Wyoming News Briefs

Salt River Range avalanche kills former Jackson resident

JACKSON (WNE) - David Rice, 41, was caught and killed in an avalanche Sunday in the mountains east of Star Valley Ranch.

Rice, an avid musician, lived in Jackson for years and owned Jackson Hole Music, the only music store in town, before closing the shop last year. Until June 2021, he also owned a guitar store in Boulder, Colorado.

Rice was killed after a week of sustained snowfall dropped over three feet of snow in the Tetons. That snow fell on a combination of crusts and surface hoar that developed throughout a month-long drought in December. Those layers, now buried, have caused unusually widespread avalanche activity.

Over the weekend, avalanches that spread laterally hundreds of feet were reported on Teton Pass and in Grand Teton National Park. In some cases, skiers had skied nearby or on adjacent slopes of a similar aspect. At least four people have been caught in recent avalanches and survived.

"This is not an avalanche problem you can cheat," said Frank Carus, executive director of the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center. "This is not the snowpack you would expect in the Teton range. Not at all.

"This is worse than Colorado," Carus said.

Colorado's notoriously dangerous snowpack claims skiers' lives every year.

Rice's death is the third avalanche fatality reported this year in the United States, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which tracks avalanche deaths across the country.

Sleeping Giant to remain closed due to lack of snow

POWELL (WNE) - Citing the lack of snow and the loss of seasonal staff, Sleeping Giant Ski Lodge will not open this year.

"With a heavy heart we are announcing that Sleeping Giant will not be opening for the 23/24 winter season. We would like to thank everyone for their support and patience as we battled this terrible weather year," said Nick Piazza, owner of the lodge.

The lodge is planning to refund season pass holders who opt out for the season.

However, those who hold on to their passes will receive benefits from "friendly competitors" who have reached out to help Sleeping Giant as it faces the loss of their season.

Snow King has decided to honor its offer of three free days of skiing "regardless of the fact that we're not going to be open," Piazza said. "That's a $300 value right there."

Red Lodge Mountain is also extending a helping hand, offering Sleeping Giant season pass holders to ski at half price for the whole season.

Any complimentary passes for the 23/24 season automatically carry over to next season. The same applies for passes that were part of any promotion, charity giveaway or raffle.

"We will go lick our wounds, and - I am confident - come back stronger," Piazza said.

The lodge had a breakdown of underground pipes late last year, making it impossible to make enough snow to open over the holiday season, which accounts for the majority of revenue for the entire year.

Sleeping Giant invested $100K for new snowmaking equipment recently, but the aging piping network for water on the mountain now needs to be replaced.

Rare geyser reawakens

CODY (WNE) - A rare geyser has reactivated in Yellowstone's Upper Geyser Basin.

Economic Geyser, a smaller geyser near Grand Geyser, had 48 eruptions observed by a geyser enthusiast who spent six hours watching the series of eruptions.

Graham Meech, past president of the Geyser Observation and Study Association, was in the park and walking the boardwalks in the Upper Geyser Basin. The first eruption he reported was at 7:56 a.m. The eruptions continued about every 5 to 20 minutes. Some were "minor" eruptions that didn't last long or reach very high. Others were "major" eruptions that reached up to around 20 feet and lasted for a couple of minutes. The eruptions ended at 2 p.m., right before an eruption of neighboring Grand Geyser - the tallest predicted geyser in the world.

On December 6, 2023, a Yellowstone Ranger had noticed that Economic Geyser showed evidence of an eruption that cleared the area of gravel and microbes. The eruption that occurred while the park was closed was the first known eruption since 1999. Before that, Economic Geyser was seen in eruption up to about three or four feet in 1997, and reports exist of a couple of eruptions in 1975.

In the park's early days, Economic Geyser erupted often and was a favorite of tourists. Economic garnered its name because it used its water economically as most of it flowed back into the crater. The frequently consistent behavior stopped sometime in the 1920s.

It is yet to be discovered whether this was just a one-day event or if Economic Geyser might have begun an active cycle.

Casper City Council on board with shooting complex

CASPER (WNE) - Numerous entities around Casper and Natrona County want the Oil City to be the home of the state's shooting complex. Last week, Casper city councilors officially joined in with them, telling city staff they would provide a letter of support for a potential shooting complex.

The goal of developing a state shooting complex began with Senate File 169 at last year's Legislative Session.

A state shooting complex development and oversight task force was formed featuring representatives from the Legislature, the Wyoming Game & Fish Department, Wyoming State Parks & Resources and others.

That force "has developed a pre-proposal process to gauge interest and see what various communities have to offer," according to a memo from the city council work session.

And the city is interested, City Manager Carter Napier said.

After task force members sent out a survey to measure what amenities people wanted in and around a potential complex, they opened it up for groups to send in letters of interest.

By greenlighting a letter of support, councilors are collaborating with Visit Casper, Advance Casper, Natrona County and Casper College, among others, for this letter of interest. In addition to their letter, the city would also be expected to contribute $5,000 to $6,600 to a study that would measure the potential economic impact of having such a complex in Natrona County.

At least, that's their goal; the total cost of the study is estimated to be around $20,000, and the city wants to share it with other entities in this project. The letter is due by March 1. After it's sent, there will be an application stage.

Napier said it will take a community effort to persuade the task force that Casper is the right place for the complex.

Cheyenne Frontier Days won't pursue horse racing at Frontier Park

CHEYENNE (WNE) - Cheyenne Frontier Days officials announced Friday that they have decided not to pursue a deal with Accel Entertainment that would convert Frontier Park into a live horse racing venue every year in the late summer.

"The decision was made based on what we feel is best for Frontier Days, the city of Cheyenne, Laramie County and the fans and supporters of Frontier Days," CFD President and CEO Tom Hirsig told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, "and amidst controversy on gaming and horse racing and all those things, that's why it was decided."

Neighbors of the park are pleased with the decision after they initially felt blindsided by CFD's intent to bring horse racing to the park.

"We think it's the right decision," said Larry Wolfe, a resident of the surrounding neighborhood representing Citizens Against Horse Racing @ Frontier Park, an informal organization of more than 50 residents. "We don't think that horse racing belongs at CFD. We're glad that CFD leadership has agreed with that."

"Activism is not dead," said Peg Ostlund, another representative of Citizens Against Horse Racing @ Frontier Park. "Truly, my heart is warmed."

Although Hirsig described the deal with Accel as a once-in-a-lifetime financial opportunity, he said it is more important to maintain the CFD brand. He estimates that CFD will need more than $150 million over the next 20 years to maintain and upgrade Frontier Park facilities, and he isn't sure that an opportunity like this will come again.

"At the end of the day, our brand is more important to us than any financial contribution," Hirsig said. "This was just an opportunity that was presented that was really going to help us meet those needs through the private sector, instead of asking taxpayers to help fund this."

Campbell, Crook County residents give back with 300 pounds of produce

GILLETTE (WNE) - Campbell and Crook County residents combined to grow a little extra produce for those in need - a "little" that amassed to about 300 pounds. Across the state, about 10,000 pounds of fresh produce - similar to the weight of a standard RV - was grown and donated to those in need in 2023.

The Grow a Little Extra program began as an extension of the Wyoming Hunger Initiative in 2021, said Tailor Morris, Cent$ible Nutrition Specialist at the University of Wyoming Extension office. The idea is simple.

"We donate seeds throughout the community and encourage people to grow an extra row for those in need to donate to the food pantry," Morris said.

Free seeds for community gardeners can be found at the local extension office on Gillette Avenue.

Morris said the produce donated in Campbell County has predominantly come from the Master Gardeners but there are others donating to the cause. The program goes through the summer and those who donate can drop off their veggies at the extension office or at local food pantries or nonprofits like the Salvation Army.

Because of the distance between offices, Morris said she's also overseen produce from Campbell and Crook Counties that go to the food pantries in Moorcroft and Sundance. Anyone may choose to join in the giving by picking up seeds this spring and bringing the produce back to the extension office in the summer for weighing and distribution.

Jackson CVS to close as part of nationwide shuttering

JACKSON (WNE) - The CVS Pharmacy located inside Target will close March 7, less than three years after its grand opening.

To be clear, the Target store is not closing.

"We've made the difficult decision to close the CVS Pharmacy," said Amy Thibault, communications director for CVS. "All prescriptions will be transferred to a nearby pharmacy to ensure patients have uninterrupted access to pharmacy care. Employees are being offered comparable roles within the company."

The Jackson pharmacy employs two part-time employees and one full-time employee, she said.

"Several factors are considered when we decide to close a pharmacy including local market dynamics, population shifts, a community's store density and access to pharmacy services," Thibault said in an email.

The closure is part of a nationwide shuttering of CVS Pharmacies, according to reporting by Forbes.com. The number of pharmacies slated to close is unknown.

Along with smaller independent pharmacies in Jackson, Albertsons and Smith's grocery stores both maintain national pharmacy chains.

A Target spokesperson told the Jackson Hole Daily that there are currently no plans for the CVS space located inside the store. Target opened its Jackson store in April 2022.

According to the CVS website, CVS owns more than 9000 pharmacies, including nearly 1800 inside Target stores.