From North to South: April 2010

Every year April 1 is a big dress up day at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. It's known as "Gaper Day" and the idea is to mimic the most ridiculous and absurd skiers who have showed up to Jackson over the years ... but the beauty of Gaper Day is that anything goes ...

My dear Auntie Kathe made me clown costume sized to be worn over ski clothes ... and I used Gaper Day to make its debut. What a hit! I was teaching ski school that day, and the kiddos just went wild ... "Look, it's a clown!!!!" All day long I honked my noise and smiled. One 3-year-old in particular just starred at me wide-eyed ... eventually his instructor brought him over "to meet the clown."

Labels: Amy, Gaper Day, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, photos, Skiing

The last week has been one of the best ski weeks of my life. It all started with Grand Targhee last Friday (a full week ago) when knee-deep powder and bluebird skies coupled up to bring heaven here to earth.

Then on Saturday I taught my last day of ski school at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Snow absolutely hammered the mountain that day ... and my supervisors pulled through to give us Rough Rider instructors a chance to do a Gondola lap while the kids were in an "extended story time." That lap proved to be one of the most amazing runs of my life ... I felt totally free and totally on fire ... the turns seem to flow in perfect rhythm right out of the core of my being. The face shots frosted the cake.

On Sunday my friends descended on the mountain ... it was the last day it was open to the public and yet another storm cycle made for buttery conditions. Karen, Martha and I adventured together ... dropping into chutes none of us had explored before ... specifically Tower 3 and the Mushroom Chutes ... divine.

That night I partied like a rock star, and still managed to wake up and make the first tram for employee-only ski day on Monday. I laid the very first tracks into Expert Chutes (Ooops ... couldn't resist the chance to brag), and then headed back to Tower 3 and Mushroom Chutes ... where a fresh coat of snow made conditions even better than the day before. By this time I had found a groove, and my confidence level was sky high. I looked at my friend Jim, who's a pretty darn awesome skier, and asked if he'd go with me to the famous - or perhaps infamous - Corbet's Couloir. He agreed. For those that don't know, Corbet's gets it's rap because it requires a wicked drop in ... and can be seen from all over the mountain ... the tram passes right above it. On Monday there was a pretty substantial - and uncovered rock face - that required a fairly precarious maneuver. Jim went first and flawlessly showed me how to do it. Mimicking his every move, I took a huge deep breath and dropped ... clatter, clatter, clatter ... I pulled off the move, but the DIN setting on my skis was set too low and they popped right off. I cartwheeled down the mountain a couple of times before self arresting. A super nice fellow who dropped into Corbet's after me, picked up my skis, saving me a long hike. The ski down the rest of the couloir can't fully be put into words ... waist deep, cottony soft ... basically a perfect way to end the season at the Village (the name locals use for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort).

When Tuesday rolled around I decided it was time for a break, but by Wednesday I couldn't contain the need for floating free. Josh, a new friend who recently moved to the area, and I headed up to Teton Pass for a sunset ski. We hiked up Glory and dropped into Coal Creek ... taking advantage of good snow in the north facing trees. We got back to our car at 8:20 p.m., just as the last rays from the day were falling away to the west.

Inspired, I called Karen that night, and we met at 6:15 a.m. the following morning (Thursday) to do the exact same run. The sunrise proved to be just as beautiful as the sunset, and the snow just as nice. I kept thinking to myself ... "Wow, I can't believe I live in a place where I can go for a sunset backcountry ski and then wake up the following morning for a dawn patrol."

Not surprisingly, when Friday rolled around and the opportunity popped up to tail Marc on an outing to one of his favorite (and somewhat secret) backcountry runs, I jumped. The limitless blue skis and gentle breeze made the day ideal, and north facing woods once again proved to contain the goods - plus, like each of the proceeding days, the company was great.

Now as I sit here on Saturday, tapping away at the keyboard, I feel totally content to take a rest day ... "a" being the keyword ... I've already starting planting seeds and scheming up plans to pick up the parade tomorrow.