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Freeriders

Almost half of Jackson's terrain is known as expert and to get to most of it, you take The Tram. The Tram is consistently stuffed with 50 or so of North America's—and the world's—best skiers and snowboarders, who are attracted by the myriad dizzying black and double-black diamond runs. To stay in-bounds you have to go skier's right from the top, either into the notorious Corbet's Couloir or across to East Ridge Traverse. Either option is steep and not for the faint-hearted.

On the lower half of Après Vous first-timers will enjoy the Teewinot Chairlift (Teewinot is the Shoshone Indian name for the Tetons meaning "many peaks" or "high pinnacles") and the Eagle's Rest. From Teewinot, keep going up the Après Vous Chair. Once you're at the top, there are two choices: you can either cruise blues to the base or mash up the Teewinot face. If you're looking for steeps, there is an open boundary into the Saratoga Bowl, weather and snow conditions permitting. Be wary of missing the Saint John traverse cat-track back to Teewinot. The Saratoga Bowl is definitely not for beginners.

The Crystal Spring Chairlift leads to the Casper Bowl Chair, which drops you above some cool intermediate to advanced stuff. If you traverse skier's left from the top, you can either drop into the mellow terrain of Sleeping Indian, or keep traversing and drop into Moran Woods, a great tree area. This can be a good place to ride on flat light days, and also when The Tram is closed due to winds (quite a frequent occurrence). Follow the fall-line and you'll end up back at Teton Village.

Freestylers

There is an OK-ish halfpipe located beneath the Teewinot Chair, but funpark freaks will to go to Snow King Ski Area. Gros Venture is a good freestyle track that has a bunch of natural hits on an average gradient. There are also a couple of natural halfpipes in Jackson Hole, Sundance Gully and Dick's Ditch.

Carvers

Obviously a big, steep mountain like Jackson is going to be a fun place to carve it up. The Easy-Does-It side, skier's right from the top of the Casper Bowl Chairlift, is one of the prime-cut carving area it's always kept well-manicured. It can be a smooth carpet all the way through to Sundance Gully.

The Nitty Gritty

Elevation:

Summit: 11,102 ft.

Vertical drop: 4.139 ft.

Base: 6,314 ft.

Snowfall:

Annual average: 402 inches

Snowmaking: 5 percent

Area:

Total Area: 2,500 acres

Advanced: 50 percent

Intermediate: 40 percent

Beginner: 10 percent

Length of season: late-November—mid-April

Number of lifts: 1 aerial tram, 1 gondola, 1 high-speed quad, 6 chairlifts, 2 surface lifts

Hazards and Rules: The flexible boundary means the back-country is accessible when conditions allow. There is information on the signs at the base. The ski patrol at Jackson are pretty hard-core so don't think can outride them easily.

Snowboard School: Contact Jackson Hole Ride School at 307-739-2663 for rates and programs.