The Vill: Wright gets right; changing of the guard at JHMR

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

By Brigid Mander

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-It was with no small sign of relief that skiers greeted last week’s news that snowfall passed the 300 inch mark. Last season, this didn’t happen until April. In reality, though, last season - and its endlessly dry bluebird days - have been long forgotten with one powder day after the next bringing murmurings of “oh seven, oh great” (as in “ninety-six, ninety-heaven, and oh five, oh sick”). It may be too early to tell for sure how this season will go down in history, but no one can dispute its greatness so far.

In addition to delicious powder, the hill has been wonderfully vacant. During the week it has been nothing but empty lift lines and more powder.  Even by the afternoon on the weekends, things are cleared out. Maybe it’s due to locals out hiking or tourist exhaustion, who knows? But as long as it still seems empty, we don’t really care.

Resort management may care, of course, but they seem to be happy with their skier numbers so far this season. According to resort spokeswoman Anna Olsen, all goals for skier numbers were met or exceeded over the holiday period. Further, while January tourism is traditionally slow, they are still seeing skier days numbering between 2000 and 3000, although it doesn’t seem that way out there.

In more exciting skier news: The 2008 big mountain freeride tour kicked off last week at Red Mountain in Rossland, BC. One of the most festive but fiercely competitive events of the season, Red saw a fairly large group representing Jackson Hole on the women’s side, with five Jackson skiers in the field. In a tight showdown for podium position, hometown native Crystal Wright took charge and defeated Sweden’s Carolina Ekman and Canada’s Crystal Rose Lee to take first place after three days of competition.

As the newest addition to the competitive team sponsored by JHMR, fast, fluid and aggressive skiing got the season off to the right start for Wright. Although there was less snow than last year and more gnarly conditions at Red, she got it together and bested her second place finish from last year. “Winning my first comp…I’ve been so close so many times, I finally did it.  It’s a very happy moment in life,” she said, with a big smile.  Other locals included Tamara Guttman and Jess Spangler, who plan on competing more this season. With one of Jackson’s strongest male competitors, Conor Horrigan, sidelined from Red with an injury, there were no local boys representing the hill.

In non-skier news, JHMR’s COO Tom Spangler recently announced his resignation from the ski corp. He will be moving to Mt. Hood Meadows on Feb. 14th.  Tim Mason, currently mountain operations director, will fill in as the interim COO.      “We’re sad to lose his knowledge and expertise, but we are happy for him,” said Olsen. JHMR will be considering replacement candidates from both in-house and out, she said - including Mason. Luckily, this won’t affect the tram project, one of the things Spangler was taking care of, and which, we are happy to report, is coming along right on schedule.

Some things, however, are harder to say good-bye to, as another piece of Jackson ski bum history is about to bite the dust. The last vestiges of the real skier scene in Teton Village are teetering on the brink of destruction, with Hostel X currently under contract. The owners of the venerable institution are moving on, so get ready to say good-bye. Decidedly, wonderfully, un-deluxe, the historic site, former home of many famed skiers and the last completely unprententious place to stay in the base area, is slated to become…oh, do guess.

Did you guess condos? Well, there isn’t actually information on plans for the site, but it surely won’t remain a charming hostel for long. Next winter, say goodbye to the VC/TGR/Wilderness building, also awaiting destruction. Where will the riffraff go?

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The Vill: Wright gets right; changing of the guard at JHMR | Planet JH News Article: Sports & Recreation

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