Expedition to the North Shore

Finally snow was falling from the sky in Jackson for more than 5mins. A windy storm had left almost 10inchs of snow in some areas. Last Tuesday we skied the resort and a couple favourite backcountry runs, some of the best snow we had seen in weeks. Still by overall Jackson standards nothing too amazing… But then again, we are totally spoiled.

We decided that with the next 2 days looking clear, this was the best opportunity we might get to go back to the North Shore.

A place we had visited about a month ago. Easily accessible but not so easy too, but not so easy to get home.

This time we planned on staying out there for the night snow camping. One of the main reasons for this, apart from the skiing was to test our self’s and our equipment. As we could potentially be doing similar sorts of things when we get to Alaska.

We got on the tram at about 11am Wednesday the 24^th of March. There were 3 of us. My self, Nick Hooper and Sam Winstone. With us we had all the gear necessary for over-nighting in snow country. Or did we?

All our gear was split up into 5 packs. 2 big hiking packs and 3 day packs. 5 packs and 3 people meant that 2 of the day packs had to be attached to the hiking packs, making them extremely heavy.

We got out the gates at the top of Jackson Hole resort and headed up towards Cody peak. About half way up we split of the track and headed down towards out camp site.

In very high sprits we headed down getting some nice turns on the way. It was a warm day, with clear skies. This worried us a little: Was the snow going to be worth all this effort? With the clear skies, how cold was it going to get?

The weather forecast was: overnight lows of around -10 to -15 degrees C increasing to 0 during the day Thursday with a storm rolling in the afternoon.

We arrived at the base of the North Shore, established a camp site, dumped our gear and got into a bit of skiing.

The process with skiing this terrain was not a hard as it sounds. Attach you skins to your skis, flick the leaver on your bindings to free the heal, and you were away. Skin up ski down. One run taking approximately 40mins.

We found the snow to be not as amazing as we had hoped. Good in some spots on certain aspects and really bad in others. The temperatures had just been a little bit too warm the day before.

We skied a couple runs then headed back to our gear to set up camp.

An hour or so past, things we starting to get dark and the temperature was starting to drop. Time to cook dinner to keep warm. During dinner of pasta with tomato sauce and sausage we were interrupted by a couple of guys that had been out in the wilderness for a couple days snow-shoeing. After a bit of a chat they decided to join us, and set up camp. The last thing we expected to have camping in the backcountry in March was neighbours.

After dinner we got out skins back on our skis and headed out for a final sun set ski. Perfect way to end a good day.

Twilight skiing

After the sun had gone to bed, we headed back to camp for a couple whiskey’s around the fire before getting in our sleeping bags and going to bed.

Lucky for me I slept very well. My sleeping bag was up to the test, along with the 3 layers I had on top 2 on the bottom socks and down booties. I was toasty. Nick and Sam however were not so lucky. The biggest problem they had was their sleeping bags. Just not warm enough. They got very little sleep.

The next morning we got out of our tent at about 8.30am. Cooked breakfast, (which was scrambled eggs with smoked salmon,) Boiled snow for water, said good bye to our snow shoeing friends and got ready for the day.

By the time we packed up our cam and set off the time was 11.45am. The weather was nice. Clear little bit of a breeze and quite warm. We skinned up towards No Name peak which was going to be our exit out of The North Shore.

We had been going for about an hour when all of a sudden we noticed the wind blowing snow off the top a near by cornice. At time same time we noticed some high thin cloud start to roll in. The temperature also rapidly dropped. With in half an hour we found our self’s in a full on snow storm.

Luckily we were still in the trees protected from the wind and snow. We needed visibility to get home the way we had planned. We had about another hour of skinning up hill through the trees before getting into an open face. We would be blind with no visibility. We decided to sit it out for 20mins and see if the weather lifted at all.

Our other option was to turn back. Head back to our camp site and push out back to Teton village through Granite Canyon by following the creak. We had been this way before but from where we were with these packs it could take up to 4 or 5 hours.

We had made our decision. Turn back and go out through Granite. It was going to be the safer option. Because even if we did find our way to the top of No Name peak, skiing down with no visibility and with these massive packs could be quite dangerous.

Then seconds before turned around and headed back to our camp site, the clouds lifter slightly. Giving us enough visibility to see where we needed to go. It was going to be shorter option. We were already tired and getting cold. We needed to push on.

So we continued on our way up towards No Name Peak.

Slogging through the bad weather, I tried to think of some happy thoughts. My mind drifted all over the place. From my past trips to WA, to thinking about being at home in Melbourne in my own bed. Anything to keep my mind off the 30kg (No idea how heavy it really was) pack and my burning legs.

Eventually we made it to the peak. The wind was howling and the visibility was poor. But at least we knew exactly where we were as we had been up here many times before. I felt slightly more comfortable. But I knew the battle was not over.

Skins came off, helmet and goggles on. Back into ski mode. We set off down towards No Name bowl. The snow was poor, soft powder with a firm crust on top that did not make turning easy.

We made it to the top of Pinedale the temperature rising and the wind dropping, slightly. The snow at the top of Pinedale was actually quite good for about 10 turns, but definitely the most un-enjoyable 10 turns I’ve ever had. This dam pack! If I was going to make it all the way back to the village without having a bad fall and twisting my knee, it was going to be a miracle.

The snow went from bad to worse. The lack of fresh snow high temperature over the past month had left the lower part of the Tetons almost un-skiable. Still we had to keep going. The time now was 4pm. The lift at the end of the traverse that would get us back to the village closed at 4.30pm. If we didn’t make it I was probably going to cry.

Skiing through the trees back into the Hobacks, the snow was getting thin, very thin! At one stage I had to ski over 100% dirt and rocks no snow at all for about 20m. Climb over fallen down trees and around big patches of grass. Finally we reached the resort. And a few turns down the Hobacks later I was on the trail back to the lift. What a fucking nightmare!

As I approached the lift I checked my watch. 4.35pm, my fears were then brought into reality when we saw that the lift was not turning. I collapsed in disbelief.

It really wasn’t the end of the world, but at that moment it did feel like it. It would only be another 10 – 15 min hike up hill to get up high enough so we could ski back to the Village.

While we were lying the in the snow , contemplating our next move our luck started to change. A ski patroller on a snowmobile taking his daughter for a ride cursed past.

We asked him for a lift and explained that had been hiking all day. He though us a rope and dragged us up the hill. Awesome!

Now back in the Village, we skied over to the bus stop and jumped on the next bus. I had just enough time to get a round of power aid’s before the bus left. They didn’t even quench our thirsts.

Finally home. Exhausted. It has been decided that snow camping in Alaska is probably not an option. While the camping part is ok the hiking and skinning around with all our gear is something that we probably wont be doing any time soon. At least with out a snowmobile.