Poster: A snowHead
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Sorry if this has already been discussed but the search function isnt being very helpful.
We're off to Jackson in March and were wondering if its worth hiring a car. Our hotel is in Jackson itself so we have to catch the bus if we dont hire a car. Our hotel does do a shuttle but only first thing in the morning and lat afternoon. I know there are other buses that you can catch but would like to know how these operate from someone who has been before. In ADH at xmas the buses there were a little restrictive when it came to swapping from skis to board (& vice versa), trips to the shops, and nights out. We're both experienced in driving on snow as we have always hired a car on trips to Canada.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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snobunni, We always hire a small SUV, usually from Alamo (via holiday autos and the usual discount code posted somewhere here.) But we have 4 of us (including sprogs)
The shuttle bus is run by START and costs $3 each way. The fastest route now takes about 35 mins Hill > town, 2 of the 3 routes go a bit around the houses. There are good services - but you don't always get a seated place. Not so good later in the evening.
Advantages of a car - you can use it to get from the airport (get one of you to go straight to the desk while the other waits for bags - it takes 1 minute to get from plane to carousel. Petrol is cheap, Flexibility. You can use them as a locker. Takes 18-20 minutes to get to the hill.
Disadvantages - parking lots at the hill are more expensive the closer to the base, buses drop just at the bottom. You need to clear the snow of them.
Which hotel are you going to?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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snobunni, Some of the hotels do give out free start bus tickets I cant remember how much it was last year a couple of $ each way I imagine the trip was only 20 mins so stoatsbrother, 35 mins sounds a little bit longer .
slightly o/t stoatsbrother, How is the new tram and the mountain looking ? and all over did you think it was same sort of prices as last year in $ obviously I know the £ is 25 % weaker !
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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PS sorry snobunni, for not answering your car hire question but I just used buses last year I think the return to the airport was about 30 $ the buses were always on time, clean and frequent ok sometimes you dont get a seat on the way back for part of the journey but it was fine
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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buses have always worked for us, but we're always on the hill early. Once you're in Jackson, walking everywhere is easy so car not really needed (unless your an American )
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Helen LS, 35 mins was my wifes timing when I sent her and one sprog back on their own... The START schedule says expect a 25-35 minute trip.
The new Tram is better, if less atmospheric than the old one- and they have sorted the exit off the top tram dock out. No queues on some of the days I rode it. There were some major problems with inbound avalanches whilst I was there, including a death on a run I was about to ski. Prices similar or up 5% and the exchange rate a problem. Things were a bit quieter than that time last year.
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stoatsbrother, Thanks for the info:)
Yeah I saw about the avalanches and read the bit you wrote on the other thread
I can imagine they will be a bit quieter as the states had the financial probs hit a little earlier lucklily I dont need to buy anything this year apart from boots and hopefully cem is sorting me out with those !
Arghhh to the 35 mins that makes banff to LL seem acceptable !
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Thanks for the info everyone.
stoatsbrother, we're staying at the Best Western Inn at Jackson Hole, our friends have stayed there a few times before apparently its very nice.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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snobunni, can't help at the moment, but we'll be out there in a couple of weeks and will have a car as we're doing a bit of a tour around so need one to get between resorts. Like you, we're thinking of staying in town and travelling by bus or using the car to get to the slopes each day. I'll let you know when we get back how we got on with the car/bus situation, if you like...
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Billy M, thanx that'll be a great help.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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snobunni, we got back a week ago and had a great time -we did Big Sky, Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole. Both BS and GT were brilliant, unbelievably quiet (how do they survive financially?) and luckily we had some great snow. JH was great too, although we didn't have any fresh snow when we were there unfortunately.
As for your question, to be honest we never used the bus as we had a car anyway and it just seemed easier that way. Like you, we were staying in town so had to travel to the lifts each day. We had a hire car for the trip and ended up using that rather than the bus - guaranteed a seat, petrol is cheap, parking is free if there's 3 (or more) of you in the car, and it's only about 15 or 20 (-ish) minutes away. The only issue we had was de-icing the car each morning!
Anyway, hope you have as good a trip as we did...
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I really don't think a car is worth it in jackson Hole. I've done about 8 weeks skiing there in total and stayed in town for 4 weeks and Teton Village for the other 4.
It's so easy to jump on the bus that a car is actually more of a pain IMO. You have to drive without your ski boots on... put them on in the parking lot, it cost's more and you can't drink ! Jackson is a town small enough to walk everywhere and I think the only advantage would be to get some shopping. If you want to do Grand Targhee (and I do reckon you should) then there is a bus that takes you there and back so that's easy.
Your hire car probable won't have snow tyres and they never seem to so you will need chains. When it snows in jackson it really does get it.
I'd use the bus for sure.
Great place though...enjoy
Alex
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snobunni, if you're flying straight to JH, not worth hiring a car unless you want to pay (quite a bit) for convenience. We did but we had 8 of us so wasn't so expensive between us.
Would 2nd a day at GT. Fantastically deserted place and loads of easily accessed off-piste. One of the best days skiing of my life.
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You know it makes sense.
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Billy M, Alex A, 666, Thanks for the advice, just a few weeks away now and the excitment is barely controllable
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Just got back from a week at JH.
Unless there're 3 of you, a car is more a liability than neccessity. Parking cost $12/day. So as a singleton, I opted not to have a car. The bus from the hotel in the morning was nice and prompt. But the return bus was limited so I rode the town bus (START). On first day, I had no small bills so the driver simply waved me on.
The town of JH is compact enough a car isn't too useful.
But if you do opted for a car, there's also a free parking lot 7 miles from Teton Village you can leave your car in. Every bus stops at that lot so it's much more frequent than the town bus.
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