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hollyberry

Putting on skis
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Baltimore, MD
Hey!

My husband and I are taking a VERY short trip to Jackson Hole March 2-5 (skiing the 3rd and 4th only.) We each have 2 days at JHMR on our Mountain Collective Passes and a free companion flight from Delta, so we didn’t want to let it go to waste. Any suggestions for fun, not crazy $$$$ things to do in town the Saturday we arrive? We want to experience the local vibe. We won’t have a car, but will be staying at the Motel 6 in downtown, which is somewhat centrally located. What are the must-ski runs? Best glades? Hope the snow will be OK while we’re there. Someone warned me not to go during Spring Break (late March) because they said that the upper mountain might be closed by then.
 

raytseng

Making fresh tracks
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Just walk around the square and look into the shops, poke into the million dollar bar or any other watering hole that looks interesting.
Bring extra après clothes as it can be cold walking around.


FYI, bring your big mtn skis. If your skis are not working well and the mountain is beating you up; go to the on-mtn demo tent and get something they recommend for the conditions to help you. It is relatively cheap, i think $5/hr (and usually they round some minutes down for you).
 

tch

What do I know; I'm just some guy on the internet.
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What level skiing are you looking for? JH tends to be steep, so recommendations depend a lot on experience/skill.

And, look at forecast: I went last year, last week of Feb...and got a storm with 13" of fresh. While the skiing was great low down, lots of folks warned me not to take the tram in those bad visibility conditions -- esp. since I didn't know the mountain. I stuck to the chairs which deliver you to treeline, and I'm glad I did, as I sometimes had only 100' of visibility.
 
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hollyberry

hollyberry

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What level skiing are you looking for? JH tends to be steep, so recommendations depend a lot on experience/skill.

And, look at forecast: I went last year, last week of Feb...and got a storm with 13" of fresh. While the skiing was great low down, lots of folks warned me not to take the tram in those bad visibility conditions -- esp. since I didn't know the mountain. I stuck to the chairs which deliver you to treeline, and I'm glad I did, as I sometimes had only 100' of visibility.
I ski the whole mountain- steeps, moguls, trees, some less intense chutes, etc. I know Corbett’s Couloir is famous, but I don’t think I have the guts to try that one!! I would be game for most other stuff that is not “extreme” per se. Mainly trying to find out where the best tree skiing is, since I feel like that’s what I usually discover only at the end of a multi-day trip!!
 
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hollyberry

hollyberry

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Just walk around the square and look into the shops, poke into the million dollar bar or any other watering hole that looks interesting.
Bring extra après clothes as it can be cold walking around.


FYI, bring your big mtn skis. If your skis are not working well and the mountain is beating you up; go to the on-mtn demo tent and get something they recommend for the conditions to help you. It is relatively cheap, i think $5/hr (and usually they round some minutes down for you).
Worth bringing powder skis? My ‘regular’ skis are Blizzard Vivas and my wide skis are Fatypus E-motion’s.
 

raytseng

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Bring whatever you have that is best that can eat up rugged terrain, because it is rugged and your legs will be working.
You don't need to make the call on powder skis until you get within the forecast window for your trip; but again they have a really good demo tent so can set you up if things aren't working.

Even on a powder day, potentially you just need powder skis for a couple hours since it may get all skied out unless you're a local expert and know all the stashe. So demo tent is your friend again to get a powder setup for just 2hours and $10 then back to your allmtns (or try something else they recommend)
 
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jmeb

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No trip to Jackson is complete without:

- Tram laps. At least one for every Hoback.
- a Headwall hike. Skiing either Headwall, or Casper.
- Plenty of time on Sublette, Thunder and Teton chairs. (Teton is high speed and can destroy your legs in just an hour or two.)
- après in the Mangy Moose: arguably the most iconic ski bar of in the US.
 

jgiddyup

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The Motel 6 (which I've stayed at) is not even close to walking distance to Town Square. It's not in a bad location at all, but you'll need to take the bus to the Town Square area which is fun to walk around and explore.

If the snow is good the mountain is your oyster. If it's not I feel for you as I've experienced both with good currently winning 4 to 1.
 

tch

What do I know; I'm just some guy on the internet.
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The Motel 6 (which I've stayed at) is not even close to walking distance to Town Square. It's not in a bad location at all, but you'll need to take the bus to the Town Square area which is fun to walk around and explore.
True. Town is car or bus.
 

oldfashoned

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No trip to Jackson is complete without:

- Tram laps. At least one for every Hoback.
- a Headwall hike. Skiing either Headwall, or Casper.
- Plenty of time on Sublette, Thunder and Teton chairs. (Teton is high speed and can destroy your legs in just an hour or two.)
- après in the Mangy Moose: arguably the most iconic ski bar of in the US.
The Mangy Moose, Yards of ale and Rock Mountain Oysters.
Good times. Haven't been back to JH since 90' and I'm sure much has changed, but if the Mangy Moose is still serving, got my Ikon pass ready!
 
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hollyberry

hollyberry

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Bring whatever you have that is best that can eat up rugged terrain, because it is rugged and your legs will be working.
You don't need to make the call on powder skis until you get within the forecast window for your trip; but again they have a really good demo tent so can set you up if things aren't working.

Even on a powder day, potentially you just need powder skis for a couple hours since it may get all skied out unless you're a local expert and know all the stashe. So demo tent is your friend again to get a powder setup for just 2hours and $10 then back to your allmtns (or try something else they recommend)
Heh... demo tents are dangerous for me. Last time I demo-ed skis that’s how I ended up with the Fatypus powder skis! They were previous season clearance, but still.. impulse buy! ; p
 

Crank

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Silver Dollar at Wort Hotel is worth checking out. Great western art in the hotel lobby and usually live music and swing dancing in the bar. Million Dollar Cowboy Bar of course. Bubba's BBQ, get the St Louis ribs. Mangy Moose for après.

We were there first week of March a couple of years ago and were lucky enough to get some snow. However even with that most of the mountain was scratchy underneath... However the top had more snow and was skiing really well. Take the tram up and stay up skiing Thunder and Sublette lifts for trees and, hopefully, the best snow. From the bottom of Thunder we were mostly taking groomers down... wouldn't have been much fun skiing the Hobacks.
 

Beartown

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Day of arrival, I'd check out the elk preserve. you can take a horse-drawn sleigh ride out among the elk (7000 at last count). There are also often bison, coyotes, eagles, etc out there. Very neat to get so close to the elk. Here's a pic I took:

fullsizeoutput_19e1.jpeg
 

graham418

Skiing the powder
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Pay attention to where the "drip line" is. I find it more noticeable at Jackson than any other resort. You can pretty much draw a horizontal line across the trail map. Above is fluffy, below is hard like rock . It seems to vary as to how high it is on the mountains.
 

Crank

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Worth bringing powder skis? My ‘regular’ skis are Blizzard Vivas and my wide skis are Fatypus E-motion’s.

Just keep an eye on the weather and make a game time decision. Like said above you can always rent some fatter boards.
 

ella_g

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Dec 4, 2016
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@hollyberry motel 6 is a great location for the bus because every bus passes through the Kmart plaza, it will come about every ten minutes. The mountain should be skiing great first week of march .. Id bring both pairs of skis so you don't have to deal w/ demos etc, but that's just me. Half the time when the forecast says it will snow, it doesn't, and half the time when there's nothing you'll get a bunch of new snow up high. All the rest of the suggestions are great. Sun night if you're not too tired Sunday Church at the stagecoach in Wilson (you can take the bus) is super fun, big night of dancing, great crowd. The moose is always fun. If you like sushi King Sushi is shockingly good for a ski town in Wyoming but make your reservation now. For tree skiing, we like the Hobacks and all the glades off Thunder. If you lap thunder all day you'll have a good time! Also I agree w @jmeb don't miss hiking the Headwall. If you get annoyed waiting for the bus, uber has become pretty reliable, and almost all the cars have a roof rack or some way to carry skis. Have fun!!
 

Living Proof

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Avalon - On The Way to Cape May
I've stayed at Motel 6, but, not having a car, the location is not in the town center. A suggestion is to check out the rates of the 49er inn which is located in the center of town. One advantage of 49er is the provide a dedicated shuttle to and from Teton Village, and, that shuttle is much quicker to the mountain. Call them directly for a reservation and verify the shuttle still runs. They may have slightly discounted tickers, ask. The "Start" bus, the public shuttle makes a lot for stops and can be very crowded.

Jackson is an east facing mountain, the snow conditions are not easily predicted, and determined by the weather pattern prior to your stay. If no new snow, the front face can be firm.

Don't obsess, if I could only spend a couple days in a western area, JH just might be the top choice. The last little bit of the old west.
 

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