This last week I was up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming hunting spring snow in the mighty Teton range. Though the weather was a bit more unsettled than we could have hoped for, we still managed to slay two really nice long lines. Here’s a few shots from the trip.
Buck Mountain (11,938 ft.) dominates the scene atop Static Peak.Skier: Jake Evans.
4+ inches of fresh powder coated this entire cruisey 4,000 vertical foot descent. Spring skiing at its best!
Skinning up towards The Jaw.
With long, tedious approaches and massive vertical rise, spring ski touring in the Tetons is a demanding endeavor.
The Grand Teton (13,770 ft.) as seen from the summit of The Jaw (11,400 ft.).
Skiing down and dodging wet slides on the steep open face of The Jaw.Skier: Jake Evans.Prints Available
Our last day in Jackson Hole was spent checking out the impressive National Museum of Wildlife Art, followed by soaking our tired legs in some wild hot springs up towards Yellowstone. What a nice way to end the trip!
(Back in May 2009 I spent a week riding a bunch of big lines in the Tetons; see those photos here).
July 26: We are finally back home in Ouray after our month on the road! Now that I’m back at my real computer monitor, I’m starting to go through all my photos and over the next few days I’ll post blog posts from each of our adventures during our trip.
A view of the town of Jackson and the Teton range, as seen from Snowking Mountain - July.
Our first stop on our road trip was Jackson, Wyoming, my stomping grounds during the winter of 2009-10. I was happy to see my old friends there again, and to check out the scene for the 4th of July. Though the fireworks were cancelled due to the dangerous drought conditions, we enjoyed the long parade through town in the morning, followed by a day hike up Snowking Mountain above town.
A storm breaks at sunset, as misty clouds lift off of the Grand Teton - July.
We then took off for a couple nights in the Tetons, backpacking to a lesser-known lake right beneath the Grand Teton. We brought our crampons and ice axes along with big ideas to climb a nearby peak, but we ended up just lounging around like lazy marmots, laying in the sun by the lake the whole time with the spectacular views overhead. A secret campsite hidden in the shadow of an enormous boulder allowed us to sleep in until 10:00 or 11:00 each morning! (Of course I managed to crawl out of the tent for sunrise shots before hitting the sack again).
On the first evening an afternoon thunderstorm cleared up right at sunset. Unfortunately for the photography, the clouds didn’t quite clear until right after the sunset light, but it was still quite a sight to behold to see the misty clouds swirling around and rising off of the Grand.
Here’s a photo I just dug up from the archives, taken back in August 2006 during a 4 day backpacking loop hike in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. This photo was shot with the large format 4×5 film camera, with a 135mm lens. Seeing this makes me want to get back to Wyoming again for a summer backpacking trip!
The storm cycle has cleared for the time being, and we enjoyed a beautiful bluebird morning up at Teton Pass, scoring three powdery descents before noon. This late in the season, you’ve got to get the powder early on sunny days! Rider: Jason King.
Winter has returned in style this last week in Jackson Hole, bearing the late-season gift of four feet of fresh powder. We’ve enjoyed a fun week of powder in and around the Village, but now that the ski area has closed, today we headed up to Teton Pass for a couple deep mid-winter-esque pow lines.
Top notch powder day today at the Village! We’ve had nearly 3 feet of snow in the last week, and more storms are lining up in the forecast for the coming week. The dream for April is coming true! Rider above: Jason King.
Jackson’s finally been getting more snow the last few days, which has eased my anxiety after hearing reports of storm after storm dumping on the San Juans back home in Colorado the last few months. It was an “official” powder day at the ski area today, meaning that every man, woman, and child in Jackson were waiting in line for the lifts to open. We were up early and waiting at the front of the gondola line, only to be informed that it was having mechanical problems and would be delayed for who knows how long. Seeing as every other line was jammed with people, Jason and I bailed and went hiking on Teton Pass instead. More mellow. And we rode a sweet untracked line with perfect cream-cheese Wyoming powder.
