Jackson Hole without the glitz

GRAND TARGHEE, Wyo. -- Bill Royall chose the University of Denver so he could take the winter quarters off from school and hit the slopes. After college, his powder-searching ways landed him in Vail until it became too crowded, too trendy. A move to Aspen ended with the same claustrophobic result.

And so it went. Royall's quest for a quiet skiing sanctuary took him to Steamboat Springs, Taos, Sun Valley, Jackson. And it always ended the same: moving out when the crowds moved in.

Then Royall found Grand Targhee.

Just a few miles from the Idaho state line on the western side of the Grand Tetons, this small resort at the end of long, winding road has the pristine powder hard-core skiers need, the coziness that families love and the charm that purists like Royall crave.

A down-home alternative to upscale Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee is a throwback to the days of the small-town ski resorts, the kind of place where lift operators know the regulars' names and the glistening snow is the only sparkle anyone will ever need.

"When you go to a lot of big-time resorts, it's a lot of hustle and bustle, glitter and glamour and we don't want that," says Royall, a stone carver from Southport, Maine, who spends three or four months every winter in Grand Targhee with his wife, Emery. "Grand Targhee is a non-threatening ski environment."

Grand Targhee's appeal starts with the Tetons, the 13,000-foot peaks that jut dramatically from the high plains like jagged teeth. Reach the top of the main lift and you get a clear view of these craggy mammoths, seemingly a short double-diamond run away.

But Grand Targhee is more than just a hill with a view.

Because of a unique weather pattern that shoves incoming storms to the western slope of the Tetons, Grand Targhee has an annual snowfall of nearly 500 inches, with up to 650 inches in the whitest of winters. And storms don't seem to hit the other side of the Tetons quite as hard. A storm that drops 10 to 12 inches in Jackson may dump up to two feet in Grand Targhee.

"The first thing people usually hear about is, which is a good thing, is the snow issue," says Susie Barnett-Bushong, Grand Targhee's marketing director. "People all over the world recognize that Grand Targhee consistently has some of the best snow annually."

The base area is small, particularly by today's sprawl-across-the-mountain standards, but Grand Targhee has everything you might need: a bar, a couple of restaurants, a ski shop and a small market, and more stores just down the road in Driggs, Idaho. If upscale restaurants, art galleries or mango mojitos are your thing, Jackson is just 45 minutes away.

"It's just a wonderful place," said Kathy Campbell of Norristown, Pa. "You can just let the kids go, ski for a while and everybody meets each other at the bottom for lunch. It's a great family atmosphere."

There's little staff turnover from one season to the next, meaning the lift operator you met five years ago is still there to say hello the first day of the season, and so is the bartender who poured you that smooth vermouth.

Royall remembers a time he decided to hitchhike his way up the mountain from the family's cabin and was picked up by a member of the resort staff who was driving alone in her Audi. Not long after that, the same woman picked up Royall again.

"A single lady picks up this old ski bum," he said. "We sort of knew each other, but I'm sure she didn't recognize me the first time she picked me up. She must have figured well, I'm a skier, I'm only going to the resort, so what's the harm?"

But even the coziest of places need room to breathe, and Grand Targhee is working on a plan to expand lodging from 96 to 525 units and add another lift, along with more restaurants and activities. The resort and the Teton County Board of Commissioners are hashing out the details.

"We truly are maxed out, so to make it a better experience on the same footprint, a great little nook at the end of the road, we need to have some of the services that our customers are really asking for," Barnett-Bushong said.

Of course, sometimes progress comes at price.

While it would be nice to have more lodging and eating options, to put a new shine on the place, the expansion will likely bring in more people. That could lead to crowds -- just what purists like Royall don't want.

"The expansion will be great and I hope it goes through," he said, followed by a short pause. "On second thought, our little secret might get out, so maybe I don't want expansion. This place is perfect the way it is."