When it is ski season, we hit the slopes as often as possible…and “Ski Week,” the week of Presidents Weekend, is one of those rare occasions when our daughters aren’t missing school to join us!!! Unfortunately, holiday timing can mean crowded resorts, increased fees and long ski lift lines. NOT AT JACKSON HOLE.
Our Keystone, CO Ski Week trip set the bar last year…and we’ve managed to find another spot that apparently the masses haven’t.
The last time I skied Jackson Hole was 2013. I remembered a cool downtown with lots of shops, restaurants and bars – that iconic square with the deer antler arches – and LOTS of back country skiing. We rented a giant house at the time, in Grand Targhee, that slept 14 people and we spent most of our time skiing “The Ghee” since Jackson Hole was an hour away by car.
10 years later, with a husband and a 6 and 7 year old, we opted to stay in Teton Village at Jackson Hole for the convenience of a hotel steps-ish from the base of Jackson Hole mountain. I booked a loft room for about $600 a night at the newly refurbished Continuum Hotel in October 2022 for our Feb 21-25 Ski Week vacation. Travel tip: we arrived into Jackson, WY on Tuesday AFTER the Monday Presidents’ Day holiday to skirt any potential long weekend crowd. www.continuumjh.com
United Airlines has a few direct flights from LAX to Jackson, WY and flies nonstop from many United hubs including Chicago, IL.
We pre-booked an airport transport service to drive us 45 minutes from Jackson Airport to our hotel. Our driver told us Ubers are pretty scarce and so are taxis in the area…and that to take a car service from Teton Village is $55 each way, standard fare. While I had wanted to show the kids downtown Jackson Hole, we made a quick decision to spend our trip in Teton Village after hearing that!!!
Hotels
The Continuum Hotel has a bar downstairs and a second level lobby lounge, plus an excellent restaurant. The rooms feature fireplaces and mini-kitchens with a microwave (no stovetop or oven) and fold out couches to accompany king or queen beds. Good for families. There is NO laundry in the room or onsite. On the recommendation of the hotel manager, my husband walked about 5 minutes to a hostel with a bunch of quarters to do our laundry on day 3. Not terrible, but also not terribly convenient as he had to wait for the cycles to finish at the hostel.
Also, Continuum overbooked the hotel and didn’t have our loft room available. They gave us the Continuum Studio Suite instead and it was adequate for our family of 4…but the kids were so disappointed as they’d been looking forward to the loft. We received about $900 back from the hotel on our final bill for the inconvenience, plus 4 drink tickets during our stay.
Our hotel won the cool factor award though. The vibe was very young and hip. On Friday night, the Black Crows ski apparel company landed at the hotel, transforming the restaurant into a ski-club atmosphere, complete with a DJ mixing on the balcony and a new extreme ski video premiering on the giant screen. Our daughters loved it! And, we enjoyed the drinks and vibe.
They’ll also store your skis/boards overnight for free.
There are SEVERAL hotel options in Teton Village, beyond the Hostel and the Continuum. Just expect prices to increase based on proximity to the Tram, 2 gondolas and 1 lift clustered at the base of the mountain. The further from the gondolas/lifts, the further to carry yours and your kids’ gear in the snow!
The Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole is, as to be expected, the priciest with the best location, amenities, food and service. For those families unwilling to spend over $1,500 per night for the entry-level room that sleeps 4 on double beds, there are FREE smores and hot chocolate on the pool patio, just behind the Moet & Chandon champagne igloo (not free, but totally awesome). We thoroughly enjoyed our perfectly made smores apres ski on day 4. www.fourseasons.com
The Caldera House might be worth exploring if you are going with a larger group. It features 2 and 4 bedroom suites plus sofa bed, washer/dryer and full kitchen for $2,000-5,000 per night and is located right next to the Tram and much closer to the gondolas and lifts than the majority of other options. The largest suite sleeps up to 12 guests. It’s like renting a home, but with the convenience of location in the Village. www.calderahouse.com
Rentals and Ski Tips
Skiing Jackson Hole is not for amateurs. I don’t say that to imply we’re experts…but to warn families that even the “easier” green runs are harder than average runs on other mountains AND to warn families that other skiers tend to ski faster and more aggressive than on other mountains. It’s a recognized issue. In fact, at the base of most lifts, a sign was posted with the headline “She was 5, you were going 50” with a story of a 5 year old killed by an adult skier going too fast. It was a good lesson to our daughters to ski more defensively and pay attention to others around them. We emphasized looking uphill before making a move, stopping on the mountain in areas where others can see you and skiing in a tighter line down the mountain instead of traversing the run. Just be careful!
For rentals, there are many options in Teton Village. We went to Nomad Sports to rent skis/boots/poles. They were very helpful with a large selection of skis/boards. Travel tip: get gear either right before closing or right at opening to avoid lines. www.nomadsjh.com
We stored our boot bag daily in the yurt next to the Tram station on the way to the lifts/gondola. It’s free, but there aren’t lockers. Changing into snow boots at the yurt for the commute to the Continuum made carrying the family’s skis/poles/boots much easier.
Restaurants
No need for a car to go to dinner at Teton Village. There are multiple restaurants to choose from and they’re all walkable. So convenient! There is also an ice-skating rink in the village, the ice-sculpture playground and several bars.
Two words: Mangy Moose. Perfect for families. It’s a huge restaurant decorated with old movie posters on the ceiling and mountain lodge staples. www.mangymoose.com
We picked up breakfast foods from the mini grocery store on the basement level of Mangy Moose and ordered excellent take-out pizza from the restaurant also on the basement level of the Moose for dinner one of the evenings.
We also ate fondue at Alpenhof Lodge. I thought this would be a fun adventure…don’t let their smiles fool you. They didn’t love it and I forgot how totally unhealthy and crazy expensive fondue is: Cheese, bread and meat! We grabbed dinner from the mini grocery store afterwards. http://www.alpenhoflodge.com
On the day we left, we had lunch at RPK3 next to the Tram. Expect gourmet burgers, sandwiches…great quality. www.jacksonhole.com/rpk3
There are also good food selections at restaurants on the mountain including ramen at Rendezvous Alpine Kitchen at the top of the gondola.
For a listing of all restaurant options and locations, just Google the Teton Village Map.
Final Thoughts
We loved Jackson Hole because…
Challenging ski terrain
Awesome walkable village with everything: ski/eat/shop/sleep
Not crowded, even during traditional ski week!
We may not go back to Jackson Hole until the kids are older because…
Other skiers were often skiing down fast and aggressive; this is the only mountain I’ve been truly afraid my kids would get taken out by another skier!
Carrying all the ski gear from resort to gondola/lift and back everyday was inconvenient
Much of the mountain is “back country” skiing and rated expert-only, limiting our skiable terrain
We Don’t Sit Still 