GRAND TARGHEE- SNORKELING IN THE MOUNTAINS

MARY AND MARY'S NIPPLE

Grand Targhee is the kind of place where they let you on the chair before 9 AM when it's a powder day. They know how much you want those freshies and they are happy to oblige.  Powder is not rarity- Targhee is known for it's pow; they have 493" this season. They average 500" a year.

Grand Targhee is located in the Targhee National Forest in Wyoming (some of the resort spills over into Idaho). It has two peaks: Fred's Mountain has a 2,212' vert and Peaked Mountain has a 2,270' vert. The resort has 2,500 acres of skiing and riding. Targhee tries to be as green as possible- Hooray!(http://www.grandtarghee.com/the-mountain/environment/index.php) It's about 45 min. away from Jackson Hole. It's not as steep as Jackson, but it's got everything; chutes, glades, cornice drops, bowls and I've heard some people do groomers there.

ME AND THE POW

Fred's Mountain is the main mountain. The Dreamcatcher Quad will take you right to the top. Drop off the Headwall and you will find yourself on the Blackfoot lift. This is a old school twofer that will give you a bit of a rest. There is also a sweet little beginner area (little monsters and googly eyes!). I have the happiest memories when I was little of Alley Oop (run of little rollers) and Eyeball Forest (baby tree run with wooden eyes on the trees). My family has been going to Targhee for as long as I can remember. My bro's first sentence was there, "Mama, see snow?". It's a great place to grow up in.

Peaked Mountain is a newer part of the resort. There used to just be catskiing on this hill with no lift access, but then they added the Sacajawea lift. Now you can easily drop the cliffs with little or no hiking, in theory. My cliff drops are never as pretty in life as I imagine they are going to be.

RACH

Then there is the infamous Mary's Nipple. This is within the resort, but it requires hiking. We didn't hike Mary's nipple this trip, there was too much snow to get with lift access.

This year I went to The Ghee with my bro. and two sisters. We were there for three days. We rode with smashed sandwiches in our pockets. It was too good to go in. The first day was clear with a light crust over their latest storm. The second day it pounded. I inhaled so much snow (charlie sheen voice). The third day was a bluebird powder day. This is rare, visibility can be frighting at Targhee. We could see our lines off the cliffs! Andy and I decided to try our luck. I mostly hacked my way over and around the cliffs, but Andy had some beautiful lines. We watched a group of eight come down the Pinkslip cliffs. I heard them cheering for each other and realized it was eight girls! Oh, you know; Just some local girls out for a sweet little powder day- dropping 50 ft' cliffs.

ANDY