JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. -- For too many skiers, Jackson Hole Ski Resort's reputation precedes it.
Jackson has long been known as the most challenging ski resort in the country, and there is a good argument for that. Half of the mountain's terrain is rated expert, it has one of North America's biggest vertical drops, and its Corbet's Couloir run routinely tops lists of scariest slopes.
But what is also true is that the resort has made a concerted effort to offer more for intermediate skiers than it did even five years ago.
I discovered this on a bright, blue-sky day here, when yellow paragliders flying high over the slopes presented an almost impossibly perfect picture of the mountain, sitting at the base of the jagged Teton Mountain Range, its peaks bathed in sunlight. There was a fresh layer of snow on beautifully groomed trails, and my East Coast skiing companion and I were giddy.
For years I had shied away from skiing in Jackson for fear that the mountain would be far too advanced for me. It's not. Beginner or green terrain makes up only 10% of Jackson, but 40% of the mountain is now intermediate, or blue, which according to Ski.com puts it right in the normal, if not above-normal, range. At Vail it's 29%, Breckenridge 31%, and Beaver Creek 43%.
The resort's owners decided to broaden its appeal by spending millions of dollars on expanding and enhancing its intermediate skiing terrain, with more capital improvements to come.
Intermediate ski terrain off the Casper Lift at Jackson Hole Ski Resort. Photo Credit: Johanna Jainchill
Perhaps the most important of those investments was the 2012 replacement of the old Casper chairlift with a high-speed one that cut travel time by two-thirds for skiers using intermediate runs. Blue trails were widened and better groomed. It was here where I happily spent most of my day.
These investments made good business sense. Most skiers in this country, like me, categorize themselves as intermediate.
"Destination resorts obviously rely on destination skiers each season, and the majority of destination skiers are intermediates," said Dan Sherman, Ski.com vice president of marketing. "The most sought-after demographic for skiers, for example, is the family, and families in particular are looking for resorts with a lot of intermediate terrain."
Of course, Jackson Hole rightly continues to be known for difficult trails.
"From a big mountain skiing perspective, there's nothing like it," Sherman said. "The recent focus on intermediate terrain, however, just makes the resort more appealing to more people. It's also nice for the skier who has every intention of skiing Jackson's famed expert terrain, but who might find themselves over their heads in places like Alta Chutes or Corbet's Couloir."