04-10 February 2024 Jackson Hole, WY
- claudianmurray
- Feb 11, 2024
- 3 min read
Jackson Hole is a beautiful ski resort on the far western border of Wyoming. It's near Grand Teton National Park and about 2 hours south of Yellowstone National Park.
On Saturday February 3rd, I flew from Albuquerque, NM through Denver to Jackson Hole. While in Denver I was lucky enough to have time to enjoy the new Capital One Lounge – gourmet breakfast, mimosas and floor to ceiling window views were a great way to spend my layover time.
Once in Jackson, our hosts were Dave and Michelle, friends of Randy's from medical school who have a condo right in town. Our first night there we walked from their condo into the town center, which became an evening ritual so that I could get my daily mile in. What an adorable town with lots of restaurants, bars, shops and a town Square that has a giant arch on each corner made entirely of elk antlers. Apparently elks lose their antlers every year and regrow larger sets, and the local Boy Scouts gather up the antlers that have been shed and they are auctioned off as a fundraiser. So unique!
The first morning (Sunday) we woke to a few inches of fresh powder .... little did we know that we would end up getting over 4 feet of fluffy powder snow that week. That first day was also the day that a moose chased some skiers down a run which was captured on video by a skier and went viral on social media. I have put a link to the article below – it's worth watching and is unbelievable that it happened here!
Our first apres ski day our hosts took us to an elk refuge where there were thousands of elk. I have put a video at the bottom of this post so that you can hear the sounds they all make-it was breathtaking. Being here is like being in a postcard. It's a good thing we went there the first day – it was the only evening where it wasn't snowing hard!
We spent the next few days skiing the vast terrain. Its a huge; 2,500 skiable acres and more than 4,000 feet vertical, with a peak elevation an oxygen deficient 10,450 feet above sea level. Unlike any ski area I have ever seen before, the giant pine trees between the different runs were often perfectly spaced so you could literally ski glades top to bottom. With each successive day we got more and more snow and spent more and more time skiing through knee deep (and increasingly deeper) powder in the woods. I have never skied in that much snow – it took me a couple of days just to start getting the hang of it. There was one point where I thought I could ski through a waist deep pile of snow near a tree and I got stuck – it took quite a bit of effort to get out!
Jackson Hoke has chairlifts, gondolas (up to 8 skiers) and a tram to the summit that holds 100 people. We tried them all and were even lucky enough to get into the only green gondola one morning.
Wyoming permits open containers so we made it a tradition to stop by the general store at the base that sells boozy slushies and everyone (except the driver) could enjoy one on the way home.
One evening we went to the art gallery of Thomas Mangelson - famous for his gorgeous nature images - especially bison! I always admire artists that have the patience to wait for nature to show us incredible things.
The below picture summarizes (validates) snow totals every day – as you can see we got 50 inches of snow during the week we were there (2/3-2/10) – epic!
I can't thank our hosts enough for an AMAZING week! We had so much fun both on and off the mountain - sad to have to leave.
To see the moose charging down the ski slope amongst the skiers click this link and then watch the video - it's unbelievable!
To see and hear the hundreds of elk at the elk refuge please click below - bet you'll be surprised at the sound they make - not what u was expecting:
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