Snow King, Wyoming

Snow King is probably the best example of a community ski area I’ve ever been to.  With runs terminating right in the city streets, it’s like a mini version of Ajax in the town of Aspen.  Undoubtedly this is a great asset for the city, with multiple activities and very close proximity.

Stats

Real Vertical ?	1,547′
Size	500 Acres
Annual Snowfall ?	150″
Lift Pods ?	3
Distinct Trails ?	20
Review Date	March 2025
Number of visits	1
Go, or skip?	Skip..Jackson Hole is 20 minutes away
Resort Website	https://www.snowkingmountain.com

Snow King Review – Overall

I skied this resort when I was staying in the Jackson area for 2 weeks and had plenty of time to take a day off from skiing Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee.  It was “free” on my Powder Alliance pass, so why not?  That day they were running a snowmobile hillclimb race right up the Exhibition run.  Exhibition is perfect for that purpose since it gets progressively steeper the farther up you go, to the point where almost nobody is going to make it all the way to the finish line.  It was a fun added attraction.

Only a handful of people were actually skiing that day, despite the recent / ongoing snowfall and cold temps.  The main reason is that it’s somewhat limited for novices and intermediates.  The mountain is steep and with only 150″ of natural snowfall a year it gets firm and icy quickly.  This causes lots of bumps, which obviously aren’t for everyone.

Out of the > 120 ski areas I’ve been to, this one does the worst job grooming.  It’s unbelievable to me that they have this pretty decent vertical drop that faces due north and they do not groom any runs from the top.  The only way down that was groomed was the road.  Huge opportunity lost, because grooming at least one of the Grizzly or Elk runs daily would make a huge difference and open up top-to-bottom laps for most intermediate and better skiers.

The Rafferty lift

On the left side of the mountain looking up, the Rafferty quad is a new-ish chair rising 867′.  There is a midway unloading point at about 500′.  Everything below that is groomed, but nothing above it was when I was there.  This was my first introduction to the grooming policy at this resort.  Very strange because the upper 1/3 isn’t particularly steep and had plenty of snow.  The runs pass by the alpine coaster which looks fun but wasn’t running on a weekday.  The small cafeteria style restaurant is at the base.  Runs are fun, but over too quickly.  Rafferty is lit for night skiing.

The Cougar lift

Cougar is the main race training lift and is also open for night skiing.  There are some good runs here that are a little longer due to the decent 929′ vertical drop.  Some of the terrain here will likely be fenced off with race courses set up, but it didn’t seem like the public wasn’t allowed so I had fun running the gates a couple of times.

The Gondola

This lift was a major addition to the resort in 2021.  The main purpose seems to be for sightseeing and to get people up to the Aurora restaurant.  This makes a lot of sense given the potential to sell a lot of tickets to non-skiers.  The views at the top are great.  This lift serves the whole 1,547 vertical feet, and if there was any way to ski down without being an advanced bump skier, there would probably be a lot of people skiing it.  But that was definitely not the case when I was there.  Conditions weren’t ideal, but I made a point of skiing every marked run that was open.  The many double-black runs at the top are truly steep and difficult.  I think it was Yeti that was so steep that I had to pick my way down carefully in the middle.  This terrain would be really fun under the right conditions, but having spoken with a local I learned that “right” conditions are rare.

Again, if the easier single-black runs Grizzly and Elk were groomed, this would be a whole different situation, but as it is now the Gondola is strictly for advanced and expert skiers unless you want to just take the road down.

Sunnyside

The Sunnyside lift is aptly named being on the south facing side of the mountain.   The day I was there was far from sunny and it was blowing hard.  The wind coming up made it hard to ski down the gentle terrain.  There is only about 700′ of gentle vertical drop so it’s not much.  Note that their website lists it as 580′ for some reason, but I looked at a topo map and it’s definitely at least 700′.

There is really only one run: Sun Bowl.  I was there in late March and it had already melted off, but the glades to looker’s right of the chair looked like good terrain when there is snow.

Beginner terrain

I’m going to separate Beginners an Novices in this review.  Novices will likely stick to the Rafferty chair and get off at the mid station.  Although most of that terrain is marked Intermediate, it’s pretty low angle.  Otherwise the only actual trails marked green are all roads, which is definitely not great for novices.  True beginners can go to the magic carpet at the top of the Gondola which is a novel place to learn.  There is another carpet at the Rafferty base so they are pretty well set up for absolute beginners, but there isn’t much opportunity for them to progress at this resort.

Food, the lodge, and parking

There is a small parking lot over at the Rafferty base area that’s free, and another small one over by the Gondola, but it was filled with snowmobile trailers when I was there so I didn’t get to park there.  You could also just park on the Jackson city streets.  It’s a short easy walk.

The cafeteria at the Rafferty base was the only place open for food when I was there.  This is standard small ski area food, with limited choices.  Of course you are right on the edge of Jackson which has tons of restaurants.  The StilWest Brewery and Grill gets good reviews and is less than a block away from the Gondola base. I suspect most people that ski at Snow King are just up for a couple of hours anyway so food isn’t really an issue.

The good

• • Walk to the lifts from Jackson
  • Great views
  • Bump skiing
  • Plenty of steep stuff
  • Night skiing

The bad

• Snow depth and quality is lacking
• Desperately needs more grooming.  This place is a natural for steep groomers.
• Doesn’t have much intermediate terrain and no real novice terrain

The Bottom Line

Snow King is really a multi-activity amusement complex with star gazing, a planetarium, tubing area, mountain coaster, scenic gondola rides, and mountain top dining operating in the winter in addition to the skiing.  I think it’s a great resource for locals and tourists alike who are staying in Jackson and aren’t 100% focused on skiing.  It’s not a destination resort though, and I wouldn’t recommend skipping a day of skiing at nearby Jackson Hole or Grand Targhee to try it.