Enjoy the holiday season
We hope you have much to celebrate this holiday season – family, friends, the warble of a chickadee, a moose sighting, and time outside in this beautiful place.
This is proving to be an interesting December, potentially the brownest in 30 years. According to Jim Woodmency, the wettest Christmas Day was in 1955, with 1.02 inches of rain, and a high temp of 45 degrees.
There is still some snow news to report, and adventures to be had on skis, bikes, snowshoes or your own two feet if that is how you would like to spend Christmas.
May your day be merry and bright however you spend it!
At a Glance
- Turpin Meadow and Targhee are holding snow.
- Trail Creek will make a call Friday about whether to hold the Betty Woolsey Classic.
- Deception Creek is a fun excursion off of Togwotee Pass.
- Remember wildlife closures are in effect.
General Weather – moist
Mountain Weather is forecasting more moisture, and happily it looks as if there is a cooling trend as we head towards Saturday.
The last Christmas that was not white? 1995.
Where to ski groomed trails Wednesday – Friday?
• Turpin Meadow Ranch – Groomers are managing snow conservation and skiing delight. Tuesday trails were hard and fast. Check conditions and look for notes posted by the groomers for the day’s plan on the grooming map.
• Grand Targhee – T/Th/Sat/Sun are planned grooming days. Grooming on the Hamster and Snowdrift loops (the early season temp loop) is condition dependent. There has been decent skiing daily.
• Sublette Trails – the Nordic trails near White Pine Resort are also holding snow. Check conditions here.
Grooming suspended:
• Teton Canyon – Last groomed on Dec 20. Grooming will resume once there is enough snow cover the first mile, which is bare.
• West Yellowstone – Trails groomed December 22 . Further grooming is suspended until 12/27. The trails are open, ski with caution.
Deception Creek Adventure
Community trail report: It was beautiful up at Deception Creek. So much fluffy snow. It’s dog friendly and in the BTNF! There were 1000 snow machines everywhere but it was a fun day.
There are several pullouts on Togwotee Pass where you can park and go for a great adventure ski through rolling meadows and into the forest. At Deception Creek you can also find groomed track!
Thanks to one of our JH Nordic Alliance members who reminded us of the great work being done by the Dubois Association for Recreation and Trails (D.A.R.T)! D.A.R.T provides grooming for Nordic skiing on an as needed/as volunteers available schedule. And like much of the groomed track in and around the Tetons, the great efforts by this non-profit organization is supported by voluntary donations from users like us. Please consider a donation to D.A.R.T. if you are using the groomed trails in the area.
Deception Creek – Togwotee Pass
Dreaming of blue skies after a couple of big snows…
Events
Saturday, Dec 27
There is currently enough snow at Trail Creek that the Betty Woolsey Classic can be held.
JHSC will make the call on Friday about whether there is still suffcient snow to safely hold the race. If the race is held, it will be a skate race, not a classic.
Note from the race director: Conditions are far from ideal and the trails will be uneven with some obstacles with not tracks set, so the conditions will be for confident skiers only.
We will update our events page, as will JHSC.
Support Wildlife
A reminder that winter wildlife restrictions have started. Closures exist to protect critical habitat and migration paths for wildlife. See the Interagency winter wildlife closure map. Details also available on the BTNF website.
Sunday, Jan 11
Although the last few weeks have been up and down with snow forecasts, we are optimistic for January snow!
We hope you will join the Nordic Alliance and Partners for a day of celebrating community, winter trails recreation and public lands in the beautiful Buffalo Valley.
Lessons, partner booths, fun activities, demos, a raffle and good cheer.
We hope you come out, and we hope you carpool with friends and family.
