Another Day, Another Foot of Snow
December 23rd, 2008Posted in Skiing in the Tetons
The snow keeps falling here in the Tetons. In the past 24 hours another foot or so of snow has fallen and Grand Targhee reports 7 of those inches fell after they closed their lifts yesterday, so it’s another powder morning! But- there was a lot of wind last night, so the skiing might be interesting. It was a pretty wet snow that fell and with wind compression, we may be skiing on top of it, rather than in it today. There could be some interesting wind drifts to spice things up as well.
There might be fewer skiers today too, since all the roads into the Teton Valley, except the Teton Pass road, are closed due to drifting and blowing snow. This is not good news for Targhee, since all the folks from the most populous towns and cities near it can’t get to Targhee unless the roads reopen. There is still time for the highway crews to get these roads open so skiers can get to Targhee for a full day, but last winter’s performance by the highway crews, when it took days to get the roads open, doesn’t encourage confidence. But last year the storms were bigger, so we’ll see…
It is ironic, that last night and today, just like last winter, when the big storms hit, the Teton Pass road becomes the most dependable route in and out of our valley. Yeah, the road that goes up the steepest grades to the highest elevations and into the snowiest, most avalanche prone area of any road for miles in any direction is the one that stays open in the worst weather. Kudos to the Wyoming Department of Transportation for the great work they do plowing and controling for avalanches.
Yesterday’s skiing? It was fun, but hard work. The few inches of new powder were pretty dense and heavy, due no doubt to the warm temperatures that accompanied the storm. It was great snow to paste over more of the remaining thin coverage areas on the south facing exposures. More is still needed to make the Chutes save to ski with skis you care about.
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