The world may ski at Jackson Hole, but Wyoming skis at Snowy Range. This classic ski area is close to two of the state's population centers: a mere 32 miles from Laramie, home to the University of Wyoming, and 75 miles from Cheyenne, the state capital.
Skiing at Snowy Range is simplicity itself. It is only a ski area – not a resort with high-speed lifts, ski-in/ski-out lodging, pay parking or other trappings of big-league resorthood. Rather, it remains down-home and compact, offering the kind of low-cost, low-key, family-friendly skiing that people often complain has been lost.
The ski area is set just east of Snowy Range Pass in the heart of the Medicine Bow Mountains, where the Continental Divide has its easternmost thrust. It captures an average of 260 inches of a snow each winter. Pacific storms pass over the Divide and drop their loads on Snowy Range. With modest skier traffic, powder often lingers from storm to storm.
Drive down the short access road, park, shoulder your skis and walk over to the simple, functional day lodge to get geared up. That’s all there is to it. Snowy Range offers up 27 congenial trails fanned out over a pair of adjacent mountains and five lifts. The layout makes it easy
Summit view from Medicine Bow Peak Greg Younger
to create mix and match routes for maximum variety, yet is so sensible that you can glide from the top of any lift to the bottom of any other, which giant ski areas can't offer.
Skiers and snowboarders seamlessly move from one interconnected mountain sector to another. Of the three lifts visible from the base area, the main lift is the Virginian, named after the Owen Wister opus. It serves beguiling boulevards that are ideal for easy-street cruising or warming up for Snow Range’s steeps.
The next lift over on skiers’ left is the Chute, after the most distinctive run that it serves – one of a quartet of steep narrow trails threaded through the trees. If there are moguls anywhere at Snowy Range, this is where they build up. It is also the sector where advanced skiers and snowboarders do laps off the Chute Chair in search of yet another little drift of powder in the woods.
Offset slightly from these frontside runs, which locals collectively refer to as Snowy Range, is Corner Mountain on the far right side of the trail network. Access from the base is either via the Pioneer beginner chair and an easy trail called War Path, or from the top of the Virginian chair and an
Group skiing In Sync Productions
intermediate route called Drifter. This sector is heaven for intermediate skiers who love wide, sweeping runs and fabulous views, including that of its namesake, Corner Mountain.
The Pioneer beginner area is gentle and easy enough to be manageable by even the youngest skier or most tentative beginner. Best of all, it's not in the path of faster skiers and snowboarders speeding down from steeper trails above.
If you don’t yet ski or snowboard, Snowy Range’s certified instructors can teach you. For the 2006-07 winter, two-hour group lessons start three times a day and cost just $35; lift/lesson/rental packages are $75 for skiing and $79 for snowboarding for those age 11 and older. The kids’ rate (ages four to 10) is $80 per day, including lessons, lifts, rentals and lunch – a small investment that will pay dividends in the form of a lifetime of snow-sliding pleasure.
Locals consider Snowy Range a day trip, but it is also a low-cost getaway for visitors. Tiny Centennial, 5 miles east of the ski area, offers accommodations. Laramie provides even more lodging options, plus the range of dining and entertainment options expected in a university town. Contact the Albany Tourism Board, www.laramie-tourism.com or 800-445-5303.
Snowy Range operates seven days a week during holiday periods and in March, but is open Thursdays through Mondays before Christmas and in January and February. For more information, visit www.snowyrange.com or call 1-800-GO-2-SNOW.
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