With only two days and counting until official opening day at the J-Hole, I'm still getting antsy about riding. Plus I have to work on opening day, so I won't be able to take full advantage of the two lame lifts that will be open. Snow King has been fun, but after hearing stories about the epicness of Stevens Pass and Baker up in Washington, I decided I needed to go get myself some powder.
For those who aren't familiar, there's a lovely little resort called Grand Targhee just on the west side of Teton Pass about an hour and a half from Jackson. This resort actually gets more snow than Jackson Hole, believe it or not. The only reason it's not as popular is because it's not as steep. The locals here prefer hucking themselves off of cliffs, and Targhee just doesn't have that steep, scary terrain. Anyway, David and I threw our snowboards into the truck and off we went over Teton Pass.
The pass usually scares me with its 10% grades, but the roads were really clear. It hasn't snowed the past couple of days, so the driving was easy and the sun was shining. Many of the backcountry stashes at the pass had clearly been taken advantage of. Looked like someone even attempted Glory Bowl. Not enough cover for me. The south side looked pretty good but I think you need skins for that. Just another $1,000 for a split board, no big deal.
Chivers Ridge, Titty Mouse Ridge, and Olympic Bowl on Teton Pass. Photo David Duffy.
After passing through the lovely towns of Victor and Driggs in Idaho, we headed up a winding road, through Alta, WY and after a few more turns arrived at Grand Targhee Resort. Not really knowing where to go, we looked straight up at where the powder was, and started hiking up a groomer. The lifts don't open at Targhee until tomorrow, so only the hardcores were there "earning their turns" as most would say. After about an hour and a half of serious hiking (2,000 feet to the top of Fred's Mountain), we made it. I was relieved to take my pack off (I had all of my photo gear and my snowboard attached to it, probably about 35-40 lbs.) for a bit and scope out the beautiful powder lying below us. From the looks of the trail map, we descended down "The Face" and then through the trees of "Ladies Waist". It was beautiful, knee deep, sunshine powder. Believe me, it was worth every second of the hike.
I'm way down there. Photo David Duffy.
We hiked all the way up from those little buildings.
Beautiful day for this.
David, taking full advantage of pre-season powder.
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