Help me decide where to ski this year. (Read 713 times)

I have to chime in and agree with Jackson Hole.  It is absolutely my favorite place to ski (and I used to live in Colorado and be an avid skier).  The mountain is huge and there is such a variety of terrain.  It has two mountains, Rendezvous and Apres Vous.  Apres Vous has a ton of easier stuff, while Rendezvous has a mix.  The best thing about Jackson Hole is that it has the most vertical of any ski area in the United States, so you can get on a long cruiser and just go on forever.  

 

As far as how challenging the terrain is, I think it is pretty true to other ski areas out west.  I found that it depends on snow conditions.  I was on a double black in Jackson Hole that was comically easy, I have been on blues that have absolutely handed my ass to me.  

 

So what about the six mile ride into Jackson?  It is worth it.  It is a cute town and there a bunch of  restaurants and bars (check out the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar). It is easy to catch a shuttle (pretty easy to hitch hike, too ).  I can try to look up the name of where I always stayed, but they have these pre-fab log cabins that have a full kitchen.  I've found that you end up saving money with these because you can make your own breakfast and dinner, plus keep sandwich fixins and pack a lunch for the day.

 

If you get a car, it is worth it to go ski at Grand Targhee one day.  They get absolutely dumped on.  There is usually a ton of powder there.  It takes maybe an hour or so to get there (you have to swing through Idaho).  It can get really foggy there in the afternoon, but the powder is worth it).

I think you just sold me. And the log cabin place is one of the options we were considering...looks super cute and seems to be a good value.  Thank you so much! That was very helpful!

Sweet jesus!

 or Sweet, Jesus! 

We have done a lot of skiing out west (lived in Dallas for 28 years so it wasn't that hard to get there by air or even driving).  I would not call Jackson Hole intermediate.  There are intermediate runs, for sure, but I find the runs fairly narrow, and I like more wide open terrain.  Also, Jackson is a little lower elevation than many of the other resorts and can get slushy and/or cold rain at the base if you go in early spring.  i DO agree with the Targhee recommendation- one of our very favorites.

We decided we liked Crested Butte the best.  The town is awesome- just big enough and quaint like Jackson.  The mountain has more than enough for all ability levels. You can fly to Gunnison and it's only 30 minutes up to Crested Butte by shuttle.  You don't need a car since there are free busses all the time.  It's very high elevation, so conditions are usually very good.  You can either stay up at the mountain (tons of lodging) or 3 miles down the hill in town (less lodging, but really fun). 

Corbet's Couloir

 

Yup.  I didn't feel the least bit bad about backing away from that.

Why not fly to Montrose and take the shuttle...or rent a car? 

Awesome....just booked. I I didn't know that airport was so close. Thanks!

Ok good to know! My husband got yelled at by ski patrol once for following me off piste and was told:  "Quite frankly, I'm not seeing the skill level here, buddy." It was pretty hilarious (for me) but emasculating (for him). So I try to pick places that will be challenging enough for me but where he can still enjoy himself without pushing his limits. He's a solid black diamond skier at most places, but I heard that in Jackson Hole, the blacks are more like double blacks and the blues are more like blacks. Did you find that to be true?

  I don't actually remember what the ratings were like. For me it really depends on the snow conditions and how broken up and bumpy things are. Sometimes diamonds are OK, other times I have to side slip down and that's no fun. It seemed like there were fairly reasonable slopes at Jackson Hole and the codes  were similar to what I'm used to. , but as other have said, those runs are looooong. I don't pay too much attenttion to the color codes- it's the snow conditions.  I saw Corbet (sp?) couloir from a distance and that was enough.