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Snow King Resort
Feels Like Home
by Ed Bushness
 Snow
King Resort has traditionally held the reputation of a small,
friendly ski area, popular among local residents and tourists
searching for a less-intimidating alternative to nearby behemoth
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
In recent years, however, the
King has proved itself a worthy training ground for international
world-class athletes.
Last winter, skiers from eight
countries around the world used Snow King’s slopes to train for the
2002 Winter Olympic Games in nearby Salt Lake City.
The training paid off for the
athletes: of the 30 medals awarded in alpine skiing at the 2002
Olympics, nine medals were won by athletes who prepared for the
games on the slopes of Snow King.
"Snow King did something that no
other small ski area has done," Snow King Ski Area Manager Jim
Sullivan said. "We’re still feeling the positive effects of last
year."
The resort began building its
reputation as a training ground for world-class ski racers in the
mid-1990s, when ski teams throughout Europe began training on Snow
King’s slopes in preparation for the North American World Cup ski
competition. Skiers from Norway, Finland, France, and Iceland could
be seen training on a north-facing strip of snow above the town of
Jackson in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. The same countries’
ski teams returned to Jackson for Olympic training, and so did teams
from the United States, Germany, Australia, and Spain.
Sullivan
said the teams were drawn to Snow King because of the similarities
in terrain between the ski area and the slopes of Utah, home to the
race courses of the World Cup and the Olympics. In addition,
Sullivan said, the dependable snow of Snow King’s north-facing
slopes and the convenience of a small resort mere blocks away from
the center of the town of Jackson held out great appeal to the
athletes.
 Those
same components make the King an attractive resort for Jackson
Hole’s visitors. Cold, dry snow on over 1,500 vertical feet of
versatile and eclectic terrain within walking distance of many of
Jackson’s hotels make Snow King a must-ski for visiting skiers.
The
resort features three main lifts: the Rafferty Double Chair, which
accesses 450 vertical feet of mostly beginner and intermediate
terrain; the Cougar Triple Chair, which rises 900 feet and accesses
intermediate and advanced slopes; and the Summit Double Chair, which
climbs 1,571 feet to several advanced slopes and some of the most
challenging expert ski trails of Wyoming. All three chair lifts, as
well as the terrain they service, provide stunning views of the town
of Jackson and the Tetons across the valley.
The Rafferty
Chair is an ideal area for families, with lengthy trails winding
across the fall line, interspersed with several short intermediate
and advanced pitches. A rope tow near the base of the lift services
a gentle beginner slope for first-timers.
The Cougar
Chair, built with the intention of providing easy access to the
advanced intermediate trails used for race training, services the
entire bottom half of the mountain. Skiers on the Cougar Chair can
revel in the ego-boosting fact that they’re skiing the same terrain
used for training by medal-winning international Olympic athletes.
Adventurous
skiers who feel that skiing the same terrain as world-class athletes
is not challenging enough will be more than satisfied by the Summit
chair. Three of the steepest trails skiers can find in-bounds at any
ski area - Bearcat, Lift Line, and Belly Roll - spill off the
summit, while two wider advanced runs - Elk and Grizzly - are
accessed by a short catwalk across the ridge of Snow King Mountain.
A short hike from the summit chair leads skiers to the S Chutes, two
short and twisty ungroomed trails that are technically out of bounds
but bring skiers quickly back to the maintained runs.
Snow King
has several other amenities not often found at larger resorts. King
Tubes, the region’s only snow tube park, is located at the base of
the ski area and is open afternoons and weekends. The area also has
a small terrain park, popular among the snowboarders that comprise
almost 50 percent of lift users.
The Cougar
Chair and Rafferty Chair are also open five nights a week for the
region’s only night skiing. Sullivan said skiing powder by night is
a unique experience, with the snowflakes reflecting and thus
magnifying the light from the lamps lining the trails. The powder
tends to stay lighter at night as well, Sullivan added, without the
sun to turn the snow into slop.
There is
rarely slop at the King, however, since the mountain faces north. As
a result, the snow remains dry and chalky long after many slopes at
neighboring ski areas have become wet and heavy.
The ski area
has the least-expensive lift ticket in the region at $32 for adults
and $22 for children 14 and under. A two-hour ticket, offered for
$15 for adults and $10 for children, provides a quick and economical
diversion for visitors spending the day exploring the town. Parking
is free and within a minute’s walk of the lifts on all but the
busiest days of the year at the ski area.
"We’re
trying to make it affordable," Sullivan said.
This season,
Sullivan expects to continue the trend of Snow King serving as a
training ground for racers. As of September 5, Norway, Finland,
Sweden, and Italy had already committed to using the resort for
early season training.
Sullivan
hopes to be busy in the coming year serving recreational skiers as
well as international athletes. After all, if Snow King is good
enough for Olympic athletes, it should satisfy any Jackson visitor.
Ed
Bushnell is a writer and editor living in Jackson Hole.
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