Jackson Hole 2008 - Day 7 (Rock Springs)

Today we went OB--out of bounds--to get some untracked powder. Someday I want to try to describe the special feeling of skiing deep powder, but for now, if you haven't done it yourself, you'll just have to believe me that it is really fun.

Mimi used her special pass to get up the gondola before it opens for the general public and made two runs down the Bowl before we Sterns hooked up with her. We did far right of the bowl and then left the ski resort via the high gate.

Here Mimi is holding the gate for the rest of us to ski through. Then we checked that all the avalanche beacons were transmitting correctly, and snugged our packs with probes and shovels. Even though we planned a very conservative and safe tour, we had to be prepared for the worst.

We are all ready to go. Behind us is the ski area, Rendezvous Bowl to be specific.
Once through the gate, there is a short traverse through the trees to get to the first slope. The mountains are beautiful and the snow fields beckon.

Here we are contemplating the first powder run. We went one at a time to reduce the risk of bringing down snow on top of the skier below. The snow was light and deep, over the knees.
Mimi let me go first and I skied a decent line. At the bottom I tried to get some photos of the rest of the group, but the better the skiing is, the less time you have for getting good photos.


Nick was skiing without poles, but that didn't keep him from going big.


Powder pig smile.


Julie got this picture of Mimi checking out the lay of the land and keeping an eye on her charges. Mimi was our guide extraordanaire, doing route finding, sharing safety tips, and going last to pick up the pieces if necessary.


Nick watching his Mom making turns. When we were all down, we looked back up and admired our lines snaking down the mountain next to each other.


Julie enjoying the pow.

We had so much fun on our first run that we decided to do it again. This required 4 lifts to get us back up to the top of the mountain (Gondola, Thunder, Sublette, East Ridge). Sometimes skiing the trails between the lifts is what it's all about, but today it was just what we had to do to get to the main event, Rock Springs Canyon.

On our second OB tour, Mimi, Michael, and Phillip hiked up Paranoia Ridge to get 10 to 15 turns through a slash in the trees. Michael went first and laid perfect tracks. I did my best to follow his line, but he is skiing better than me this year. It was still my best run of the day. The north facing slope in the shadows of trees made for light, deep snow that bubbled up to my waist and on a couple of turns flew up to my chin and down the neck of my jacket. Bottomless snow; felt like I was floating down the mountain. Ahhh!

Julie and Nick didn't want to hike so they missed the best run of the day. Next we hit the same slopes we did a couple of hours before, but the sun had warmed the snow and made it heavier. Still fun but not the joy of light, untracked powder.

At the bottom, we skied through the trees and found more light stuff. The turns were very tight, but it was a shallow slope and the powder made it easy. After the long traverse back to the base of the ski area it was time for lunch. Nick fell asleep at the table, testament to the tiring nature of the tour. Julie also called it a day and took a nap. Greg, however, was up for another run. (Greg and Harry were worn out too; they hiked the Head Wall and skied down the Crags while we were in Rock Springs Canyon.)

Greg skis fast (actually rides his snowboard fast) and I have trouble keeping up with him. Maybe he is just in a hurry to get back to the lift so he can call in to work and check on the many design projects his architecture firm is responsible for.