Jackson Hole off-piste & powder guide

Wyoming, USA · 1924m to 3185m · 5 documented zones

Finding powder at Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole runs two very different systems side by side. Inside the boundary there is a huge amount of steep, patrolled, avalanche-controlled terrain, from the Hobacks to Corbet's Couloir. Beyond it, an open backcountry gate system leads to more than 3,000 acres where nobody controls anything and nobody is coming to find you. The lift ticket does not change once you pass through a gate, but everything else does.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 2 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

The Hobacks

Rendezvous Mountain sector

Inbounds - patrolledAdvanced

Some of the longest continuous expert runs on the mountain, and glorious in fresh snow. Enormous rolling open faces that just keep going.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Aerial Tram
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the tram.
Getting back
Runs out to the bottom of the mountain; the traverse back can be long once the snow is heavy.
Known hazards
  • Long, committing fall line
  • A long way from a lift if you stop

Corbet's Couloir

Rendezvous Mountain sector

Inbounds - patrolledExpert

The most famous run in North America, entered by dropping in off a cornice from the top of the tram. Inbounds and controlled, which does nothing at all to make the entry easier.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Aerial Tram
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed; entry is a mandatory drop off the cornice.
Getting back
Descends back into the Rendezvous Bowl lift system.
Known hazards
  • Mandatory air on entry
  • Rock walls on both sides

Worth the walk — hike-to zones

Every one of these needs time on foot, which is exactly why the snow lasts longer. Walk-in times below are as published by the resort guides.

Casper Bowl and the Crags

Headwall sector

Inbounds - patrolledExpert

Steep, cliffy terrain reached by boot-packing the Headwall from the top of Sublette, or the White Spider hike from the top of the Bridger Gondola. The hike keeps it quieter than the tram laps.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Sublette chairlift or Bridger Gondola
Walk in
A steep but fairly quick bootpack staircase along the Headwall, behind the Rendezvous restaurant, or the White Spider hike from the Bridger Gondola.
Getting back
Descends back into the inbounds lift network.
Known hazards
  • Cliff bands throughout
  • Steep committing entrances

Cody Bowl

Backcountry gates sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

Traverse out from the top of the tram for lines like Pucker Face and Four Shadows, or drop round for No Name and Gothic Couloir. Classic Jackson terrain, and entirely uncontrolled.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Access rules

Reached through the resort backcountry gate system. Past the gate there is no patrol, no avalanche control and no rescue service.

Lift access
Aerial Tram
Walk in
A traverse out from the top of the tram, through a backcountry gate.
Getting back
Descends outside the ski area; you are responsible for your own route back.
Known hazards
  • No avalanche control and no patrol beyond the gate
  • Full avalanche rescue equipment and training required
  • Committing terrain a long way from help

Rock Springs Bowl

Backcountry gates sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

The other popular backcountry objective from the gates, part of the 3,000-plus acres the gate system opens up.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Access rules

Reached through the resort backcountry gate system, with no patrol or avalanche control beyond it.

Lift access
Aerial Tram
Walk in
Out through a backcountry gate from the tram.
Getting back
Descends outside the ski area boundary; plan the return before you go.
Known hazards
  • No avalanche control and no patrol beyond the gate
  • Full avalanche rescue equipment and training required

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

Jackson Hole snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in USA