JACKSON HOLE’S GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY
Majestic mountain gem turns 50, and the sky’s the limit
As the gateway to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Jackson, Wyo., is coming off a record tourism year as travelers celebrated the centennial of the National Park Service. Yellowstone, the nation’s first official park, in particular drew huge crowds. But just down the road another milestone took place as Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, arguably the world’s top independent, family-owned ski resort, turned 50.
The semicentennial comes on the heels of years of aggressive reinvestment and improvement at the resort and in town, including significant on-mountain improvements for the 2016-17 ski season. As Jackson Hole, long nicknamed The Big One, enters its second half-century, the resort and its namesake town are better positioned than ever to welcome winter (and summer) tourists.
The Big One refers to both the immensity of terrain and the highest vertical drop of any ski resort in the USA, more than 4,100 feet. The breadth, height, rugged exposed vertical cliff bands and many extreme movies filmed here have always given Jackson a rarefied air as a daunting “expert” mountain. But there is plenty of skiing for every ability, and it is a surprisingly good place for firsttimers to learn.
That’s largely attributable to the owners, the Kemmerer family, which bought the resort in 1992 and quickly kicked off decades of investment. In the more than 20 years since, the family has spent more than $150 million, added six chairlifts and two gondolas, and replaced the Red Sled, the iconic aerial tram that soars from base to peak. Last winter saw a new chairlift and on-mountain restaurant, Piste Mountain Bistro.
For this coming season, the big addition is the $10 million Sweetwater Gondola, which marks the first phase of a dramatic expansion of the ski school. Sweetwater will significantly increase capacity out of the base area, and it will later access a new dedicated teaching area and facility. WELCOME TO TETON VILLAGE Teton Village is the ski resort’s base area, where those seeking ski-in/ski-out lodging and easy access to the slopes choose to stay. While it has far less to offer in terms of lodging, dining and shopping than the actual town of Jackson, choices have grown significantly in recent years, and it has evolved into more of a true village.
“Food is also a real attraction,” says Kathryn Noyes, an avid skier and physician who first came to Jackson after college to teach skiing in 2001, then returned after her residency to join a practice in town. “Some of my favorite restaurants are now in Teton Village: Teton Thai, Osteria and the Spur. You can also grab a drink for happy hour at the top of the gondola.”
Teton Village is home to the most luxurious area hotels, including the Four Seasons Jackson, one of only three Forbes 5-star ski-in/out hotels in the nation. The resort also offers an assortment of ski-in/ski-out rental homes and condos in a variety of sizes and prices.
Jackson itself, or “Town” as it is known, is 12 miles from the ski resort and Teton Village, and the biggest choice faced by winter visitors is where to stay. The Village gives easy access to lifts and trails, but Town has more of everything tourists seek out, especially charm. It’s not a hard commute, due to a user-friendly bus system, and many hotels operate their own shuttles. Jackson has Old West flair and history, and it’s full of art galleries, unique shops, tour operators and hotels and restaurants. Some of the more famous must-visits include the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, where barstools are topped with saddles, and the Silver Dollar Bar, where the drinking surface is inlaid with more than 1,000 uncirculated 1921 Morgan silver dollars.
“I moved to Jackson in 1996 and have seen the area grow tremendously since I first arrived,” says Gavin Fine, a chef who owns several popular area restaurants in Town and Teton Village, including a popular tapas and wine bar, Bin 22. “Besides the significant upgrades Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has invested in, which have improved on-mountain dining options and increased intermediate terrain, the entire valley’s offerings have grown.
“While we’ve grown, a great deal of time and attention has been spent maintaining Jackson’s authenticity, which I believe is clear to anyone who comes here.” WHERE THE WEALTHY ROAM Jackson also has proved increasingly popular with wealthy second-home owners, and upscale golf communities have grown around the region. Longtime resident and former vice president Dick Cheney was joined by buyers such as financier Charles Schwab to golfer Tiger Woods, many of whom also came for the region’s famed fly-fishing.
All sorts of non-skiing activities are offered, including winter “snowcoach” tours of Yellowstone and Old Faithful when the park is much less crowded. Snowmobiling is incredibly popular, with numerous tour operators and rentals. Nordic skiing is offered in several places, including guided trips into Grand Teton National Park. Another popular activity is the horsedrawn sleigh rides through the National Elk Refuge, winter home to thousands of elk, which you can view up-close.
Even the airport — the nation’s only commercial one within a national park — has risen on the tides of the area’s growth. Two years ago it completed a $30 million renovation and expansion that added new longhaul non-stop flights. One of the most accessible and userfriendly airports in skiing — it’s just 8 miles from town — it is also more reliable, landing larger planes less affected by mountain weather.
Longtime resort president Jerry Blann is proud that the expansion has been done “in a manner that’s kept the spirit of Jackson Hole the way it’s always been. ... We will never have 1-millionskier days, our guest experience will not become industrial, and we will never experience the sort of sprawl you see in other ski destinations.
“Jackson will remain wild and adventurous and true to our character.”