Grand Targhee Resort is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, located in western

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, near Alta, the closest town to the resort. It is northwest of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

and is accessible only from the west, through Driggs,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. The border with

is less than five miles (8 km) due west. The resort has lodging, a spa, retail stores, and conference facilities. On the west side of the famous

Teton Range The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It extends for approximately in a north–south direction through the U.S. state of Wyoming, east of the Idaho state line. It is south of Yellowstone National Park and ...

, it is located northwest of the

Grand Teton Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Grand Teton National Park, in Northwest Wyoming, and a classic destination in American mountaineering. Geography Grand Teton, at , is the highest point of the Teton Range, and the second highest peak in t ...

, and the majority of the slopes at Grand Targhee face west.

Activities

The ski resort has four quad-

chairs A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

(two are high-speed detachable), and one

conveyor A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...

. The greatest vertical drop is . It is rated as 85% Difficult and 15% Advanced in

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

. There are also

Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the Ski binding, binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe ...

trails, snowshoeing, snowcat adventures, and activities. The longest trail at the resort is Teton Vista Traverse at . It averages over of snowfall per season which ranks it among the top five ski resorts in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. This is impressive where it is inland and the snow that falls is nearly always powder snow. The reason for the abundant snowfall is twofold. First, the area is on the west slope or "wet" side of the

, topped by

at and, second, because there is a moisture channel through the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

formed by the

Snake River Plain image:Snake River view near Twin Falls, Idaho.jpg, The Snake River cutting through the plain leaves many canyons and Canyon#List of gorges, gorges, such as this one near Twin Falls, Idaho The Snake River Plain is a geology, geologic feature ...

in Idaho that channels moisture from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

to the west slope of the Tetons. The resort has two

terrain park A terrain park or snow park is an outdoor recreation area containing terrain that allows skiers, snowboarders and snowbikers to perform tricks. Terrain parks have their roots in skateparks and many of the features are common to both. From their ...

s as of January 2016. Summertime offers scenic

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

rides, kids camps, music festivals, a bluegrass festival, and 70+ miles of crosscountry and downhill bike trails. Grand Targhee is also in close proximity to

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

History

The original inhabitants of this area were the

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

Bannock Bannock may mean: * Bannock (food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle * Bannock (Indigenous American), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying * Bannock people, a Native American people of what is now southeastern Oregon ...

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...

, and

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...

tribes. The

was called the Tee-Win-At by the Shoshone Indians, meaning "high pinnacles". Targhee or Chief Targhee by 1867, was known as, “the great head chief of all the Bannock people.” He led his people through what may have been the grimmest period of their history as they were forced from their traditional nomadic ways and into a life of hard labor and farming on the newly created Fort Hall Reservation. Chief Targhee was truly a great chief admired for his strong character and integrity. He was honored by euro-Americans and Native-Americans alike. He held the peace while his people suffered from starvation and abuse resulting from the shameful acts of both the United States and Idaho Territorial governments. He was killed while hunting for food by the Crow in the winter of 1871/72. Upon his death, the Bannock fractured into several bands bent on war with the euro-Americans that eventually led to the demise of a significant proportion of the Bannock. Grand Targhee Resort's name includes both a reference to Grand Teton Mountain and Chief Targhee. A national forest, a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

, a creek, a dog and the resort commemorate Chief Targhee's integrity and the memory of the Native American contribution to this country.

Ski resort

The locals of Teton Valley were instrumental in establishing Grand Targhee Resort. In 1966, Grand Targhee, Inc. was formed by

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

Idahoans. One of the goals of the 900+ members was to benefit the community and the economy of the region. The resort opened on December 26, 1969, with the Bannock and Shoshone lifts, Targhee Lodge, and day lodge. The resort was officially dedicated by Idaho

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Don Samuelson Donald William Samuelson (July 27, 1913 – January 20, 2000) was an American Republican politician who served as the 25th governor of Idaho, from 1967 to 1971. He is the state's most recent incumbent governor to lose a re-election bid (1970). ...

six weeks later on February 2, 1970. The Sioux Lodge opened in 1971 and the original Master Plan under the Special Use Permit called for eventually developing the resort to a 6,000 skiers per day lift capacity, 475 accommodation units, including buildings up to five stories and included plans for a trailer park, golf courses, and snowmobile trails over . The original plan never materialized. Prior to its fourth ski season, Grand Targhee was purchased in October 1973 by Bill Robinson, a plastics manufacturer from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Though primarily an absentee owner, Robinson and his family loved the area, bought a home in Driggs, and visited frequently throughout the years. In 1987, Grand Targhee Resort was purchased and operated by Mory and Carol Bergmeyer. The Bergmeyers improved the resort facilities, added new guest activities and expanded the reputation of Targhee while continuing its dedication to family, quality and the sensitive balance between people and the great outdoors. In 1988, the Bergmeyers changed the resort's policy to allow snowboards on the hill. In March 1990, the Rendezvous day lodge was destroyed by fire. Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc., a corporation run by CEO George Gillett, Jr., purchased Grand Targhee in March 1997. In June 2000, George and Rose Gillett, along with their four sons, purchased Grand Targhee from Booth Creek Ski Holdings. In 1997, the resort's first high-speed detachable quad chair, Dreamcatcher, replaced Bannock, and the Shoshone double chair was replaced with a fixed-grip quad. Through a land exchange in 2004, the Gilletts acquired ownership of Grand Targhee's base area. Planning has begun for the future development of Grand Targhee Resort including an expansion of Peaked Mountain facilities and a proposed expanded base area with more lodging units. In the summer of 2016, the Blackfoot double chair was torn down to make way for the new Blackfoot highspeed quad chairlift.

Stick of Truth

The Stick of Truth is a snow depth indicator at the resort, first installed in November 2018. Unlike snow condition data from

SNOTEL 300px, Data from a SNOTEL site in Elko County, Nevada SNOTEL is an automated system of snowpack and related climate sensors operated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the United States Department of Agriculture in the Weste ...

, the ''Truth'' gauge is simple and non-electronic—except for night lighting. It consists of a measuring stick (calibrated in inches) on a platform to accumulate snowfall, and a webcam. The platform is cleared of snow and ice daily so that the gauge shows snow depth delivered in the last (up to) 24 hours. Since its inception, the platform often has few whimsical plastic figurines from a collection of hundreds. The webcam shows a live view and is available on the resort's ''Snow Report'' page, the ''See Jackson Hole'' website, as well as on YouTube.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.grandtarghee.com
Travel Wyoming
- official site - Grand Targhee Resort
Visit Idaho
- official site - Grand Targhee
First Tracks Online.com
- Grand Targhee Ski areas and resorts in Wyoming Golf clubs and courses in Wyoming Buildings and structures in Teton County, Wyoming Tourist attractions in Teton County, Wyoming