The Spoon Couloir on Disappointment Peak

Well, this time I screwed up our alpine start, and I'm glad Cons is not as ruthless in the morning as I am regarding time because he had every right to beat the hell out of me when we got to the parking lot at 4:30am and I realized I had forgotten my boots at the house.    So we didn't end up topping out on Disappointment Peak, and that was a little disappointing of course.  But the couloir was as spectacular as the views around it.

The Spoon under the Grand

Nez Perce

Nez Perce, Cloudveil Dome, and South Teton

East face of Middle Teton

The Spooky Face on Nez Perce

The top of the Spoon visible above the trees

Rockchuck Peak

Mount Moran SE Face

Hanging Canyon

Mount St. John massif

Buck Mountain massif @sunrise

The beginning of the Valley of Boulders

Though not adrenaline pumping terrain, it is nevertheless spectacular ski terrain, doing bank turns and jumping off the boulders.

Conor Mulroy skinning straight up the gully

It took a 1.5 hour ride, though we should have done it in 30 minutes. But how can you not stop and stare and take photos every few minutes?

Rockchuck Peak

The hardest part about an alpine start, waking up when some people are going to bed, is getting your ski partner up at 3am. Mulroy and I will establish a wake-up time the night before but he'll inevitably not wake up, meaning I'm supposed to wake him up. Then he'd yell at me for waking him up! He'd tell me it takes him 20 minutes to get up and I'd just have to wait, there's nothing to be done about it. I implored him to set his alarm 20 minutes earlier but he'd just give me the heave-ho, saying the alarm never went off. I'd flick the lights on and off and he'd roll over to bury his face in his pillow. Then I'd yell some more but to little effect. So I'd have to just sit on the couch and wait for 20 minutes, knowing that every minute spent here is another minute we could be late for the mountains, and I don't even get to sleep! Man it was killing me. Then, when he would get up, there was no sense of urgency.

Finally after dozens of mornings like this, and hours of me bitching about it, and him bitching back to me for being a bitch about it, he started setting his alarm 40 minutes earlier and would hit the snooze every five minutes, being up on the dot, and making me life much more enjoyable. It took most of the spring to get it down but he pulled through in the end.

Alyeska

Herr Solberg Returns

For over a month, when the spring skiing conditions get perfect, Teton National Park opens up to non-motorized traffic only.  It is the best time of the year in Jackson, the possibilities are mind-boggling.

Tracks coming down Teewinot

Cascade Canyon with Mt. Owen above.

The couloirs we skied

Trav and I skied the middle chute on the north side of Teewinot into Cascade Canyon