Do you ever get back from a vacation and as you think back through it you find yourself smiling? That’s how I feel about our recent Jackson Hole trip. It was a dreamy winter wonderland full of a perfect balance of activity and relaxation.
Our trip was in partnership with Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, which is a dream partnership for me, as we love skiing, visiting new destinations, and getting to share the experiences with you. We were in Jackson in summer of 2021 and I fell in love with the Tetons, so seeing them in their winter glory and skiing on the adjacent majestic mountains left me in awe.
Consider this post like a family memory booking, sharing the details and highlights of our trip. In a follow up post, I’m answering all the questions I received about the trip on IG and sharing my best tips for a family ski trip to Jackson Hole. If you have a question that isn’t answered here, please let me know. I’d love to help you navigate your own planning of a wintery trip to this beautiful place.
Day 1
We flew from CLT to ATL, then straight into Jackson. We disembarked the plane to a temperature of 4 degrees and snow! We got a taxi for the 30 minute ride to Teton Village, checked into our hotel, then walked the 5 minutes to JH Sports to get our boots, skis, and poles. It was a quick and easy rental fitting and they offer storage right there at store/base so we left our skis and poles with them. We dropped our boots in the room and spent time playing in the adorable ice castles mid-village before grabbing dinner at The Mangy Moose.
Day 2
Brr! We woke up to gentle snow and 1 degree weather. 1 degree! Because of this, we eased our way into the day. Hailey journaled, we got breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and braided hair before gearing up and finally heading to the slopes around 10:00. I was actually surprised it didn’t feel as cold as I expected. We decided to warm up our legs on a a couple of the gentle green runs at the base. The kids went slowly as they remembered how to pizza through turns, but it went really well; they were excited to be back on the mountain!
We went inside for a warm up just before noon, then met an instructor at 1:00 for an afternoon semi-private lesson for the kids with Nate the Great. While Hailey and Kaitlyn went off on their lesson, David and I had a ball exploring the mountain. The snow truly glittered and the fresh powder (50″ within 48 hours) was magnificent. The only down side was when we accidentally ended up on a long double blue (which there is referred to as a “Vail black”- ha) that was all MOGULS. Not my fav. We made it down though to some smiling kids that had a great afternoon lesson of weaving through trees (their fav!) with Nate the Great.
Back a the hotel we checked out the heated pool, the adults on hot tub on the roof, then ordered pizza from the restaurant for the kids while David and I had a date night. We are at the point where we can leave the kids clean and cozy with a movie and some food and they are happy as clams,
David and I walked to The Four Seasons and enjoyed an app and a drink, both excellent, then walked to Corsa for a brick oven pizza. It was such a fun night!
Day 3
After eating oatmeal in the room we met Nate the Great for the girls second half-day lesson. David and I skied all over the mountain that morning then sneaked in a lunch date midmountain before meeting up with the girls, who were all excited about their progress, at noon.
We decided to wait the 30-40 minutes to ride the famous 100-person Aerial Tram up to the top of the mountain to get the much-talked-talked-about waffles at Corbet’s Cabin. The kids didn’t love being packed into the tram and arrived wide-eyed to a very snowy scene at the top of the mountain, but I’m glad we checked the box on this “must do” item. The coffee and nutella waffle were delicious and the ride back down in a much less crowded tram we incredible! It’s only expert terrain from the top, so riding it back down was the best option for us.
We finished off the day weaving through the trees, chasing the kids. That night we had dinner at The Spur in the hotel, where a MOOSE casually walked by with her baby and snuggled into an adjacent snowbank. I got a terrible picture because David wouldn’t let me get any closer 😉
Day 4
On this day we had planned to switch things up and go snowmobiling as a family for the first time. Our bruised shins and tired legs welcomed the break! I had booked our experience through Old Faithful Snowmobiles and highly recommend them.
We took an Uber from Teton Village into Jackson at 7:00 AM and it only took about 20 minutes. The guides suited us up in warm gear then we rode in the van with our guide and our fellow 5 riders about an hour north, into Grand Teton National Park and Grand Teton Forest. There our snowmobiles were lined up to go. Kaitlyn rode with me and Hailey rode with David. What an adventure!
It was my first time on a snowmobile and it was harder to steer than I anticipated. I was expecting it to be like a jet ski, but it took more focus and muscle, especially when half our trail unexpectantly turned out to be ungroomed and very bumpy. Still, I’d do it 100x over. We lucked out with a GORGEOUS day and seeing Teton Forest in such a unique way was incredible.
We rode to Brooks Lake Lodge, which might as well have been plucked straight from the North Pole or a children’s fantasy book or a snow globe. It looked unreal. The girls were overjoyed when a vizsla welcomed us at the door and we proceeded to enjoy a delicious lunch and conversation in a gorgeous timber lodge. Definitely a trip highlight!
We snowmobiled back after lunch, stopping at overlooks for pictures, and arrived back in Jackson around 5:00, happily exhausted. We ate a delicious Italian dinner at Calico on our way back to Teton Village and crashed hard into bed that night.
Day 5
Suddenly it seems, we arrived at our last day. We all picked something we wanted to make sure we did during the day. The girls had gotten more confident in their skiing and Hailey chose to do the jump. There are a couple terrain parks on the mountain and we had fun doing a few of the gentle jumps. We also went on a couple blues, Kaitlyn’s request.
It was gently snowing all morning so we took a break midday At Piste Mountain Bistro mid-mountain. We decided a hearty lunch was the way to go on our last day, and was it ever! The vibe was upscale casual and the food was phenomenal. It won the girls’ coveted “best hot chocolate of the trip” award hands down.
And the espresso martini? Highly recommend!
As we ate we gawked out the window as the snow began falling harder and thicker. By the time we finished our meals and suited back up, it was a full on white out. I LOVE a whiteout. I think it’s just the neatest sensation of skiing through a cloud. The kids were a little unsure about it at first, but I think it worked in the favor, as they couldn’t see the steepness of the slopes in front of them and just focused on the next 15 feet or so.
It took us a while to get down to clearer skies, but when we did, Hailey wanted to go back up, so she and David took off while Kaitlyn and I finished our day out weaving through the trees on the lower greens. Everyone was happily exhausted with aching legs by the time we turned in our boots.
Back at the hotel I thought the kids would crash, but the got their second wind for swimming. We splashed, packed up everything, and ordered take out pasta to enjoy in the lobby (along with the dessert of the day) before crawling into bed for our early morning departure.
This was definitely a trip for the memory books. Send me any questions you have; I’ll be answering them in next week’s wrap up post. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
