It's snow nice

Author: By Christina Tree, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, February 8, 1998

Page: M13

Section: Travel

It snows so frequently throughout the winter in this high valley that the Tetons, those magnificent 12,000-foot peaks thrusting up improbably straight from the valley floor, are frequently invisible in January and much of February. As the days begin to lengthen, however, the skies usually clear to a deep blue, contrasting with the sparkling white mountains.

Better known as a downhill skiing destination, thanks to its three alpine resorts, Jackson Hole also offers an appealing variety of cross-country terrain -- everything from simple tours along streams and into rolling forests to steep powder shots and everything in between, all with the spectacular backdrop of the Tetons -- and dependable snow.

It was March 3 when I landed in Jackson Hole, but the Tetons were still veiled in snow. It had been snowing for 32 days straight.

The town of Jackson, Wyo., at first seemed far less cross-country geared than the village of Jackson, N.H.

Snow King, a medium-sized ski area, rises from the edge of town just as Mount Cranmore does from North Conway, N.H., and, like Cranmore, it was established in the late 1930s and now includes extensive resort facilities. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, a major complex that includes Teton Village and boasts the country's longest and probably steepest vertical (trails streak the sheer face of a Teton peak), 12 miles north of town, and Grand Targhee Ski Resort, a deep-powder mecca 42 miles northwest, are the area's big winter draws.

For cross-country skiers, the check-in center in Jackson itself is Skinny Skis, a friendly shop selling and renting equipment, also dispensing sound advice on where to ski when. I happened on Skinny Skis during my initial tour of town, admittedly a slow process because dozens of shops, ranging from big-name outlets to art galleries and including a number of seductive boutiques, were just launching their end-of-season sales.

Having visited Jackson in summer, along with the other 2 million tourists who come here in warm weather to buy cowboy hats and get photographed by the town square's antler arches, I wasn't prepared for Jackson in winter.

The area is said to attract just 400,000 skiers all season, and few were in town that day. The stage-set Old West town, with its barnboard-faced buildings lining boardwalks, had an eerie, ghostly feel in the thick-falling snow.

Jackson Hole was, it turns out, discovered in winter. Legendary trapper John Colten happened into this ``hole'' (trapper parlance for a mountain-circled valley) in 1807. The valley floor is more than 6,000 feet high and some 80 miles long, 15 miles wide. The Shoshone Indians who frequented the area named its jagged crystalline peaks ``Teewinot,'' meaning ``many pinnacles,'' but the French Canadian beaver trappers christened the three highest most distinct peaks ``Les Trois Tetons'' (to paraphrase, ``three breasts''), and the name has stuck.

The craze for beaver hats prevailed until the 1840s, but the valley was fairly forgotten for several decades thereafter. The transcontinental railroad passed far south, and while Yellowstone National Park, a short drive north, was proclaimed a national park in 1872, Jackson Hole remained a little-known back country until the turn of the century, when cattle ranching -- and dude ranching -- began.

Not until 1929 was the first piece of Grand Teton National Park established, and then only through the efforts of John D. Rockefeller, who also worked quietly amassing land in the '30s and finally succeeded in conveying it to the government in 1943.

So where to start skiing? Local touring centers -- Teton Pines and Spring Creek, as well as the Nordic Center at Jackson Hole ski resort -- all offer rentals and modest trail networks, but obviously these formal centers are not why you fly two thirds of the way across the country. If you have skis and a companion, the obvious place to begin is the Grand Teton National Park visitors' center in Moose, 12 miles north of Jackson on Route 89/191. Rangers keep tabs on trail conditions and advise on the best places to ski, given weather conditions and the time of day.

Admittedly, I didn't begin at the Visitors Center and so found my way to Ditch Creek blocked by snowdrifts. (It's not in the park, but it's a popular bad weather trek because it's sheltered). Still, it was interesting to see the old farms in Antelope Flats as this part of the valley is known. One was the setting for the movie ``Shane.''

It was still snowing but less heavily, and through the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce I had found a guide, local pundit and cross-country enthusiast Jesse O'Connor. We stopped by the visitors' center to pick up a weatherproof recreation map and drove the few more miles to a plowed trailhead for the Phelps Lake Overlook Trail.

This trail climbs gently along a summer road and then more steeply a mile through lodgepole pines. I was struck by the silence of the woods. We warmed up as we climbed another mile or so, past the entrance to Death Canyon (shrouded in snow) and emerged on a knoll commanding what must be a panoramic view in clear weather. The white expanse of frozen lake was there, but not the Tetons. After a brief picnic, we began the descent.

Then it happened: first a glint of sun lighting the falling flakes, and then real sun, no flakes. By the time we reached White Grass Ranch, a classic old and picturesquely dilapidated log lodge on a high, open plateau, the clouds began to shred, and the valley opened around us, revealing more mountains and sky than I can ever remember seeing.

That sky was brilliant blue the next day, and the next and the next. I skied the Jenny Lake Trail, an almost totally flat four miles whether you follow the creek or the straight-as-an-arrow Teton Park Road. What's almost impossible to convey about this run (and you really want to run!) is its backdrop: Grand Teton and the three next-highest Teton peaks just standing there, seemingly within arm's reach and yet just far enough away to display their full splendor. Jenny Lake itself lies at the foot of Cascade Canyon, banked in spruce and pine.

Unfortunately, I was scheduled to leave on that third brilliant blue day. There was just enough time to tour the National Elk Refuge and the Wildlife of the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

The Elk Refuge is a phenomenon that can be viewed only in winter. This valley, it seems, is an ancient elk wintering ground, and around the turn of the century, when ranchers began displacing these animals, thousands died of starvation.

Luckily, a local rancher had been given a camera by one of his ``sports,'' Kodak founder George Eastman. His photos of dead and starving elk were widely printed, and they triggered outrage general and strong enough to result in the 1911 creation of this refuge, now 25,000 acres, a haven for some 9,000 elk who come in November and leave in May. The refuge is three miles north of Jackson, and tours are offered via horse-drawn sleighs.

Overlooking the refuge, the National Museum of Wildlife Art is a striking stone structure housing the word's largest collection of paintings and sculpture depicting Western wildlife. Paintings include renditions of elk and buffalo by mid-19th--century artists like Albert Bierstadt, and works by John Clymer, whose studio is preserved here.

Obviously, I left frustrated not to have skied more. The weather was perfect, and I was just tuning in. Jackson Hole, it turns out, is fast becoming a national center for cross-country skiing, and Teton Pass is particularly well known for its bowls and powder among telemarkers. The next trip will be for a couple weeks and include a few days in Yellowstone.

The Wort Hotel (800-322-2727) is the hospitable, atmosphere-drenched landmark in the middle of Jackson. Snow King Resort Condominiums (800-522-KING) is a good in-town condo bet. A word of caution: Lodging is plentiful along Route 22 just outside Jackson but it's a commercial strip. I would stay right in town or well out of it. Spring Creek Resort (800-443-6139) overlooks the Tetons. Teton Village (800-443-6840) at Jackson Hole Resort offers a range of condos and a pleasant, full-facility inncalled Alpenhof Lodge (800-732-3244).

The ski touring centers are Jackson Hole Nordic Center (307-739-2629), Spring Creek Resort (800-443-6139), and Teton Pines Resort (307-733-1005). The Grand Teton National Park Visitors Center phone number is 307-739-3399).

The Jackson Hole Airport, eight miles north of Jackson, is served by American, Delta, and United Airlines. The most direct flights from Boston are via Chicago. A four-wheel-drive rental car is useful; reserve. We used Eagle Rent-A-Car and had no complaints.

``50 Ski Tours in Jackson Hole and Yellowstone'' by Richard DuMais (High Peak Books) and ``Wyoming Handbook'' by Don Pitcher (Moon Publications) are both worth securing if you want to plan ahead.