JHMR Opening Weekend

Opening weekend at the mountain was great. The coverage is amazing, it's as good or better than we ever saw mid-season last winter. I was able to ski Tower Three on opening day and people are all ready headed out the gates and into Granite. Even with all the early season hiking, I'm realizing how much work I still need to do before my legs will be in proper shape. Instead of the early season groomer laps down AV to get back on my feet, I have the entire mountain to play with. It's awesome, but so much harder on the body. The mountain has been practically empty so far, nonexistent lift lines, great coverage, and fairly soft snow still. Today was bluebird - can't beat it.

Check out this link from TGR with some awesome photos from opening day.
The Historical 2010 Opening of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

Thanksgiving Dinner

...was a success. It consisted of myself, Sarah, Reid, and Lisa. We cooked a feast... a deep fried turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, a casserole, cranberries, wine, mimosas, and a couple pies for dessert. Today was another ten hour day in the shop preparing for tomorrow, opening day!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Gear Review: Full Tilt Bumble Bee Pro Boots

I guess this review is practically obsolete now, but whatever. I just picked up a pair of the FT Hot Dogger thanks to Josh Malczyk with FT/Line Skis. From what I understand, they are the same shell and same flex tongue as my old Bumble Bee Pro. The footbed material might be different, I'm not positive. They are still in the box, going to start breaking them in once the lifts start running. I'll post up a review on the Hot Dogger later in the season.

Back to the Bumble Bee Pro- Two years ago when I picked up my first pair, I felt pretty unsure about them. My doubts were proven wrong, and quick at that. It took me several weeks to get them dialed in- foot beds, liners, etc... anything that a new boot typically needs. Once I got them fitting right, they were solid. The full tilts are a light weight boot with a smooth, even flex. And on top of that, they're comfy. Comfortable, secure feet are key to riding 125 days in a season. I don't plan on riding anything but Full Tilts anytime soon.

Again, I just picked up a pair of the Full Tilt Hot Dogger. I'll be riding those as soon as the lifts start spinning. Will be reviewing soon. In the meantime, check out the new line at http://fulltiltboots.com/

-17F. Gone skiing.

-17 degrees Fahrenheit at 6 this morning. My Alaskan blood isn't afraid of the cold if there's deep pow involved...

According to the Briger-Teton National Forest Backcountry Avalanche Hazard & Weather Forecast website, we're hitting records already!

"Since the end of October over six feet of new snow with over eight inches of moisture has fallen at the mid and upper elevations of the Teton Range. The present snow depths and total snowfalls for the season at the upper, mid and base snow study plots at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort exceed any previous records (since 1974) for this date."

Photo by JulieW.

Matchstick Productions - The Way I See It

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the full feature yet. The trailer is pretty awesome, looks very well filmed.

Teton Gravity Research - Light the Wick

Jackson Hole's local production company, Teton Gravity Research, putting out a quality film as usual.

Poor Boys Productions - Revolver

Probably my favorite movie so far this season, incredible.

JHMR Full Opening this Saturday!!

Well, the rumor that has been floating around for the last few days just turned real. This Saturday, JHMR is having a full opening. Meaning no white stripe down AV, but everything. Tram, Gondi, top to bottom. According to some of the old timers, this marks the first time the resort ever has opened the tram in November, and the first opening of the upper mountain on opening day since the mid-90's. Maybe this is Jackson's way of saying "Thank you for staying another winter Kerry".

It's snowing hard for the third day in a row. Worked a ten hour day in the shop yesterday to finish up the last of the big projects before opening this weekend. Heading up the pass to ride Chiver's down to Old Pass Road before the shop meeting this afternoon!

Another day in the office. Here comes the storm!!

This Guy Has Skill...

Only 10 Days...

Only 10 days left until Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is open for the 2010/2011 season. Bring it on!

Two for One

I got some solid skiing in today, both Teton Pass and Targhee.

Julie and I met at the base of Teton Pass early this morning to do some photo work for the mountain. Think it was a success... the third photo is awesome!

 

From the pass, I headed over to Targhee with some friends to get a couple laps in. It was my first skin of the season. It was pretty cold, but the snow was good. Used the iphone to track our route. Just have to imagine the mountain being white instead of green. Grand Targhee is scheduled to open this weekend- they have a solid base.

Calendar update complete!

Finally added locations to each photo, the updated version is ready to order!

November 15

Early morning ski before work. Can't say it was a bad way to start the day.

Photo by JulieW.

Sunrise ski to start the day!

Two Years and Still Going...

This Is My Adventure recently hit the two-year mark. I decided to put together a 2011 calendar with photos from my travels since starting the blog. Every photo has some sort of story behind it, whether it was a quick break from driving in South Dakota to catch that amazing sunset over the plains or an early morning wake-up to capture the sun rising over the Grand Canyon. Every photo has memories and that’s what I love about them.

Keep track of your own adventures next year while supporting mine. Check out a preview of my calendar below or order it HERE.





Use the arrows to scroll through all the months. The button to the left of the shopping cart lets you do a full-screen preview.

Tuesday on Teton Pass

Maybe this is the same cop that pulled me over for rolling through a yield sign...

Gravity Team in Alaska

Joe sent me this link of some biking in Alaska- looks like the Healy/Cantwell area. How they decided to go there- I have no idea. Looks like fun though! There are seven videos posted, check them out.

http://www.nsmb.com/4007-gravity-team-in-alaska

Fall Activities

Before the snow storm last week, I had been getting after it with some great fall mountain bike rides and hikes since returning to Jackson. Here are some photos/map images from a couple weeks back.

I had been meaning to do the Cache to Game Creek ride for a long time. Finally got around to doing it with Mel and Mike. A few days later, Mike and I did Farrin's to West Game Creek. Both were great rides. Cache to Game had a much more rewarding downhill, but Farrin's to Game Creek had some pretty amazing views. Farrin's trail was a continuous time until we were on the Snow King Saddle. It was hard and riding the big, heavy Kona didn't make it any easier. My bike is not meant to ride uphill. It was about 10 miles total. We cheated and left a car at Game Creek instead of riding back to town along 89.

I went on a solo hike to Goodwin Lake not long after. It's another hike I've been meaning to do. Somehow I always get caught up doing the same activities in the same places around here. I need to get better about exploring and finding new places to go. It was about six miles round trip and very peaceful.