The big news on the Pass and in the backcountry today was the winds. Brian Harder and I predicted 50-70 mph. The bigger gusts would knock you down…a good indicator when the winds really cook! I just checked the weather station at the Village and we were right on…67 mph at 7:45 and 10:15. Anyway, the skiing was variable cuz of the wind…duh. We skied Shovel Slide and the skier’s right side of Twin Slides. Most of the good snow had a nice wind layer that you had to power through. I bet most of the westerly slopes were pretty wind scoured.
We ran into Peter Selkowitz, realtor and long time Jackson resident, at the summit. Peter is a regular on Glory and has a little quirk to boot. See Peter likes to hike up Glory wearing summer trail shoes, and then switch to his AT boots at the top. He has been doing it this way for the past 15 years and claims it’s the way to go. Personally, I’ll stick to my AT boots, for the workout, but no doubt Peter was glad to have us ahead of him today…as the bootpack would fill in almost instantaneously at times.
Tomorrow I have training for Teton County Search and Rescue. It has been changed from avalanche training to helicopter training up at Togwotee. Bummer…yeah right! Hopefully the winds allow the bird to fly!