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Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Where To Ski and What To Do at Grand Targhee
Wyoming's Teton Range gets a lot of hype, and rightfully so. As one of the cradles of North American alpine climbing, ski mountaineering and, more recently, mountain running, these jagged peaks hold significance in many a mountain traveler's heart. Most skiers think of Jackson Hole as the place to go skiing here, but ask any local where they've had the deepest days of their life, and they'll likely tell you it was at Grand sleepy mid-size resort, located on the west side of the Tetons, stands in stark contrast to the luxury vibe at Jackson Hole. Instead, it's still about the skiing here, with over 500 inches of annual snowfall, massive acreage and a huge variety of terrain and long, fall-line runs that somehow just don't get tracked out. The local vibe remains warm and welcoming, focusing on a no-frills approach to having a good time powder skiing. Perhaps the best part? The views. From the viewing deck on the summit of the Dreamcatcher lift, the high peaks of Grand Teton National Park feel like a stone's throw away. Location: Alta, Wyoming Acreage: 2602 skiable acres Vertical Drop: 2270 feet Number of Lifts: 6 Terrain Breakdown: 10% beginner, 45% intermediate, 30% advanced, 15% expert Most Difficult Terrain: Bobcat Average Annual Snowfall: 500+' To put it simply, Grand Targhee is one of the best places to go for skiing deep inbounds powder. Thanks to a favorable location on the snowy side of the range, the resort frequently receives huge amounts of snowfall. Like double-digit huge, many times a year. Time your trip with a storm like this, and you're in for some of the deepest turns of your life. Targhee's huge variety of terrain also plays nicely with deep snow. Sure, there are plenty of steeps, but most of the mountain offers wide-open lower-angle slopes, perfect for surfing through the deep stuff. Some favorite intermediate runs include dropping off the summit into Wild Willie and Crazy Horse, soaking in the views of the Tetons on Rolling Thunder, or carving down any of the groomers below the Blackfoot lift. If you're looking for more of a challenge, test your big-mountain skills on the North Face of Peaked Mountain. Drop into Bobcat (used annually as a freeride comp venue) and navigate mandatory airs, huge exposure and some seriously steep skiing, or go for a short hike up to Mary's Nipple and slash turns through the steep trees. If it hasn't snowed in a few days (a rare occurrence here) and the sun's out, Targhee is an excellent place to cruise down some perfectly manicured groomers. Thanks to the predominantly west-facing aspect, the groomers tend to get softer and better as the day progresses, meaning there's no need to get up early to chase a year-round destination, there are multiple lifetimes of things to do in the area. Surrounded by not one, but two national parks, plus a wilderness area and a national forest, the main attraction here is the mountains. Outside of the resort skiing in the winter, rent a fat bike or Nordic skis and cruise up Teton Canyon to soak in the views of the Tetons high above. The backcountry skiing in the area also happens to be world class, with easy access from Teton Canyon and Teton Pass. Both Driggs and Jackson offer numerous options for backcountry skiing guide services and gear rental. Finally, it might tickle your fancy to drive an hour north to West Yellowstone, rent snowmobiles and motor into Yellowstone National Park to view geysers and winter wildlife and take in the beauty of America's oldest National the summer, those same areas come alive with mountain bikers, hikers and flyfishing enthusiasts. Teton Valley is home to hundreds of miles of singletrack for all ability levels. The calm waters of the Teton River are a great place for a mellow float on a paddleboard, raft, or tube, or link up with a local flyfishing guide and see if the trout are being a world-class ski area should be worthy of enough praise on its own, Targhee really comes alive in the summer. Featuring one of the largest downhill mountain bike parks in the Mountain West, plus almost 50 miles of manicured XC trails, Targhee is a haven for mountain bikers, hosting races and bike festivals throughout the summer. If you're not a two-wheeled enthusiast, Targhee still has you covered with 8+ miles of hiking trails, plus plenty of events all summer long, including a Cirque Series running race and the world-famous Targhee Bluegrass to its high elevation and massive amounts of snowfall, Targhee's season starts earlier and ends later than most. If you're looking for a classic powder skiing experience, you'll most likely find that during the seemingly endless storm cycles that tend to bury the range in mid-February and early March. The 'Ghee is also a primo place for slushy spring skiing, so don't hesitate to come back again in April to score some late-season corn turns. Tucked away high on the western slope of the Teton Range on the Wyoming border, Grand Targhee is only accessible by driving through Idaho. If you're looking to stay as close as possible to the powder, the resort offers on-mountain lodging with some basic amenities like a spa, pool and hot tub. Though a bit dated, the base area lodging is in the process of a multi-year upgrade. Alternatively, there are a few small hotels and bed and breakfasts (plus plenty of vacation rental homes and AirBnBs) in Teton Valley. If you're looking for more options, the town of Jackson is about an hour's drive away and offers the full gamut of accommodations from five-star resort hotels to budget motels. Targhee is also one of the few resorts we've found that still offers parking lot camping options for skiers with camper vans or RVs. You can even rent an approved portable firepit to use in the parking lot for the full campfire is located a few miles from Alta, Wyoming, high above Teton Valley, Idaho. The closest major town is Driggs. You'll likely want a car to get around, but there are a few public bus lines and resort shuttles that connect the resort to the town of Jackson Hole and the Jackson Hole Airport. If you're staying in Jackson and take the GTR shuttle, you'll even get a discounted lift ticket. On-mountain dining is focused in the small base area, and the crown jewel is undoubtedly the bustling Trap Bar. Try out the local-favorite Wydaho Nachos, paired with a pint of local beer. If you're staying on the mountain and want to mix things up a bit with a fancier meal, don't skip out on the Powder Cache restaurant next door. Down the valley, Driggs has a much larger selection of excellent food, including the bakery and coffee at Wydaho Roasters, great pan-Asian fare at Teton Thai, or pub food at the Royal Wolf. Targhee is one of the few resorts where true powder skis make sense as a daily driver, so if you're coming to visit during a storm cycle, fat powder skis are certainly your friend. Temps can get pretty cold, especially during storms (shoutout to low-density powder), but the dry air and cold, dry snow tend to mean it doesn't actually feel that cold. Gore-Tex outerwear and an extra layer are always a good To Ski and What To Do at Grand Targhee first appeared on Powder on May 31, 2025
CNA
2 days ago
- Health
- CNA
Alpine skiing-Shiffrin faced PTSD in recovery from Killington crash
NEW YORK :Twice Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after a grisly crash during a giant slalom race in Killington, Vermont, in November left her with a puncture wound in her abdomen and severe muscle damage. The American wrapped up her season in March with a record-extending 101st World Cup win but wrote in the Players' Tribune on Friday that the crash in Killington - and another suffered at the beginning of 2024 in Cortina - took a mental toll. "Those two crashes maybe built on one another. I talked with my therapist about that, and she let me know that past trauma, or a history of traumatic events, can sometimes affect your reaction to new traumatic events," wrote Shiffrin, who lost her father suddenly in an accident in 2020. "Maybe when I crashed and got that puncture wound, maybe that was kind of a perfect-storm situation for PTSD to take hold. But who knows, really. With all this stuff, there's just a ton of nuance, and so much that we don't know for certain." Shiffrin, who is loved by American fans and praised by her fellow athletes for her upbeat attitude and resilience, said that getting back in the starting gate has helped the most in overcoming "the visions and the images I kept seeing." She wrote that after putting in the work on her mental health, she felt like herself again. "It was just continuing to get back up to the start gate. Just literally the process of going up the mountain and doing the thing I know how to do, again and again," wrote Shiffrin. "I just needed to keep doing it. Needed to keep reminding myself — proving to myself, really — that the vast majority of times when I am training or racing … nothing terrible happens."
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Health
- Associated Press
Shiffrin says in essay she feels 'like myself again' after recovering from ski racing crash, PTSD
Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin finally feels 'like myself again' after recovering from a ski racing crash last season and lingering post-traumatic stress disorder. Shiffrin described in an essay for The Players' Tribune released Friday the physical and mental hurdles she needed to clear after her serious spill during a giant slalom race in Killington, Vermont, on Nov. 30. In the crash, something punctured Shiffrin's side and caused severe damage to her oblique muscles. 'Everyone knows what it feels like to have a bad cough. But PTSD … it's not like that,' the 30-year-old from Edwards, Colorado, wrote. 'It comes in all shapes and sizes. Everyone experiences it in their own way, and no two cases are exactly alike.' Shiffrin was leading after the first run of the GS that day in Killington. With the finish line in sight on her final run, she lost an edge and slid into a gate, flipping over her skis. The all-time winningest Alpine World Cup ski racer then slammed into another gate before coming to a stop in the protective fencing. To this day, she doesn't know what led to the puncture wound, only that it was 'a millimeter from pretty catastrophic,' she told The Associated Press. Shiffrin wrote in The Players' Tribune it was 'difficult to explain what the pain felt like. But the closest I can get would probably be, it was like … not only was there a knife stabbing me, but the knife was actually still inside of me.' In late January, Shiffrin returned to the World Cup circuit. The giant slalom, though, remained a cause of anxiety and she skipped the event at world championships. Ever so steadily, she's working on overcoming the mental trauma surrounding the GS as she gears up for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games. She won an Olympic gold medal in the discipline at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. She's been working with a psychologist to conquer her mental obstacles. 'I can admit that there were some extremely low moments,' recounted Shiffrin, who won her 100th career World Cup ski race in February. 'Times when I started second-guessing myself, or was critical of myself because I felt like I was letting what happened mess with me so much. It was like: Come on, Mikaela, people have had way worse crashes than that, way worse injuries. Those people got through it. What is wrong with you? 'On particularly bad days, I'd question my motivation, or whether I still wanted to do this anymore. In my head, I'd be saying to myself: You know what, I kind of couldn't care less if I ever race again.' She and the therapist began looking at her recovery through the prism of PTSD. 'With me, I also think it's possible that the crash I had at the beginning of 2024 in Cortina, and then Killington happening. … that those two crashes maybe built on one another,' Shiffrin said. 'I talked with my therapist about that, and she let me know that past trauma, or a history of traumatic events, can sometimes affect your reaction to new traumatic events.' She lost her dad, Jeff, five years ago in a home accident. Her fiancé and fellow ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway is still recovering from a serious ski crash on Jan. 13, 2024. 'Maybe when I crashed and got that puncture wound, maybe that was kind of a perfect-storm situation for PTSD to take hold,' Shiffrin wrote. Shiffrin said one thing that's helped is 'getting back to a place of joy.' She closed her essay with: 'All I can do is smile with appreciation. Because, finally .... I feel like myself again.' ___ AP skiing:
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
U.S. Ski Resorts Had Second-Best Season On Record In 2024–25
As the ski industry faces issues ranging from corporate consolidation to increasingly unpredictable snowfall, there is some good news to end the 2024–25 season. According to preliminary data from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), U.S. ski areas saw the second-highest visitation on record this past season, with a total of 61.5 million skier visits. That marks a a 1.7% increase over the previous season. And the number of skier visits for the 2024–25 season will continue to climb as several resorts have extended their seasons. The highest visitation totals on record, 65.4 million in the 2022–23 season, were the result of a post-Covid surge, but this number is considered an outlier across the travel and recreation industries. The visitation total is one data point in an overall positive trend for the industry. Globally, ski resorts saw more than 366 million skier visits last season. The average for worldwide skier visits is higher after Covid-19 than in the years before 2020, per the International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism. In 2023–24, Italy and Chile marked their best-ever ski seasons. Domestically, the NSAA set a goal several years ago of reaching a three-year rolling average of 60 million skier visits at U.S. resorts. The industry has surpassed that figure for four consecutive seasons. The number of ski areas operating in the U.S. also rose from 484 last season to 492 this season. The NSAA groups U.S. ski resorts into six regions: the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, Rocky Mountain, Midwest, Northeast and Southeast. In particular, small- and medium-sized ski areas saw increased visits, and the Pacific Northwest enjoyed a a record-setting year, with 4.7 million skier visits, a 10.9% increase over the previous year. After a decline in visits in 2023–24 due to unseasonably warm weather, the Midwest enjoyed a 21.8% increase in skier visits in 2024–25. Visits in the Rocky Mountain region, which accounted for 42.9% of all national visits in 2024-25, were the third-most out of 47 recorded seasons. While snowfall averages were down slightly (6.9% year-over-year) in the Rocky Mountain, Pacific Southwest and Pacific Northwest regions, the Southeast and Midwest regions saw above-average snow totals. The Northeast met its average. 'While weather will always be unpredictable, this year was less volatile overall, and nearly every region saw solid snowfall,' said NSAA president and CEO Michael Reitzell. Capital investment by U.S. ski areas (based on reported investment from 135 responding areas) totaled $624.4 million, the majority of which went to lift infrastructure. Nationwide, 97 new and upgraded lifts were installed. Surveyed ski areas reported plans for 47 new lifts and 70 lift upgrades in 2025–26. Season pass holders made up nearly half (49%) of all visits nationally this season, with 32% of visits coming from day lift tickets. The remaining visits are composed of factors such as frequency products, off-duty employees and complimentary products. 'The 2024–25 season may come to represent a new baseline for the industry. Even if 'normal' continues to evolve, this season gives us a strong point of reference for what steady, healthy growth looks like,' Reitzell added.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Why this Austrian mountain town is the perfect summer escape
Set amid the Tyrolean Alps between Salzburg and Innsbruck, Kitzbühel is mostly known as an exclusive winter resort, with 85 years of World Cup skiing. Yet this isn't a town to rest on its snow-covered laurels. Instead of shutting up shop at the sight of a blooming crocus, Kitzbühel shakes off the frost to begin a flowering of its own — as a warm-weather hotspot. With its astounding mountain hikes, pristine golf courses, and top tennis tournaments, here's how to enjoy its warm-weather pursuits. Kitzbühel features more than 600 miles of extraordinary mountain hiking trails, from leisurely hour-long strolls around the still waters of Schwarzsee to tougher treks across the craggy peaks of Gebra to the south. Those seeking a mountain climb with an edge can use via ferratas (metal cables with rungs and ladders secured to the rock) to explore Kitzbühel's higher elevations. This includes the Kitzbüheler Horn, which offers panoramic views of the Kaiser, Lofer and Leogang mountains. Avid climbers flock to the region for its challenging routes, taking anywhere from one to six hours to ascend, as well as to traverse sheer rock faces and cross churning gorges whilst canyoning. Alternatively, visitors can switch to two wheels to tackle the bike trails — the longest being the Hahnenkamm Flow Trail stretching over four miles — or, soar high above the town thanks to year-round tandem paragliding, run by outfitters including Element3. In a country with more than 25,000 bodies of water, it's no surprise Kitzbühel offers open-water swimming aplenty. Those seeking a crystalline pool to cool down in should head to Schwarzsee. It's the king of Kitzbühel's bathing lakes, where travellers can soak in deep mineral waters against a backdrop of forest-fringed Alpine beauty — and it's only a half-hour walk from town. Another popular swimming spot is Gieringer Weiher, located in the scenic Bichlach hiking and biking area. Meanwhile, the Jochberg swimming pool is a favourite with families, thanks to its waterslide and separate baby wading pool. It's tee time all the time in Kitzbühel, with no fewer than four championship golf courses within a five-minute drive of town. Its two main golfing hotspots are Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith, an 18-hole course with curved terrain and majestic mountain panoramas, and Eichenheim Kitzbühel-Aurach, a scenic par-71 course featuring sheer rock faces and thick deciduous forests. The latter also has one of the area's most luxurious spa hotels, Grand Tirolia Hotel Kitzbühel. The town also has two nine-hole courses close to the city centre. This includes the par-70 Golfclub Kitzbühel, located on grounds of Kaps Castle, and the Red Bull Golf course at the Rasmushof Hotel, situated at the foot of the Hahnenkamm mountain. Venture further into Tyrol and you'll find several more exceptional golf courses. While they vary in length and difficulty, you're guaranteed lush fairways set amid epic Alpine landscapes. While Kitzbühel's sprawling nature is a big draw, don't forgo exploring the town itself. Stroll its cobbled medieval streets to admire the architecture, including the ornate Hotel Goldener Greif, previously an old Tyrolean inn; the striking stained glass found in the 14th-century St Catherine's church; and the rococo chapel of Pfarrkirche St Andreas. Immerse yourself in local folklore at the Museum Kitzbühel, which takes visitors from the region's Bronze Age mining history to its iconic skiing offerings. Those in need of retail therapy should stop by the Kitz Galleria, a series of boutiques stocking luxury clothing, or tuck into kaiserschmarrn, sugary shredded pancakes found in cosy streetside cafes like Schatzi. To get a taste of Kitzbühel's fine dining scene, head to Tennerhof, an award-winning restaurant set within a Relais & Châteaux Alpine property of the same name. Or try one of Kitzbühel's two Michelin-starred restaurants: Les Deux serves modern French dishes, while Berggericht offers four or six-course set menus drawing on Tyrolean influences. Mocking das Wirtshaus, located at the foot of the challenging Streif downhill ski slope, has also received a Michelin Bib Gourmand award for its stellar Austrian cuisine. Throughout the summer in Kitzbühel, there are plenty of seasonal events for travellers to experience. In terms of sports, the town is home to the Generali Open Kitzbühel tennis tournament, which takes place every July at the Kitzbühel tennis stadium at Kapserfeld, the largest of its kind in Austria. Meanwhile, at the tail end of the season in September, the region hosts the Kitzbüheler Cycling Marathon and Kitzbühel Triathlon. The summer months also bring together the dynamic sounds of Kitzbühel, with festivals including June's pop-heavy Schlagerbooom, July's opera-inclined Kitzbühel Klassik and August's rock-laden Kitzbühel Music Festival. Plus, on Thursdays evenings in July and August, the town comes together for food, drinks and live music at Pura Vida. In August, visitors can also hear traditional music at live performances across the town during the 'Jahrmarkt' festival, which marks its 99th annual celebration in 2025. Motorsports enthusiasts should consider visiting in June, when the town welcomes the thrilling vintage car rally, Kitzbüheler Alpenrallye, while the final weekend of August is reserved for the KITZ Kulinarik food festival — a delicious send off to Kitzbuhel's stacked festival season. This paid content article was created for Kitzbühel Tourismus. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller (UK) or their editorial subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
