An hour's drive from Jackson Hole is a smaller local hill called Grand Targhee. It can't match J-Hole's vertical or sheer size, but if you're in the area, don't overlook its advantages.
For one, because of a quirk in geography, when it snows at Jackson Hole, it can often snow even more at Targhee. On average, it records 12 metres of snowfall a season.
And thanks to its smaller size, reduced accessibility – the drive is a circuitous route that runs west into Idaho, north, and then east back into Wyoming – and fewer on-site amenities, the crowds are limited and the powder stashes stick around longer.
On a recent trip to Wyoming, we took a daytrip to Targhee. We weren't disappointed.
We spent the day cruising the easy-to-navigate hill – you can practically see every run from the base area – consistently finding fresh lines.
It's not steep and it's not particularly challenging, but there's a good variety of terrain, and the skiable surface area is big enough that there are spots that, after a sizable snowfall, remain virtually untracked for a few days.
We enjoyed some deep-snow tree runs, a chute or two, a creek bed that seemed to go on forever, and more than a few open fields with fat powder chunks that were mysteriously untouched.
If you've got the time, it's worth the drive. But don't tell the locals I sent you.
Lift tickets from $69 (U.S.) adults, $29 children; grandtarghee.com.
Sean Stanleigh