There is no next best place to Teton Pass, but it can get busy on a powder day.  This week, we caught up with Jay Pistono to give you tips for success from the moment you leave your door, until you park your car.

1. Before leaving your house, check the Avalanche Report and the Teton Pass Web Cam.  Know the conditions of the snow pack and make sure you’re prepared if it will be busy to park. If conditions are unsafe or if the parking lot is too full, consider alternate plans.  There is parking at Phillips or Cole Creek Trailhead.

2. Avoid congestion in the parking lot by:
Carpooling whenever possible
Parking at the bottom and ride sharing to the top
Parking tight (45 cars fit with a large space between them, 60 cars have fit on the best day.)

3. If you arrive and the lot is full, line up behind any waiting cars. Remember to keep the waiting line out of the way of the flow of traffic and try to keep room for commuters to stop to clear their wipers, adjust their chains, ect. Turn on your flashers on and communicate with the other drivers.

4.  When you’ve parked your car, prep for your day behind your car, so others can get in and out of the parking lot easily.  Keep your dog under control and maker sure you have the proper saftey gear for a backcountry trip.

If you plan to Ride Share, we thank you, enjoy our Tips for Ride Share success.

The Pass Ambassador is a community-driven program with partner support from Friends of Pathways, the Bridger Teton National Forest, Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation, the Wyoming Department of Transportation, and others. The AmPassador program is also supported directly by Outdoor Research

Path22 West Segment – Snake River Bridge
Crews have completed all underground work on the central in-river pier, the first of the three in-river piers to be completed, and have now started work on the east pier. The exposed end of the 3’x5’ concrete base and embedded rebar of the central pier are now visible above the river bed, and the finish work to complete the hammerhead “cap” that supports the steel bridge girders will follow shortly.
As of last week, work on the east in-river pier had started and crews are currently in the process of driving sheet piles to build the coffer dam for the east pier. The coffer dam will extend approximately 30’ below the river bed and will allow crews to construct the below-ground components of the pier, a process that is expected to take several months. As soon as the sheet pile driving is complete crews will move on to excavating the interior of the coffer dam, driving H-piles, pouring the concrete seal cap, dewatering the coffer dam, and then begin the forming and pouring of the concrete pier itself. This process must be repeated for the west pier as well. The project is scheduled for completion in 2014.

Path22 West Segment – WY390 Underpass
The contractor has received final approval from WYDOT and work is expected to start next week (September 30^th) on the underpass near the WY390/WY22 intersection. The project will install an 80’-long concrete culvert underneath WY390 approximately 450’ north of the WY390/WY22 intersection, connecting the existing pathways at Stilson Ranch to the future pathway that will extend through the new Rendezvous Park, across the Snake River, and east along WY22 connecting to the pathway system in the Town of Jackson.

Path22 East Segment – West Broadway
Work is ongoing on the East Segment – Phase I portion of the Pathway 22 Project, which will construct 1.1 miles of pedestrian and bicycle facilities on West Broadway (US89) between the Flat Creek Bridge and the “Y” intersection of WY22/US89, and on WY22 between the “Y” and Spring Gulch Road. The facilities generally include a 6-foot wide protected bike lane (“cycle track”) separated by 2-4 feet from an 8-foot wide pedestrian sidewalk on both sides of West Broadway, and a 10-foot wide pathway along the west side of WY22. The 6-foot cycle track will also continue on the east side of WY22 from the “Y” intersection up to Spring Gulch Road.
Crews are focusing this fall on the area near the new Walgreens at Budge Dr. and along the undeveloped hillside just west of the Flat Creek Bridge. Most of the prep work and major grading will be completed this fall, with actual pathway installation occurring in spring 2014. The project plans are available on the Teton County website at: http://www.tetonwyo.org/pathwy/topics/wy22-east-segment/252075/