TR first time to Jackson Hole, January 2014

[marzNC]

Made it to Jackson Hole on Monday. Rode with Bill on Monday in his trusty NM station wagon after meeting up with him and Jason in SLC on Jan. 19. He added another rooftop box so could put my Sportube in without unpacking it. The idea is for the three of us to check out JH for a few days, then do a day trip to Grand Targhee on Friday. We have a VRBO condo in the Aspens, halfway between the town of Jackson and Teton Village (base of lifts). Drive back to SLC for Diva Week West at Snowbasin/PowMow on Sat. Jason has to fly home because of work so he will miss out. Been a little complicated because Southwest messed up with his checked bag via Midway. His skis made it and he had his boots and enough ski clothes. SW found the bag and sent it to Jackson via FedEx.

We met up with snoWYmonkey to say hello this afternoon after exploring almost every lift on the mountain. Blue bird skies, no new snow for quite a while, hard surface on the upper mountain where it's been warmer than the lower areas (inversion), but no ice like in upstate NY a few weeks ago. The place is pretty impressive in terms of vertical and views. The base village is convenient but somehow feels smaller than Big Sky.

The guys ready to go


View from the tram, we lucked out and boarded first so got a window spot


Had lunch outdoors at Casper, in the 30's at the top of the Casper lift


Have lots more photos but will probably just upload to Photobucket at some point.

 

[RuthB]

Isn't SnoWYmonkey fantastic! We managed to meet up last week at the Elevate camp. Unfortunately we didn't manage to align schedules to ski together before the camp and she wasn't our groups coach but we did catch up at a couple of apres events.Next time we'll ski together (JH is officially my favourite mountain, and I need to do another elevate camp - it was superb)

 

[SkiBam]

Enjoy, enjoy! I skied JH several years ago and it's truly one of my favourites. We were there the year the tram was under construction so had to ride (if I recall correctly) four lifts to get to the top. (I didn't mind as trams are not my fave.) Had great snow while there and skied pretty much all over. One thing I've always thought I would do if I went again would be to hire a guide and do some of the backcountry (or sidecountry or whatever it's called).

 

[SkiBam]

Forgot to add: say hi to Bill! Wish I was there.

 

[Rainbow Jenny]

Do you need to drive to the ski area or is there a town shuttle? I've only been to JH in the summer time (rafting and camping) and am dying to go in the winter!!! Now there are 12 cities with direct non-stop flights to JH, it's so much more accessible. https://www.jacksonhole.com/by-air.html

Go check out Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in town, a friend use to bartend there. That place has real character even if you don't drink.
But then Yellowstone is so close too for an amazing North American Safari experience... I'd have to spend couple weeks there!!!

Please keep updating us @marzNC so we can live vicariously through your trip report.

 

[marzNC]

Do you need to drive to the ski area or is there a town shuttle? I've only been to JH in the summer time (rafting and camping) and am dying to go in the winter!!! Now there are 12 cities with direct non-stop flights to JH, it's so much more accessible. https://www.jacksonhole.com/by-air.html

Go check out Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in town, a friend use to bartend there. That place has real character even if you don't drink.
But then Yellowstone is so close too for an amazing North American Safari experience... I'd have to spend couple weeks there!!!

Please keep updating us @marzNC so we can live vicariously through your trip report.

Yes, there is a ski bus from Jackson. Pretty reasonable price. There is also a free shuttle parking lot. We've been parking at the base in the Ranch Lot since that's free with 3 or more people, $5 otherwise. Since we arrive well before 8:30am, parking is easy. The free shuttle bus from there seems to go pretty frequently.

What we are really enjoying is the locker room at the Bridger Center. It's right next to the tram and gondola loading, as well as the lift that gets you to Apres Vous mountain. $15 for a full size locker big enough for 3 pairs of skis during the day and overnight until 10am the next morning. So we leave shoes and day bags during the ski day, then skis, poles, helmets overnight. Split three ways, quite a deal.

 

[marzNC]

Enjoy, enjoy! I skied JH several years ago and it's truly one of my favourites. We were there the year the tram was under construction so had to ride (if I recall correctly) four lifts to get to the top. (I didn't mind as trams are not my fave.) Had great snow while there and skied pretty much all over. One thing I've always thought I would do if I went again would be to hire a guide and do some of the backcountry (or sidecountry or whatever it's called).

Forgot to add: say hi to Bill! Wish I was there.

Since it's obvious that Bill and I will be back in the future, maybe there will be an opportunity for us to ski together at JH some day.

 

[marzNC]

Had a great day! Finally acclimated to the altitude. Clouds came in so the light was a bit flat by mid-morning but that didn't really matter. Even had a little snow as we were leaving Teton Village.

The three of us had a 4-hour lesson with snoWYmonkey that included early loading. Meaning we were already at the top when the mountain opened up at 9:00am. After reviewing a few fundamentals since the guys haven't had lessons in a long time, we worked on bumps. We were mostly on the Sublette and Thunder chairlifts. The final run was over on Hobacks, which was really nice to do for the first time with someone who knew where to go for the best snow given there hasn't been fresh snow for a while. Thanks to her guidance, I had a good time over there on the soft bumps.

snoWYmonkey, Bill, Jason on North Hobacks


Clouds rolling in


MarzNC moving along towards the bottom of Hobacks

 

[SkiBam]

Ah, I remember the Hobacks - loved that area.

We had a condo at the bottom of the mountain and for the first couple of days caught the shuttle to the base. Then some people asked us if we didn't realize we could walk a very short distance up the road from the condo and catch a chair lift, and at the end of the stay ski back to the condo. Duh! That made things so much easier. In the evenings we walked over the village to sample the many good restaurants.

 

[marzNC]

Another blue sky day after the morning fog in the valley burned off. The temperature inversion at JH takes some getting used to. Temps at the top can be 10-15 more than the base.

We got lucky today. An EpicSki Bear who is an instructor had the day off. He met up with us mid-morning and skied with us the rest of the day. With him suggesting where to go, we put the lesson about bumps and trees to good use. There was soft snow to be found if you knew where to look. We spent a fair amount of time on the Sublette, Thunder, Casper lifts. Did take another ride up the tram, as well as a couple gondola rides.

The bonus for the first gondola ride was getting to see a couple kids take off for a tandem paragliding adventure. They go off at the top of Bridger. Looked like a lot of fun!

View from the condo at the Aspens


Valley fog


Short bump run with nice soft show. If you are wondering, I took pictures after skiing down. Probably the first time I've done bumps that big without hesitation.


Groomers off Casper lift were is good shape after lunch.

 

[Spunk72]

Love the lack of people! Looks fabbo! Have fun.

 

[marzNC]

Love the lack of people! Looks fabbo! Have fun.

With better conditions, I think there would be more people. Talked to a local who mentioned how long the lines are on a powder day. Not just for the tram, also for the lifts on the upper mountain. I imagine there have been lodging cancellations in the last month. Heard on another ski forum that someone just got a major deal at the Motel 6 in Jackson just walking in and asking. Got a week for something like $30/night. That probably wouldn't happen if it had snowed lately.

We had a good time. But definitely would like to come back with better snow now that we know the layout and area.

 

[RuthB]

You're not wrong about the lines on powder days. At times when we were there the tram line was reported to be over an hour long.

 

[marzNC]

You're not wrong about the lines on powder days. At times when we were there the tram line was reported to be over an hour long.

Although we took the tram on our two free skiing days, we spent the most time on the Sublette, Thunder, or Casper chair lifts. With the temp inversion and relatively warm weather, going down to the base was not really worth it. We also did pretty well in learning the various traverse trails for going back and forth between various sections of JH. Nice that it can be done without going back to the base. It's fair to say that when I come back and there is low visibility, I have a pretty good idea of where to go. I tend to be the navigator when skiing with these two ski buddies.

 

[bounceswoosh]

JH is on my bucket list. I really need to get out there!

 

[Jenny]

Gorgeous view from the condo. Looks so peaceful . . .

 

[Christy]

At times when we were there the tram line was reported to be over an hour long.

Whoa, really? JH was on my list of "a pain to get to but at least it won't be crowded!" areas. (Even if I just took the tram once, that would be too long). Where does everyone come from???

 

[marzNC]

Whoa, really? JH was on my list of "a pain to get to but at least it won't be crowded!" areas. (Even if I just took the tram once, that would be too long). Where does everyone come from???

JH is like Alta/Snowbird in that there are locals who skip work to ski fresh powder dumps. With the direct flights from several major airline hubs, there is a steady supply of travelers going to JH all during the season. It's one of those places where it's possible to have a good time without renting a car. We met an older couple from Wisconsin who spend a week in JH every season. They stay in Teton Village, but can easily take the public bus to Jackson for dinner and shopping.

The tram is really not needed to get to most of the terrain in any case. Even going over to Hobacks, a favorite area for advanced/experts, is possible without the tram. We only took the tram twice. Once the first day when we were exploring essentially all the lifts for blue/black terrain and one more time the last day.

For not crowded, Grand Targhee is the place to ski. Not much else to do though. Definitely worth a day trip when in Jackson Hole for a week.

 

[Christy]

Powder days bring out all the locals no matter where you are! But if you don't need to take the tram then I guess it's a non issue. Whistler can have long lines for their gondola but right next to it is a lift that no one ever uses. It maybe take longer to get up to where you want to be but it's better than standing in line. Sounds like JH may be like that.

 

[marzNC]

There are some chutes that require the tram, plus Rendezvous Bowl. But more than enough to play on without it if the line is too long.