Ski Jackson Hole Accommodation

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If you're an adventurous skier and want a real American Wild West atmosphere, Jackson Hole is the place to go. Cowboys - genuine and 'dude' -roam the wooden sidewalks, fall out of saloons, play pool, and dance to country music. The tiny town is the only place for miles around for the ranchers to go. In summer there are staged gunfights every evening in the town square, underneath the elk antler archways. But in winter you're more likely to be killed by your own foolishness in the ski area 12 miles away. Jackson Hole has serious skiing for serious skiers -steeps, jumps, narrow couloirs, bumps. Fifty per cent of the skiing is classed as 'expert' terrain - black, double-black and even blacker. It takes a very good skier to get the most out of the area. It takes good snow too - so you've got to be lucky with the weather. Anyone below adventurous and competent intermediate standard may soon get bored with the skiing - the ski area is not huge, and much of it will be beyond their capability. But there's plenty else to see, including the beautiful winter wildernesses of the nearby National Parks of Yellowstone and Grand Teton.  The town of Jackson, a 15-minute drive away from the slopes, is a real 'cowboy' town, where skiers and ranchers meet in seemingly perfect harmony.

It is small and compact, with character-ful western saloons, wooden side-walks and good restaurants. Everywhere there are station-wagons and snow-mobiles, skis and stetsons, saloons and ski-bums -it's a strange mix and the effect is great. In among the cowboys and the log cabins there's now a sprinkling of upmarket galleries and downmarket souvenir shops. But, in winter at least, it retains a genuine Western feel. The ownership of the ski area changed a few seasons ago, when the founder, Paul McCollister, finally sold out after a lengthy and costly legal battle. The new owners have plans for upgrading some of the lifts. They are also working at changing Jackson Hole's image from that of a big, tough ski mountain to one that suits intermediate skiers and family groups as well, but it is still a big, tough ski mountain. Experts and good, adventurous intermediates will love the challenges on Rendezvous Mountain but, as yet, there's not enough skiing for the less bold. One big mountain, one small one What makes Jackson Hole famous is the one big mountain - Rendezvous. The cable-car ('Tram') to its peak provides a 1260m vertical drop - the biggest in the US - and serves terrain that's just riddled with chutes, cliffs, bumps and jumps. Signs saying 'experts only' tend to mean it. Apres Vous mountain is adjacent to Rendezvous. Its peak is 600m lower and it has mainly blue and a few green trails, as well as a handful of blacks. There's a half-pipe for snowboarders. Two double chairs are needed to get from the base area to the summit of Apres Vous - Teewinot and then Apres Vous.

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