Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole sits inside a piece of America that has changed remarkably little. The base village of Teton Village is small and deliberately unpretentious, more lodge than ski-town, and twenty kilometres east lies the actual settlement of Jackson, a square of wooden boardwalks, elk-antler arches and saloons that have served ranchers for a hundred and fifty years. Above all this rises Rendezvous Peak, the south summit of the Tetons, accessed by the Aerial Tram that climbs more than 1260 vertical metres in nine minutes. The Tram unlocks the most uncompromising expert terrain in America, with Corbet's Couloir's mandatory cliff drop, Headwall's sustained 45-degree pitches and the hike-out to Cody Peak for those with avalanche training and a partner. Yet Jackson is not only an expert mountain. A bottom-third filled with gentle wooded blues and a respected ski school give intermediates a perfectly viable holiday, and the views over the Snake River valley toward Grand Teton National Park are among the most photographed in skiing. Yellowstone is two hours north, the wildlife crossings keep moose and bison part of the landscape, and the absence of glossy real estate is precisely the point. People come for the mountain and the dignified town behind it.