Avalanches suck...

Things at Jackson Hole haven't been as carefree and positive as usual this past week. The huge amount of snow we got Christmas week combined with a bad layer of snow that we got in November has caused avalanche conditions to become very dangerous. If you haven't heard yet, we had someone die in an avalanche inside the ski resort on December 27th. The ski patrol found him and dug him out in 7 minutes... but it was already too late. This was only the second in-bounds avalanche death at JHMR since 1966.

Image from Jhnewsandguide.com

Just a few days later, an avalanche did $1,000,000 worth of damage on the Bridger Restaurant at the top of the gondola.

Images from Jhunderground.com

Another very large avalanche ripped down Laramie bowl and took its snow cover down to almost rock, in the picture below you can see how huge the crown is by comparing it to the size of the ski patrollers.


On a positive note, it has definitely made everyone more aware of the danger our sport entails. Laura and I both got avalanche beacons and now wear them to work everyday, and apparently all the ski shops in town are sold out. Conditions have gotten a lot safer as the week went on, but I think everyone in Jackson Hole will be extra careful for a long time.

On December 30th, my parents left to go home to Kentucky, and that afternoon some of our college ski club friends arrived. They skied with us a couple of days this week, and helped us bring in the new year!


Currently we are all in Big Sky, MT for the UK Snowcats Ski trip. It will definitely be nice to take a week off from work and ski with some old friends... living in a niiiiiiice ski-in/ski-out condo is a plus too! :D

I will post some pictures from Big Sky sometime this week! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years!