In the shadow of snow-capped giants

The steady sound of snow shoes trodding through freshly fallen snow echoes loudly in an otherwise silent valley forest. Above the pines, spires of stone and ice appear and vanish in the distance, cutting through a dense layer of fog. The trail eventually opens to a frozen lake, and three rugged, snow-capped peaks appear as the blue sky peeks through the gloom. Towering over the serene forest opening, the Teton mountain range finally greets its new visitors.

Photo by Sam Norton | The Miami Student
Three prominent peaks rise up from the trail.

The Miami University Ski and Snowboard Club held its annual big trip from Jan. 12 to 17, 2025, and this year’s destination was the Jackson Hole Resort in Jackson, Wyoming. After three days of hard skiing and the prospect of a $200 lift ticket, I decided to explore this part of the country off the slopes.

I singled out Grand Teton National Park as a destination and was joined by fellow The Miami Student editor Austin Smith and his roommate, Chris Tsai. The park is 20 minutes north of Jackson and protects over 300,000 acres of mountains, forests, lakes and valleys.

I had never visited the Tetons, but as soon as the ski club announced it was going to Jackson Hole, I began thinking about it. In the dead of winter, in an area that averages over 400 inches of snowfall annually, the only option was snowshoeing. So, we rented some shoes in town and hopped in an Uber headed north.

The three of us began trekking from a crowded parking lot on a trail with snow packed down, clearly well-traveled. We quickly started shedding layers of clothing as we realized this journey would be harder than simply hiking.

Our chosen route was a loop that skirted the edges of two small lakes at the base of the Teton range. After a mile and a half, we took a turnoff to the first lake. At this point, the trail nearly disappeared, and we started using our shoes for their true purpose: breaking a path through over a foot of powdery snow.

Photo by Sam Norton | The Miami Student
Austin Smith and Chris Tsai trek through deep powder in an open meadow.

The fog continued to move across the valley, and it was only at this first small lake that we began to catch a glimpse of the behemoths of granite that jutted out of the earth. We ate lunch at this first lake, craning our necks to see the peaks just out of reach. We eventually moved on to the next lake, where another mile and a half of untouched snow caused us to nearly lose our way more than once.

Yet the adventure of plotting our own path through the tranquil forest kept us engaged and excited. A far cry from the crowded parking lot, we were all alone on these trails, but we didn’t mind one bit. We finally made it to the second lake, where upon leaving the treeline and stepping into the open we finally saw the mountains in all their splendor.

Photo by Austin Smith | The Miami Student
Author Sam Norton snowshoes across a frozen lake.

The fog had lifted, and a brilliant blue sky provided a backdrop for the jagged peaks and cliffs the Tetons are so famous for. We inched our way off the shoreline and onto the frozen surface. Marveling at the incredible views that greeted us at every turn, we chose to take our time finishing the hike. We followed the shoreline for some time before eventually reentering the forest and making our way back to the parking lot.

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A unique and adventurous expedition, snowshoeing in Grand Teton National Park is something that not many people have done. Now, three kids from Ohio who originally came out to Wyoming to ski can cross it off their bucket list.

nortonsm@miamioh.edu