Thursday, January 29, 2009


Cat Boarding at Grand Targhee

Powder, powder and more powder. Powder as far as the eye could see. Today was an epic powder day in the back country of Grand Targhee Ski Resort. My friends Daniel and Dylan Harkavy and I experienced cat boarding in deep powder (18” to 36”). Cat boarding or skiing as it is often referred to, is when you use a snow cat machine to transport a group of skiers and boarders from the bottom of a mountain to the top that cannot be accessed by a chairlift. It is a pretty cool way get in a lot of runs where your tracks are the first to hit the snow.

Just as a reminder, this was my fifth or sixth day on a snowboard ever. I have to admit I have been feeling more and more comfortable on packed powder, but the thought of spending all day on expert terrain in deep powder was making me feel a bit anxious. The first 2 runs confirmed my anxiety. Perhaps you have experience a similar feeling, but I think I was more concerned about keeping the other members of our group waiting while I would dig myself out of numerous wipeouts. Honestly, I was ready to throw in the towel for the day. But I stuck it out and runs 3 and 4 felt much better. I was actually able to carve my turns better and stay in control. By the end of the morning I was feeling real good and ready for more.

About 1:00pm, we descended upon our lunch tent located deep in the woods. We feasted on pot roast, mashed potatoes, corn bread and blueberry/peach cobbler; all made in Dutch ovens. WOW, did that taste good! After our quick lunch, we were back at it and squeezed in 4 more runs before the end of the day.

If you are into skiing or snowboarding, you have to experience Cat Skiing at Grand Targhee. But you had better hurry as the back country area we experienced will soon be serviced by a new chairlift and the Cat adventure will be over.

Well, tomorrow we are off into the back country again. But this time we will be riding snowmobiles! Stayed tuned to read about more adventures from Jackson Hole!

“It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end” –Ursula LeGuin

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