Jack’s Old & Busted Blog

Spent Friday exploring Idaho and driving through the Teton Pass (10% Grade! Use Low Gear!), where we saw a giant snowslide and had to wait for big machines to clear the road. We ended up at the Grand Targhee Resort, which, being at 10,000-feet elevation had much better snow than Jackson Hole. It also seemed a lot friendlier and fun. I wish we could have planned more time there. Today, Saturday, we did a 22-mile dogsledding trek, courtesy of Frank Teasely’s most excellent Jackson Hole Iditarod Sled Dog Tours. During the trip, we swam in a hot spring and had a steak lunch. Very relaxing. We fly out early in the morning. I feel like I need a vacation from our vacation. Many, many pictures in the usual place.

danbrown.com: “If you have not yet read the novel, viewing this gallery might spoil some of the book’s many surprises.”

We took a day of from the slopes and mostly slept. Ash shot the ball around at the Jackson Hole rec center for a while, and then we shopped a bit before napping away the afternoon. I finished “The Da Vinci Code,” which is perfect fodder for a trip. I did walk down the road a bit to watch the amateur rounds of the World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb, which was sort of interesting in the way that being snowbound might make you want go 80 mph vertically. The thin air does make you kinda loopy. I think we’re all going to take ski/snowboard lessons tomorrow.

The temperature made it to 40F yesterday, which made most of the mountain the consistency of a slurpie. Colli and Ash took lessons, which they enjoyed. Colli even did some impromptu cross-country skiing! I knocked off early and browsed the shops, where some great, last-minute sales are going on. Hats for $1! I think we’re all going back for lessons today, although the temps are going to be even warmer. There’s still more snow than last year, and the year before that, when the lift areas turned into little ponds upon which people would literally glide over on skis or boards. Doglsedding Saturday. It’s suposed to be in the 50s then.

More photos are up.

Spent some time on the upper runs today, including the new Sweetwater lift. Had some pretty good snowfall in the afternooon up high, which is always fun. Finally getting somewhat adjusted to the altitude. Ash and Colli had massages today at the Rusty Parrot. Dinner tonite at the Mangy Moose. I had the prime rib, and the girls each had the halibut, which was excellent.

What’s the deal with all the Subarus?? We received one for our rental, which is fine - they weren’t on the menu last year. But all over town, there are hundreds of them! Literally, every third car is a Subaru. It feels like we’re extras in a car commercial.

Had a great breakfast at Bubba’s (pdf menu) yesterday. We learned our lesson, though, and we all only ordered one thing each. It’s still enough to feed five people, but at least it doesn’t take up the whole table.

Spent the afternoon on the lower slopes getting than hang of it again. I switched to a much longer board after reading up on proper sizing. Most of the time the shops just pick whatever board comes up to your chin. However, because of my “stump-like” build, I need a longer board to compensate for my, um, “centralized” mass. It seemed to help a lot. I felt a lot more control, and the ride is smoother. Conditions are great, with all the recent snow. People I have chatted with compare this season to the area’s record snowfall in 1997.

We finished the day with another great meal at the Off Broadway Grill (pdf menu).

More pictures over at Flickr.

Well, we’re back in Jackson Hole. Lots and lots of snow this time. We all got up at 4-in-the-a.m. to make the 6:30 flight. Short delay in Chicago (surprise), but the trip went smoothly. We traveled pretty light this year, but Ash somehow managed to bring an extra huge bag with rocks or something in it that we all had to take turns lugging through the concourse. The condo is amazing. Much nicer than last year even. It’s not ’ski-in,’ but that’s not that big of a deal to us. Great views. It was spitting snow when we arrived, and we saw hundreds of elk on the way into town. We were all starving, so we immediately went to Bubba’s BBQ and had great food. I think we’re just gonna chill out tonite and get a full day on the hill in tomorrow.

Click here for an updated photo page of our trip (yay, free wireless!).

Weather at Jackson Hole.