Jackson Hole's Old West Snow Country - Page 2
By Tom Kagy | 11 Jan, 2026

The lowest December snowfall in 30 years greeted us on arrival — but it all changed the next day.

The conversation informed us that Jackson's surprising affluence and sophistication was as much to serve residents who had found a way to enjoy full-time access to skiing and nature as much as well-heeled tourist spending freely to experience the same on an occasional basis.

The storied Jackson Hole Mountain Resort offers a fast aerial tram and a gondola to the climax runs on the eastern slope of Rendezvous Mountain about a 15-minute drive northwest of Jackson.  The pic below offers a more panoramic view of JHMR taken during our afternoon drive back to Jackson.  (Tom Kagy Photos)

The small plates of Spanish and Italianate dishes satisfied our palates perfectly.  We mixed and matched assorted plates for nutritional balance — burrata caprese, wild mushroom mozzarella, avocado lentil salad, patatas bravas and marinated steak skewers in tzatziki sauce, washing it down with prosecco and draft beer for a bit of holiday cheer.

Another ravishing Hallmark snow scene from the Inn on the Creek, blanked in fresh snowfall.  (Tom Kagy Photo)

Before long the table's right end turned over to a couple who appeared to be Chinese tourists.  They were talking quietly and we didn't intrude to satisfy our curiosity as to their origins.  

Our comfortable room at the Inn on the Creek featured excellent wi-fi, a pair of deep leather armchairs and a jacuzzi.  (Tom Kagy Photo)

By the time we finished dinner and began our walk back to the Inn Jackson Hole was quietly being dusted with snow and enveloped in a deep stillness that felt almost sacred.  The snow muffled everything.  The cold felt crisp and clean but made us glad that we had donned a couple of the layers we brought for skiing the next day.  And we were grateful for the Inn's restful coziness and blackout shades, as well as a well-functioning thermostat with which to set our sleep temperature to restore our travel-depleted energies for skiing in what was forecast to be blizzard conditions by the next afternoon.

To reach Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, the area's most famous ski resort, we drove west on Highway 22 for five minutes, then north up Moose Wilson Road for another ten.  The resort has a reputation that borders on myth.  This is the kind of place where beginners get hooked and experts get humbled.  Or vice-versa.  

It's a big busy resort.  We were herded into a big paid parking lot that required us to stop at a machine to make payment before heading up to the resort.  The big, imposing base area was encountered made us seek directions from one of many red-jacketed helpers to find the ski-rental facilities.  It was located on the upper level of the right-side of the multi-level complex.  The agglomeration of structures seems even bigger because of the Four Seasons Resort that occupies the right side of the complex when facing the slopes.  

The automated reservation system and friendly personnel made for an efficient process in getting fitted with boots and skis and securing the digital lift tickets to slip into the left sleeve pocket of our ski jackets.  

Jackson Hole has 2,500 acres of skiable area, 13 lifts and over 130 named runs.  It's ideal for advanced skiers as 50% of the runs are black diamond or double black diamond, with 40% blue or double-blue and 10% green.  And we quickly learned that the resort's run grading system was a bit more elitist than most.  So the runs were generally more demanding than expected, especially for an occasional skier like me who might get in a day of skiing per season.  

Facing the slopes, the left side of the mountain is mostly covered with black diamond or double-black runs.  The aerial tram to the peak of Rendezvous Mountain is only for those who can handle the expert runs from the peak.  The Bridger Gondola going up the center of the mountain to Rendezvous Lodge offers a mix of black and blue runs.

I started on the Teewinot Quad Chair on the right side for a couple of warmup beginner runs before taking it up again to ski across to the Apres Vous quad chairs that provide access to mostly blue and double-blue runs toward the right (as you face downhill) and a couple of black runs to the left.  

Despite the paucity of fresh natural snow the runs were good skiing, with no icy or hard-scraped patches.  The temperature had fallen to the teens but the forecast snowstorm hadn't yet materialized.  To help my poor vision in the shadows pervading the runs that time of day, I was able to raise my goggles atop my cap for several late morning runs.  

It was well after lunch, nearly mid-afternoon, when the promised storm moved in, heralded by some light flurries.  As the winds picked up the snow began stinging my eyes.  I reached for my goggles only to find they had slipped off during one of my wipeouts.  Squinting to make out the edges of a poorly-marked run through the obscuring snow and failing, I skidded out of bounds into deep drifts in an area of brush scrub pines.  I found myself tumbling and losing a ski that became wedged in deep snow.

I removed my other ski, yanked out the buried ski with difficulty, and began an arduous lateral trudge along the steep slope in the direction I hoped would take me to a groomed run.  With each step my legs sank a foot and a half into the drift, with my right leg, the uphill one, bearing the brunt of the effort.  

Skiers passing overhead on a quad chair spotted me bent over in exhaustion and promised to alert the ski patrol.  By the time the first of the patrol arrived, my right leg and fingers were cramping from carrying my skis along the lopsided traverse.  He patiently guided me through the scrub pine that obscured the remaining sixty yards to the edge of the run.