Early season conditions have been brutal across the west. But none are more so than at Jackson Hole, WY, where the locals are just ruined, and have been for weeks. 听The fault lies with the lift system鈥lso known as the tram.听 Four thousand foot laps of powder on an empty mountain, right off the bat鈥t鈥檚 a tough way to kick off the season.听 The snow is amazing, the mountain is filled in, and muscles are splintering. All the ski fitness classes you could possibly take are not enough to prepare for a month of this鈥et no one would even think of complaining.
听Julie Weinberger/JHMR
Exhausted local skiers and visitors hobble about, doing whatever it takes to recover enough for another day of pounding. With snowfall already over 230鈥 and more predications of 鈥榮ignificant weather systems鈥 on the way from meteorologists, the situation looks like it is going to continue shaping up quite nicely for the next week or so.
If you are heading out to 4000鈥 lap land, here are a few quick tips:
1. Make sure you have an ample supply of your favorite NSAIDs.
2. Ski on big, fat skis to ease the workload. Seriously. Leave anything else at home.
3. Drop into a yoga class in town or your hotel for a couple of evenings to stretch out.
4. Remember to hydrate thoroughly, but also remember that beer is not actually water鈥
5. Give yourself a break from the tram, and hit up the upper mountain鈥檚 stellar Thunder and Sublette quad chairs.
6. Switch up your quad muscle use and hire a backcountry guide for new terrain and a little uphill action on the way to the powder.
7.听 If all else fails, there鈥檚 plenty of whiskey to dull the pain at the town bars (or at least replace it with distracting pain in your head). 听Now train harder next year!
With that said, here鈥檚 a little footage from athlete and freeskiing competitor Tanner Flanagan, lapping Jackson Hole鈥檚 Alta chutes on just another day, and showing how its done when things start to come together. 听Sure, it鈥檚 a little grey, but that is how it goes when the sun hardly shines鈥t's part of the incessant accumulation of powder nearly every day.听
from on .
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