It’s been almost two years, to the day, since I saw this ski line. It was on a trip to the Wind River Range and I have honestly thought about it nearly everyday since. It’s steep, exposed and narrow, on one of the major peaks in the range and I’m not sure if it’s been skied before. Last year I never got the chance to make an attempt at it, but today, I am off with my best ski partner to give it a try.
Current percent of average snowpack in the state of Wyoming.
We are going lightweight on this trip, opting for bivy sacks instead of a tent (Bibler Bivy), summer-weight sleeping bags (30 degree) instead of winter-weight (0 degree), paired down avy gear (no probe), a canister stove (Jetboil), lightweight skis, boots, skins and bindings (BD Aspect, Prime, Mohair, Dynafit Speed) and will try to get in and out, as well as ski the line that I’ve been thinking about in three days. Doable for sure, but a suffer-fest as well and just what the doctor ordered!!!
Tuesday morning’s Lander and Dubois, WY webcams.
It’s hard to pass up skiing in the Tetons this week, since I’ve been on the road the past few weeks and haven’t skied in the range in nearly a month, but conditions are prime right now in the Winds and as of yesterday morning, even the town of Dubois still had snow on the ground from the recent storms. With the snowpack in the Wind River Range sitting at over 125% of average right now, it surpasses the mountains in the far western part of the state by about 50%. This holds true for other mountain ranges east of the continental divide as well, which also benefit from the up-sloping storms that typically move in to the northern Rockies in the spring. The southern Winds received over 40″ of snow from this last storm cycle that rolled through.
Anyway, I’ve been watching the weather, checking out the graphs and eying the webcams in surrounding towns, and now is the time to make it happen…or at least try. With a nice 4am launch from Jackson, I hope to be back on Saturday. Ciao…for now!!!