The Backcountry Program has been up to some fun! Both the mini mountaineers and 4 month program are in full swing. This means 30 kids are skiing up snow king on Thursdays! All of the training at Snow King has really paid off. The Minis crushed it on their first ski touring day - making it to the top of a run called "Nancys" in Grand Teton National Park. These kids are 10 - 13 years old and already learning the ins and outs of traveling safely in the backcountry. Coaches were very impressed with every ones commitment to make it to the top! At the top we killed some time, relaxed in the sun and played hide and go seek on skis as well as had a snowball fight! Everyone cant wait to get out again next weekend.
The 4 Month program is also doing really well! The goal for this point in the season is for everyone in the program to be able to make it to the top of a mountain in the tetons. We are doing it and then some! This month teams have stood on top of Prospectors Mtn via the Banana, Wimpies, Mavericks, 25 Short, and 10696! On Saturday Max, Noah, Ava, and Tosh took advantage of the good weather and all the time building fitness and completed a nice traverse going up 25 short, across a long alpine ridge to summit 10696, and out Stuarts Draw to the Death Canyon Trailhead. We even got to put first tracks on a pretty nice couloir (see photos). Another big adventure this month was skiing the Banana Couloir off Prospectors peak - Max, Liam, and Hunter crushed this big day topping out at over 11,000'! We have touring days almost every weekend through March and we are sure everyone in the program will take part on some big adventures!
Less than a month until JHSC Backcountry Programs first international ski expedition! At the end of March five of us are heading to Chamonix, France for a week of backcountry skiing and mountaineering! Stay tuned for this, we cannot wait!
On another note signups are open for some fun trips coming up... City of Rocks climbing trip, Ecuador mountaineering, and sail and ski Greenland. These trips are open to everyone... no need to be a member of the backcountry program! See the flyers below, check out our backcountry program page, or email one of the coaches for more information on these trips. Please reach out to Blake if you are not in the backcountry program already and would like to sign up to make sure it is a good fit.
