We're in another storm cycle in the Tetons, and after the Christmas week feeding frenzy, we need it. It started snowing late Wednesday and hasn't stopped yet. By Thursday morning, the storm, which came in warm, deposited between 6-10 inches of dense snow. It was a little difficult to ski; sometimes you were on top and sometimes you were deep in it. By Friday morning, we received another 8-10 inches of light density snow, and it was still snowing hard in the mountains.

Grand Teton

On Thursday, 7 people (not all in the same group) were reported to have been caught in avalanches. There were no fatalities. On Friday, 3 skiers who left Jackson Hole Resort boundary were caught in an avalanche and swept over a cliff. One skier was killed. Be very careful on steep terrain, especially in the high alpine where snow conditions are reported to be "fragile."

Being a Coloradan, I'm just starting to learn how these Teton storm cycles work. First of all, the trend seems to be under predicting and under reporting. The weather specialists, for example, will predict a one-day storm for the Tetons with 4-8 inches of new snow (4-8 inches seems to be the default amount). By Colorado storm-cycle standards, that's not a big storm. The San Juan Mountains, in Southern Colorado, often receive 15-30 inches from a 2-3 day storm cycle. But more often than not, the predicted 1 day storm in the Tetons starts later than predicted and hangs around for 3-5 days, depositing the standard 4-8 inches each day.

As a result, the Tetons don't seem to get the big-number storms, but slowly, quietly, they pile up 20-30 inches of snow from these unpredicted storm cycles, 4-8 inches a day, over a 5-day period. For in-bounds skiers at Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee, this can be a frustrating experience because they never quite get that bottomless powder feeling that a 20-inches-in-24-hours storm provides. But the slow-but-steady storm cycle is perfect for the Teton backcountry skier. Even though the 4-8 inch amount doesn't fill in the tracks, it's easy enough to find untracked snow. And the smaller amounts don't usually raise the avalanche danger to Extreme so you can still ski in relative safety.

Finally, what I said about Teton area skiers not getting the satisfaction of bottomless powder is not completely true. Grand Targhee is notorious for under reporting new snow amounts. For example, on Friday, January 5, Targhee reported 9 inches of new snow, 4 inches of which fell after the lifts closed. Based on that report, you wouldn't expect a big powder day. But a BIG powder day it was! I found more like 12-15 inches of new, light-density powder.

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