Grand Targhee/Jackson Hole, WY - 1/10-1/13/14

I used up some miles that were going to expire and went out to Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole. We stayed with an Australian that people who ski at Gore might know. His new place in Driggs, ID is pretty decent. Targhee was about 20 minutes away and Jackson Hole was about 40. If I had to do it again, I'd magically have more money and I'd stay at Teton Village at the base of Jackson Hole, and I'd ski there 3 days and Targhee 1.

Targhee was cool, but a lot of the areas on the mountain felt similar to other areas on the mountain. Trees, open bowls, trails, they all seemed to blend together in a haze. Nobody would really say: this part of the mountain is skiing great, but that other part of the mountain isn't skiing well at all. It was all great the first day (12" new), but all mediocre the second day (4" new, but a rain crust under that 4" and on top of the 12"). All in all, Targhee was a good place to check out, but you get a pretty good sense of it after skiing it for one day. Pics from Day 1:





The bar at Grand Targhee is really awesome and there was a great Mexican restaurant in Driggs, but I can't remember the name of it. Not really mush to say about the town. The population is like 3,000 or something and it seemed like a lot of people had summer homes there that were left empty in the winter.

Jackson was incredible. I had been there in the Summer and assumed that it was awesome to ski, and I was exactly right. The right side of the trail map (skier's far left) can be pretty much ignored. Low angle, meadow skipping pow lines - cool, but not exactly what we came to Jackson for. We had out best luck off of the Sublette, Thunder, and Casper lifts (and would have had more luck if sidecountry lines weren't closed for avalanche danger). It had snowed another 12" for our first day in Jackson and 8" for our second day, so we were pretty much loving life.

It was very crowded on Sunday (hour long tram lines, 30 minute Gondy lines), but really nice on Monday. The crowds are interesting. Lots of good skiers, but lots of bad skiers, too. Tons of people on those new Rossignol skis. I guess if you put a ski on the cover of Ski Magazine, everyone has to have it. Everything got tracked out pretty fast on Sunday (except for the trees), but Monday we were able to find untracked lines all day.

Like many western resorts, the trees are the best place for untracked pow. Not a lot of people skiing trees at either Jackson or Targhee, and the ones that do don't ski as close as I do. Blame it on eastern upbringing, I guess, but if there's untracked snow and I have to duck a branch to get to it, I'm ducking that branch.

Here's a pic from Jackson:



I didn't take a ton of pics from this trip for a few reasons: 1. I was having too much fun skiing 2. It was gray and cloudy and/or snowing the whole time and visibility wasn't great 3. I didn't want to be a buzzkill and ask everyone to stop so I could take their pictures. I did manage to make a GoPro edit. Enjoy:

Grand Targhee/Jackson Hole, WY from Matt Charles on Vimeo.

THAT is really cool!  Way to represent Matt.

mattchuck2 wrote

 Not a lot of people skiing trees at either Jackson or Targhee, and the ones that do don't ski as close as I do. Blame it on eastern upbringing, I guess, but if there's untracked snow and I have to duck a branch to get to it, I'm ducking that branch.

 
Either that, or eastern skiers don't know about the danger of tree wells.

Looks like you guys had a good time. Wind seemed to be a lot less of an issue than it was here.

tBatt wrote

 
Either that, or eastern skiers don't know about the danger of tree wells.

so they should sue as the other incident referenced is doing

Thanks for sharing Matt!  (Made my day.  Actually was cold enough here  to make my day at the office enjoyable. )

TD

Nice!

Hostel X still standing?  Loved that place!  It was like 50 bucks a night.  

I really liked Targee when I was there.  Very chill w/ great snow and an unbelievable view of the Tetons!  

Hope you don't fall into a tree well. I would imagine that is why people stay away from the trees.

Hi to Dean and LeeAnn!

When I heard they were going out there, I considered that as a potential western trip for this year. But JH is really the place to ski, and that would have made the costs too high for me to manage this year.

I got invited to Steamboat this year to stay with friends. They are making it possible for me to go on a vacation this year. lift tickets at Steamboat are $119 a day at the ticket window! Lift tic costs are really through the roof out west. They are so expensive that they don't even list the ticket price on the Jackson Hole website.

Looks stellar, MC.

Powderqueen wrote

I got invited to Steamboat this year to stay with friends. They are making it possible for me to go on a vacation this year. lift tickets at Steamboat are $119 a day at the ticket window! Lift tic costs are really through the roof out west.

I dunno, it's a fancy place. If you were going just for a cheap day ticket there are also other options. Taos, $77, Solitude, $74, Monarch, $65, Wolf Creek, $58....

Since you have the lodging already, you could get a cheap day in at Snowy Range ($43) or something if you wanted to check that out. Or spend that 2 hours going somewhere else in Colorado.

But at least they've been having an awesome year.

Lift tix were $110 at Jackson Hole, but luckily, my PSIA discount knocked it down to $63. Also got a discount at Targhee.

We didn't get any views the whole time we were there. Clouds, snow, and wind. We would have liked to see, I guess, but we weren't complaining because the snow was great.

Been to Jackson a few times to hike/climb/backpack, but never to ski.  JHMR is at the top of my list of places I need to ski.

Stowe is charging 98 for walk up..110 for Jackson Hole..sounds like good deal..

The stronger a skier's skillz, the more likely he or she will want to spend no more than a day at Grand Targhee. I've skied three straight days there and didn't get bored, but a foot or more of powder every day helps. If you get the chance, their snowcat operation is a fun time and a great deal before Xmas, but once again, all blue-square terrain, so probably not of tremendous interest to MC2.

Did you hear any local news about Snow King: is it hanging on?