass)

Poor, poor Goniff. He had to work most of the day and it was one of those sleepers that you're not expecting but are happy to partake.

BH, Goniff's son, and I headed up at around 9:00 and the top of the mountain was pretty socked in. We headed up Dreamcatcher. By the time we got 2/3 of the way up we could barely see 3 chairs in front of us. We braille'ed our way down a groomer and decided to head over to the Sacajawea Chair because the top terminal was below the clouds.

After a few laps over there, we could see that the clouds were moving out so we headed back to Dreamcatcher. Now that we could see, we could easily tell that the snow report greatly underreported the snow that fell after the lifts closed. We found a great line that nobody was skiing and we did at least 5 laps of untracked 5".

VT neighbor BH:
Attachment 409525

Me too:
Attachment 409527

Goniff finally joined us at 1:45 but BH and I were pretty spent. We skied a couple of runs with him but had to call it a day by 2:30.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest

Thnx A. I'm actually worried that I won't be hitting my goal because of the complete shitshow the weather has been and continues to put on back east. Conservatively, I'll leave Wydaho with 80 days and 2 months to go in a normal NE season but I really fear getting 20 more days in April/May could be tough.

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You’ve got this covered mang, eyes on prize!
When will you be back at hq?

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Originally Posted by Aldo

You’ve got this covered mang, eyes on prize!
When will you be back at hq?

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End of the day March 31.

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest

Yeah, I would probably drive up to my house to find all my shit in the yard if I tried to extend this.

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Hahaha, fair enough.

Day 68: Snow King, WY (Indy Pass)

My VT neighbor BH had to fly back to the east coast today so I figured I'd run a few laps at Snow King before high-tailing it back across Teton Pass to Driggs; another storm brewing for later today and tonight.

Got there shortly after noon and got the RFID card with no hassle whatsoever....Snow King doesn't charge you for the card like some places do.

It was mid- to high-40s in town today and the mountain was pretty manky. Coverage was a bit thin as well. But whoo-boy that hill is steep.
Attachment 409608

Love the perspective from that spot of the town below.

Took a coupla pics from the top also
Attachment 409609

Did 5 laps (3 on a groomer) to preserve my knee for a potential pow day tomorrow

This thread is so awesome.

I'll get up and fly away!

That's great you skied snow king. I don't think most tourists do. I probably never would have but a couple friends worked there and hooked me with a Tic, but it was only night skiing.

Funny story about those two brothers. The worked the shop and Adam West (batman) shows up for some bs event and rents skis from them, the shop. They say whatever it was back in '89, $25, and he says, "I'm Adam West" with an attitude of I don't pay for shit. They looked at him and said, "yes, nice to meet you, that'll be $25". Ha!

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Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest

Day 68: Snow King, WY (Indy Pass)

My VT neighbor BH had to fly back to the east coast today so I figured I'd run a few laps at Snow King before high-tailing it back across Teton Pass to Driggs; another storm brewing for later today and tonight.

Got there shortly after noon and got the RFID card with no hassle whatsoever....Snow King doesn't charge you for the card like some places do.

It was mid- to high-40s in town today and the mountain was pretty manky. Coverage was a bit thin as well. But whoo-boy that hill is steep.
Attachment 409608

Love the perspective from that spot of the town below.

Took a coupla pics from the top also
Attachment 409609

Did 5 laps (3 on a groomer) to preserve my knee for a potential pow day tomorrow

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You can see the waxroom from the summit...
Ski ya soon fellas, back in the fold in a few days.
You guys going to MT BBI22?

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Originally Posted by jackstraw

That's great you skied snow king. I don't think most tourists do. I probably never would have but a couple friends worked there and hooked me with a Tic, but it was only night skiing.

Funny story about those two brothers. The worked the shop and Adam West (batman) shows up for some bs event and rents skis from them, the shop. They say whatever it was back in '89, $25, and he says, "I'm Adam West" with an attitude of I don't pay for shit. They looked at him and said, "yes, nice to meet you, that'll be $25". Ha!

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They are lucky Adam didn’t give them a

Attachment 409667

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Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained

You can see the waxroom from the summit...
Ski ya soon fellas, back in the fold in a few days.
You guys going to MT BBI22?

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We were planning to but having second thoughts only because the reports we've gotten from Big Sky have indicated that the conditions there are way worse than usual and the snow has been so good at GT, it's hard to get motivated to drive the 2.5 hours and get a hotel room somewhere.

Day 69: Grand Targhee (Targhee Pass)

Stick of truth showed 5" of snow overnight so we headed up to be ready to go at 9:00. Road was snow-covered but no issues getting a good spot to park.

The lower mountain had OK visibility but higher up, the visibility was less than 2 chairs on the Dreamcatcher quad. We Braille'ed our way down under the chair finding surfy dense pow but couldn't charge because we simply couldn't see. Took another run at the NW-facing Good-Bad-Ugly face and it was great once you could find the cornice and drop in without puking from the vertigo.

We decided to try a few runs on Sacajawea since the visibility got better as we went lower and that paid off.

I had slipped on the walk from the car to the chair and tweaked my bad knee and it was starting to howl at me for skiing pow bumps instead of taking it easy. I had to call it a day after only 7 laps but they were all pretty sweet.

Goniff and his son stayed out and were rewarded with somewhat better visibility later in the day.
Goniff's son:
Attachment 409748

Goniff looking pitted:
Attachment 409749

Hoping the ice and compression therapy this afternoon will have me ready for day 70 tomorrow....

I dig this thread - especially this month. !

Thank you. skiJ

Thanks for following skiJ!

Day 70: Grand Targhee (Targhee Pass)

I apologize in advance...this is going to be a longish post because today was so fucking good.

Phone said it was 9* at 7am this morning. Goniff had to drop his son at the Jackson airport so we decided to wait until he got back to head up the hill from Driggs. It was spectacularly clear today and the sun warmed things nicely to about 29* at the base.

We decided to do a warmup lap under Dreamcatcher. The snow was surfy and soft...
Attachment 409881
Attachment 409882

I finally popped my Mary's cherry today and it was so good we did 2 laps...
Attachment 409883
Attachment 409884

Had to get a cheesy pic of Goniff with the Grand as a backdrop
Attachment 409885

On our first run, we decided to sacrifice a little vert for more untracked lines and skittered down from the high point of the boot pack. We kinda went around the corner and found a couple of guys that had skinned up from the backside. One of them told us there were people BASE jumping off a huge cliff in the valley below...we watched for a while but didn't see anybody launch. I qualified as a freefall parachutist in the Army but I would never try BASE jumping.

Anywho, we did find a full descent of untracked snow on our first lap. No pics because neither of us wanted to stop and besides, it's sorta avy terrain and we were trying to be smart even if it is controlled.
Attachment 409888

For lap 2, we dropped in from the high point of the bootpack. There were more tracks on this lap but Goniff went bushwacking and found some unused snow to turn on in the tighter trees to the skiers right.

We went back to riding Dreamcatcher and found some almost-corn on the SW-facing aspect and dense cut up snow on the Good-Bad-Ugly face (NW-facing). We were both spent after a couple of laps but today was a quality over quantity day.

So glad we got out there....

Hard to beat bluebird! Nicely done