TETON VILLAGE, WY. Welcome to Xmass week in Jackson Hole. Mogul fields sliding to the ground, an in bounds avalanche death, the mid mountain lodge getting hit by an avi, 60 foot debri piles on the pass,  a snow cat getting partialy buried cutting a cat track,  10 foot crowns everywhere you look,  the never ending echo of bombs exploding, extreme avalanche ratings and the mountain closed for days at a time.  

In between all these avalanches the riding has been really good.  Huge props to the ski patrol.  They have been in the trenches.  Twice this week my stomach dropped as I watched ski patrol panicking to the lift equipped with probe poles and avi rescue dogs running to save someones life.  For the first time in my life I have had to treat terrain in bounds like the backcountry and found myself avoiding in bound lines because of slide danger.

The problem layer.  This ice is so thick that when cutting columns in a snow pit it is hard to get threw the ice with your saw.

In ten years of checking avalanche forecasts I have never seen it rated as EXTREME.  Source www.avalanche.org

Note.  Avalanche conditions have greatly improved the last two days do to warm temps followed by cold temps. Jackson Hole recieved a foot of new snow and the whole mountain is open and the riding is world class.