Things to Do in Jackson Hole in Winter: A Private Chef's Local Guide

Jackson Hole is our biggest Wyoming market from Thanksgiving to closing day, and the question guests ask most often, right after the menu, is what to do with the hours they are not on the mountain. This is the answer we give at the table, from a team that spends real winters in the valley. Summer gets its own short list at the end.

When to come, and what the calendar looks like

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort usually opens around Thanksgiving and closes in early April, and the valley gets some of the deepest, most consistent snow in the country. Christmas week and Presidents' Day weekend are the two peaks. January and February are the cold, deep, quiet weeks locals like best, with the elk refuge sleigh rides running and Grand Teton National Park nearly empty. The holiday weeks bring the lighting of the antler arches on Town Square and the torchlight parade at Teton Village.

Two mountains, and which one is yours

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village is the big one: the aerial tram to the top of Rendezvous Mountain, 4,000 vertical feet, Corbet's Couloir for the photo, and long steep runs that made the resort's reputation. It is an expert mountain with a real beginner area at the base and plenty of blue cruising off the gondola and the Casper lift, so a mixed family works, but strong skiers are the ones who come back every year. Snow King, right in town, is the local hill: short, steep, night skiing under lights, and the sledding and tubing hill at the bottom. Grand Targhee, over Teton Pass in Idaho, is the powder day trip when the Village is busy.

Town sits at 6,200 feet and the tram tops out above 10,400. Take the first day slowly, drink more water than feels necessary, and save the tram laps for day two or three.

Beyond the lifts

The elk refuge. Thousands of elk winter on the National Elk Refuge at the edge of town, and the horse-drawn sleigh rides out into the herd run daily from mid-December through early April. It is the one thing on this list every visitor should do once.

Grand Teton on skis. The Teton Park Road closes to cars in winter and is groomed for classic skiing, skate skiing and snowshoeing, with the range straight ahead the whole way. Rentals are in town and at the Village, and the Turpin Meadow and Trail Creek Nordic centers groom their own systems.

Yellowstone in winter. The south entrance is an hour north, and guided snowcoach and snowmobile days into the geyser basins run from Jackson all winter. It is a full day and a cold one, and it is the trip people talk about for years.

Town Square. Downtown Jackson is a walking town in winter: the antler arches lit up, the galleries and the National Museum of Wildlife Art on the hill above the refuge, skating at the Town Square rink, and dog-sled tours leaving from the valley for the group that wants a bigger day.

A winter day that works

Tram or gondola up by nine, ski until the legs say stop, and ride back down to the Village for a late lunch. Spend the afternoon on the elk refuge sleigh ride or the Teton Park Road on skis. Be back at the house when the light goes pink on the Tetons, because that is when dinner should already be underway.

Then let dinner come to you

Here is the local truth: Jackson's restaurants are excellent and few, and on a ski week the reservations vanish and nobody wants to drive the twenty minutes between the Village and town after dark. The best dinner in the valley on a winter night is the one at your own lodge. A private chef in Jackson Hole builds the menu around your group, cooks in your kitchen while everyone is still in ski socks, serves at your pace, and leaves the kitchen spotless. For the bigger house, Jackson Hole catering covers reunion dinners and ranch weekends at the same all-inclusive standard. Christmas week has its own guide: a private chef for Christmas week in Jackson Hole, and the best dates for it go by November 15.

The summer short list

Grand Teton's Jenny Lake and Cascade Canyon, a float on the Snake River, the tram up for the view and the waffles, the rodeo on Wednesday and Saturday nights, and the drive into Yellowstone before the crowds are up.