The Vill: 600-plus; over it; all good things

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

By Brigid Mander

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Surpassing 600 inches of snowfall for the season is dominating the talk of the week right now - it infiltrates just about every conversation. More importantly, the base is in the 140 inch range, more snow is still coming, and winter continues to rule up high.

Statistically, this season still loses base-wise to the 1996-97 season, which had 154 inches at this time of year. We probably have the super light density of this year’s snow to blame for that, since it compacts down a lot more than denser snow. But no matter, we’ll take day after week after month of blower pow without worrying too much about what the numbers say.

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The party scene is still absent from the base area, because it is, well, cold and snowy. Only the most hard-core apres-skiers brave the conditions and sit at Nick Wilson’s picnic tables. Last week’s Mountain Spring Festival, put on by the resort, went off well anyway, topped by Saturday’s Michael Franti and Spearhead concert in the parking lot. People bundled up to have a good time, and concertgoers had two conclusions: Franti knows how to put on a show and it was really cold.

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   Despite the ridiculously good snow conditions, the village is a ghost town. It is curious, after all, currently, it is not just good for spring…it is good for February. Tourists on the chairlift marvel over their good fortune and say, “I had the best couple runs of my life this morning!” Others stare down at their feet and ask where they can rent fat skis.

The hill is really quiet for the conditions, though. It is possible that some locals consider themselves over it, as some have actually said, out loud, things like, “I’m over it.” So some people do get spoiled after triple digit powder days. Curious.

Plenty of locals are not over it though, as last week saw insane tracks down just about everything, and Friday especially might as well have been declared National Send It Day here in Jackson. Everything that ever gets skied in the resort slackcountry got skied last week, with ridiculous tracks cutting the most terrifying things the terrain has to offer. Most of the lines were skied by well-known, low-key, ah, adrenaline enthusiasts. It is impressive to see what people will get done when the conditions are right. After all, when seldom skied, usually ominous, out-of-bounds lines have moguls in the cruxes, you know people are feeling pretty confident.

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All of this powder is making some of us forget that lift-served skiing is nearing its end. JHMR is located on US Forest Service land, and the resort has a four month lease to operate as a ski area. This year-of-all-years is the one to wonder why the season can’t be extended. Does JHMR just not care about you, happy little skier, at all? Or is it inane USFS policy? Unfortunately, this columnist was skiing powder recently, and forgot to ask. But stay tuned next week to find out why the season has to be so cruelly and viciously ended.

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The fundraiser for injured skier Derek Gardner is tomorrow night at the Snow King Ball Room. He has woken up and is doing well over in Idaho Falls, Idaho, so stop by and check out the scene and buy some of the great collection of swag that has been donated for the silent auction. It’s stuff you probably need to buy anyway, but after all, like Ebay says, ‘”It’s more fun if you win it!”

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The Vill: 600-plus; over it; all good things | Planet JH News Article: Sports & Recreation

Reader Comments

The resort could stay open later in the year if they wanted to. Economics, not the Forest Service controls when the resort closes. It is a common rumor throughout the west that the Forest Service controls when resorts must close - not true. The simple fact is that not enough skiers come this late in the year to make it financially viable for many resorts to operate. In a year like this we may wish otherwise, but remember what last year was like - bare soil in spots of Casper Bowl a week before the season ended. As for this year - bring on the whitewater - ought to see some killer flows in June.
MT Dave