Travis Young and Steve McGill in the Jackson Hole, Backcountry | Photo Mike Hardaker Mountain Weekly News
JACKSON, WYO – Que La Nina… This winter has come in like a lion (actually that seems tame) this morning Jackson Hole Mountain Resort announced they would be closed for the next 5 days as crews work to restore power to Teton Village.
2/8/17
Due to a massive wind storm last night, a significant number of power poles along Highway 390 were blown down, causing Teton Village to lose power. This power outage is being addressed by Lower Valley Energy, but the significance of this damage will be impacting Teton Village for up to seven days. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) will not be operating until further notice. All events scheduled for this week and weekend will be canceled, specifically Skijoring and Special Olympics.
Safety is the first concern for JHMR visitors and staff, and JHMR is asking for only specific operational staff come to Teton Village today and request that no unnecessary travel to Teton Village is in effect until further notice. With another weather system coming into the area tonight, there is a winter storm watch in effect for the higher elevations. Warming temperatures could result in possible flooding in the valley, making conditions challenging for many reasons. JHMR is seriously enforcing no uphill travel this week and asks everyone to stay off the mountain. JHMR will be issuing refunds for all visitors, but at this time, we do not have a location to process those refunds.
Updates on operations and incident information will be updated as they come in at www.jacksonhole.com/weather-snow-report.html
Teton Village Fire Department will be providing emergency services throughout this incident, and will be updating hotels and businesses as information comes in. The Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce and Jackson Hole Central Reservation will be assisting with lodging and travel options for displaced guests.
According to a guest that was in the village overnight there was no power, no heat and no backup lighting at their condo. Guest were served PBJ sandwiches for dinner.
2/8/17
Another on mountain employee said “that it looks like a war zone up there”.
If you have been following along on this website in November of 2016 we announced our La Nina projections on where to find snow..
Teton Pass is currently closed (again) with numerous closures this winter is starting to look a lot like the record breaking snow year of 1996/1997. UPDATE Teton Pass Closure as of 12:09PM 2/8/16: Road Closed Due To Avalanche Control The estimated opening time will be after 04:00 pm, February 08
The graph above is from our local mountain weather guru showing the powerful winds that snapped the power lines. https://www.mountainweather.com/
