Grand Targhee Colter Upgrade: The U.S.’s Largest Lift Expansion Comes with Massive Impacts
Updated:
October 11, 2024
Background
For the 2022-23 season,Grand Targheesaw its largest lift-serviced expansion in over 20 years. The Wyoming resort added the high-speed Colter six-pack on the back side of Peaked Mountain, bringing lift service to an area that was formerly only accessible via guided snowcat tours.
Compared to nearby Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee has historically fallen short in expert terrain and vertical drop. However, this upgrade goes a ways towards addressing these shortcomings.
The Experience
Adding the Colter lift has expanded Grand Targhee’s lift-served footprint by approximately 600 acres, and in the process, transformed the resort. The Colter lift summits 900 feet higher than the Sacajawea lift with which it shares Peaked Mountain, and the expansion makes the resort feel much bigger, and especially taller, than it used to be. The lift is fast and comfortable, with more than enough capacity for the area.
The Colter zone primarily consists of near-treeline intermediate and advanced terrain; this is already what Grand Targhee historically specialized in, but the lower half of this area brings a substantial increase in traditional, tree-defined terrain, with some standout advanced-level mogul runs. In addition, this newly-available footprint offers what’s arguably the best view of the Teton range at the resort on clear days. Guests should check out the intermediate Rolling Thunder trail for stunning vistas that last most of the run.
The Colter upgrade has also indirectly increased access to Grand Targhee’s limited but daunting hike-to and expert terrain. The resort’s only true expert runs are accessible off the back side of Peaked Mountain; previously, only a handful of these runs could be accessed without a hike, but now, guests can directly access the vast majority of them with just a ride up Colter. In addition, the Colter installation has profoundly cut down the amount of hiking required to reach the Mary’s Nipple zone, with a hike to that area taking just a few minutes from the top of the Colter versus the outgoing (and, technically, still available) 20-minute hike from Teton Vista Traverse.
The Colter lift-service expansion has come with one minor drawback: the discontinuation of guided cat skiing at Grand Targhee. While only a minuscule fraction of Targhee guests ever paid for these tours, they offered a unique opportunity to ski untouched powder for an entire day. This terrain has now been democratized for the broader Targhee ticket and pass-holding audience, but it gets tracked out a lot faster than it used to.
Ultimately, the biggest lift expansion of 2023 might be the best. Grand Targhee still specializes in the terrain it’s historically done well, but the Colter upgrade has increased the resort’s lift-served footprint by over 50%, strengthened its advanced and expert offerings, and substantially reduced the amount of hiking required to access certain resort areas.Jackson Holeis still probably the better overall mountain for those who can handle the demanding terrain there, but intermediate-level destination-goers should seriously consider Targhee as a viable alternative.
Considering a ski trip to Grand Targhee this year? Check out our fullRockies ski resort rankings, as well as our comprehensiveGrand Targhee reviewfrom the 2021-22 season (a refreshed 2022-23 review will be out shortly). You can also check out our thoughts on North America’s major 2021-22 ski resort lift and terrain upgrades in video form below.
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