Tips & Advice

The Skiing:

• The majority of the terrain is advanced with a Jackson Hole Black Diamond being the equivalent to a Breckenridge Double Black.
  

• Advanced skiers should always take a guide in the first couple of days as you will discover areas you would never find on your own
  

• Mountain hosts – great for intermediate skiers on your first day. These are really friendly locals that not only help orientate you on the slopes but also give you some of the local history and tips on where to ski and what to do around the area. They normally meet twice a day at 10am and 1pm at the base of the mountain.
  

• Intermediate skiers – Jackson offers beautiful scenery and some gorgeous groomed runs from the top of the Gondola. However to make the most of the ski area you should definitely plan to take some ski instruction to build your skills and confidence on the black diamonds. If you are mainly a groomed run skier and looking for a 14 night holiday, I would highly recommend doing a twin centre with Big Sky or Park City to offer you a larger variety.
  

• Grand Targhee – this is only 1 hour from Jackson and the resort offers day trips from these areas for $89 (including shuttle ride and lift ticket). This is a great little resort and gets the storms before Jackson so can get more snow. Also, because it only has a couple of small hotels, you can still find fresh powder here a couple of days after a storm, whilst Jackson Hole will be skied out.

Apres Ski and Night Life:

• The Mangy Moose on Teton Mountain is the focus of nightlife and après ski with great live bands on some nights.
  

• Happy hours – many of the bars in Jackson Town have après ski happy hours between 4 and 6pm. The best places to head for are the Silver Dollar Bar in The Wort or the Cowboy Bar, which is a must for a couple of nights.

Getting There:

• Jackson Hole is a 1 stop flight from London or 2 stops for other regional airports. With only a 15 to 30 minute transfer, the total travel time does work out similar to direct flight resorts such as Vail or Whistler
  

• Flights can route via Salt Lake City, which makes it easy to do a twin centre with Utah ski resorts.

Where to stay:

• Teton Mountain – this is where the majority of the luxury hotels are located as well as the condos. There are always benefits to being close to the lifts, but in general it will be more expensive than in Jackson Town. There are a few restaurants in the 5 star hotels, and Mangy Moose is the main focus for the nightlife, but you need to take the 25 minute shuttle to Jackson Town for more options.
  

• Jackson Town – this is not only where the cheaper accommodation is but also, as a historic cowboy town, it is where you get the most atmosphere. There is a much larger choice of shops, bars and restaurants. Most hotels also provide a private shuttle service to/from the slopes at 8:30 and back at 16:30 complimenting the town shuttle which runs throughout the day and costs around $3 per journey.

Ski Safari Options:

One of our most exciting Ski Safaris is to combine Jackson Hole with Big Sky Montana, only a 4hr stunning drive away through Yellowstone National Park - click here for details.  This way you can fly into Jackson and out of Bozeman and even stay a few nights in Grand Targhee en route.  Other options include making use of free flight stopovers to explore Utah.