Grand Targhee 11-22-2010

It was cold (16 degrees), windy (gusts to 35/40mph), and snowy (19" in past 48 hours) this morning, but it was sure great skiing.  Actually, it was great skiing for the middle of the the winter.  For the third week of November, it was outstanding.

There were a few places with weeds and rocks still showing through, but total snowfall for the season is approaching 100" (probably going over it tonight as we have a winter storm warning posted).  This is an incredible start for a ski season.

Karen again:

Dave:

Again:

That's all the photos for today.  It was too windy and cold to have my hands out on the camera for very long.

Plus, my "models" wouldn't stop long enough for more photos.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BushwackerinPA 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Peters 

 

That's all the photos for today.  It was too windy and cold to have my hands out on the camera for very long.

 

Plus, my "models" wouldn't stop long enough for more photos.

 

it wouldnt matter anyways unless you were on the side of Mary's Nipple or in the Deadly Sin's area it would all look the same anyways!

 

great picture cant wait to see some Jackson stoke!

 

 

The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort stoke will commence this coming Saturday, which is opening day. 

This will most likely be the best - and close to the earliest - opening day in the history of the resort.  I skinned up Gros Ventre/Amphitheater on Sunday and skied down in "powder" that was well over knee deep.  It was pretty thick, dense snow - the kind the makes for a great base.

There's a rumor going around that they will open a fairly large portion of the mountain on Saturday because of all the snow.  Our total snowfall for the season (for OUR mountain, the "snow season" doesn't normally start until a month from now) is already 113" - and counting.  We have a winter storm warning for today and tonight with another 12" to 24" forecast for the mountains.  I can't emphasize enough how much snow there is for this time of year. 

La La La (Nina).

Check out this morning's avalanche report discussion:

G E N E R A L - A V A L A N C H E - A D V I S O R Y

New snow driven by strong southwestern winds has continued to build soft surface slabs. Avalanche hazard reduction was conducted at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for the first time of the season with numerous slides triggered with explosives. Most involved only recent snowfall with crown depths of one to two feet. One avalanche failed on the hard early season crust with a crown depth up to seven feet. In steep, wind loaded avalanche terrain above 7,500 feet, recently developed soft slabs up to 30 inches in depth, along with deeper hard slabs to four feet, are likely to be triggered by backcountry travelers and could release naturally. TRAVEL IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN ABOVE 9,000 FEET IS NOT RECOMMENDED TODAY. At the lower elevations, the snowpack is mostly stable except for isolated pockets of shallow soft slab in very steep, shaded terrain.