Tram Jam

For those that were there, they know how amazing it was. A random apres-ski dance party commenced underneath the Jackson Hole tram for a few random weekends in March. The two man wrecking crew consisted of David Duffy, aka llluminate, and Rob Zoppel, aka Fiesta Bob. Hear more from both of them on Jackson Hole's very own KHOL on Saturday nights or visit Sound Cloud.

A few highlights:

Good Times in the Hole

As the weather warms, everyone is looking for more ways to entertain themselves to put the powder dreams out of their minds. I had the last three days off and I put them to good use. Aside from trying new breakfast recipes of delicious whole wheat pancakes with strawberries and Greek yogurt, spring cleaning, and playing with my new light, I attempted my first feature in the "Big Park". It is a step-down, and it was a lot bigger than I first thought. Like most hucking maneuvers, I just pointed my board and realized I was about to go off the thing whether I liked it or not. The first time I landed on the flat part and fell. Ouch. By the third time I was flying off of it, landing easily on the transition about 6 feet below. Good stuff. I always like when I come away from a day on the hill after trying something new. It means that after 100 days of riding (as of today!) this season I have actually accomplished something. Tried something I couldn't do before. Gotten better.

Thursday was another beautiful day out in Jackson. David and I woke up to bluebird skies with a mission to eat waffles in Corbet's Cabin (the tiny restaurant at the top of the tram) and hike the pass. We made our way up the tram and entered into the little cabin, the smell of waffles and coffee permeating the air.

Once inside I had three choices spelled out to me on the chalkboard. A waffle...topped with butter & brown sugar, strawberry jam, or Nutella. Decisions, decisions. I decided on the butter & brown sugar. David got the same as me in addition to another waffle with Nutella.

David's Nutella waffle.

Corbet's Cabin waffles -- a little slice of heaven.

They were as delicious as I imagined! We ate our waffles, drank coffee, and hung out in the rustic little cabin for a while. It was a great start to the day.

Not a bad view either! Cody Peak.

Riding the tram.

Next stop: Teton Pass. I'm sure I've mentioned how much I loathe the hike up Mt. Glory before, right? Oh I haven't? Well, it's 1,000 feet of grueling bootpack up the side of a mountain topping off at 10,086 feet. Not exactly fun, but it's great exercise and it really emphasizes the whole "earn your turns" theme. Most runs off of Glory are pretty sweet, although the weather hasn't exactly been partial to epic backcountry riding lately. A melt-freeze cycle is in full force and most of the snow has turned into crust. Waiting to snowboard until after 1 pm is pretty ideal lately.

It was windy as hell. I wasn't happy. Putting hand warmers in my gloves to stay warm.

My snowboard...and my truck, proudly sporting an Alpental sticker.

Still cold and windy. Time to start hiking!

The original plan was to make it out to Coal Creek or Big Piney once we reached the summit, but I wasn't feeling well (ladies know what I mean) and since David had to go to work at 2, I didn't feel like it would be worth the extra effort with the traverses, hitchhiking, etc. Twin Slides it was, and it wasn't very fun. At least we got some good exercise...I'm sure we'll return to that beloved hike very soon and try again.

"I hate this part, I hate this part..."

We'll be back!

Even better, I made lots of money today, and it's time to celebrate my 100th day of snowboarding this season. Party on!

The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY of Jackson Hole

I anticipated this morning in the same way that a 5-year-old hopes to open a shiny new bike on Christmas. The forecast rang true and I woke up to 10 inches of new snow in Jackson Hole. David and I made breakfast and raced to the bus, only to find it packed with what seemed like 500 other sweaty people. It was a long bus ride out to Teton Village. When we got there, we hopped into the tram line. From the looks of it, we hoped to make the 3rd car up. Wouldn't have been too bad, I suppose. As usual, the resort was scheduled to open late. I wasn't surprised, considering the fact that I could here the avalanche bombs all the way from town.

Waiting in a long line for a tram that would never open to the public today.

After waiting for nearly two hours (we had arrived in line at 8:15), announcements circulated that it would be at least another two hours before the tram opened, due to an "incident". The hosts chatted about it a little "hushed" at first, but the news became widespread later this afternoon.

Mark Wolling, ski patrol veteran, had been caught in a slide above some cliffs in Cheyenne Bowl. He was buried 6 ft deep, and found within minutes by his partner with no vital signs. After visiting the clinic, he was resuscitated and a pulse was found. Last I heard, he was being transported to Idaho for more medical care.

This is event is scary in so many ways. 1) It shows how dangerous this mountain can really be...not that we had any question about it after last year's incidents. 2) If a 20 year ski patrol veteran like Wolling can get caught, then us backcountry amateurs should be extra cautious. I heard some people talking about going to the Pass today and I thought that was the most insane idea I've ever heard. Danger was HIGH for today. Not worth it to me.

Needless to say, the upper mountain never opened today. I did have a great time riding what was available though. It was a little slow going in the huge lines, but the gondola definitely had some fresh snow left to ride. We met some kids from UVM while in line and ended up hanging with them all day. I am hoping to wake up and get there early again tomorrow to go get that fresh stuff that was left untouched today. It's going to be a cold clear night, so the avalanche danger should slowly subside.

Thoughts and prayers go out to Mark Wolling and his family this evening.