Nice 4 hr skin, hike, and ski today!
Jamie B
Nice 4 hr skin, hike, and ski today!
Jamie B
Glad to see that most of the unstable snow pack has let go, but has made a mess! Avalanche debris everywhere! and a quick shot of Teton Village, just before dark.
Jamie B here! Arrived in Wyoming a few days ago. Skiing with good friend Richard Abelson. If you don’t know Rich, he’s a legit trick waterskier, skied in the Masters and has placed top 3 in World Cup contests. I’ll be in Wyoming till Feb 4, skiing snow everyday. Ok, we’ll try to ski everyday!
The Teton mountains are magical rock sky scrapers. Most of the skiing I’ll be doing here is backcountry style, which means your on your own hiking up and route finding down. Jackson Hole ski area offers ez access to big scary ski descents as well.
A few days ago, a log time employee and ski patroler named Wally was caught in a inbounds avalanche during routine explosive control work at Jackson Hole ski area. Wally was caught, and carried over a large cliff, he was then buried by the snow. Fellow patrolmen were there to locate him with trancievers and were able to dig him out. He was under for around 10 min! Wally did not make it and the community here is in a state of mourning. Wally was working to keep the area safe for the skiing public and lost his life in the process.
Considerable avalanche danger still exists at higher elevations and on certain aspects. We’ve still been skiing, but have been very cautious, skiing mid/lower elevations, and sticking to the tree covered lines, avoiding the treeless higher alpine areas. We often get caught up in skiing bigger badder descents and are addicted to the sensations. But being smart and safe is obviously more important.
Headed out to poke around on my cross country skis today!!! later!
Jamie B