This was the most perfect road trip from start to finish. A fantastic start to the holiday was a 3 hour flight to Reykjavik where we spent 4 nights at the Hotel Marina, a lovely hotel in a great position from where we were able to do a Northern Lights Tour compliments of Ski Safari, a trip to the blue Lagoon and also a Golden Circle Tour. A great start to the ski trip which then involved a flight to Denver and a good recommendation from Ski Safari to stay overnight in the Cambria Suites at the airport before flying to Bozeman the next day. Bozeman is a beautiful little airport - more like a ski lodge and the car rental pick up SO easy, all done in the airport. We had a beautiful 4 hour drive to Jackson Hole, miles and miles of snow covered prairie in Montana and Wyoming with the stunning mountain backdrop. Just before Jackson Hole, travelling through the Teton Pass is amazing - whatever the weather. We stayed in a condo in Downtown Jackson which was brilliant for walking access to very good restaurants, the best steak we have EVER had in the White Buffalo Club, a meal in the incredible Wort Hotel, a not to be missed drink in their bar and the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and a visit to the Antler adorned main square. It was an easy trip to the slopes, about 15 minutes with free parking and shuttle access. The skiing in Jackson Hole is great and good for all abilities. The view from the top of the tramway is amazing, as is the food at the top of the gondola.Jackson Hole is quite an upmarket resort and not cheap but worth every penny for value for money.We drove one hour on one day to Grand Targhee which is a lovely, quite quaint resort to ski and well worth the trip.We had the most fantastic day trip to Yellowstone in a snowcoach. Picked up from our condo at 7am in a mini bus we saw the sun rise over the Tetons on our way there. Full breakfast on arrival at Yellowstone then transfer to a 9 seater snowcoach to see the amazing Old Faithful Geyser, bison so close you could almost touch them, coyote, waterfalls and an excellent history from the guide. Lunch also included and a return to Jackson at 5pm. On leaving Jackson after 5 great days skiing we followed Andy's excellent advice to visit the Elk Refuge on the edge of town where you go on a horse drawn sleigh with a very informative guide who tells you about the habits of the elk. Then a lovely 4 hour drive to Big Sky in Montana. We stayed slopeside at the Village Centre which was brilliant for ski in ski out and a nice contrast after driving to the slopes in Jackson Hole.We were in the Village Centre in studios with Murphy beds which worked really well. The service at the Village Centre and Huntley Lodge was excellent. The outdoor hot tub was great too. Once again the skiing at Big Sky was great, lots of wide open pistes for all abilities with plenty of difficult stuff for the "professionals". THe terrain is vast. We were very lucky on our trip in January/February to have had winter snow with beautiful bluebird spring sunshine.I used the free Mountain Host service on 3 occasions in Jackson Hole and Big Sky which was really good in both resorts especially as I managed to be 1 to 1 on all 3 occasions! I learnt as much about the resorts as I did about the slopes .The ski valet service at The Village Centre is excellent. THe choice of dining limited but enough for a 4 night stay. An excellent full buffet breakfast was included in the stay. Leaving Big Sky was an easy drive to Bozeman airport and a quick and easy flight to Denver. Once again it was worth another overnight stay in the Cambria suites before the long journey home; a 7 hour flight to Reykjavik and a change of plane there because of the stopover on the way out, but that was really easy, even though at 6.30am. Off one plane, in through a door, time for a coffee, out through the next door and on to the next plane for the final 3 hour flight to Gatwick. Icelandair were very good. No food is provided on the flights (although there are snacks you can buy) but that is easy to provide for with forward planning, there is plenty of leg room on the plane and the entertainment system is first class. We would never have thought of this road trip ourselves and cannot thank Andy Knights enough for suggesting it and for planning it with us.
Jan Clifford
23rd February 2016
