Snow King Mountain
History
In 1936, the Civilian Conservation Corps created a switch-back horse and hiking trail to the top of the mountain and the trail became one of Snow King's first skiing racecourses. The Jackson Hole Ski Club was established in 1937, and two years later lift-served skiing began on Wyoming's first ski area with the addition of a 4,000-foot (1,220 m) rope tow. The first chairlift was installed in 1946, a converted ore tram from Colorado. It had four stations, with the first starting where 1 town hill apartments are located. Stations 2 and 3, which were up the hill, were for beginners and intermediate skiers. In 1951, the old single person lift was given an improved upper and lower terminal, new stronger cables and 2 person chairs.
In 1978, The Rafferty double was constructed on the east slopes of the resort near the Snow king Hotel. When completed, it brought a mini golf course and alpine slide. In the summer of 2014, after almost 35 years of service, the Rafferty Double chair was removed to make way for a new and improved base area. With these improvements came the New Rafferty fixed-grip quad chair, a new ticket office, the new Kings grill, a ropes course, mountain coaster, and a new mini golf course. After a few years of increased tourism to the area, a new maze was created just west of the mini golf. In the winter, Rafferty offers Beginner and intermediate runs, while the upper intermediate and expert runs are off of the summit gondola, Cougar, and Backside lift.
In 1981, The resort replaced the thirty-year-old "Snow King Chairlift" with a new Doppelmayr/Garaventa CTEC double chair, which started about 200 feet (61 m) to the east of the old lift. This new lift ran a lift line that crossed the old about three-quarters of the way up the mountain. In the spring of 2021, Snow King Resort, Skytrac chairlifts, and Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group began construction of a new eight-passenger Summit Gondola, as well as the Backside quad.
In the 2010s, Snow King Observatory and Planetarium was planned for the location.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Snow-king-from-elk-refuge-march-2024.jpg/220px-Snow-king-from-elk-refuge-march-2024.jpg)
Current Lifts
Rafferty (YOC 2015)
4pers. Chairlift (fixed-grip)
Length: 920 m · Carrying capacity/hour: 1800
Manufacturer: Doppelmayr
Summit Gondola (YOC 2021)
8pers. Gondola lift (monocable circulating ropeway)
Length: 1130 m · Carrying capacity/hour: 2400
Manufacturer: Leitner-Poma
Cougar (YOC 1994)
3pers. Chairlift (fixed-grip)
Length: 766 m · Carrying capacity/hour: 1200
Manufacturer: Garaventa
Beginner Tow
Rope tow/baby lift with low rope tow
Length: 100 m · Carrying capacity/hour: 500
Manufacturer: Wopfner
Backside Lift A (YOC 2021)
4pers. Chairlift (fixed-grip)
Carrying capacity/hour: 2000
Manufacturer: Skytrac Inc.
References
- ^ "Heading for Jackson 1,600 feet below". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). (AP photo). March 1, 1950. p. 10. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
1.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B7heAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dTAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2610%2C57132
2. https://liftblog.com/snow-king-mountain-wy/
External links
- Snow King Mountain
- Snow King Resort
- Snow King Resort - history of Jackson Hole
- the master plan