Jackson Hole vs Aspen: Which is the Best Ski Destination?

Is Jackson Hole facing an identity crisis? The exclusive Wyoming ski town has just about everything going for it: world-class slopes, A-list locals and some of the most expensive real estate on the planet. And that’s the problem. The Hole, it seems, is desperate not to become Aspen, Colorado’s unapologetically ostentatious winter wonderland for one-percenters. And so conspicuous consumption is conspicuously avoided and a relaxed dress code of blue jeans and cowboy boots is rigidly observed, even as the area’s net worth nearly rivals that of a Gulf oil state. But, protestations aside, are the two really so different?

YEE-HAW Jackson Hole Adobe	APRÈS-SKI Aspen Jonathan Ross
ARRIVED ON THE SCENE 2000s	ARRIVED ON THE SCENE 1940s
NOTABLE CRANK Kanye West Matt Baron/Shutterstock	NOTABLE CRANK Hunter S. Thompson Alamy Stock Photo
UNOFFICIAL TOWN VEHICLE (ACCORDING TO A LOCAL) GMC Yukon Denali Jim Fets	UNOFFICIAL TOWN VEHICLE (ACCORDING TO A LOCAL) AWD Tesla Tesla
FAMOUS WATERING HOLE Million Dollar Cowboy Supplied	FAMOUS WATERING HOLE Living Room at Hotel Jerome Hotel Jerome
CULTURAL INSTITUTION Longest-Running Shoot-Out (1957) Supplied	CULTURAL INSTITUTION Wheeler Opera House (1889) AP

Pow Factor (Advantage: Aspen)

JACKSON HOLE NUMBER OF SKI RESORTS 3 (Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Snow King Mountain and Grand Targhee Resort)	ASPEN NUMBER OF SKI RESORTS 4 (Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk and Snowmass)
SKIING AREA 2,500 acres	SKIING AREA 5,527 acres
ACREAGE PER RESIDENT 0.1	ACREAGE PER RESIDENT 0.3
IN-DEMAND SKI PRO Tommy Moe One of two American men to win an Olympic gold medal for downhill, plus Olympic silver in 1994	IN-DEMAND SKI PRO Chris Davenport World Extreme Skiing Champion, Olympic commentator, first person to ski every 14,000-foot peak in Colorado

Cold Hard Cash (Advantage: Jackson Hole)

JACKSON HOLE PER CAPITA INCOME $229,825 (1st in US.)	ASPEN PER CAPITA INCOME $158,313 (3rd in US.)
AVERAGE INCOME OF THE TOP 1% $22,508,108 (1st in US.)	AVERAGE INCOME OF THE TOP 1% $6,620,696 (7th in US.)
MOST EXPENSIVE HOME FOR SALE $69,500,000	MOST EXPENSIVE HOME FOR SALE $49,500,000
MOST EXPENSIVE IN-SEASON RENTAL $104,000	MOST EXPENSIVE IN-SEASON RENTAL $252,000

Verdict:

If you consider the gravitational pull of its wealth, Jackson Hole has done a remarkable job keeping its cultural signifiers more giddyup! than Gstaad. But billionaires and celebrities cosplaying as cowboys doesn’t make a resort town the new Sundance—it makes it Westworld.