Skiing Jackson Hole: What to Know Before Your First Trip
Jackson Hole has a reputation, and the reputation is accurate. It’s the steepest big resort in North America, the terrain is serious, and the mountain does not care how good you think you are. It is also one of the best ski trips you can take in the country, and plenty of people who aren’t experts have a great week there. Here’s what to know before you go.
The mountain
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort sits in Teton Village, about twelve miles northwest of the town of Jackson, Wyoming. The headline number is 4,139 vertical feet, top to bottom, with no false summit and no traverse. The Aerial Tram, “Big Red,” carries you from the base to the top of Rendezvous Mountain at 10,450 feet in about ten minutes. Step off and you’re looking at the Tetons from the top of a ski resort, which is not a sentence you can write about many places.
Roughly half the terrain is rated expert. That’s where the reputation comes from. But the other half is real too. Casper and Après Vous are the intermediate zones, with long groomers and plenty of room. Teewinot and Eagle’s Rest at the base serve beginners. A solid intermediate can ski all day without ever touching anything black.
The famous stuff
Corbet’s Couloir is the run everyone’s heard of: a narrow chute off the summit that opens with a mandatory air of ten to twenty feet depending on snow. Most people ski to the edge, look down, and ski away. That’s a perfectly good plan. Watching someone else drop in is a Jackson tradition.
Rendezvous Bowl, right off the tram, is a wide-open expert bowl that gives you the big-mountain feeling without the cliff. The Hobacks are a vast south-facing expanse of steep trees and open faces that ski best on a powder day and turn into a leg-burning marathon by afternoon. Sublette and Thunder lifts access the best steep tree skiing on the mountain.
Where to stay
Teton Village puts you at the base. You walk to the tram, you ski back to your door, and you pay for it. The town of Jackson, a fifteen-minute drive or a bus ride away, has more restaurants, more nightlife, more lodging options, and lower prices. Most first-timers who want the full experience split the difference: stay in town, catch the START bus or drive out early.
Off the slopes
Jackson is a real Western town with an elk-antler arch on every corner of the square and a saloon where the bar stools are saddles. The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is a tourist stop and worth it once. The Mangy Moose in Teton Village is the après spot. The National Elk Refuge sits right outside town, and in winter you can take a sleigh ride through thousands of wintering elk.
If you have an extra day, Grand Targhee is on the west side of the Tetons, about an hour’s drive over Teton Pass. It gets more snow, has gentler terrain, and feels like a different decade.
Practical notes
Altitude is real. The base is around 6,300 feet and the summit is over 10,000. Drink water, go easy the first day, and don’t be surprised if you’re winded on the tram.
The weather can go from bluebird to whiteout in an hour. Pack for cold, and check the resort’s grooming and lift status report in the morning.
Book early. Peak weeks around the holidays and Presidents’ Day sell out months ahead, and the tram line on a powder morning is a sight to behold.
One last thing
Jackson Hole rewards skiers who respect it. Go with realistic expectations about your ability, ski within them, and the mountain will give you some of the best days of your life. Push past them and it’ll let you know. Either way, you’ll be back.