The Vill: Uninspired end for an uninspiring season

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

By Brigid Mander

The 2006-07 Jackson Hole lift-served ski season is finally over. For some, it came too soon; for others, not soon enough.

With a season-long chorus of “It’s coming,” (it never did), “Is this the driest year ever?” (not quite),  “I can’t believe all the dirt showing,” and “I just told my family not to visit this year,” the winter just never seemed to get off the ground.

Closing day told the whole story in a nutshell: Skiers showed up ready to have a good time, but the weather was uncooperative and the stoke was pushed low by a tough and disappointing snow year, which was reflected in  the smallest, emptiest closing day party I’ve ever attended.

Those who got out early warned of the gnarly condition of the hill. It was said to be the stickiest snow “ever,” which after this season is really quite a feat. The wind was howling and wet snow soaked skiers.

“It was like a firehose: Freezing wind and snowing on you, that melted right away,” said one skier of the morning.

By afternoon, though, snow conditions had improved, so if you could bear the wind, things were not bad at all. Many people, however, had dressed for a party and not for the weather; riding Sublette was pretty miserable if you didn’t have real ski clothes.

Still, festive costumes swarmed around, and Thunder bumps were once again populated by revelers. Not a whole lot of people were out, but those who did show were all-out ready to close the season with a good time.

Celebrations at the base were decidedly subdued, with what seemed like only a few hundred people ambling between parties. Dark Cheddar DJed outside the VC, and it became a little dance party that went on for hours. People tried to replace the traditional snowball fights with mud-wrestling, a fitting evolution since there was no snow and a lot of mud.

Even though the party was small, it got intense, and the dancing was hilarious. The costumes, while not fit for inclement weather, were right-on for the parties, with some creative and rather bold looks getting plenty of attention.

Overall, it was close to the polar opposite of the previous winter, but people also seemed to get tired of reminiscing about last year about halfway through the season, resigning themselves to bony conditions or simply skiing much less.

A few major weather events will stick out for everyone, such as Christmas-time, those few amazing weeks in February, and of course the April 2 storm that dropped a foot and a half at higher elevations.

The deep freeze of January saved the hill from totally melting and kept the snow good. If you could brave the cold, the conditions were actually pretty good back then, with perfect chalk every day.

Continuing to look on the bright side, the hill was empty just about all the time. The tram deficiency created a semi-private locals hill. Lift lines were nonexistent, and since no one was showing up, the few storms that we got lasted for a while, with soft stashes inbounds sticking around for days – unusual for Jackson Hole.

Skiing out of bounds was similarly rewarding, despite the very scary and unstable snow pack. It could have been much worse, so we can count our blessings on that front.

Many skiers persevered every day, although some gave up early on and invested in things like gym memberships. Those who kept after it were a happy bunch who had a good time.

While it wasn’t exactly the season to ski the craziest, biggest or gnarliest lines, or even to push your limits very often,  people who looked for a good time usually found it. It was hidden in the ice, the dust on crust, with your friends on the chair and the boot packs. While it may have looked uninspiring from below, once you got up high, life was good for the day.

The lift-operators maintained amazingly good cheer for the whole season, and I give them huge props for just about always being happy and smiling. A lot of people noticed that and appreciated it all winter.

But even with the fact that having a good time was possible, some people just were not feeling it. This is not surprising, of course – it was a tough year. The whole of Experts chutes was open for only a short time, and despite getting skied plenty, Corbet’s was, in the words of Howie Henderson “the gnarliest I’ve ever seen it in 28 seasons.”

The lifts the last few weeks were so empty, the exodus to Alaska seems to grow bigger every year, and ski crews lost members left and right to the Great White North as our dry year dragged on.

The final week at Teton Village was deserted, a pretty clear example that many people were just done with the ski season in the valley. People drank a lot, and more than one person marveled at how they drank more this season than any other. It happens, though. Another ski season will roll around and hopefully make up for what we didn’t get this time.

Despite all the dry weeks, skiing is still skiing – just about always a good time. As we rolled out of the Village to the after party with eight of us crammed into a friend’s truck after dark, the lights at the base faded in the distance, and a voice in the truck said wistfully, “I like it. I don’t want to leave.”

That about sums it up for me. But  there’s always another one coming.
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The Vill: Uninspired end for an uninspiring season | Planet JH News Article: Sports & Recreation

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