Skinning The King!

Jackson Hole is a community of hyper active people and a common hobby is to "skin"-up (go up on skis) the local mountain: Snow King. Some people even choose to do it before starting work or during their lunch break! We decided to join in the fun during our last trip back to JH. 

Since we arrived in Jackson after the ski season had ended we knew that none of the lifts would be operational. So we had to have a self powered mission up the King! We actually wanted to ski Jackson Hole Resort as well, but they don't allow access once the mountain has closed for the winter :(

Anyway, we are so glad we got to cross this item off our bucket list...albeit slower than everyone else on the mountain haha!

Skinning the King, its pretty self explanatory. We parked in the parking lot in the front, grabbed our backcountry skis, the dog and head for the base of the mountain. Once we strapped on our skis, there was only one way to go - UP! We quickly learned that our dog had a rocket strapped to her butt and she shot up that mountain. In fact, she went so fast that we couldn't find her for a good 30 minutes!

The path to the top of the King goes straight up the ski run in the beginnging. This is very steep and especially steep for two people coming from California! Once we got to the half way point of the ski run, there is an uphill route that snakes off to the hiker's right. This uphill route has a much more mangeable pitch and leads you to the top of the mountain. It took us about 45 mins to get to the top. From here, we switched into downhill mode, and skied straight back to the car! It was an exhilirating ride down!

We learned that our dog LOVES going uphill but HATES going down the hill. So poor Justin was stuck carrying snow on the decent. It was unbelievably cute!

We loved skinning the king so much, that we decided to do it again a day later. This time, the dog did much better and we were better acclimitized to the hike. 

Highly recommend this spring time JH adventure with the rest of the town. So glad to have it off our bucket list!

Here's the recommended gear list:

• Regular ski clothes. Some of days in the Spring its too hot to be in ski pants and a jacket, so I was wearing leggings and and a workout top
• Sun hat
• Sun glasses
• Ski goggles for the way down (although I only used my sunglasses the second time)
• Touring Skis
• Touring Boots
• Poles
• Plenty of water and a snack
• Dog leash and poop bag
• Sunscreen for those sunny Spring days!
• Small bagpack to carry extra layers, water, snacks.