Grand Tetons in February

**riooso** · 25-Dec-2006, 18:46

I have friends that grew up in Jackson Hole and I can tell you that it gets cold there, dangerously cold. Like -30F without wind chill. Be careful out there, that area was one of the only places Indians would not be caught in the winter, and teepees rock for warmth!

Richard Adams

**Dave Langendonk** · 27-Dec-2006, 07:01

Thanks for the feedback. This is the kind of info I'm looking for. The cloudy weather situation is always a dice roll on these trips. It comes with the territory when you only have a few days and can't take off on a moments notice. A few days there in cloudy weather is still better than a bunch of days in the office!

Kirk: Now that's what I'm talking about! Looks like your trip was worth it. That shot is great. Any trouble getting to the overlook with the snow?

Richard: Thanks for the concern. I know about cold and have all the appropriate cold weather gear. That said, -30F is too cold for me to be out shooting (their record low for Feb is -42F!). Thankfully those days are the exception, not the rule. It's +32F there right now and their average low is +3F for Feb.

**paulr** · 27-Dec-2006, 08:16

Originally Posted by QT Luong

Paul has been buried in so many avalanches that he has his own personal nickname for them.

haha. nice.

**paulr** · 27-Dec-2006, 08:18

Good point about clouds. It snows almost every day in the winter in j.h., and that means precious little sun. you can go days without seeing any mountains. or getting any mail. if it's a short trip, there's a bit of a gamble involved.

**BruceN** · 27-Dec-2006, 08:49

Originally Posted by paulr

Good point about clouds. It snows almost every day in the winter in j.h., and that means precious little sun. you can go days without seeing any mountains. or getting any mail. if it's a short trip, there's a bit of a gamble involved.

Not entirely accurate. It's certainly true that you can go days without seeing any mountains (or sun for that matter), but you have just as good a chance of having beautiful clear sunny weather for the entire trip. What you actually get will likely be somewhere in between. Since you have only a few days to spend out here it will definitely be a gamble, but I'll wager that you'll enjoy it anyway. Just remember our worn out old quip - If you don't like the weather in Wyoming just wait five minutes, it'll change. Also, since you'll be short on time, don't dismiss the snowmobiles out of hand. They will most likely be your best bet to cover more ground and get safely to many more places than you would ever be able to on shoes or skis, even if you're an athelete. Besides, they're fun.

Bruce

**Dave Langendonk** · 28-Dec-2006, 09:28

Originally Posted by BruceN

Not entirely accurate. It's certainly true that you can go days without seeing any mountains (or sun for that matter), but you have just as good a chance of having beautiful clear sunny weather for the entire trip... Also, since you'll be short on time, don't dismiss the snowmobiles out of hand...
Bruce

Bruce: Thanks for the perspective. It's always great to get info from someone who lives there. I'm not dismissing the snowmobiles either. I've already done a little checking on rental companies and pricing.

**Kirk Keyes** · 28-Dec-2006, 11:45

Originally Posted by Dave Langendonk

Kirk: Now that's what I'm talking about! Looks like your trip was worth it. That shot is great. Any trouble getting to the overlook with the snow?

Thanks for the comment on my shot!

No trouble getting to the overlook - it's right on the side of the highway and the parking lot was plowed. I tried to save a little time as the sun was coming up by walking directly from the parking space to the walkway along the bluff, and it didn;t save any time as the snow was about 18 inches deep and it would have been faster to just walk down the lot to the sidewalk...

Definitely go - it's a great place in the winter. We plan on going back someday. Just make sure you find other things to do, like visit galleries in town, and the park HQ is open, and then had nature walks - one on snowshoes (that they provided) that we did while waiting for the clouds to break/get interesting.

**Jay W** · 2-Jan-2007, 11:49

By "avy" I assumed he meant "AV" as audio visual course on getting cemented in 10 feet of snow. Of course you know what happens when you assume...

Jay