SeanG

I am planning on visiting Jackson Hole due to steep powder runs that my wife and I can cope with. A couple of friends want to come with us and learn to snowboard from scratch. Is Jackson too steep a resort to subject a beginner to? If anyone has been I would be interested to hear any views. Thanks.

MATTeL

I have skied there.

Good slopes from what I remember, the lower slopes would be great for learning on.

The American runs are much wider than the European Pistes. The quesues for chair lifts (only one T-bar when I was there) are orderly, quite a shock when you go from France and Austria to America.

I would imagine the ski/board instructers are good as well. I encountered a ski school and they sounded like they were getting good clear instruction.

The fact they generate more snow to put over worn areas is a nice touch and they also make great improptu jumps!

The more advanced run Black, Diamond and Double Diamond are much more interesting and very demanding in places.

SeanG

Thanks Matt, I've been riding in N. America a lot and am pretty experienced, in fact did a week heliboarding in Valdez, Alaska a few years ago. Jackson seems to have the reputation of being pretty hardcore and I would hate my friends to be too inexperiened to get the most out of the holiday due to being too scared. My wife and I would be off up the mountain enjoying the terrain and they might be getting pi$$ed off back at the hotel with broken bones....not a good way to keep friends when we have just talked them into coming away on holiday with us. I might try a more beginner friendly resort like Whistler

Brendan Hughes

Sean, I loved Banff/Sunshine/Lake Louise, been 3 times now, best VFM around. I hear from the Canadians that Whistler is getting horribly expensive and you cannot predict when the snow will be dry or wet. I'm inter rather than advanced - skiied my first double black a few months ago - but you have the option of Delirium Dive at Sunshine (transponders and avalanche gear only) or going off the back of Summit Platter at Louise, if you want hairy stuff. Instructors for beginners are fantastic as I, my wife and my son all agree. I won't go to Europe again.

BJH

gregh

skied there, great place, fine for learning. Get this book from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...938604-5321219

Main problems : if the snow is bad low down places like the Hobacks aren't open and the terrain for experts is limited.

Also a day trip to Grand Targhee is a must as is dog sledding.






greg

[Edited by gregh - 6/17/2002 6:08:56 PM]

[Edited by gregh - 6/17/2002 6:10:22 PM]

SeanG

Cheers Guys,

Brendan - I've been to Banff twice now and Whistler once, (also Fernie and Kicking Horse). Indeed both are good but Sunshine last January was awesome the 2 weeks we were there (a foot of fresh every night). I'm a bit too chicken to try out Delerium but the steep wall off Strawberry was very good and the runs down the left side of the hill from the top station in Norquay was 'interesting'. I am hoping to try a few new places. I'd like to try out Jackson and maybe Snowbird - anywhere with loads of powder will do though!!!

Greg - thanks for the encouraging words and the link

gregh

sean - just added some piccies to whet your appetite.

greg

gregh

btw I would rate places like La Grave and Alagna as good if not better due to bigger verticals. Trouble is you need a guide, whereas you can ski 'in bounds' at Jackson without a guide - but probably still kill yourself

greg

Mark Jackson

We did two weeks at Jackson Hole, superb, miles better than Europe (most of the places I have been anyway), plent of varied skiing, didnt have to queue with loads of Frenchies barging in either, well run and safe.

Did have a nasty moment with a moose (a real one, and no not the missus) when skiing (thats like boarding but with not oner but two lovely planks and some sticks to carry) between pistes (v quickly)

Have you ever body checked a Moose, no, not many have, I did and survived, maily cos it fell over in surprise, an American woman witnessed this from the chair lift had hysterics, both me and the Moose looked up at her, and if the Moose could have spoke, he would have said "Shut the f*ck up, and you call me a Moose ?"
He got up and ran of without giving me an even minor goring.

Handily placed for Jellystone (Yellowsone) national park, did a days snow mobiling which was very cool (70 mph on snow !)

Lovely wild west frontier feel to it, lovely eating places, try the Parkway inn where we stayed, not too expensive (comparitvely)
Very white middle class America though, lots of wealthy Americans in big n Chunky sweaters driving huge 4*4s
Go for it

kwiky

this one time at jacksons

don't cut the ropes we fked up and stayed the night in a snowhole i have never heard such strang noises think it might have been a yeti (or bear more likley)
i lived to tell the tale but stay in the ropes now
what was alaska like mail me kwiky1@hotmail.com i am looking to organise a stag do there in the future
all sponsered riders with avalanche training

SeanG

Kwiky, YHM

Brendan Hughes

Sean, how did you rate Fernie, for inters? And would you stay there for a whole 11 days, or is the town (forget the resort) too small?

SeanG

Brendan, Fernie is a excellent place, very uncommercial and compared to Whistler could be considered very quiet - more like the feel of Banff. We were pretty unlucky as we went in Jan 2001 and everywhere in the Rockies was having a drought - even then it had the thickest snowbase of all the Canadian resorts. They should have had a 10 metre base by end of January (which is huge), but that year there was only 1 metre. In january 2002 by comparison they were getting the 'normal' few feet per night.
We stayed in a condo on the ski hill, this area is known as Fernie Alpine Resort. There are a few bars and eateries and a supermarket. The town of Fernie is a couple of miles down the road but there is a free shuttle bus from FAR. Town is good but a little small, however it has all the usual shops, bars and resturants plus a cinema and ice hocky rink.

The resort is not as small as it looks from the piste map and even though we had very little new snow we didn't get bored over 11 days, however boarders seem to cope better with hitting the same run or jump over and over to try new tricks whilst a lot of skiers would rather clock up the miles so you could quite quickly track the place out is you speed around - I think the resort is maybe the size of Blackcombe mountain alone. There is a brilliant Fernie site run by a local at far.redtree.com with snow report archives etc.

AS far as intermediates are concerned there are a lot of challenging steeper runs and excellent tree runs, some very steep shutes that were closed due to lack of snow when we went and loads of easy cruising motorway type wide pistes. There is a good mix of all grade pistes from green to double blach diamonds.



[Edited by SeanG - 6/18/2002 10:24:48 AM]

gregh

sean,

one other thing, the jackson hole ski resort is miles from the town, I stayed at the bottom of the resort in the best western as getting up and skiing was more important to me than going out at night. There is little to do in the resort itself at night apart from the Mangy Moose (??). The actual resort has a tiny hill near the town.

greg