2009 EpicSki Gathering trip report for photos and anecdotes - Page 2

Another very cool day at Jackson Hole.  The morning meet up was a bit sparse compared to the previous days.  U.P. Racer showed up and extended an invitation for those who might like to ski with his esteemed group.  I was afraid that the best I would do would be to embarrass myself so I let them go their own way.  We rode the tram up and our group was mdf, new Bear Ken, Nolo, Ridge Hippy and myself.  The bowl was really good.  Seemed like there was a bit more snow than the 5" they reported.  Next was Sublette Ridge which was pretty crunchy.  At the top of the next tram we parted ways with nolo, RH and BP and meandered around finding mixed conditions until we ran into Uncle Louie, jgiddyup, garyskr and atnyc.

Here's jgiddyup bowling.

Here's garyskr ripping up Tower Three Chute.  Way to go Gary!

At lunch mdf and I hooked up with Sunshine Tom, Sam and Tetonpwdjunkie.  Sam, I forgot if you're a Bear or just a cool skier.  If you read this pop in and smack me for forgetting.

Tpj knows this mountain really well and he guided us to some very spicy lines through the trees off of Thunder chair.

Here's our afternoon group.

No doubt the pic doesn't do justice but this rock wall hangs over a small snow field so that you can ski right under it.  A way cool spot that I never would have found without an expert guide.  Thanks Tpj!

 After enjoying this TR I wonder why the Gathering should be anywhere but JH!

Great play by play!

Hey, I just arrived in the Village today if anyone is around I'm skiing here through Friday if the weather is good going heli skiing if anyone wants to join me give a shout out.  Where is the good snow?

d

Hey Dan,

We already rode a lift together once.....might as well take a run (at least I'll try).

We are meeting at the base of the Gondola at 9AM if you can get there.  We should  have a fairly small group tomorrow, so join us if you can.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Louie 

so join us if you can.

 

 

+1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Louie 

Hey Dan,

 

We already rode a lift together once.....might as well take a run (at least I'll try).

 

We are meeting at the base of the Gondola at 9AM if you can get there.  We should  have a fairly small group tomorrow, so join us if you can.

 

 

And so it begins.  Uncle Louie and Dan Egan.  May they show the Tetons no mercy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carvemeister 

Hey Wildcat,

Where was this photo taken?  Looks a bit like Casper Bowl.  Did you hike up and ski that or is it somewhere else?

Quote:
 

Originally Posted by WILDCAT 

 

 

 

Hi CM,

Yep, that's Casper Bowl. The picture was taken from the top of the Casper Triple chair.

Michael 

Today did not at all suck.

Endless Couloir:

You guessed it.....  A HUGE thanks to Bob Peters for showing us this area.  It's a little off the beaten path, but was incredible.  (pictures are courtesy of Bob as well)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Egan 

Hey, I just arrived in the Village today if anyone is around I'm skiing here through Friday if the weather is good going heli skiing if anyone wants to join me give a shout out.  Where is the good snow?

 

d

What do you mean where is the good snow?

All snow is good snow, eh?

Go get 'em!

Oh, and don't believe anything BF says!

Guess who served the beer to the Bears at the Tuesday night dinner? 

 hey Bumpfreaq, nice Boobs!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trekchick 

 hey Bumpfreaq, nice Boobs!

Dang, Trek, I didn't know you had a certain 'leaning'.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonni 

 

Guess who served the beer to the Bears at the Tuesday night dinner? 

Say, don't those ears belong to that Phelps guy?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonni 

 

Guess who served the beer to the Bears at the Tuesday night dinner? 

"Check pleeezzzzz"!!!!!!!!!!!

Headed out tomorrow, skiing Friday by myself before my wife joins me for the weekend.  Anyone still going to be around?  Also, how's the snow / conditions?  Looks like they've been getting a little bit each night.

After seeing the picture at Bob's office party of SkiinginJackson, I think we spoke briefly last week in the locker room and didn't even know it.  His kids were complaining about a lifty knocking them with a chair as we were heading out one afternoon.

Very cool stuff.

I got to ski with a moose.    Well, the moose sort of sat there and laughed 'Dood, get a lesson'.  I was  kinda non-plussed getting commentary from a swaybacked, loose- hocked, undersized sample of ungulatedom without even the common decency of antlers or a matched set of socks (the back ones were white).

Quote:

Originally Posted by comprex 

I got to ski with a moose.    Well, the moose sort of sat there and laughed 'Dood, get a lesson'.  I was  kinda non-plussed getting commentary from a swaybacked, loose- hocked, undersized sample of ungulatedom without even the common decency of antlers or a matched set of socks (the back ones were white).

 

 

what did the moose smell like 

Chocklit, of course.

thanks to the epic gang for a fun 1 and run. kick ass afternoon with tpj bf sst and everyone for an EPIC day at JH.

thanks sam

o ya hi from alta ut i know it sucks but when you jest got your ass kicked at JH it feels pritty goooood

All our photographers are traveling (to Utah!) so no pictures yet.

Last day of the gathering was attended by 11. Bob took the two group of 5 + 6 to a little out-of-bound excursion of Rock Springs Bowl. Best part of the whole gathering! 

So, a big thanks to Bob, Uncle Louis, jgiddyup and the rest of the bears for a fantastic gathering!

How do you post pictures here? I got a few of the group at the meeting point this morning. Haven't got them off the camera yet. Do we have to host pics ourselves and post using img code or does thsi new enhanced site host pictures now? (cos if I host them, they'll only be working for a few weeks).

Day 4 (Tuesday) pics.  I was too beat to post them last night after followng Bob and TPJ around the mountain.  I crashed as soon as I got back from the group dinner, woke up at midnight to get undressed and brush my teeth, then went back to sleep.

Here are two pics from a sequence of Bumpfreaq flying into Tower 3 Chute.  I'll see how the full set works as a montage later.

Bumpfreaq is a fast, smooth, and talented skier... and a blast to ski with.  BF, I had a lot of fun skiing with you.  Sorry I faded at the end, and didn't find you after lunch on day 5.

Here is Garyskr starting in.  Welcome to the T3 club, Gary!

I got zero photos of the afternoon session with Tetonpowderjunkie leading Bumpfreaq, SunshineTom, Samhop, and me around some of his favorite spots.  After a few runs he took us down Hoops Gap, a tree slot on the same ridge line as T3.  In my opinion it is steeper yet easier than T3.  After Hoops, I said I was done with hard stuff for today (my conditioning, or lack thereof, is catching up with me -- I STARTED the day tired), but if they want to cut me loose and keep pushing it I wouldnt be offended.  TPJ says, "Nah, I think we are going to dial it back."  So next run, he says, "Ok, we're skiing some tight trees through here with some fun little drop offs.  You can sky them or compress them."  As the group takes off, Samhop turns to me and says "Good thing this is the easy stuff!."  

To be fair, those runs were easier in reality.  Fun, moderately pitched trees along the ridge lines.  I like that kind of run.  TPJ even gave us a few pointers along the way.  Many thanks for the tour, TPJ!

Day 5 first run.

First thing in the morning, Bob took a group of us (at_nyc, ski-3po, bumpfreaq, uncle louie, and me) out into Rock Springs Canyon for a fun, easy sidecountry tour.  Here is bf coming down a nice powder pitch.

 And ski-3po on a different pitch.  I didn't notice at first since he's not all aggro, but he is a very good skier.

UL on the same pitch.  It's fun to watch him ski.

 And Bob.  The tree was in the way for most of his run (since he had the sense to ski a fresh slice of the hill) but I got one perfectly framed picture.

Day 5, continued.

After Bob picked up the group for the second lap, the rest of us kept skiing together.  I led us under Corbets to look up at it and out into the Cirque.  That's the part of JH I know least well, and I got a little confused

Item 4 I learned at the gathering -- if you are skiing fresh powder inbounds at noon, alarm bells should be going off.

To pay for our freshies, we had to cross an almost-flat field and go up a slight rise.  UL volunteerd to go first and break trail. I watched him go, and figured he was almost there.  Then he kept going, and kept going, and kept going.... a major scale error on my part.  But we only had a short sidestep at the end.  Not too bad.

But then we went the obvious way and came to this:  oops.  We pay again.

That little sign up there says "Caution. Cliff"  It wasnt really a cliff -- just a steep pitch with rocks all the way across.  Turns out there was a litttle margin you could use to sidestep past the rocks. Everyone made it.  I don't think anyone but me even dinged their skis. (I had taken a different, less successful path.)

At the end of the day, I finally found the Dailly Drop.  Its hard to tell from the photo, but I think this pitch was the steepest thing I skied at Jackson.  Of course, its short, wide, has no obstacles and a smooth transition and a clean runout.  And nice grippy snow.

Once again, I did not get down without hop turns.  My first one was a hop, but after I had a feel for it and momentum on my side I skied the rest for real. 

I think this pitch, which is right next to the one with the lone tree, may be THE Daily Drop.  I sort of consider them a linked pair, depending on whether you are working on steeps or air.  The ledge is about 1/2 way down the steep pitch, which is to the right of the clump of trees.

And that's the end of a fantastic gathering.  Thanks to everyone who skied, drank, or just hung out with me, and especially to our local guides Bob Peters and TetonPowderJunkie.  Special thanks to those who gave me rides, Jgiddyup (many times) and Samhop/SunshineTom.

A scenic view of the square in Jackson with Snow King in the background to leave by...