RENDEZVOUS
ENDURO
In 1966, The Jackson Hole Aerial Tram started taking people to the top of Rendezvous Mountain for skiing, holding 52 people and taking 10.5 minutes to reach the 10,450 foot summit. To this day, more than 50 years later, people from all over the world come to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort to ski and experience some of the steepest terrain in all of North America. September 21, 2019 marked another day in the resort’s history–it is the first day that the aerial tram carted more than 150 mountain bikes and riders to the top of Rendezvous Mountain for the first ever mountain bike enduro race.
In true Jackson, Wyoming fashion, mother nature intervened, coating the top of the mountain with 8 inches of snow. The wind also contributed by adding drifts of up to 18 inches. Race officials didn’t panic, they went out with 25 pre-riders and made a decision. That decision was to move the first stage a little lower than the summit and RACE!
25 pre-riders head up to the intended start of the Rendezvous Enduro.
Patrol tech inspection tool.
One of the first racers off of the tram.
Snowy windows reveal bikes not skis.
Snow removal on the first day of autumn.
Once officials announced the race was to begin lower on the mountain, competitors like Andrew Whiteford needed to ride the road down through Rendezvous Bowl.
Corners were far from a gimme. Even with feet out, many were taken down by the icy conditions up high.
Snow gave way to rain, fog and mud!
Despite the weather, most racers were all smiles.
Bikes took the brunt of Mother Nature's fury.
The weather cleared as the race ended.
