Even in this age of tech tools, the tallying of days remains the preeminent arithmetic for equating a ski season. Sure there will always be discrepancies surrounding what actually qualifies as a “day.” Yet by the end of season, all the hours, lift rides, and turns fall under one figure etched into the record books. ... Read More

Throughout the day, skiers and riders bottlenecked along Lupine Way, awaiting their chance to scout out this year’s Dick’s Ditch. The two day banked slalom classic sends competitors careening down a gully of jumps, hips, and wiggles, testing their season-honed skills before a bell-clanging crowd. Now the day before the event, there was a ... Read More

It’s difficult to claim the title of “best skier on the mountain” in Jackson Hole. Today was different. My vote, and the vote of many others went to the crew of adaptive skiers continuously slaying 4,139 vertical feet of powder from open to close. The sight in Bernie’s Bowl of each skier attacking open snow fields with technical precision was truly inspiring. As they collected near the run out of the bowl to celebrate with a series of high-fives, I couldn’t help but be reminded that it’s all about the passion.

The sky was a hanging chad today, undecided whether to let the sun poke through or to close its curtains and put La Nina back to work. As a consequence, the snow pack suffered from ice-melt syndrome: buttery in the morning, frozen in the afternoon. Though less than ideal in the flat light, folks were ... Read More

With Powder Magazine’s Powder Week in full swing at Jackson Hole, the Tram line was a hodgepodge of locals, visitors, and inconspicuous titans of the ski industry. Just ahead in the grid, a skier shuffled along with a pair of Icelantics and two cane poles that you’d imagine Mark Twain would have used if he ... Read More

Entering the final full month of Jackson Hole’s “regular season” causes us to pause; for the briefest of moments we come up for air, and wonder how we got to March already? Fortunately the angst is quickly forgotten as we slide off the lift and back into the thick of it all. Recent snowless days ... Read More

HEFTY DOSES OF LAXATIVE The bane of all writers is the occasional bout of creative constipation. It is as if your pen has run dry, and no matter how hard you press down, no matter how many times you dab it on your tongue, only faint indentations of a worthwhile idea emerge. For those in ... Read More

FOUR HUNDRED AND ONE INCHES! Whooa La Niña! Bam-ba-lam! Last night’s four inches tipped the snow scales, propelling Jackson Hole into a new realm of possibility. Cliffs and couloirs once deemed questionable are now doable. This past week witnessed the rare opening of such burly inbounds lines as Alta Zero, as well as a no ... Read More

The stoke runs deep here in Jackson Hole, bridging geographic and generational gaps between skiers and riders. This fresh four inch morning, an old timer passed pleasantries with two visitors riding up Thunder Lift. She spoke exactly how you’d hope a Jackson Hole matriarch would, employing dated epithets to describe the “mighty Snake River” or ... Read More

"Ground Intelligence" Approaching the Arial Tram, I paused to evaluate the setting. Planning the first run is a calculated maneuver requiring all available powder intel. Stumbling upon a recognizable face, I asked the friendship defining question. “So.. where’s the deepest snow on the mountain today?” Covered in white, the powdery figure leaned in ... Read More