First Day At The Big One

Jackson Hole Still Holding Its Secrets Well

By Chris Hansen, 12-11-07

	Good goods and few people made for a satisfying first day at Jackson Hole for the author and friends.

The one thing about skiing Jackson Hole is you really need to know the mountain. I learned that the third time I ever skied here; that was the first day of the first full winter I spent here. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn that the first two times I skied The Big One, and I had such a poor experience I swore I’d never come back.

But I’ve gotten past that, and today marked my first day of skiing at “the Village” for this, my eleventh season here. It took a few years to learn this mountain (and I’m still learning much of the out-of-bounds terrain), and I was reminded again of how much one must really know the mountain to make the most of the skiing.

We’ve had quite a bit of snow up high, but coverage on the lower half of the mountain is pretty thin. Skiing with my daughter in the morning was fun, but the couple of beginner runs that are open made even the meager crowd today seem a bit zoo-like. And the man-made snow leaves something to be desired. My run down to the bottom at the end of the day made me wonder how some of the intermediate tourists that the mountain is gearing up for this holiday season are going to like skiing down low, which unfortunately is where many of them feel most comfortable. I always feel for them—this is not a beginner’s or intermediate skier’s mountain. I was especially reminded of this considering how good the snow was up high—such a contrast.

In the afternoon I left my daughter and caught up with some friends to ski the upper mountain. We couldn’t stop going on about how surprised we were that the conditions were so good. But again, you really need to know where to look.

I suppose it’s the same at any hill. The locals know where the goods are while the tourists and intermediates spend their day cruising the middle of the groomers and generally flailing about. But, to me, The Big One seems to hold its secrets a little closer to the vest than any other mountain I’ve experienced. It helps to know just the right line through the trees in Cheyenne Bowl, when the sun-affected snow in Bernie’s will start to set up again, and how to reach that particular line in Alta 3 (or is it Alta 3.5? Or 2.95?) that you can see from the chair.

Aside from the surprisingly good snow conditions today, the lack of any crowds on the upper mountain really made the experience. Jackson Hole has slowly been opening terrain over the past week, beginning with only the lower mountain last weekend and then the Bridger Gondola and Thunder on Saturday, followed by a quiet opening of the Sublette quad on Sunday, after the bit-chompers got it out of their systems on Saturday. In fact, there was a point late in the day when there were scarcely half a dozen people on the quad at any given time. There’s nothing like feeling you’ve got the mountain to yourself.

We finished the day at the “VC" (Village Café) for a couple of beers and a slice of pizza (still the best slice in all of Jackson Hole, I say). The scene there mirrored the conditions on the mountain: a small, mellow crowd where everyone knows each other or soon will. All in all, a great day to start off the season. And hey, if you come to Jackson Hole this winter, be sure to hook up with a local for the inside scoop.

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