The rumor was true. Grand Targhee opened the Dreamcatcher chair (the one that goes to the top) for summer sightseeing on Saturday, June 25, and they were letting people take skis up. An all-day lift ticket was $20 and you had to sign a release acknowledging that there's no grooming, no ski patrol, unmarked obstacles, weird snow, etc, etc, etc.
I would bet there were close to 200 skiers/riders that showed up, and the skiing was GREAT!
You had to ride up the chair while carrying your skis and there were two plowed roads you had to cross (one at the top and one at the bottom), but other than that you could ski totally top to bottom.
The parking lot was dry but there was lots snow at the base:
The ski hill looked really good:
The scene at the base:
I thought they were opening the chair at 9am, but it turned out it was 10:00. That meant we had about an hour to kill before the lift opened. Luckily, the terrace bar was open, so OF COURSE we had celebratory Bloody Marys while we sat in the sun and waited for the hill to open. Here's Ruthie and I doing a little bit of early drinking (don't do this at home, kids):
Getting off at the top:
And the skiing...
Early beer and early corn agreed with Ruthie:
Lori skimming along:
Kay enjoying the scenery:
Group ski:
Tele kids (one a little older than the others):
Laurent thinks it's fun:
And so does Peter:
Making tracks:
And the mandatory group shot at the top with the Grand Teton in the background:
All of this and it's almost the end of June. How great is that?
