A Remarkable Ski “Car”
February 23rd, 2009Posted in Skiing in the Tetons
Up on Teton Pass yesterday I did a quick lap up Glory and was lucky to find a parking space very near the boot trail.
When I arrived at the parking lot I was surprised to see a huge tractor, as in “tractor- trailer”, minus the trailer, parked in the lot. I know the police are pretty diligent about patrolling for big rigs crossing the pass in winter when they are prohibited, but I never thought about whether just a tractor would be legal.
Anyway, after my lap, as I was leaving, I saw the tractor’s driver returning to his rig. Yup, he was a backcountry skier, and in the few seconds I was able to glimpse him, he appeared to be alone.
I’m glad to know truckers can be, and should be, backcountry skiers too. I just can’t figure using a hulking tractor as my vehicle of choice to drive up the Pass , and get what, 6 miles a gallon on the way up? Yesterday was not a particularly spectacular ski day, as far as the quality of the snow and skiing went, so lusting after an epic ski run and having only the big rig to drive to get up the Pass won’t fly as an excuse.
I wonder if this was a one time thing by a skier traveling through the region and parking his trailer in Jackson while he snuck in a few turns, or if this rig is a regular up on the Pass and I’ve just missed seeing it before? I really hope it is the former.
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