Saturday Hit the Slopes Day (Sat, Dec 13) As always, I invite you to email me at Joseph.Spencer@AvoyaTravel or call me at 800-309-6773 with any questions about destinations included in my posts or your own trips youre planning. Each Saturday, I will feature vacations with a seasonal sports theme. Winter is the time most of us wax up our skis or get out our snowboards and tear up some powder. However, the big name resorts can get kind of crowded, so the secret that locals wont tell you about is that you want to hit emerging ski towns with great mountains and more reasonably priced accommodations and lift prices. This next recommendation is for a nice family-friendly ski trip - Driggs, Idaho. In Idaho’s rural Teton Valley at the skirts of the vaulting Teton Mountains, the small ranching town of Driggs (population 1,660, up from 1,100 in 2000) is slowly filling with skiers and snowboarders there to dive into some of North America’s best and most consistent powder snorkling. The lower-gloss sibling to Jackson, Wyoming, Driggs is 42 miles and one mountain pass—famed backcountry hotspot Teton Pass—from its flashier relative. While recent years have seen its Western-style storefronts occupied by artisan bakeries, coffee shops, Thai restaurants, and organic grocers, it’s still sleepy—you don’t come to Driggs for the nightlife. But if you like your ski towns rustic and scenic, it’s a perfect spot. Which is good because 12 miles outside of town, Grand Targhee catches an average of 500 inches of snow each year on its 2,602 acres, the most of any ski area in the North American Rockies. Targhee’s worst snow years are better than many mountains best. The vast majority of the wide-open, playful runs are rated for intermediates—this is ski-forever terrain—with a scattering of expert steeps and a cluster of beginners-only greens at the base. The mellow, 2.8-mile Teton Vista Traverse means that even beginners can ride to the 9,862-foot summit to ogle the mighty Tetons, which rise like spears just beyond the mountain’s slopes. With its nonlethal terrain, consistently uncrowded slopes, and plentiful precipitation, it might be the ultimate place to learn powder skiing. Its top-notch ski school even offers specialized powder instruction. Targhee sets aside over 600 acres of its terrain for snowcat skiing on powder days only (guaranteeing the goods). Driggs also makes a perfect base for exploring the world-renowned backcountry in the Tetons, with the backside of Targhee beckoning cliff-hucking experts. Two services in Driggs offer guided day and multiday trips, as well as yurt accommodations in nearby Grand Teton National Park. https://youtube/watch?v=9iTmtCg85ho
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 07:46:01 +0000
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