Real Life in Jackson, Wyoming

Skunked Again.

Remember that breathless post yesterday about all the new snow and how it was supposed to continue through Saturday?  I neglected to pay attention to the part of the forecast that said "valley rain" and it did.  Woke up at 3:30 am to 34 degrees and it got to around 40 today so all that nice snow melted and made a huge mess in town.  Plus it was windy as shit:  gusts of probably 40+ mph in the valley.  Not a pleasant day overall.  And it rained/sleeted most of the day.  Had it been a skinny five degrees cooler, we would probably be sitting on 10 inches in the valley.  At least it is snowing up high so we won't have empty reserviors this summer.  Shite.

It's Puking!

Last day of the ski race so of course it has to snow.  Woke up to two inches on my car this am and three at the top; since this morning it has been snowing and it really ramped up in the last couple hours.  I checked the snow depth at the top of Grizzly an hour ago and there was six inches of new snow.  Probably another inch since then.  And it is supposed to continue through Saturday.  Yay!

Walking for Exercise.

And saving their race skis.  Those people walking up the side of the course are racers walking up to the race start from the top of Cougar lift which goes most of the way up.  The kids could have ridden to the top and skied down to the race start but the cattrack  and top of the ski run where the course started was full of small rocks and the kids didn't want to trash their race skis.  Can't blame  them.  Maybe today I will get the chance to get some slalom photos.

Photos From Wild Western Classic FIS Race.

Couple photos from the second day of the WWC FIS race with the women's first run GS.

No photos of the guys: no interest.

And Now the Fun Begins.

The Wild West Classic FIS race is starting Saturday at the Kaiser with 260 racers.  The age group is J1s so I guess that is age 17 and up (no comments Philthy?) and it sounds like 8 US ski team members will be here competing (probably C or B team as the A team is competing on the World Cup circut right now).  The best thing is I get to wake up at 5 am Sat-Tuesday and be on the hill ALL DAY.  Whee!  I'm so excited I could just piss myself!  At least I can get some photos.

Little dribs and drabs of snow during the week and more dribs and drabs forecast for rest of week.

Little Bit of New Snow.

We got a small dusting of about an inch yesterday and another half inch today so this storm isn't very strong.  In fact we have quite a few clear periods so not much snow this week.  That is, until this weekend:  the Western FIS races are going on so we are sure to get puked on.  Lets hope so.

Yay! New Snow!

Got to ski in two inches of new snow this morning so skiing has been really good.  As I type this it is snowing lightly and the weather is calling for snow through Wednesday but most of the snow is due today/early tomorrow.  Me luv skiing!

A fellow patroller did a avalanche test pit and did two fairly new tests: the extended column test (ECT) and the saw propagation test (SPT).  He got a score of ECT23Q2 at 70 cm down with a fracture at the point of contact of the shovel.  However, in his words, "The SPT almost made me pee my pants."  His SPT score was 20/100 (end) at 70 cm.  So, propagation at the weak layer was very good (or in this case, very bad.)  So, overall a bit of a muddle for test results.  Given that information, I would be careful skiing a similar slope on a similar aspect/altitude.  The more you know, the less you go.

Fun Times in Jackson.

The Hildreth clan is leaving today and flying back to the DC area.  They had been here for a week and I was able to ski two days with them at the Village with a few inches of new snow each day.  A storm rolled in Thursday night and has dropped up to four inches at JHMR and about two at the Kaiser.  Every little bit helps.  It is very foggy and overcast today so maybe this storm isn't quite done.

Clear and Cold Still.

Still clear and cold here in Jackson with no real snow forecast until Sunday at least.  Light snowshowers are expected Wed evening but no real accumulation.  Dangit.  At least we aren't as bad off as Utah: 51% of average for water/snow versus 90% for Wyoming.

It's BAC at the King.

BAC means "butt ass cold" as in minus 5 this morning at the Kaiser.  Hardly anyone on the hill today with the colder weather.  The skiing is greatand the groomers are way fast.  Good times on the disco sticks.