Grand Targhee

Freeriders in search of powder and lots of it, will find that Grand Targhee is the perfect place to find it. This fantastic resort is a US powder heaven, with an average snowfall of over 1,280cm a year making riding powder a buy word here, even the piste map shows the powder terrain levels so novices can even try out powder stashes. What you have here in this low key resort are two mountains - Fred's Mountain which can be reached via three chair lifts, and Peaked Mountain accessible by one chair and the other two-thirds only by snowcat. On a day with fresh snow, get there early because there will be a big line of locals and the main open steeps will be tracked by lunchtime. The pow lasts a bit longer on the Peaked Mountain side so head there when Dreamcatcher is tracked. Ask a local or liftie to show you the smokin' hut.

Both mountains offer the chance to do some full-on freeriding on crowdfree slopes that will suit advanced and intermediate riders in the main. The trails on Fred's Mountain are a collection of short blacks that snake through a smattering of trees with a couple of nice, wide open blue runs. It gets a bit flat at the bottom so keep your speed on the traverse back to the lift. There is a good pitch and some really steep sections accessable by the Dreamcatcher lift, known by the locals as "DC". You can also find some good steep stashes off the Blackfoot chair. 

If you're the adventurous sort, then Peaked Mountain should be the place to get your fix, accessed by the Sacajawea lift. Tours are accompanied by guides and limited to 10 people per cat; prices include a lunch. Peaked Mountain is not exclusively for advanced riders; in fact most of what is on offer is graded green and blue, with a couple of black descents that take in some thick trees.

Another cool thing about Grand Targhee is that they use environmentally sustainable practices all over the resort, including green powered lifts, biodeisel powered snowcats, snow-removal equipment and shuttles.

There is also a shuttle service from Jackson run by Alltrans which links up a lift ticket, shuttles you to Grand Targhee and back, and even feeds you some pizza and beer for the price of a day ticket at Jackson.