Guest TR: Energy

Energy

by Matt Beal

The energy associated with the current snowstorm brewing outside contains an intangible feeling of excitement from within that I have not found in any other realm of life. At 5:00 am I awoke to a welcoming tree branch repeatedly pounding the side of my cabin. With eyes barely open in the darkness I found the g spot of my coffee pot powering up my second favorite liquid. Stumbling over my Sorel’s I open my cabin door to twist the knob to a state of complete exhilaration and awe. One minute into consciousness and within my soul I feel pinkish clouds a top of me, high twenties temperature, and very high gusts of snow to my four day shave. No tangible product of mass consumerism can produce this kind of elation.

Weather and moisture energy has been gaining strength to the far west of Wyoming in the Pacific Ocean. Growing up very close to the Atlantic Ocean I remember waiting for the weatherman to say, “Nor-Eastor” which eventually translated to Noreastah’. When my folks had cable television I would stay glued to The Weather Channel and hope the storm would intensify causing school to cancel, roads to close, snowmobiles gouging pavement on new carbides, and plow trucks in full tilt boogey mode. As a kid I had a lot of energy watching and waiting to see my district number scrolling across the bottom of the television before sunrise to see if school was canceled.

The current storm is comparable to a “Wickahd Noreastah” that will more than likely shut down the airport and every road in and out of Jackson, WY. My inbox has been filling up with electronic newsletters saying that Jackson is forecasted to receive 50” of snow and to fly here before the storm. Online ski forums have been starting new discussions with fervor regarding powder in the Tetons. The daily Bridger-Teton Avalanche and mountain weather Forecast message this morning is very long as the storm is just beginning and the risks of avalanches will be rising by the hour.

The entire town of Jackson, Wyoming is ready to bust at the seams waiting to ski powder. Any serious powder junkee has waxed their long fat skis at least once and are patiently reminiscing skis lines in their head. As I sip on my very strong homemade espresso coffee I begin to imagine what kind of huge breakfast will sustain my storm skiing. Being a tall and slender kind of maple bacon guy, scrambled eggs with pepper jack cheese, a bagel with nutella, bannana, and probably a couple hash browns should hold me over until around noon I hope.

Matt Lloyd “AKA LiveTheDream” waits patiently in the JH tram line
Gliding through untracked powder on my freshly waxed 190cm rockered skis brings a state of complete relaxation. As my favorite twenty minute jam plays on I realize that skiing unadulterated powder is what I live for. Tuned out with day long Dead jams and tuned into sparkling snowflakes not verbalizing in the English language, but by massive smiles illustrating sparkling shiny teeth is what brings joy to my heart.

Folks sometimes ask where I just skied while I can only smile showing years of painful orthodontic work, wrinkles from smiling in high altitude sunshine, and sweat dripping exuberance. I can’t explain where I came from, but rather I just blacked out on the last run and let loose of all conventional thought for a few years. I attempt to explain how the snow rolled into a curved wave off my belly and eventually over my head while it was hard to breathe regularly. . .

Matt Lloyd slashing powder mid storm cycle

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Guest TR: Village to Pass

Village to Pass Slideshow: http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow/d2206112k5566425o2/9hrtour

The idea is always simple, but the follow through is the proof in the pudding. My friend “LiveTheDream” came up with the idea of touring from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s historic Tram to Teton Pass. Watching the weather for days, waiting for an unsafe snowpack to run its course, and my friends countless hours on google earth we found a break.

Friday the 13th proved to be our day to attempt this tour. LiveTheDream ran into a local woman who gave him beta that it took her group 15 hours to complete the same tour, but in the reverse direction. They had traveled on the high ridge lines having to use ropes, harnesses, and more of a mountaineering approach. We were very grateful of this beta, as we were not inclined to get that rad.

We loaded first tram and headed straight for Cody Peak. Winds gusts were in the mid 40s, sunshine was abundant, and the wind chill was holy guacamole cold! Once we started down climbing the back of Cody Peak we were quite protected from the sandblaster ice pellets to the face. By 11am skins were on and we were headed for the North Shore. It looked so majestic as no ski tracks were on this glorious hunk of rock. We decided to lay some tracks down and were pleased by our choice. By dropping our water at the top skinning back up the North Shore flew by.

Dropping the West side of the North Shore was more of a side stepping process over scree looking for deeper snow. After a short down climb through an unskiable couloir, ski turns were back to the Teton light powder we all love.

After much skinning we were up high on another ridge starring at Mt. Taylor. Another South facing slope provided us with 1200′ or so of untouched powder with zero sun crust. I made as many wiggle turns as I could as LiveTheDream ripped the fresh pow with bigger turns.

Watching the sun fall closer to the horizon we both knew we needed to get closer to Coal Creek. Skinning across a massive meadow that looked easy proved to take quite a lot of time. With each progressive step dragging our skis we were closer to our objective. The Great White Hump was within view and as we got closer the views to the East were beautifully sunlit especially the Sleeping Indian and Jackson Peak.

Alas, we arrived at the great white hump with an enormous vibrant orange sunset starting to fall quickly. Puffy on, fresh warm gloves, and frozen Swedish Fish in cheek we dropped into more untouched snow. At the foot of Mt. Taylor it became harder to ski not because of the low light, but because of ski tracks. We made it back to Coal Creek parking lot at roughly 6pm.

Headlamp on I hitched a ride from a fellow Targhee friend back to the Stilson Lot and definitely overstoked him for the entire ride up and down the 10% grade. We guessed the tour to be 12-15 miles in length.

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Oh the Places You’ll Go!

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