a little riding, weird weather

The weather has been really warm recently in Jackson.  We got a few inches of snow, but it's heavy snow (and here you get to be picky about what kind of snow you want).  

I got out for a half a day on Tuesday.  I planned for a full day but got tired after a few hours.  Not bad riding. 

I went with Mike from Calgary.  Conditions were mixed--pretty crusty under the heavy snow.  He came around me on the first run and straight-lined it down a groomer, picked up too much speed, and biffed super hard after a cat track.  Knocked out his wind pretty good and definitely a tough way to start the day.

Mike came down from Canada, much like Blake, to escape winter drought conditions up there.  He said yesterday that they got some snow--the first for two months!

Came back from riding, ate, passed out, and went to Hoback.  They need bike builders right now, you get payed by the bike.  I could definitely build some bikes.  I go back on Tuesday to talk to the head mechanic.

Haha then Mike and I went to Carlie's church for some free Mardi Gras food and drink.  Those church folk pour strong drinks, that's for sure.  They also make delicious red beans.  After stuffing myself we met up with Doug and Steel for some billiards.  Tables were full, so Steel challenged a couple of older guys from Milwaukee.  With drinks at stake they accepted, and we ended up both playing pool and drinking for free.  Cool guys...Bob and Steve, but way older than I thought they were (~40).  All in all a good night of free stuff!

Had a slow day yesterday, futsing around, reading the news, doing laundry...got a few runs in later in the day in some heavy, wet snow.  Too slow and very sticky, with terrible visibility.  Probably the least enjoyable runs as of yet, but my shins were hurting too.

The plan was to meet up with Rebecca last night in Salt Lake, but she had some flight troubles so we met up today instead.  It's very good to see her, I'm happy she was able to make the trip out here.  We grabbed some food and passed out (she's sick, I've pretty much kicked it).  

It was nice to go for a drive today.  The drive from Jackson to Salt Lake is about 5 and a half hours, and much of it is very scenic.  I was glad to do it in the daytime, and I took the more scenic, and also more direct, route.

Now I'm awake (obviously) and wondering if I'll be able to sleep after my long evening nap.  I was kicking myself for forgetting my book when I checked my email and saw a common sight--a reminder to blog from my dad.  Fair enough, I didnt realize it'd been so long.

There is a terrible lack of pictures recently.  I promise this will change.  I don't know if you all are bored without pictures, but I know I am.  Apparently you can search for "dave jumps rock" on youtube and you get something, but I didn't.  I still need to post that avalanche footage too, I'll get on that early next week.

Oh yeah did you know that Aerobie, makers of the weird frisbee thing that goes really far, makes a coffee maker too?  I didn't.  Mike Glass sent me the Aerobie Aero-Press, what he called the best camp coffee maker ever.  I think I agree.  It's super easy to use and clean, and brews a nice mellow cup.  So far I've used it every morning.  Thanks Mike.

update

So the last couple days have been lazy cause I caught whatever's going around.  Fortunately it's not the flu and seems to be on its way out now.  

Mostly I bum around, watch snowboard movies, walk around, and eat.  I got food yesterday so I can make delicious stuff for at least a couple of days.  This morning started with an overstuffed bacon, spinach, onion, pepper, mushroom, and cheese omelet.  Lunch was cheese steak, also with peppers, onions, and mushrooms.  Dinner was lemon ginger curried steak, onions, peanuts, and raisins.  Pretty good but needed salt.

I took some time today to look for a job--went to the workforce place but found little help.  I  did fill out an application for Hoback Sports (which turns into a mostly bike shop in the summer).  The manager called earlier and I'm headed in tomorrow for a chat...ah I'll have to leave the mountain early...bummer.

Two days off is enough.  I'm jonesing big time to go ride.  Fortunately it started snowing today and should snow through tomorrow.  I could use another powder day, but who couldn't?

All these snowboarding movies (The Lab, Down with People, Ready, It's always snowing somewhere--to name a few) make me want to go build a kicker in the backcountry.  Gotta find some like minded folks...

hostel

The dude in the bunk  next to mine snores loudly all night.  It's impressive, but I haven't had a good nights sleep in three days.  Fortunately today I moved into a new bunk that is sufficiently far away, I think.  I moved into what is basically the long-term residents area.  

There are five other long-term residents.  The first that I met is the lady that oversees the hostel, Carlie.  Carlie's is about 40, pleasantly plump, and essentially the mother for the hostel.  She thoroughly enjoys cooking for the hostel, but can't very often due to insufficient funds.  She's a very crafty cook.  I learned how to make good, easy, cheap syrup from orange marmalade and a lemon, and she makes biscotti in the microwave.  She's happy most of the time and always excited to see me.  She swims a few times a week, sings in one or two church choirs, and watches lots of TV news.  

Often following Carlie quite vocally, is Miss Kittie.  Miss Kittie is 4 years old, all black, and part siamese.  She's loud, and meows constantly, especially in the early morning hours.  She likes to get on top of my computer while I'm trying to type and has terrible breath.  You can often spot Miss Kittie walking stealthily on the high surfaces of the hostel, or darting through hostel cubes and holes in the wall.  We have mutual respect for each other, or so I'd like to think.

Aside from Carlie the first long term resident I met is Diana.  I think Diana's not long term so much as permanent, but I'm not sure.  I don't know what she does for work, but I think she was fired recently for drinking.  She seems pretty reserved, we don't talk much.

Scott looks about 30 and travels by recumbent bicycle.  He's lived in Jackson for something like 10 years I think.  Like a lot of folks here, he works odd jobs to support his outdoor passions, which in his case is mainly backpacking.  We talk fairly frequently--about work in town, bicycle touring, recumbents, and the mountains.  He encouraged me to move to the front of the hostel if I could (which I did today).

Sarah, until today, had the cube across from mine.  Something about her rubs me the wrong way a little, although I think it's mostly due to the fact that when she drinks she drinks way too much.  When she's sober I enjoy talking to her, but otherwise I don't. 

There is also a group of Mexicans that cleans the place and does maintenance stuff, although with a busted urinal, a drain that floods poo, and water constantly running in the girls bathroom, I'm not sure how well they're doing their job.  They stay in honest to goodness rooms with walls and stuff, and I don't see them often.  I did once inquire about some food they were making and while I'm still not exactly sure what it was I tried it and it was delicious.   

A bunch of new folks showed up in the last three or so days, including the snorer, the creepy small engine mechanic, and Smiley (that's actually his name).  I don't know these folks well yet, but I do want to smack the snorer (I'm sick now)...

another 8 inches and im going to work?

LAME!

forget general delivery

Send goodies to me at the hostel, but same thing applies: let me know so I can alert them.

David Perry

215 North Cache Street

Jackson, WY 83001

in bounds slides

Despite traversing through bomb dust en route to the expert chutes, one of the dudes I rode with yesterday triggered a soft slab yesterday.  

I had split for the base to check out my tongue, and the rest of the crew rode the chutes one more time.  Steel was filming his buddy as he came down one of the untouched chutes.  He tossed a small slough, and then that triggered a fracture across the slope.  I think the slide knocked Steel off his feet, but no one was hurt.  It's all on video!  which I will post.

So on powder days I will be wearing my transceiver and I guess I ought to use my avy judgement too.

and i thought yesterday was good

Put a foot on top of yesterday and you have today.  

I didn't think it was going to snow, it started to clear yesterday.  However there's a dude at the hostel with a gnarly snore, so I woke up nice and early, called the snow hotline, found out it snowed a foot and was still snowing, and laid in bed excited for a few minutes, and then booked it for the mountain.  

I arrived to the mountain with Dan, Steel, and a transient at the hostel named Blake.  Blake's from Toronto, and Jackson is a stop on his skiing road trip, which includes a bunch of resorts in BC, a couple in Utah, Jackson, and maybe some more.  I laced up to the great sound of bombs going off on the resort.  

Made it to the gondola around 9, but it didnt open until 9:20 or so.  We hauled up the gondy and rode thunder for a couple of runs.  Nice snow, you can still get through to the scrapey base, but it's hard to do.  

Then we met up with someone Steel works with and headed to Sublette.   Took a couple of bivy woods runs, a couple elsewhere, and then traversed for the expert chutes.  I had told myself earlier that I wasn't going to look at the chutes until we got some snow.  

The chutes looked great, I dropped in the first or second chute (there are about eight) to avoid hiking.  It was steep, with a few rocks to work around, and maybe 70 yards long.  This is the first drop in so far that has scared me.  

But it was butter.  The snow was waist deep and not bumpy.  I shot out of the chute totally stoked. 

Steel's buddy dropped in the next chute over, which was completely untracked (at 11!).  We regrouped, and worked our way back to sublette to do it again.  On our next shot I bit my tongue in a spill and had to head down to the base to make sure nothing was badly damaged, no dangly chunks so I worked my way back to thunder.  I met up with Dan, who had lost the rest of the group, and we rode some more.  Dan quit and I rode casper for a while (my default chill lift), traversing to moran fields which was fantastic.  A couple of gondola runs (which serves some great terrain), and time was up.

If I do snowboard tomorrow it will probably be a hiking day.  They never opened the hiking terrain so I can still get fresh tracks...and it's still snowing.

pow pow

Okay so 6 inches isnt much...but today it was enough.  On top of the fresher snow we got a few days ago, the six inches made some trails soft enough to plow through and fall in.

I got out early with Dan, Steel, and Doug.  We went up the gondy to thunder, took a couple runs at thunder, then headed to sublette.  While I was strapping in at the top of Thunder, two mountain hosts (kind of like patrollers) went by, and the older said:  "I'm still looking for my glasses, so lets take another run."

So I followed the hosts into Laramie bowl, where the gettin was good.  yeah it's a little scrapey under the six inches and there are distinct moguls everywhere but hey...

Our group wasnt really staying together but no one seemed to care.  Helps when everyone has a decent sense of where they're going.  

I met up with Marta at Sublette.  We met at that first open mic I went to, and then reconnected through her classifieds ad for lift tickets.  She's 27, from Seattle, and spent the last three years mostly working on a boat in Alaska doing scans of the ocean floor.  A lot of the work is for the government, oil companies too.  She said the longest she's spent in one place was 4 months, although she lived on a boat for 1.5 years.

I hitched a ride with some of her friends to the Hootenanny last night.  The Hootenanny's an open mic for people that are "on top of their stuff" or so I'm told.  The music was pretty good--mostly bluegrass and folk, but it was standing room only.  I'll definitely go again but earlier next time.  Too bad I dont have an acoustic to play...

I met Marta's friend John from Bozeman.  He was a character, and played rippin viola tunes.

So I rode with Marta for the rest of the day.  We were about at the same level, and both ride goofy, so we pick similar lines.  I often snowboard like I ride bikes--by following people, so it's convenient when the person you follow wants to take the same turns you do.  But I try not to follow on a day like today, you have to find your own stash.

We rode Sublette a little, it was meh.  Rode thunder a few times.  I had a great route from the top of thunder with everything from steep trees (lots of these here) to super fast chop to gullies.  

We met a bush pilot turned jet pilot on the lift, and checked out the hobacks.   en route to the Hobacks we dropped into cheyenne gully through the best stash I've found without hiking.  It was glorious.  Definitely up to the knees in points, pow in your face as you check speed coming out of a tree chute.  Killer.  Hobacks were scrapey, and thankfully the pilot could keep up through it all.

A couple more, then to casper, to moran, to gondola.  Fullest day I've had yet, tomorrow's gonna be similar I hope, but I'll probably have to find people at the mountain to ride with.

another day of riding

 I had another decent day of riding today.  Weather was mixed sun and clouds with flat visibility at times.  The resort reported 6 inches in the past 24 hours but I don't know where they measured.

The village is packed.  Lift lines stretched into the five minute range at times (gasp!).  The worst though are all the people that aren't paying attention and go too slow.  Yes I know that as the uphill skiier I yield but I hate killing speed I can use or need.  I did get yelled at today for going too fast, fair enough...

I got over to sublette pretty quick, did a lap, and then hiked the headwall from the top of sublette.  At the top Boston Dan called so I just rode down the headwall (which was soft enough) and met Dan at Thunder.  We rode Sublette and hiked the headwall again, but this time traversed past Casper bowl to the Crags.  The Crags are sweet!  Lots of little funnels and cliffs everywhere but they aren't cliff lines they're just craggy rocks, so it's easy to spot them and to know when they're coming.  At least it was where we rode down.  You can traverse further across the crags to eventually get to the top of Apres Vous.  click for a trail map

Then we met up with John, did a couple of runs off sublette, and called it a day.  The hiking was great but the lift serviced stuff is way tracked.  Need big snow to fill the moguls.

My flows are in rough shape, the repair I tried didnt work.  They let my rear heel lift, which is no good on hard packed terrain.  I'll take a look at the rome bindings tonight to see if I cant make some adjustments to make them more comfortable.  

Tonight's gonna be a good hot tub soak.  Steve is riding backcountry tomorrow and hopefully we'll work something out tonight.  First I need to be less sore...

I sure wish I could get some info on this liquor store job...It'd be smart to pursue alternatives, but Steve's off work tomorrow.  And it's supposed to snow Tuesday.  What am I supposed to do?  turn my back on the snow?  ha.  we'll see.

valentines day: love, loneliness, and bar fights?

I got to help break up my first bar fight last night.  Seeing as how no one got badly hurt and the bars aren't pissed, it was pretty neat.  I don't know many details, I just saw a fight with a friend and helped pull dudes apart, then encouraged everyone to leave quickly (cops were outside and I'm not interested in getting a bad rep in this town).

Some dude Steel works with was being a jerk.  He made an offhand comment to Doug about Steel being a cartoon character (didn't know if he was real or fake), and Steel heard.  There was some in your face talking, and the dude headbutted Steel.  Steel butted him back and busted his nose.  That's about when we pulled them apart and went outside.  Apparently the dude tried to clock steel outside while he wasn't looking (lame), and then Boston Dan talked with the guy and the dude spit blood on Dan.  Props to Dan for walking away, spitting blood on someone is pretty low.  We left quickly.

Met up with the same dude later and I guess folks made amends...I tried not to get involved once I saw that the dude apologized for the cartoon character bullshit.

I guess tensions are high on valentines day...

chores and such

Happy valentines day!

Today was all chores and such: went to the grocery store, did laundry, got my board waxed and the edges tuned, booked a month at the hostel, organized my hostel space, organized my med kits, and cooked dinner.

I was surprised how well my edges cleaned up.  they were pretty burred and gouged from one awesome day of kiting in Ithaca a while back.  

After a short talk with my mom I decided to better organize my med kits, including a small field kit I'll try to carry with me.  

And dinner was pasta primavera, one of my favorite veggie dishes.  Nice to cook/eat fresh veggies.

It snowed at the village all day I think, hopefully will keep snowing through the night, and tomorrow is going to be sick.

bluebird day

My day got off to a bad start.  I woke up about 9:30, had coffee and a muffin, hopped in my riding gear and headed for the mountain.  It was a gorgeous bluebird day with temps in the low 20s or teens at the base of the mountain and probably about 30 on top (an inversion).  

I parked at the transit station, about halfway between jackson and the village.  It's free to park here and take the public bus to the village.  While walking from my truck to the bus stop, loaded down with my board and a case of pbr (my lift ticket), I slipped on a patch of ice and pancaked (as it's called here).  thats when you fall flat on your back.  Busted up the case (didnt lose any though), cut up my knuckles and my elbow swelled to a golf ball.  Great start.  I thought about just heading back into town but persevered.

Good thing to, it was beautiful and decent skiing.  I hiked the headwall today, once by traversing from Sublette, below the expert chutes pictured below, and then a short boot pack up to the headwall.  I found the pictures below on the internet, the second looks like today, but the first has way more snow than we have now.

  

the expert chutes from the base of casper bowl I think.

yes there were cliffs...and freshies

The headwall is what slid into the bridger restaurant in December.  Read about it here.  

So I rode casper bowl, which was good fun and good snow.  The second time I bootpacked up from the gondola (which was a bitch of a climb).  On top I ran into three snowboarders that were strapped in and followed them down.  Good thing, too, it was a great run.  

The rest of the day was spent mostly on Casper, just taking casual groomer runs and playing in the sun softened snow on the warmer sides of the trails.  My main goal was not to fall at all which I accomplished.

media overload

some pictures from other people, mostly ski days:

steel in shack

shack

This little moose got cornered and eventually stormed out...i felt bad for it.

me and jackson

me and steel and random person in red, cruising.

Tetons from the top of the tram.

More view from the top of the tram.

Me and steve riding a lift.

and I thought living in the truck was hard...

recent purchases

My patagonia bag kept buggin me.  It's porous so it picks up snow everytime I lay it down which is a pain.  the zippers are okay, but it lacks a convenient outside pocket, a spot to stick a probe and a shovel, the straps are awkward with gear on, it's too small, and it doesnt go with my outfit.  So I picked up this little dakine bag for resort use.  It's got a great exterior pocket, fat straps, a spot for a water reservoir, a spot for a board or shovel and prove, and just enough space.  So far so good it rides much better than the patagonia.

Everytime I try to get hooked up with folks to go ride the backcountry (which is much more stable now) the first question they ask is: do you have a transceiver?  To which I respond, no, but I'll buy one if I can find folks to ride with.  Well, that's not a good answer.

Page at the board room took my number this week, and hopefully she'll call for some backcountry riding this weekend.  I'll definitely stop by and tell her I bought a transceiver...

The tracker dts is simple and as cheap as they get.  It's also bomber and plenty accurate.  Hoback sports is having a nice big sale on all winter stuff (25% off), so I picked up the transceiver for $230.

I'll take it out to the village tomorrow (i hope) where they have a practice field, but i dont think it will take much practice... 

and thanks to rebecca for the shovel and probe!  I'm ready.

hard workin man

Every morning before Doug goes to work he puts on this country tune, I think it's called "hard working man."  It gets him stoked to go do manual labor for the temp agency.

I signed up at the temp agency a week ago or so, and got my first call yesterday.  I turned them down because I was worried my thumb would hold me back.  I got a call this morning too, and got a full day's work in.  

The temp agency primarily gets contracts from construction crews that need some extra arms, and this was no exception.  My spot was on an intown home construction that was running a bit behind, so they hired temps to do a few things.

First was throwing wood in a dumpster.  pretty self explanatory.

Second was ripping old trimming off of the underside of the roof overhangs.  Tearing things apart with crowbars and hammers is always a satisfying experience.  

Next was shoveling snow off the roof.  Good enough, it was sunny up there and the view was nice.  Not too slippery...

Some more wood tossing and garbage disposing.

Then we hammered in exposed nails and removed excess insulation from the exterior.  This was a little tedious, and got cold.  

But it was nice to make 80 bucks or so, and I needed a day off from hurtling down slippery slopes at breakneck speeds :)

open mic and the best riding yet

I played open mic at south shore pizza last night.  It was a small turnout but I met some of the regulars and played some well-received fiddle.  I drew folks out of the bar area and many cheered when i finished.  I'll probably go every week, and try to come up with some new stuff every week, which will be good for my playing.  

the fiddle sounded great plugged in, especially with a pretty professional sound setup with a board with lots of knobs and switches and sliders.

before open mic I squeezed in two hours of riding, the best decision ever.  It snowed all day at the top of the mountain and I was free to go wherever I wanted (riding solo), so I rode Thunder (lift) and the woods underneath until the lift closed.  The snow was soft, the terrain was tough, and I linked turns way faster through the steep trees than I have yet.  

I also pulled some killer manuals through the soft snow, and I'm starting to gap (soft) snowpiles/moguls.  ollies are bigger and faster, too.  I'm loving the progression.

Oh yeah I repaired my flows and moved my rear foot more forward.  Best thing I've ever done for my stance.  I came around switch a couple of times at speed (overturning) but was able to quickly slide around and hold it together.  I'm also able to keep a more centered stance on my board, and when I do kick it too far back I have a little extra board for control.  I've also angled my front foot more forward which I think helps with high speed carves.

I had a rather comical biff on my last run (gondola run).  The gondy was much more tracked than thunder, but still soft on northish faces.  I hopped at catwalk, came out of it fast and carved toeside.  It was a great carve, cut right through the fluff, but I came out of it too early and the board's energy kicked my feet out and I landed on my backside.  fun times.  I laughed at myself and now carry a cushion to sit on (joking).  but for real a tailbone bruise finished my season last year, gotta watch out.

exhaustion

back to back resort days with 12 mile walks in between has left me tired.  Last night was a first for me.  I was out and had a few drinks, but nowhere near too many.  I was back at the hostel, talking outside with my neighbor Sarah, when I got super light headed stumbled a bit, and then the next thing I remember I'm sitting on the loading ramp and Sarah's waking me up a few minutes later.  strange.

and then today i got back from shopping around for bindings and passed out almost as suddenly but in my bed this time.  can't say I mind, it's nice to feel spent.  too bad sarah was around for that too, I wouldn't mind avoiding the nickname 'sleepyhead'

I think it was a straight up tired thing, but maybe food's to blame too.  I eat pretty much constantly, except for while I'm riding, but I'm still hungry more often than I can eat.  Tonight I'm craving meat so I think I'll splurge on some Wendy's for a late night snack.  and now with the thought of wendys my creativity has plunged and I'm outta here.  

snowboard stuff...

I dont think I've ever been so tired.  Riding yesterday was good, today was about the same with some 4-6 inches of dust on crust.  Bumps are huge now since it hasn't snowed much, and the dust on top made conditions pretty hazardous on a lot of southern slopes.  

Did I already say I rode with steve yesterday? and it was nice?  I forget.  He showed us a couple of neat shacks in the woods.  Great sheltered places to stop and grab a snack, but demand is high!  Apparently there are a good two dozen of such shacks scattered around.

Rode with steel and doug today.  We found some fresh tracks and I had a great time ripping (or maching as folks here call it) casper.  Casper's a nice mostly southern exposure that has enough north to hold soft snow and lots of rocks and trees and stuff that make good kickers.  Doug caught some video and I'll be sure to post it as soon as I get it.

Took one digger today after hopping up onto what looked deceptively nice only to find it was mad crusty.  I should have known better, but I tried to get back to the cat track only to find a couple of icy steps between me and there.  tried to gap them but I guess I caught an edge on the last hump or the catwalk and went down face first.  Another helmet success story.

Aside from that my riding was pretty solid.  My board is in okay shape, but my flow bindings are pretty much done.  I can feel the slop in the binding while I ride, which is sketchy and unsettling.  So I've been riding my rome ratchet bindings.  They're ok, but just dont give the support, trust, or comfort of the flows.  I managed to unstrap a binding during a grab today...

So I'm shopping for some new flows, too bad they're $$$$.  I think I can probably find a pair for under 200, but shipping may be tough.  Nothing local for cheap on flows either.

I'm starting to keep my board under me better.  Bending at the knees is so key for these conditions, and keeping a neutral stance above the board lets me switch my turns up really fast.  and if i dont switch up my turns i get in trouble.  I'm definitely riding gnarlier stuff than I've ever ridden and it's a hoot.

So I think it's another day at the mountain tomorrow.  I can't say I mind, it's unreal being able to ride the village a few times a week.  More snow in the forecast for wednesday, think snow for me.

snow!

gotta get ready to hit the mountain, apparently it snowed overnight a little.  yesterday was a great day, with a bit of fresh snow in the afternoon.

although i think i need to follow through on some job stuff...i can do that from the mountain, right?

a hike and a place to live

Thumb's still stiff so it was a regular old boot hike today.  I went to cache creek, which has become my stomping grounds until I work up my fitness and snow smarts.

While previously I hiked up and over what I call the snow king ridge, today I hiked the relatively flat ski trail.  I wanted to get an idea of what the terrain looked like further up the creek to try to plan a longer snowshoe/ski/ride/something.  I hiked five or six miles in before I turned around, and took some spurs along the way, so I think it ended up being close to 12 miles total.  Fast, too, the hike took no longer than four hours.  

here are some pictures from the hike

this is a southern aspect, more bare spots are developing as it's been a week and half without significant snow...

the tetons

the gros ventre get a little more interesting up this way...

the ski trail
At one point I was cruising along when a trotting moose rounded the bend a hundred feet ahead of me.  I saw him first and wasn't sure what to do, but fortunately as soon as he  spotted me he split and ran through the deep snow...I felt bad for ruining his easy travel...

With some skate skis I could get 40 some miles back...

Gosh now with the prospect of a job I'm living high on the town.  I booked a week at the hostel ($140) which will get me coffee and a muffin or two in the morning and dinner most nights, as well as somewhere to stash some stuff and a warm place to hang out.  Finding a warm place to hang is key, sleeping in the truck isn't bad, changing is a pain, but knowing what to do with myself is tough sometimes.

Here are some chutes/trees off the side of snow king that I want to ride.  I've hiked just above them, but I think you can traverse from the summit of the king.  I haven't met anyone I'd trust to ride them with me...hopefully I'll find folks when i start hitting the village more.

lunch yesterday

So here's my forecast (on the left) next to the illuminatti pow board I rode for a day.  Notice how far back on the tail the stance is set (that's neutral stance)...hence some sketchy handling on hardpack i think.

after moving out of the hotel room i did some cruising, looking primarily for a nice southern exposure where I could park, eat lunch, and enjoy the sunshine.  

I found a goose pond, which was very pretty but also shaded, and eventually parked in a church parking lot.  It had a decent view of the tetons:

And as the sun started going down the moon came up:

very pleasant and warm.  a good way to spend an afternoon.

send me packages and money!

David Perry

General Delivery

Jackson, WY 83002

be sure you tell me that you've sent goodies so I know to go to the post office to get them.  No size restrictions I'm aware of!

tidbits

I didnt make it to any cafes before closing today, so this is a brief one written from my truck outside a hotel poaching internet.

One of my dad's old law partners has a son out here, Randolph, so i gave him a call, left a message.  he got back to me last night with some good news--i can take his job in two weeks!  It will be interesting to work in a liquor store...good pay and probably benefits that will help me find couches.

I am still looking for engineering jobs, but it would be nice to have some way to pay the bills while i'm here.

I jammed my thumb yesterday so I'll probably take it easy until the snow comes (early this week!).  I'm stoked, hoping very very much that it snows.  

I'm also considering a new board.  Mine is sluggish in powder, especially tight trees, and it's causing me troubles as I start riding steeper, tighter terrain.  the dude at the board room told me to find a lib tech t.rice with banana technology--in other words, reversed camber.  t.rice boards (designed by jackson local travis rice) also have very coarsely serrated edge profiles.  check the board out here

i rode an illuminati pow board yesterday, and while it was tight and light in soft snow, hardpack was a nightmare.  really stiff and really hard to control.  it was gorgeous though, with a bamboo topsheet

things are well, although my thumb is a little stiff.  I moved out of doug and steels hotel room, but now i'm back on the street for a bit (maybe).

oooh an avalanche!

So I've spotted one big point release, and a couple of other smaller ones, but no slabs until a couple of days ago.  It's very small, the slab doesnt look more than 4 or 6 inches, but it's a slab avalanche nonetheless.  this is one of the hills right next to town.

You can see the fracture on that wind loaded cornice thing, and the runout is in that little valley.  What happened is this:  Lots of wind loaded up that cornice.  However, it was relatively stable I guess (saw tracks on top of it a few days ago which I thought was dumb).  It kept being windy, and the snow hardened into what is known as wind crust.  Wind crust makes a great sliding layer for a slab.  So then one day (when I first went to the village) it snowed and was windy at the same time.  As before, this small amount of snow collected on the existing cornice thing.  It solidified a bit and became what folks call wind loaded.  then something happened.  Either an animal walked by or it just got heavy enough or something and it fractured and slid.

fiddlin

I went to open mic at south side pizza and pub last night.  It was a pretty small showing, mostly of guitar singer/songwriter types that needed some stronger rhythm.  

Met Bryce, who would later add some rhythm to an act by beating on a guitar case like bongos, which he did well.  We played the "ring on the string gotta get it on that hook over there" game, like the one in Florida.  I won two bucks.

He had some ideas about green energy stuff...including storing light in a fiber optic network and using fiber optics as lights (damn expensive) and harvesting the energy of the earth's core (to help cool down the climate too).  he talked a lot.

Met Marta, a oceanographer who works in Alaska and took a three month break from work to come to Jackson.  She, too, thought that there was a ton of energy in the ocean that we are missing, which is true.  lunar gravitational energy i suppose?  

open mic ended and I talked with folks about playing and where to go to find musicians, etc.  There are no jams in jackson (as far as I can tell), just open mic stuff.  I'll definitely check out this one big open mic (where I'm told you need to have your shit together) called the hootenanny.  It's supposed to be more bluegrass oriented.  It's on Monday.

I grabbed my fiddle and played in the dining room after open mic until the nerve in my thumb started to hurt.  

Ha I also managed to get three offers of couches!  Good timing, too, I think it's time to move out of this hotel room I'm crashing.  Too crowded, and kind of nasty...

powder turns

I think I mentioned my plan to do some hiking today.  Unfortunately my plan was foiled by some areas that are closed for wildlife  management.  Apparently winter is hard enough for the animals without some dudes ripping through their feeding grounds.

so I climbed up to the same ridge as before, this time with a fully loaded daypack and snowboard.  I took a different route that someone had kind of tracked, so it was easier, and it put me on a lower spot.  Once on top of the ridge I noticed a sweet, mellow bowl composed of the ridge, the back of snow king, and the ridge across the valley from me.  The backside of my ridge is a southern aspect, so the northern aspects was directly across from me, and to my right was a mostly southern aspect, shown below.

So I hiked the non-evergreen treed portion in the picture above, which was pretty mellow.  Nice soft snow and not too heavy.  Then I hiked back to the top of my ridge and rode down the backside (into the bowl shown above).  A slightly longer run but heavier snow due to the more southern aspect.  The north aspect across from me looked sick but not something I'd ride by myself.

How could I not take a picture of the tetons.

So then I hiked back up to my ridge and hiked the ridge towards where I crested last week.  I didnt ride the first section because it's so damn steep, treed, and has a tricky cliff/down tree maze at the top.  The picture below is where uphill from where I stopped to strap in.
and the picture below is downhill from where I strapped in.  notice the more mellow slope and less tree density...er....at least the trees are skinnier.
This is a northern aspect, and it made a huge difference.  Still light powder even after more than a week without snow.  And the only tracks were my own from the other day.  This last run was awesome.  Perfect pitch, great snow, and great tree density.

All in all today was 5.7 miles with 3000 feet of climbing.  So I'd say probably 2500 feet of vert on the board.

Got back to the truck to find myself surrounded by tacomas:
cooked some food and split.

ways to tell the temperature

1) how hard I have to squeeze to get toothpaste to come out

2) are the beers slushy, popsicles, or did the bottle cap pop off?

3) how many times the engine turns over before it catches.

4) how frozen the reused peanut butter container is in the morning.

5) how hard it is to spread the real peanut butter.

6) contact lenses are slushy or frozen solid?

7) how unpleasant putting on deodorant is.

8) how quickly the instant oatmeal gets cold

9) what sort of frost develops overnight

10) what the truck says

bluegrass, stories, and soreness

I finally found some folks to make music with.  I heard in passing about bluegrass tuesdays at the Wort, so I went.  Good band with two guitarists, a drummer, and a ripping mandolin player.  I'd describe the music as jam-grass, but they didnt really start jamming until the second half of the show.  Mandolin with a wa pedal was surprisingly awesome.  check em out: one ton pig 

I talked with the guitarist, Michael, after the show.  Told him I could play the fiddle and wasn't looking to perform but just to play.  He said he was always looking for people to jam with and took down my number.  Also spoke with the mandolin player, who said that there's high demand for fiddle players in jackson (score one for me).

Met a group of ~5 year locals outside the bar, including Steve, the kiter student of Bill's that I met at Bondurant.  They were headed to Steve's house and I went along, although I probably should have gone to sleep.  Met a bunch of folks, including guitar player Carsten who was interested in playing.  Hopefully tonight.

I don't think I can tell stories.  Steve called on me for a story last night, and I blanked and couldn't think of any stories.  I still can't.  I need to figure out some stories to tell, because folks here seem to spend a lot of time talking with each other, and I think as a newcomer a good story would be valuable.  I figure story telling is just something that takes some practice like anything else, but I'm really blanking.

Uh so this is a call on whoever's reading for story ideas?

So today, so far, has been a total day off.  Good thing too because i have trouble standing and walking and such.  Tomorrow I'm thinking about strapping my board on my back: hike the same hillside I hiked my first day, hike the ridge across snow king, ride down the south facing slope on the other side of snow king (mostly untracked), and then hike back to the trailhead.  A good route because I can bail at any point down snow king if time gets tight, but it will take a while.  

I went to teton mountaineering last night and talked for a long time about places to go and what was considered okay to do alone, etc, etc...  At first the woman I talked with was giving me really flat, short loops that looked boring.  Then I mentioned climbing straight up the snow king ridge and was there much over there...and she sounded surprised and gave me some better recommendations. 

the village

I rode the village today and yesterday with some lower cost options.  Yesterday was with Doug and Steel.  Conditions were tough.  It was snowing lightly with  mixed visibility and no snow within the last four days or so.  Plus it's been windy so there's wind crust and exposed hardpack but also some stashes.  Tough conditions because they changed so fast, but great practice.  

I felt great, rode really well.  Doug had to quit early from an old ACL injury, Steel agreed that the day was epic (in an exhausting sort of way).  I talked with a few folks today that shared the sentiment and everyone's ready for snow.

I swore yesterday I would take today off, which I've been saying for a couple of days already.  But there wasn't a cloud in the sky so I took a half day.  I quit early from complete inability to control my speed even though conditions were softer, hung out in the parking lot until sunset and cooked an early dinner.  

I really enjoy people's reactions to my living in the truck.  I always get big smiles and encouragement.  Folks don't seem to think it's crazy, and I'm glad.  It bugs me when people say something I do is crazy--a la downhill biking, because all it usually means is they don't understand it.  So the truck business is a good conversation starter too.  Met Eric from Bozeman today.  I got his number and he said he skis Bridger pretty much monday through friday and I should join...

I have a decent stack of business cards, most of which have numbers on the backs as well.  I should probably start writing them down so I dont lose track.  

I can't get started now on how sweet the mountain is, I'll save that for later after I know it a little better.  but it's amazing.  It's a big mountain. 

super bowl

I went to the cadillac for the super bowl.  The place was busy as usual (for 2 for 1s), and I got to talk with a bunch of new folks.  

The game was pretty good.  The dude next to me at the bar had to explain some football stuff, but he also told me his story, which was pretty interesting.  He's older, probably 30s, married with a 1 year old.  He started working in jackson as a park ranger and wildland firefighter, which he seemed to remember fondly.  Then, with the kid, he had to change his lifestyle a bit.  He, as do/did many of the locals, lived in his truck for a while.  Unfortunately he and his wife arent making enough to support their family here, and he seemed disappointed that he was headed to massachusetts in a few months.  

He brought up an interesting point--that jackson is a good town for the very rich or the seasonal-type folks, but is a difficult place for working families (and the middle class I suppose).  

Talked with some younger skiing/climber type local dudes, but they were busy amongst themselves.  As the game ended I got talking with a crew of dudes my age with southern accents.  One was from atlanta, a couple from south carolina.  They were seasonal, and I spent the rest of the night with Doug and Steel.  They were taking a year off from school and spending it in Jackson.  Good guys, although very drunk.  I ended up sleeping on the floor of their hotel room in exchange for a ride and a some fries and a coke.

They have a pit-bull puppy living in the room with them, which is pretty crowded w/ everybody.  He's a sweet dog, but bites constantly.  Not hard, but enough to ruin decent snowboard clothes or sleeping bag.  I hope he learns not to bite before he hurts someone who isnt asking for it.

Sadly I slept a lot worse than I do in the truck.  I missed the truck, but not the cold in the morning.  

kiting

It's always windy somewhere in wyoming, usually within 45 mins of jackson i think.  I did a little research yesterday (Sunday), checked the winds, and headed out to Bondurant, a very small town 30 miles south of jackson on 191.

if you're curious theres kiting info on this site.

I got to zone 3 of bondurant (due to low winds) only to find myself surrounded by barbed wire, and no other kiters.  So I waited for a while and the winds started to pick up, so I checked out zone 1.  I ran into Bill (a local kiting instructor) and his student whose name I forget.  We chatted (the wind was dead at zone 1), and waited for some other dude to try speed kiting for the first time.  Learn what speed kiting is here...I'll probably learn eventually (haha joking).

Then we split for zone 3, where I learned that you just hop that barbed wire fence.  Zone three is enormous.  The kiting extends miles away from the road, but I kept to the "small" field near the road, between the barbed wire and those hills in the picture below.

It took me forever to get my kite setup (its been a year), I had to inflate twice, then tangled my lines and tried not to step on them with my snowshoes...basically it was a mess, but I finally got the kite flying, albeit with a couple of lines crossed.  Kited for an hour and change, conditions were tough with a lot of wind crust (hasnt snowed in a few days), and occasionally the nose of my board would get buried and I'd cartwheel...fortunately the kite goes straight to the low power zones and is easy to depower (love this kite).

Got a few small jumps, I'm starting to get a feel for jumping, but I was getting my legs back and wasnt powered enough for anything substantial.  

Bill and his student split, and I had some trouble self landing my kite.  If the winds were stronger I'm not sure I could do it...gotta get some pointers.  But I got it eventually and bill left his card on my truck (good because he offered half price lift tickets at the village).  I'm not ready to kite alone yet, I need a few more sessions under my belt.

Cooked some dinner at the pulloff.  I was pleased to find that the camper top has an equally good beer opening device as does the toolbox (see below).

Split back to jackson after dinner, here are some pictures from the drive back.  Jackson is an incredibly beautiful place, I need to learn a little more about the geography, but it's amazing.  dunno why this is underlined...oh well.

.

happy hour

I finally sucked it up and went to a bar by myself, something that feels weird and depressing.  Happy hour at the cadillac is a good deal--2 for 1, 5-7.  Thankfully, it didnt take long to jump in on some conversation.  

The guy a few stools over, an  older, tattooed dude many years my senior was talking loudly about his experiences hiking the AT and the pacific crest--an easy conversation point.  That's how I met Ronnie and Jamie, employee and manager, respectively, of the thrift store next door.

both were super friendly, we talked for an hour or so, and ronnie offered me a spot in his driveway to park if the cops give me trouble at albertsons.  jamie also suggested the library for parking.  they also offered to introduce me to Andrew A, a dude my age who does some backcountry snowboarding and works at their store.  He wont be around till thursday though.

About the time I was getting ready to leave for my dinner at the hostel, Jim showed up.  he didnt offer up much information about who he was or what he was doing here (ronnie said he was ornery, jim claimed he learned from ronnie), but after many questions I determined that he has something to do with green energy production and home renovation here in Jackson.  I'll definitely try to catch Jim again.

I always try to avoid mentioning the fact that I went to Cornell, even more the fact that I have a masters, unless surrounded by similar academic folks.  There's always that brief--oh, you're smart--that's awkward.  Usually it goes away pretty quickly but not always, and sometimes I think if it comes up to early in a conversation you kind of lose the other person.  I didn't mention it with ronnie and jamie, but got a similar reaction with my major.  I'm okay with that.  Mechanical engineers may be smart, but Cornellians are known to be snooty I think, and I think it may be that aspect that can ruin a good conversation.

So my first solo bar experience was a good one.  

common sense

So I did it.  I booked into the local hostel on friday night.  Not because it was going to be the coldest night for the next week, but mostly because I felt sick and I was tired of trying to kick a cold while sleeping in the truck.  well, a shower was nice too.

At any rate, yesterday morning I met Nicolai and Robert (which isnt his name but it's close), two friends who met at princeton from Bulgaria and Germany, respectively.  They announced plans to go snowshoeing, and so did I, so we went together.

Nicolai is a PhD student in molecular biology at princeton, while Robert is a PhD student in computer science at MIT.  Smart dudes for sure.  they were here for one more day, but the rest of their group of 11 left yesterday.  Apparently they had been raging all day long on cross country skiis and snowshoes for the past 10 days.  They were good guys, very friendly, and good company.  I feel, though, that they lack some sense when it comes to the woods.

Today they intended to snowshoe into death canyon, a feat accomplished by a few other members of the group a week ago.  They heard there was a trail.  We left town and checked in at the visitors center, where the woman working there gave us some sketchy details on how to hike into death canyon.  she did not, however, ask if we had a map, which we didn't.  I guess I assumed that Nic and Rob knew where they were going, which was a stupid assumption.

In the winter, summer trails are nonexistent.  What do exist are whatever tracks people feel like making.  They may not follow the summer trails, but most summer trails are probably tracked.  So basically there are tracks everywhere, especially somewhere so frequented as the front range of the tetons. 

So we drove out the road, which looked strangely familiar, and parked.  The hike was expected to take about six hours, and it was 11:15.  Robert remarked that we could easily hike until 7.  alarms went off in my head.  no way I'd be caught dead in the tetons after dark without a headlamp, a map, an emergency blanket, and a damn good reason.

The road continued in front of us, and the lady told us to keep going on the road.  So we did.  In a mile there was a trail to the left...of course how are we to decide what to take, we have no map.  I carried my gps, as I always do now after Rebecca and my sixth? attempt on Mt. Shuksan in the cascades.  that was an important lesson in trusting tracks left in snow.

So we didn't no where to go, and that's about when I realized that hiking into death canyon was probably a terrible idea anyway without a map.  Of course there were other people (none of which had a map??).  They gave us a variety of instructions, some of which were wrong, but eventually we deduced that we had gone the wrong way.  We turned around, hiked the 1.5 mile back to the car, and left on the "other" road from the parking spot.  

Along the way my companions, in what I assume is their desire to see death canyon from the top, passed a variety of maps.  I stopped and did my best to memorize the landscape.  It wasnt too hard, there were a few valleys and a big lake, but summer trails went all over.

So we made some wrong turns, asked some directions, inquired about the weather (the wind picked up and clouds were coming in).  As the weather started to turn I got nervous.  About this time, too, we talked about it and agreed that turning around at about 2:30, regardless, was a good idea.  So now, with some sort of plan in place, and with the gps getting good signal just in case, I felt better.

We never did make it up death canyon.  It was filled with clouds and my companions agreed that it wasn't worth it without the views.  good enough reason for me.  We trekked across the frozen lake nearby and caught up with our first tracks out that wrong road.

Along the way we saw some moose, friendly people (some of which turned around earlier than we did), and nice views.  As it turns out, I've hiked this before!  It all looked vaguely familiar, but I assumed that lots of teton stuff would look familiar.  Then we got to what was, three years ago, Rebecca, Christian, and my campsite for a multi-pitch ice climb.  It rained that night we camped, so our plans were foiled, but I could see the climb today.  It looked gnarly.

At any rate, we had a good 6/7 mile snowshoe, didnt get lost, and I got some free dinner at the hostel last night.  Nic took some pictures, I'll get them up here when he sends them to me.

Always carry a map.

There are some people that with which I do not want to go into the backcountry.

and if nic or the german MIT student that I call robert read this, please be careful.

too many words for no pictures...I'll try not to do that again.

a tribute

It was brief but fantastic.  goodbye honda--and shindagin for that matter.