Another Alta Adventure

So after returning home from Alta last Wednesday night after two epic deep days, there still wasn't much snow in Jackson. One look at the upcoming forecast made it clear that a trip back was necessary. On Friday evening, a few Jacksonites made our way to the land of 3.2 beer. Saturday was super deep and snowy. The camera didn't come out. We just charged all day. Then, on Sunday, after some more overnight snowfall, the sun came out. As did the camera...

Everyone else heading back to Jackson on Sunday evening. Since Jackson was still lacking in the snow department, I chose to stay in Salt Lake. Word of three feet of fresh by Wednesday is hard to pass up. Needless to say, Tuesday and Wednesday were again ridiculous days of skiing.

Once again, I returned back to Jackson on Wednesday night. The Village received over a foot of snow on Tuesday. That, on top of the few inches that fell most days, left the backcountry is pretty good shape. I'm heading out on a photo mission tomorrow, so check back soon for an update.

And then we went to Alta

A few friends and I were sitting in the Cadillac on Monday evening talking about the lack of snow in Jackson, and how Little Cottonwood was getting dumped on. Suddenly, I stopped drinking my martini, and said, with quite a bit of conviction, that I was going to drive to Alta in a few hours. The guys looked at me like I was full of it.

Before 10 that night, however, we were on the road. The usual 4 hour drive took about 6 since someone forgot to plow the roads. By around 4 in the morning, we pulled into the Goldminer's Daughter parking lot, shut off the car and went to sleep for about two hours. The best alarm clock ever woke us up. They were bombing away, a sure sign it had been nuking hard. And then the siren sounded, signaling interlodge. For us, it was car lodge. Oops.

We were on Wildcat when it first opened, starting out one of the best days of the winter thus far. They had reported around 20", but many places felt a lot deeper. White room turns were definitely not in short supply. And, the sun even poked its head out for about half an hour, allowing Kerry and Sarah, who had never skied Alta, to get a feel for how expansive and gorgeous the area is.

We called it quits around 4, went out for Sushi, and then the rest of the crew headed back to Jackson. I was set to stay one more day. The thought of Alta and back in a day just wasn't that appealing since Jackson wasn't getting much snow.

Wednesday was more of the same pow. I met up with two friends, Vanessa and Tide, to go shoot some pow. Sadly, the weather didn't want to cooperate. Regardless, we had a blast lapping Rocky Point on the backside of Catherine's Area. All the bootpacking and sidestepping, however, didn't make my hurt knee feel so good. So, here I am, back in Jackson, taking the day off, limping around the house. It's been snowing a little in Jackson. Hopefully it just keeps on coming!


Vanessa Aadland
Tide Smid
Tide Smid
Tide Smid
Kerry Klauder
Me!!
Jacki Strenio

I've finally created a blog!

So, I've finally created a blog and revamped my Web site. On January 12, I hurt my knee a little bit, and haven't been skiing all that much since then. After a trip to Salt Lake where I got to see the JH Air Force documentary and then to Vegas for SIA, I decided I needed to sit down and glare at the computer for a while to work on my site. The entire "snow" section has been updated. All the pics are from the past season and this season. Next up will be an area full of galleries, mostly from contests, where those interested can just click the photo wanted and buy it right off the site. For now, here is a pic of me from Jackson in early January. Almost white room! And, below that is the crew from Vegas: Tats, yours truly and Cortney.