JH Underground – Jackson Hole, Wyoming news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Wasn’t long ago that everyone was crying about the lack of snow, and now we’re drowning in it.

Quickly we’ve caught up to last season’s pace. As of this morning, total snowfall at 9,600 feet measured 210 inches, exactly the figure from the same date a year ago.

And we know how that winter turned out: a record 605 inches by closing day at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. 2000-Grreat!

This week last year saw some incredible snowfall, and it appears history is repeating itself. Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey is calling for 21 to 27 inches of snow through Wednesday.

Maybe these big winters come in pairs. Many skiers will recall that the fabled winter of 1996-97 — the snowiest on record until last season — followed a wet year. That’s a key reason why the runoff on the Snake River in June 1997 was the highest in modern history, as reservoirs had filled the previous season.

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Posted under Ski Resorts, Sports, Weather

Tags: jackson hole mountain resort, powder, skiing, snowboarding

Updated with more music links at bottom

The Knotty Pine has landed perhaps the biggest show in its history, as the New Orleans funk band Galactic will threaten to blow the roof off the Victor, Idaho, log cabin on Thursday, Feb. 12.

Tickets are $29.50 plus tax, available here and at Tobacco Row and the Knotty.

Galactic has been a frequent visitor to the Mangy Moose in Teton Village and performed there last winter with rapper Chali 2Na of Jurassic 5. The five-piece instrumental band also has played festivals at Grand Targhee, most recently in 2007.

Despite its small size and out-of-the-way location, the Knotty Pine has earned a reputation in the music industry as a hip place to play. North Mississippi Allstars, Rebirth, PBS, Maceo Parker (twice) and Robert Randolph are among the well-known artists to have performed there over the years.

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Posted under Music

Tags: funk, galactic, jazz fest, knotty pine, new orleans, widespread panic

Partly inspired by this beautiful video, “Starry-Eyed Surprise,” I participated in the New Year’s Eve torchlight parade on Snow King for the first time.

This year a record 188 skiers took part, 62 more than the previous best.

Usually it’s dumping out or freezing cold, so I’m content to watch the stream of lights from my house. But this time conditions were perfect: soft snow and surprisingly warm.

Armed with a pair of roadside flares apiece, we did two runs, first up and down Cougar and then up the Summit chair and down the Elk run. The string of lights stretched nearly all the way from the summit to the base.

On reaching the top, it was as if the flames and fumes acted as some sort of cloud seeding, and it began to snow.

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Posted under Holidays, Ski Resorts, Sports

Tags: new year's, skiing, snow king

• Drink. (It is, after all, New Year’s Eve.)
• Divert elk migrating to the refuge onto the pass to help trample the rain crust.
• Transceiver practice.
• Take up skate skiing.
• Find out just what the Murie Center does, anyhow.
• Drink some more. (Good thing the Brew Pub has expanded.)
• Start a blog!
• Sell carbon credits on the trips up Teton Pass you aren’t taking.
• Finally see what’s inside the Wildlife Art Museum.
• Monkey-wrench oil and gas drilling.
• Shoot guns in Idaho; shoot pool at the ‘Coach; shoot tourists on the Town Square.
• Realtor Iditarod: Teams of unemployed brokers pull sleds on a 10-day odyssey across Wyoming.
• Mexico — Last one out of Jackson Hole turn off the lights!

Posted under Humor, Sports

Tags: backcountry, Humor, skiing, snowboarding

Wow. The events of the past three days have been dizzying, leaving many of us confused, upset and even afraid.

I want to address two undercurrents of the comments posted on this blog and discussions I’ve been a part of around town.

First, the conventional wisdom seems to be that Jackson Hole Mountain Resort brass has been pressuring the ski patrol to open the mountain for the peak holiday crowds despite the extraordinary avalanche danger, resulting in unsafe conditions.

I’ve spoken to several mountain employees with intimate knowledge of the fatal avalanche Saturday and yesterday’s Headwall slide into the Couloir restaurant. They had no reason to lie, and they assured me that resort management has put no pressure on anybody to do anything other than what’s in the best interest of safety.

The Jackson Hole Ski Patrol decides when and where slopes should be opened, and resort management defers to their expertise. The mountain operations manager, Tim Mason, is no corporate bean counter but rather a longtime resort employee with years of experience running the lifts and working with patrol.

Second, the clamor has been growing louder that the resort is trying to cover up these incidents, or at least control the flow of news. Yes, there has been a frustrating lack of information at times, and continued conflicting reports, but let’s remember that these employees have been dealing with a crisis for several consecutive days, just as the holiday rush arrived.

Those who are not a fan may be surprised to learn that Jerry Blann, president of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, was at the scene of the Headwall avalanche Monday, grabbed a shovel and dug out at least one of the buried ski patrollers. Along with other executives, Blann remained on top of the gondola well into the night as workers cleared debris.

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Posted under Media, Ski Resorts, Sports

Tags: avalanches, jackson hole mountain resort, skiing, snowboarding

The Headwall slope at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort avalanched this morning and crashed into the Couloir restaurant atop the Bridger Gondola, but preliminary reports indicate no one was killed or injured severely.

Ski patrol triggered the slide using explosives, according to a mountain employee who was on scene.

Two patrollers were buried but dug out OK, according to a member of Teton County Search and Rescue who assisted in the probing effort. Ski patroller Mike Werner reportedly was hit by a table but was not badly injured.

The back wall of the Couloir restaurant was smashed, and windows were blown out. The slide reportedly trapped a ski patroller inside the patrol hut, but he or she was extricated without injury.

The resort released this statement:

“At approximately 9:30 a.m. this morning, after JHMR Ski Patrol had completed one avalanche hazard reduction route and were getting ready to conduct another, the Headwall slid naturally from the southeast aspect above the Bridger Restaurant.

“This incident took place before this area of the mountain had been opened to the public. A search for potential victims took place and everyone has been accounted for. This incident is under full investigation and a more detailed report will be released at 4 p.m.

“At this time, JHMR will remain closed until further notice.”

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Posted under Ski Resorts, Sports, Weather

Tags: avalanches, jackson hole mountain resort, skiing, snowboarding