Skiing Jackson Hole

Many ski resorts crow about their steep slopes and deep powdery snow, but the phrase ‘steep and deep’ must have been coined at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in the Grand Tetons. The snow here is abundant and fine, and the trails, with a stunning total vertical drop of 4,139 feet down the east face of 10,450-foot Rendezvous Mountain, are long and varied.

Ski or ride almost straight downhill for 3,000 feet on the Hobacks run, but don’t forget to take in the genuinely breathtaking views from the top first. And blue-run skiers needn’t shy away—Jackson Hole also has outstanding intermediate skiing, such as the chivalrously named Apres Vous Mountain run.

Mosey on back to the town of Jackson or hang around Teton Village at the base of the resort and swing by the popular Mangy Moose, a boisterous bar in a big barn-like structure just south of the tram. Try their signature buffalo meat loaf, and stay late for live music and Western swing dancing. Of the handful of lodgings in Teton Village, the slope-side location of the new Teton Mountain Lodge can’t be beaten. Owned by an ex-ski bum, it blends Western warmth and flat-out luxury, making it a perfect year-round base to explore the area’s riches.

Just over the divide from Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee Ski Resort extends across two mountains (one of which is devoted almost entirely to snowcat skiing, where runs are accessed by snow machines) on the western slopes of the Tetons. Receiving full-blast winter storms and averaging a whopping 500 inches (40 feet) of snow a year, it’s frequently cited as having the most (and best) snow in the U.S., making it one of skidom’s Holy Grails.