Search Articles

United States
view all

All Article Photos

All Article Videos

Telemarkers Unite
Some Fun Gear Reviews

Another Avalanche Inbounds at Jackson Hole | Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, WY United States | 12/29/08, by First Trax Max

Image of gondalo area after another jackson Hole avalanche.
That is right.. After a tragic inbounds avalanche death of David Nodine, another inbounds avalanche was released on the headwall at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, causing havoc to their new Gondola Building and restaurant. A couple patrolmen and employees were pinned down and or buried but recovered safely.
Avalanche Debris

More avalanche Debris
More avalanche Debris


Photos courtesy http://stephenkoch.com

Apparently a man at the base of the gondola said he was upstairs at the Bridger Restaurant when the slide hit. He was quickly stopped by people dressed in Mountain Resort uniforms before he could give any further information.

Also rumors of Laramie Bowl, another popular run inbounds has slid to the ground showing dirt!

A ski patroller was allegedly stuck in the building with his dog. They made popcorn to pass the time.

Here is the official press release:
At approximately 9:30 am this morning, after JHMR Ski Patrol had completed one avalanche hazard reduction route and were getting ready to conduct another, the Headwall slid naturally from the southeast aspect above the Bridger Restaurant.

This incident took place before this area of the mountain had been opened to the public. A search for potential victims took place and everyone has been accounted for. This incident is under full investigation and a more detailed report will be released at 4p.m.

At this time, JHMR will remain closed until further notice.



We will keep you updated as we learn more. For now best to put the skis in the closet and get out the chess board.
Avalanche in Gondola Restuarant. Courtesy http://jessmcmillan.com
More Avalanche in Gondola Restuarant. Courtesy http://jessmcmillan.com
More Avalanche in Gondola Restuarant. Courtesy http://jessmcmillan.com


New update from JHMR
At approximately 9:26 am this morning routine avalanche hazard reduction work by Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) Ski Patrol triggered an avalanche of significant size down the southeast aspect of an area at JHMR referred to as the Headwall. The Headwall which had not been open to the public this season to date and was not expected to open in the near future, consists of steep, expert terrain.

The slide descended from the top of the Headwall, and a second slide was triggered, which continued down to the base of the run reaching the west and south sides of the building that houses three resort restaurants, causing considerable non-structural damage to the building.

This incident took place prior to the Bridger Gondola being open to the public, but a number of JHMR operational employees were in the vicinity. A search for potential victims was conducted and by 10:06am, all JHMR employees were accounted for.

Following the incident a decision was made to close the resort temporarily while further avalanche hazard reduction work took place. Lower mountain lifts were quickly re-opened. At this time the upper mountain remains closed while Ski Patrol continues its avalanche hazard reduction routines in an attempt to get the resort re-opened as quickly and safely as possible.

Due to the significant snowfall received in the Teton region (62 inches in past seven days), we have received a request from our partners at Bridger Teton National Forest to close the OB gates into the surrounding backcountry. JHMR will honor this request and close all our gates into the backcountry until further notice.

"Our patrollers have done a phenomenal job showing the utmost professionalism and teamwork. I am extremely proud of their efforts and appreciate the risks they take on a daily basis. I also want to acknowledge our entire staff under these challenging circumstances" stated Jerry Blann, President, JHMR.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has established standards and protocols for minimizing the risk of avalanche that are based on the current weather and snowpack conditions. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort receives over 400 inches of snow annually and is dedicated to making the skiing and riding as safe as possible for our guests. Avalanche conditions change hour-by-hour and day-by-day. JHMR Ski Patrol continuously monitors elements of the weather and snowpack conditions 24 hours a day throughout the winter and uses this information to continually assess potential hazards.

We acknowledge and are grateful for the quick response of the community including the Teton County Sheriff's Department, Teton County Search and Rescue and USFS.

Update 1/6/2010:  Another Inbounds Avalanche at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort carries Ski Patroller "Big Wally" off a cliff.  Our thoughts and prayers are with him & his family as he fights for his life.
Telemarkers Unite
Some Fun Gear Reviews


That's Our Opinion. What's Yours?

local wrote on 12/29/08 at 1:12:36 pm pst:

I have lived in jackson for a long time and now and sadly have watch piss poor management from the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort turn an awesome mountain into something it is not. I could rant all day about the details, but most recently I blame the resort upper management for the last two incidents. The upper mountain should have never been open to the public and the should have never built a 10 million dollar crappy restaurant in a known slide path. The illusion you can control nature is quite amusing to me.


jon wrote on 12/29/08 at 5:40:52 pm pst:

Holy Crap look at those photos!


Stormin Normin wrote on 12/29/08 at 6:24:41 pm pst:

Does anyone know if the resort plans to be open tomorrow?

I've been hearing blasting from the resort all day long. Hopefully they've done some damage in a good way.


Greg wrote on 12/29/08 at 7:09:29 pm pst:

JHMR is making a concerted effort this evening to squelch these photos. I am hoping this will be picked up at the media level.


dreww wrote on 12/29/08 at 7:15:00 pm pst:

skiing nowdays in b/c near marble, co...we too have received almost 6ft a week, 2 weeks in a row...skied all of those lines...headwall, tower 3...scary that most don't realize you face the same risks in bounds...when it is like this...good luck


Joe wrote on 12/29/08 at 8:33:28 pm pst:

Greg, You sound as disgruntled with the resort as I am. I had to move away from the hole because i couldn't take their bs anymore.


Richard Cheney wrote on 12/29/08 at 8:36:54 pm pst:

#*%&! Heard no lawyers died ... at least. Rendevous will be loads of fun tomorrow I think. Shotgun!


Jeff LeRoy Davis wrote on 12/29/08 at 9:50:37 pm pst:

When I checked the Avy Lab at 0600 hrs, I thought the 1.15" of precip in 5" of snow was a missprint. This was essentially a rain event at the 9800' elevation in the Rendezvous Bowl station. Correlate this data with the 1987 full track class 5 avalanche from the Headwall to the base. We have ubiquitous deep instability just above the ground sports fans. That means everything will slide as soon as it has enough weight on it. Everything everywhere all the time that has any history of sliding in human memory.


Bob G wrote on 12/29/08 at 10:45:04 pm pst:

Jeff is absolutely right - deep instability just waiting for enough load - the question is, when is enough? It's a crap shoot everywhere that hasn't slid to the ground yet.


Mr. T wrote on 12/30/08 at 06:32:39 am pst:

Question for Jeff leroy davis or anyone that understands this subject: What's your opinion of the slope above the tubing hill at Snow King? Seems like a long steep run. All the kids and parkinglot area, is it in danger?


jhmr lover wrote on 12/30/08 at 07:49:03 am pst:

I am confused by all the jhmr haters, how could ones life be so horribly affected by skiing at a resort? was you life ruined one morning when thunder didnt open on time? were you forced at gunpoint to by a pass thus leaving your children unfed? check your head, say slowly to yourself that this is just skiing and if your unable to ski at jhmr without it seriously affecting your ability for inteligent comments you should lessen the lift lines for the rest of us.


First Trax Max wrote on 12/30/08 at 08:38:11 am pst:

@ Mr. T,
I think under recent circumstances it is safe to assume, nothing is safe until that rain layer vanishes. However Because of Snow Kings low elevation the layer may not be present. I would ask the Snow King Ski Patrol. Or go half way up the King on the slope in question and dig a couple pits to see if you can find any persistent weak layers.


local wrote on 12/30/08 at 08:54:05 am pst:

@JHMR lover. I don't think JHMR has "horribly affected" anyone. It is just a shame to see a place with such potential be run into the ground. BTW I am not referring to the last couple avalanche incidents or lift closures. The General Management shows no love to the locals in a place where locals are the resort. Their business tactics and decisions have always seemed to be so far off from what their target market wants or needs.


jhmr lover wrote on 12/30/08 at 09:40:34 am pst:

thanks for the reply, there was someone up above that did say they had to leave town because of the way the resort was managed though. I have never been able to figure out why the "locals" think they are owed something by jhmr? is it the nineteen hundred you spend one at the beginning of the season? a family of five that is here for a week spends about 7 thousand at teton village. are you as a local giving them free pr or something or is it just that you think the whole world owes you something for being such a core local at a place were you should consider yourself lucky to live? you are not there market, the people that bring money here are, that is how bussiness are ran. Have you ever gone into staples and demanded a local discount and then trash talked them for their near sightedness in taking care of the locals? realize that this is real life, not a fantasy ski land were the whole of jhmr is trying their hardest to please you.


sue d wrote on 12/30/08 at 2:03:53 pm pst:

@local re "The General Management shows no love to the locals in a place where locals are the resort. Their business tactics and decisions have always seemed to be so far off from what their target market wants or needs."

Sad but true...this is a prevalent thread with ski area management everywhere


Jeff LeRoy Davis wrote on 12/30/08 at 2:42:07 pm pst:

@Mr. T: I recall a lot of weeds poking through a light skiff of snow on Snow King's Exhibition run the first week of November. Let me qualify that everything everywhere statement. That would be at elevations approximately greater than 8000'.


local wrote on 12/30/08 at 7:00:56 pm pst:

@jhmr lover, I have had the blessing of living in many resort towns that go out of their way to treat the locals right. That's all us disgruntled folk want. And for how a business is ran, I don;t think JHMR has a clue.


Stank wrote on 12/30/08 at 8:37:33 pm pst:

I worked (past tense) at JHMR for a total of 7 years and other ski areas and ski towns for about 25 years total.

While I hardly agree with management (I FORMERLY worked there afterall) they do have their shit together better than most ski areas. JHMR actually runs in the black some years, which is outstanding for a ski resort these days. Without the Kemmerer family as owners we likely wouldn't have a tram today. Its a safe guess that they could invest that money elsewhere and get a better return. I thank God that this mountain isn't owned by a Vail or some such group, because it probably doesn't make sense from a fiscal perspective to build a tram.

I have never lived in any mountain town where the resort was anything but an 'evil empire' to some if not most, and have never lived in one where the resort 'went out of their way to treat the locals right', let alone "many" such towns. I'd love to know where these Nirvanas exist, please. And locals have never been the target market - we don't have the money. Thank God for that, too; I don't want to live in Aspen.

One of my former JHMR bosses once told me that if he had the means, he'd buy the resort and close the lifts for a year. Sounds great to me; we'd lose the only thing that gets me down about Jackson. The too-cool attitude.

A friend who had a globally stamped, tattered passport used to say that being born in the US was like hitting the lottery. He never made it to Jackson; I wonder how lucky he would think I am.

What about you?


Texas Cowboy wrote on 12/30/08 at 8:40:25 pm pst:

Should I be wearing an avalanche transceiver in bounds now?

Or maybe I should just bring my trusty Colt .45 and shoot a few rounds off before taking first tracks in the bowls and chutes.


Jeffrey wrote on 12/30/08 at 9:23:45 pm pst:

@Stank Jackson Hole and Aspen have plenty in common in terms of locals having lots of cash. What they don't have in common is that Aspen Ski Co actually treats their employees fairly and rationally. I worked at Aspen something like 5 years ago and the starting wage for any on-mountain job was $10/hour.

Then I moved to Jackson, and was shocked to find that starting wages were in the $6-7 range! Maybe that's why JHMR is able to operate in the black. However, their poor employees- it's not even possible to afford rent at those wages (I personally struggled). And don't even get me started on how lame the management was in terms of scheduling, keeping morale high, treating employees fairly, etc. It's a painful place to work.


Jeffery wrote on 12/30/08 at 9:34:44 pm pst:

But a great place to live no doubt!


Local wrote on 12/30/08 at 9:38:57 pm pst:

No question, jackson is a great place to be. No one is arguing that. My experience has been bad dealing with jhmr. For starters you can never get in touch with anyone through dialing the regular number, employees are paid crap, Pass options are limited, and lets not forget there is a website, notafanofjerryblan.com that speaks pretty loudly.

I am not trying to persuade anyone that JHMR is bad, just my opinion, and I glad for those who have had a positive experience.


Frank the Tank wrote on 12/30/08 at 10:00:16 pm pst:

Did you all see that the headwall avalanche was actually triggered by a ski patrol bomb? Just another example of JHMR trying to cover up their mistakes...


JQ wrote on 01/01/09 at 07:06:36 am pst:

Major Bummer Situation:
Funny, we haven't had a single avalanche at Smugglers Notch.
Forget the beast and
SKI THE EAST!


freeheelgirl wrote on 01/01/09 at 12:44:41 am pst:

Any bets on when they'll re-open that restaurant? (No bets on whether they'll decide it's in a dangerous location and shut it down....it sounds like the resort employees who were caught in the slide don't earn enough money to retain lawyers and sue for negligence.)

Everyone stay safe and keep your heads up in the mountains, whether it's inbounds or not...peace and happy 2009!


mama c wrote on 01/04/09 at 12:45:18 am pst:

I live in a colorado ski area, but almost lost a DEAR friend in the avalanche. I feel the resort needs to supply the workers of the restaurants with avalanche beacons for their safety----or should we wait until someone dies!?!


fred wrote on 01/04/09 at 8:29:25 pm pst:

I agree with mama, only because they knew they were building in a slide path!


livefree wrote on 01/04/09 at 8:49:57 pm pst:

I do avy control work in Colorado. Before igniting explosives, you must make sure the runout of a slide path is clear of people. What happened in the restaurant instance? Why wasn't the restaurant cleared?


Doug wrote on 01/04/09 at 8:50:16 pm pst:

JHMR has not treated the "locals" friendly? Lets see...100 passenger tram, gondola to the base of the headwall, open boundaries, open cliff areas... were any of you "locals" here before the Kemmerers bought it? We used to lose our pass for skiing granite! Saratoga was out-of-bounds. We all ski/ride at the most amazing resort in the country and should be thankful Vail did not buy the place in the '90's!

What job pays $6-7 dollars an hour? Most of the employees I know make $10-$20/ hour.


freeheelgirl wrote on 01/05/09 at 09:39:09 am pst:

I wouldn't GO to work in any restaurant where I had to wear an AVALANCHE BEACON! If it's not safe to spend 8 hours a day there, it just ain't safe. Shut that place down, and build somewhere safer. Or make it safer before you open it by building a diversion barrier....there's a old house in Sun Valley that sits smack under a slide path, and a vee-shaped concrete barrier above the place has kept countless avalanches from crushing it.


Bamaboy wrote on 01/09/09 at 6:14:39 pm pst:

+1 on clearing the restaurant
IMHO I think that the fact of the matter is

1.The restaurant is probably not in a good spot. Sounds to me like development vs. logic. In most cases $$$ talks. I'm sure the people of Jackson that understood it was a bad idea voiced their opinion. The resort chose not to listen. Resorts are in business. Business being the operative word here. Its like the guy Doug above says "should be thankful Vail did not buy the place in the '90's!" Or Intrawest for that matter. They have axed most of the Senior staff @ my old mtn. It's easy to point the finger @ the resort , however do it to the executives and not the grunts!!!


Tom wrote on 01/10/09 at 09:51:06 am pst:

I know Mt. Bachelor offers a full week+ of $25 full lift tickets as a fund raiser for a local charity. And it also helps out the locals. When did jackson ever do that?

And those folks that make ten+ an hour are usually the folk that have been there a couple years. Everyone one i know that USED to work there made 7/hour tops.


Bryan wrote on 01/07/10 at 01:20:43 am pst:

At Snowbird the Superior parking lot (for employees and overflow parking) is directly in a slide path. In fact Little Cotton Wood Canyon Road has numerous slide paths above it. These are inherit dangers of ski resorts. The question of building in a dangerous location or paying employees a living wage is a matter of economics.

If guests don't want to be in harms way, they don't have to pay to dine at the Gondola Restaurant. If 'locals' don't want to earn $7 per hour, they don't have to work for JHMR. This reasoning could go on and on... skydivers don't have to risk plummeting to the ground at their expense, commuters don't have to risk their lives on the highways and byways, smokers don't have to smoke, and no one has to risk heart disease by eating cheese burgers.

All of these have a cost benefit scenario that can easily be evaluated with a bit of critical thinking.

Good luck getting a for profit organization to 'take care of you'. You, after all are a for profit entity. Profit monetarily, through experience, in relationships, or self-actualization. 'The Man' doesn't control you, you empower 'The Man'.

Give something to get something. If the terms aren't equatable change the terms. And the best way to do that is to join the organization and collaborate to alter the terms for the betterment of the organization and the surrounding community.

One day there will be some sort of Utopian zeitgeist for all. Until then I would suggest enthusiastically participating in the collective effort that is currently available.

---- hey if all of the $7 an hour employees make JHMR the preeminent resort destination, then there will be more leverage to demand greater compensation for helping to perpetuate the success in the face of your competition.----



Name:
Email (will not be published):
Url:
The difference of 12 - 8: spam Check
Mailing Address For Prize Give-Aways only. Will Not be published
Message