23-01 Jackson Hole 1D

Jackson Hole 1D,
Jan. 30, 2023,
Hi Everyone,

It’s been a long day, 14 hours door to door travel time. I was up at 6:00 and had a taxi waiting for me at 6:30. I always take Atlas Taxi as it is run by a group of Iranians who are always very friendly. One of my Iranian patients started off the company with a few partners several years ago. I got to the airport 3 hours early and was able to make it to the plane with half an hour to spare. The friendly USA has its own border customs in airports all over the world. I was able to grab a quick bagel and cap just in time for the final board call.

I don’t know why US border guards have to be so surly. ‘Where are you going?’ “Jackson Hole” ‘Where?’ “Jackson Hole” ‘Where’s that?’ “Wyoming” ‘Why you going there?’ “Medical conference” ‘Business or pleasure’ “Medical conference” ‘I said business or pleasure.’ “Ok, business” etc… I always try to be polite with border patrollers as they are always bigger than me, are armed and can call in reinforcements. Anyway, I got through it alright.

I flew to Newark, then on to Denver and finally to Jackson Hole. I had ¾ of an hour between flights and had to run across the airport to make my next flight. I ski on Salomon, QST 92 underfoot which is a powder ski. I recently bought a pair of Rossignol, Elite, Multiturn, 74 underfoot which is a carving ski. The Salmons are western skis and the Rossignols are eastern skis. I brought both pairs of skis to Jackson Hole, just in case… I was able to pack them both into my Dakine double ski bag into which I can put my  boots, my ski accessories and all of my clothes. Luckily it has rollers as I can’t lift the thing. They don’t weigh skis (secret) at the airport so I got on the plane with only a small brief case for my iPad and camera. I was worried that the skis would not make the transfer between planes but was delighted that we all arrived together.

I am staying at ‘the Hostel’ a rather cheap accommodation in the center of Jackson Hole at the base of the mountain. The conference is at a hotel called Snake Lodge a few minutes away and considerably more expensive. Usually I rent a condo with my kids a few minutest away but that option was not available this year. The Hostel caters to university students and I appear to be the white haired professor. Oh well! I split the cab ride with a couple of urologists as the airport is 25km away from the village. I am paying 250 times what I used to pay for a bed in a youth hostel in 1970 in Europe but I have my own room with a shower.

Tomorrow I will ski on my powder skis and check out the tree runs and chutes. They have received 250 inches of snow to date with a large snow fall 2 days ago. Today however it is freezing cold, -25C with a bluebird day expected tomorrow.

I am sitting at our old watering hole, the Mangy Moose and had an American special, a hamburger with French fries. The hamburger was 3 inches high with a salad in between the bread which I removed so that I could open my mouth to eat it. France is a country with 1000 recipes and 1 religion. The USA is a country with I recipe and 1000 religions.

See ya all tomorrow after a days skiing .

Love.
Brian