Nothing quite matches the action at Jackson

I will confess I missed opening weekend because of unfortunate timing in my tropical vacation. Our friends called, boasting about the best day of powder they’ve had in years while we sat on the beach drowning our sorrows in rum punch, and pretty quickly forgot about it.

Therefore, this week, I will distract you from the local conditions with a tale about Jackson Hole, Wyo. By now, you are likely aware that the owners of Jackson Hole Resort have made the controversial decision to retire the iconic tram in September 2006, which means that this is your last winter of lift-served access to the beloved Rendezvous Bowl for the foreseeable future.

The famous Corbett’s Couloir is at the top of Rendezvous Bowl. Corbett’s is often ranked most extreme and most steep in-bounds run in North America. It begins with a 20-foot jump into a narrow chute carved between two rock walls.

Of course, it’s on my must-ski list.

Now, Jackson Hole is by no means easy to get to from here, and it took a low snow year last year to motivate me to hit the road. It’s less than a 9-hour drive from Sandpoint. We got to Jackson in time for dinner and a good night’s sleep at the Angler’s Inn. We woke up to a beautiful light snowfall. Jackson, too, was suffering last year, but not quite as much as we were in the Northwest.

Upon arrival at the base of the ski area, the tram station all but consumes your attention. It draws you in, and at the time, no other option presented itself to us but to get in line. I’m not one to give these things much thought – I want to go directly to the goods.

As we stood in the maze for the tram and I observed the others, I took notice that most were sporting backcountry gear. I became envious that they knew the terrain and were able to go out to the real goods. Being a novice backcountry skier, and not having a guide, I was restricted to skiing with the rest of the commoners.

My attention turned from the people in line to the signs warning us that Jackson Hole is like no other ski resort and that conditions can be extreme. Still unfazed, I thought to myself, this is how they keep the rookies off the tram.

It was our turn to load and I noticed those experienced locals sort of hanging back while us clueless rookies walked right up to the opening doors of the tram and loaded in. Everyone else piled in after us and I suddenly found myself crushed against my boyfriend’s chest, gasping for a pocket of air in the middle of the crowded tram.

We lifted off. And we climbed. And we climbed, and we hung, suspended in the middle of white space. We left the arena of visibility and ascended into the heavens and I saw the occasional rocky spire but nothing resembling ground for comfortable footing.

As we climbed up over a pinnacle of rock that appeared out of nowhere, we came in for a landing and the announcement warned us that there is no easy way down and this terrain is for experts only. Once again, normally not fazed by such hullabaloo, I suddenly envisioned myself alighting from the tram, not being able to discern the snow from the air, and finding myself, heaven forbid, on Corbett’s Couloir.

So I suggested we take the tram back down.

My boyfriend must have misunderstood me because he gave me this horrified look as if I had said something like, “I think we should date other people.” But he heard me all right, because he said, “No way. We’re skiing down. Are you kidding?”

He’s right, of course. Thou shalt not download on the tram.

When they say Jackson Hole has skiing for everyone, they really mean it. The run was great. The weekend was fantastic with excellent terrain.

I intentionally avoided Corbett’s that weekend because of poor visibility and low snow cover.

So it remains on my must-ski list.