Grand Targhee Resort

I’ll start by saying this area is beautiful and I’d love to come back to ski. That being said, that’s about all that was positive about our stay at Targhee Lodge. We stayed there on the first night of their summer season, and they were not ready to be open. The base area was a ghost town and the hot tub was closed, so we tried to buy a drink to take back to the room, and sure enough the computer was broken so we waited for 15 minutes to get our check. The next morning the water was turned off for plumbing repairs as we tried to get ready to leave, so we couldn’t take showers before our drive back to Denver. The staff seemed very disjointed and nobody seemed to know what was going on. The partial refund for all of the inconveniences that was promised has also not been credited to me yet. Other than the views, this place was disappointing unfortunately.

Great place to teach kids to ski. Small resort with friendly staff. The drive up to the resort is beautiful. Parking is easy and close. Not much walking required. They have a great kiddy area and we taught our 5 year old to ski there in a day and half. Even the staff was giving him pointers. No charge! Toured the kids club with my 5 year old and he wasn’t interested. Toys are more geared towards younger kids. The girl (name?) at the front wasn’t very friendly or welcoming. Resort is great but wouldn’t recommend the kids club.

I came here for a disabled ski lesson, my instructors name was JC and he was the best the whole staff at the ski school fit me with custom gear and I was on the slopes in no time in a sit ski because due to an accident I can no longer ski standing up. I will definitely be back!

What a gem. Find it if you can. The locals know but they dont want you to go. Few people end up here. Its just the other side of the Tetons and it has the same snow. A great staff and really attentive to all your needs. This place has hardly any lines and when they do its a five minute wait. Plenty of food options at the resort. Not your Jackson hole 30 dollar burger but good stuff. Plenty of snow here. Something for the person looking for groomed and off the beaten path trails. Mayne this is not the best review to keep it a hidden secret but why do that? Why not let everyone know there is a better option close by?

Some of the best and most consistent snow in the West. Located on the back side of Jackson Hole, GTR is a beautiful about a ³⁰⁄₄₅ minute scenic drive (around the mountain) from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. If your into winter sports, it snows here early and often and seemingly more then on the JHMR side. I’ve never been here in summer, however, I’m on their mailing list and not only does it look BEAUTIFUL but they regularly plan what look like awesome activities. I’m definitely coming back for the Bluegrass Festival.
I’m not a regular skier/​boarder and hadn’t been in the snow for years. I ended up taking a private ½ day lesson (think instructors name was Billy). Definitely a great decision! My instructor did a great job of breaking it down to core concepts, that I was comfortable with. He was very encouraging and kept it light hearted and fun. I had a great experience and got up and running with minimal newbie injuries.

I grew up skiing Targhee so I’m a little biased. However, I’ve skied all over the northwest and this hill is amazing.
They have improved it so much over the last 20 years and given access to areas that we use to have to hike or Cat Ski to get too.
If you’re here in the summer they make it a great place for family or big groups. The bars and restaurants are nice. They have biking, disk golf, swimming and a ton more.
When all else fails take he chairlift ride for $ 15 and snag a great view!

The trade-​offs at Targhee are beyond worth it. I’m reticent to write such a positive review but the place has been so good to us that they deserve it. Staff — 5 stars, particularly ski and now board instructors. Terrain — not as epic as Jackson, but still varied and challenging enough for most skiers riders. The place where Targhee really shines are conditions and crowds (or lack thereof). The powder lasts longer due to the lack of crowds. In the summer, if you are a mountain biker, the downhill is pretty insane. Things that Targhee isn’t — 1. Glitzy or glamorous, this place is old school, including the facilities and some of the lifts. 2. Warm and sunny and full of bluebird days… it’s cold and can be foggy. 3. Metropolitan. After a day on the mountain, there aren’t too many après ski options. You live for your days here… not your nights. There are lots of other things I could mention… but I’ll leave that to you to explore!

I went to Grand Targhee after having been to Jackson Hole many times. It’s about 90 minutes away and well worth the trip. We stayed on site for an absurdly cheap rate that included lodging and lift tickets.
Lodging: This is a no frills place, but you are right on the mountain, and have what you need. The bed’s were comfortable and warm. The room came with plenty of space to hang and dry gear, and even had a boot/​glove dryer. The shower wasn’t the best, but it had enough pressure. If your over 5’9″ you need to crouch under the shower head. There is no vent in the bathroom which was the worst thing about the place because if you took care of business there was nowhere for the odor to go. We had an amazing 5 course meal our first night for 60 with a beer with each course. There is a great breakfast place right there with burritos, sausage gravy/​biscuits, and other options for under 10 $. Lunch was reasonable. All in all great. If your going for someone looking for a posh ski lodge this is not the place. But if you want somewhere that has the basics down, this place is great. You are about 100 feet from the lift as well.
Mountain: There aren’t many lifts here but there is plenty of space to ride. During the week there must have been 100 – 200 people on the mountain. We were hoping for powder chose a week when there was NO snow. Nothing fell 5 days before we arrived, and nothing fell while we were there, except on the way back to the airport. It was basically spring skiing. BUMMER! That being said it was still fun to ride. If this place had powder it would be an absolute paradise. No real flat areas which was great. We hiked a few times and were able to ride on the Cat Skiing area. There were still long fresh lines up there… of not the fluffiest snow but still un touched. I need to go back here when there is actual powder. Definitely worth going to if you want a change of pace from Jackson Hole.

Love this place. Such an amazing setting. The skiing is great for beginners and the instructor Barry was wonderful. We will be back.

Not the biggest, not the rad-​ist, not the most accessible place to ski. But this mountain is consistently blanketed in fluffy Cowboy powder. And that powder lasts well into the afternoon even on weekends simply because Jackson Hole draws so much more traffic. Wide open blues and black runs make this the best place I know to enjoy and perfect your powder skiing.
Make sure to bring googles that are good in low light conditions and do not fog up. Visibility is even more important at Targhee where there are subtle rolls and sparse trees that show the contours of the terrain. Sunny days are rare on the West side of the Tetons. Cat tracks can sneak up and bite you here.
I downgrade targhee because the facilities are drab and the on mountain food is not that great, just. But the skiing is phenomenal and the staff is wonderful, and if you are blessed with a sunny day, the Teton’s are just beautiful.
Skiers of all abilities will have fun here but, advanced skiers wanting to hit powder, will find it amazing, experts looking for tons for abundant double black terrain will be a bit disappointed there is only one are of few hundred skiable acres.

This resort is fantastic, we are up here for a wedding and everyone has been so accommodating to our needs. The rooms are cozy and comfortable! Many activities are available throughout the resort. We will come back in the winter time to ski and I’m looking forward to it.

This is a unique mountain. It is way off the beaten path, but worth the effort. They get an incredible amount of snow here, and have some awesome terrain as well. Great for the intermediate to advanced powder skier.

A review, belatedly overdue.
After skiing a week at Jackson Hole, I joined some friends at their condo near Grand Targhee and reluctantly agreed to ski with them here, thinking it would be pretty tame, maybe worse…
I apologize.
Tame, you can find here. But bottomless, fluffy, champagne powder snow in wide slopes and narrow runs… this is the place.
I’ve skied every major resort in the western half of the North American continent, from Alaska to California and everything in between, every mountain in Canada that offers a ski slope with some vertical, and everything from the Pacific Ocean eastward. This mountain holds its own.
Do it. You’ll fall in love with powder here.

I recently got married in Victor, Idaho, as a destination wedding. We held our welcome BBQ/​wedding rehearsal dinner at the Grand Targhee Ski Resort. The service and the venue far surpassed our expectations! It was a dream come true.
The new banquet and group coordinator, Tim Rock, went above and beyond the call of duty to help make our welcome bbq the perfect night for ourselves and our 100 guests. It was the extra effort by Tim and their staff that made the night so special.
Just a few examples, Tim personally made sure that the tables all had matching burlap table runners (which fit our theme perfectly!). He organized music throughout the dinner (courtesy of a hand-​picked western playlist), and made sure that we had an amazing bonfire the entire dinner. We also enjoyed beautiful hand-​picked wildflowers centerpieces (thank you Beth!). Tim is beyond question, the best group coordinator that I’ve ever worked with.
On top of it all, we had several special allergies and Tim worked with chef to provide allergy-​friendly sides. The food was delicious. Our guests raved about it for days afterwards!
I highly recommend this venue to anyone looking for an amazing place to celebrate a special occasion!

This place gets 450 in of snow a year. And by 450 in, it actually means 550 in. And it gets crowded during a pow day. And by crowded, I mean 50 people at first chair.
The Jackson blowhards will call it «low angle pow.» And that actually translates to, «I’ve never been there.» Six inches at Jackson transmogrifies into one foot at Targhee.
Make sure you bring a pow board to make sure you get your face shots.
In response to Star S’ criticism, I’ve been to NZ, every resort between Vancouver and Calgary, every spot in Tahoe, Big Bear, every resort off I 70 in CO, every resort in VT, Jackson and many that I am forgetting, and heli a few times. Targhee holds it’s own against the big boys. If you are going to a ski resort for the food, drink your merlot in your UGGs whilst paying $ 100 at Vail to ride the bunny slopes. Targhee, for what it is, a secluded family run resort, it’s the best one I’ve been to hands down.

If you’re coming this far, you’ll get a better bang for your buck if you head over to Jackson Hole, 45 min away. Beginner terrain lift tickets there are only $ 25.
Have visited ski resorts: Mammoth, June Lake, Jackson Hole, Park City, Brighton, Mt Bachelor…
Terrain is meager and extremely limited for beginners. The long beginner trail from the top has soo many flat spots its frustrating and not fun at all. For blue and black runs this resort was very nice. Views are gorgeous from the top, you can see Idaho and Montana, as well as the Tetons. Snow quality excellent, and tons of it. Well it is Wyoming in the dead of winter :) In providing a good mix of terrain, this place doesn’t come up to standard, so definitely not a repeat visit resort.
Lodge was filthy, smelly and had ridiculously BAAAAD food. Food and trash on the tables, carpet, chairs… they only missed the walls. There are definitely more and better places to dine at the base, I just didnt care to try them after that nasty food and lodge. You could pick something up from town and take it with you, but warning, you wont be able to eat it inside the lodge because they really enforce the no outside food policy. I don’t know what it is, I am absolutely not comparing this lodge to Jackson Hole or such, but to lodges more along this resorts standard, and this place was quiet disgusting.
We stayed at the Blue Buffalo Condo (check VRBO for 402 020, the condo is beautiful!!!) in Driggs, ID which is the nearest major town, 30 min from the resort in winter. Very pretty small western town, but literally with very little-​nothing to do. If you stay in Driggs, plan to stay in your lodging or go horse riding, snowmobiling after you’re done skiing. Thats pretty much all there was to do. And this leads to WARNING # 2: EVERYTHING is closed in this town on Sunday. Everything. Even the grocery store. Drove 12 min to next town, Victor, to get apple pie and ice cream for after ski munching.

Laid back staff… killer snow/​mountain.
A nice change coming from the suit and tie resort I work at.
That main lift gets crowded first thing, but jump over to the other lifts and you’ll be spread out in no time. Was finding fresh snow all day!

Took a break from Jackson Hole and made the trek (1hr 15mins) over the Tetons to Grand Targhee while on vacation.
What a phenomenal place. The drive there from Jackson was pretty scenic in itself but nothing could beat the views at the resort. Do not come here anticipating the epic runs delivered by Jackson Hole. There’s a quaintness to this mountain that was synonymous with the New England mountains I’m used to riding.
Plenty of parking was available right at the base of the lodge. We took advantage of their midweek «two-​fer» (two lift tickets for the price of one). Despite not being as large, elevated, or promoted as Jackson Hole, I can honestly say I enjoyed my time here even more than JH. It was just the perfect mix of intermediate and challenging terrain. The best part was that the place was SO quiet I felt as though I had rented the entire mountain for myself that day. One of the mountain hosts indicated that the low attendance was due to the week’s low temps. Either way it made for an excellent day of no waiting in line and no dodging others on the runs.
I can’t say enough good things about this unique spot and would encourage anyone vacationing in Jackson to make the short trip over the mountains.

the all day cat tour should be on the bucket list of any true shred. in the end it’ll cost you more than $ 400 (you’ll want to tip your guides) but every dollar is well spent if you get to spend an entire day cutting fresh tracks. by my calculation that’s about 50 feet of fresh pow for every dollar spent. runs averaged about 2000 ft of vertical and we were lucky enough to notch 9 runs in during the day.
it helps if you get lucky and go out with a crew of competent riders because if one person is slow, the whole day bogs down while you wait for the donk to catch up. if you’re on a board be sure to set your bindings back or risk spending much of the day digging yourself out. and if you’re on skis make sure you’ve clipping into fat ones.
much respect to our guides nick and chris. these two were awesome and made sure everybody had a great time.

This skii resort is amazing! No lines, tons of fresh pow, and you can always find a patch of untracked snow.
I was up at Targhee with a friend and his family who live in Star Valley, WY. They kept telling me how awesome this resort is. It is very much a hidden gem. I guess being two hour from the closest airport makes this resort somewhat of a locals resort, but if you are willing to risk the mountain passes then you will not be disappointed with Targhee.
I was up there at the beginning of 2010. I was fortunate enough to get several amazing bluebird days with awesome views of the tetons from Teton Vista.
I demoed a couple pairs of skiis including a pair of incredibly wide Völkl powder skiis and man, did they come in handy on the 17″ of fresh pow!!! The pro shop was very helpful and lets you try as many skiis as you want.
The food selection is somewhat limited at the lodge, but who cares… I want to ski not eat!
I highly suggest this resort to any serious skiers. Bring your powders skis and getting ready for some serious powder!