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Ride the Tram

Date:

May 17 - Oct 5, 2025

Hours:

9am - 5pm

In just 12 minutes, the Aerial Tram glides skyward 4,139 vertical feet. The summit offers staggering 360-degree views of the Tetons, Jackson Hole Valley, and surrounding mountain ranges. The "Top of the World" provides amazing access to a plethora of great hiking and running trails, climbing and the occasional snowball fight. Oh, and don't forget the world-famous gourmet waffles in Corbet's Cabin.

Save by purchasing in advance. Same-day online tickets match window rates. 

Valid for one day Aerial Tram use. Also includes same day Evening Gondola, Bridger & Sweetwater Gondola sightseeing 6/7 - 9/7.

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Included in your sightseeing ticket

  • 1 Sightseeing trip via the Aerial Tram

  • 1 Sightseeing trip via both the Bridger & Sweetwater Gondolas (June 7 - Sept 7, 2025)

  • 1 Evening Gondola trip, providing access to The Deck & Piste Mountain Bistro.

  • 360-degree views of the Tetons

  • Access to high-alpine hikes

  • 10% off food at Tram Dock

  • 10% off logo wear at Teton Village Sports, JH Sports, Hoback Sports, the Resort Store and the General Store

*All Tram and gondola rides must be used on the same day. Sightseeing tickets are valid for one day only.

Pricing Starting At

$58

$64

/ Person

Sale
Advanced Online Rate Starting atWindow Rate
Adult Sightseeing Ticket$58$64
Junior Sightseeing Ticket$38$42
Senior Sightseeing Ticket$46$51
Family Pass (up to 2 adults & 4 juniors)$131$145

The above prices are online only and window rates are higher. Save by purchasing in advance. Same-day online tickets match window rates. Rates vary per season. June 7 - September 7, 2025, Bridger and Sweetwater Gondola access is included with your Summer Sightseeing Ticket, including one Evening Gondola trip (in addition to the Aerial Tram). Teewinot chairlift access is not included with this ticket and is reserved for Bike Park bikers only. This sightseeing ticket does not include bike park access.

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From The Blog

Skywalk

Grand Teton Skywalk

Soak in the views on the all-new Grand Teton Skywalk viewing platform at the top of Rendezvous Mountain! The Grand Teton Skywalk is accessible via a sightseeing ticket on the Aerial Tram. 

Aerial Tram in summer

Best Sightseeing in Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole is blessed with some of the country's most beautiful views. While simply walking around the valley will conjure feelings of amazement and wonder, visiting the high alpine spots on this list will leave you genuinely awestruck.

View of Cody Peak on Rock Springs Loop

Top 5 Hikes in Jackson Hole

As a resort nestled within Bridger-Teton National Forest, right on the border of Grand Teton National Park, we are blessed with a beautiful alpine environment. This rugged mountain terrain provides stunning vistas and a wide range of trails for hikers of all abilities.

black bear hiding behind a tree

Wyoming's Wild Side

Wyoming is a wild place! I'm not referring to wild in the "Woahhh that run in the bike park was wild, dude!" sense of the word. I'm also not talking about the area's cowboy-associated reputation as the wild west. I'm referring to the abundant wildlife we're lucky to share our home with.

Skiing in Cody Bowl in the summer

Outside The Gate

With a wrap on one of the snowiest years on record, many would surmise the ski season is over. But for those enlightened few, we know that is entirely untrue. The Aerial Tram opened for summer operations May 20th, and brings with it the return of the spring ski season for those adventurous few.

Waffles at Corbet's Cabin

Bring your crew to enjoy the delicious tradition of eating Top of the World Waffles atop Rendezvous Peak. There is no better place to enjoy a waffle than situated in Corbet's Cabin at 10,450 feet (accessed via the tram). And these aren't just any waffles — these are made to order with delicious toppings like brown sugar butter, nutella, peanut butter, bacon (yes, you read that correctly) and more.

Learn More

Hiking

There are many amazing hikes in Jackson Hole, and a great deal of them are accessed via the tram. Relax as the tram elevates you 4500 feet directly into the incredible hiking areas in the national forest and Grand Teton National Park.

Tram Accessed Hiking

  • Rock Springs Loop
  • Corbet's Trail
  • Cody Bowl
  • Happy Hour Hike
Learn More

Paragliding

Craving even more fresh mountain air? Let the professional tandem pilots at Jackson Hole Paragliding elevate your adventure. After a few running steps, you’ll soar high above Jackson Hole and the Teton and Snake River mountain ranges. Relax and inhale breathtaking vistas underneath your bright canopy in the sky.

Learn More

Location of the Tram

Location of the Aerial Tram on a map
Click here to enlarge image.

Pick up or purchase your sightseeing wristband at the Tickets & Guest Services Building, 3395 Cody Ln Teton Village, WY 83025, (labeled "Tram" above) and then access the Aerial Tram via the stairs on the right side of the building. You must pick up your wristband before going to the Tram.

Teton Village Map

Directions to the Aerial Tram

Location of the Bridger Gondola

Views from the Top

Looking at the views from the Grand Teton Skywalk

Grand Teton Skywalk

Enjoy unparalleled views of the Grand Teton and surrounding mountains.


Learn More

Gondolas

Your summer sightseeing ticket also grants you access to the Bridger Gondola and Sweetwater Gondola from June 7 - Sept 7, 2025. Sweeping views and a launch point for so many adventures await at the top, including premier hiking trails, yoga, paragliding and Via Ferrata tours. Grab a bite at one of our three different restaurants, including The Deck.

Tickets used between May 17 - June 6 and September 8 - October 5 grant one-day access to the Aerial Tram only.

Ride The Gondola

Wildlife

The stunning geography of the rugged alpine environment may not be the only thing you observe while sightseeing. It's not uncommon to get a unique overhead view of moose, bears, or other amazing animals from the safety and comfort of the Aerial Tram and gondolas.

Blog: Wyoming's Wild Side

Backcountry Skiing

Guests are allowed to ski in the backcountry accessible through our boundary gates located near the top of the Aerial Tram, but as part of JHMR’s special use permit with Bridger Teton National Forest, no skiing is permitted within the ski area boundary after the winter operating season. Guests with ski gear will be allowed to load the Tram, but not the gondolas. Skiing and snowboarding are prohibited inbounds during the spring and summer seasons Hazards are not marked, construction efforts are underway, operational vehicles are on-mountain and ski patrol is not available for response.

Already bought your sightseeing ticket?

Explore everything that is included with your purchase and check out the base area map to navigate around Teton Village.

Summer Insider's Guide

Bonus Perks


Includes Evening Gondola

Your sightseeing ticket includes a free evening gondola ticket. 

Evening Bridger Gondola rides are the best way to end your lively day at the mountain. Offering unparalleled views and the best spot to take in an alluring sunset vista while you cap off your day with food and drinks on The Deck.

Please note: the complimentary evening gondola ticket must be used on the same day as your sightseeing trip.

Learn More

Hot Summer Savings - 30% Off Lodging

Book between July 10 & July 16 for 30% on lodging through October 12.

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The Aerial Tram flying through the air

Jackson Hole Mountain Discovery Experience

Welcome to the Jackson Hole Mountain Discovery Experience

Explore the all-new Jackson Hole Mountain Discovery Experience that wants to connect you to the flora, fauna, and geology of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and also show how JHMR is connected to the rest of the 22-million-acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

One of the last nearly intact temperate ecosystems in the world and a sanctuary for the highest concentration of wildlife in the Lower 48 states, the GYE is nothing short of a marvel. Anchored by Yellowstone National Park—the first national park in the U.S. and a UNESCO World Heritage Site—the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) spans six national forests, two national parks, three federal wildlife refuges, tribal lands, and a patchwork of state and private lands across three states.. There is no other landscape in the U.S. to equal the GYE’s vast wilderness.

Here you can see all of the same species that existed in this region before the arrival of European settler-colonists: bison, wolves, moose, elk, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, mountain lions, and black and grizzly bears, along with more than 60 other species of mammals, 300 species of birds, and fish and amphibians. The spot furthest from a road in the continental U.S. is in the GYE. The GYE is home to more than 10,000 hydrothermal features; these include more than half of the world’s geysers and the largest geyser in the world, Steamboat Geyser. The headwaters of several major Western rivers including the Snake, Green, and Yellowstone are in the GYE. The Yellowstone River is the longest undammed river in the lower 48 states. Also, there are faults capable of producing magnitude 7.5 earthquakes, and there’s a supervolcano.

JHMR is wonderfully, inextricably linked to the GYE. We invite you to explore this connection, and how you can help steward it while enjoying the many experiences JHMR offers.

As you explore the top of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort via our Aerial Tram, there are signs abound with short insights on the wonders of our region; please scan the QR codes as you discover these signs for the Jackson Hole Mountain Discovery Experience.

Tectonic Beauty in the Tetons

As important as tectonic activity was, and still is, to the formation of the Tetons, so is glaciation. While the Teton Fault has been uplifting the peaks for around 10 million years, glaciers sculpted the range’s distinctive U-shaped canyons, cirques, and hanging valleys, carving out the depressions that are now lakes. Granite Canyon, in Grand Teton National Park and immediately to the north of JHMR, is a glacier-carved U-shaped valley. If you’re a skier or a hiker who likes JHMR’s Cirque area, you can thank glaciers.

The two most recent glaciations to have been at work in Jackson Hole are the Pinedale, from 50,000 to 14,000 years ago, and the Bull Lake, which occurred about 200,000 years ago and buried the entire valley under about 2,000 feet of ice. While the Bull Lake glaciation deposited the gravel and cobbles that are the base of today’s expansive sagebrush-covered valley floor, it was the Pinedale glaciation that sculpted the Tetons.

Rivers and glaciers both create canyons. Canyons with glacial origins have a U-shape (in contrast with river-carved valleys, which are V-shaped). During the Pinedale glaciation, glaciers formed in the Tetons and flowed downhill, eroding canyons and widening their floors and over-steepening their walls. In addition to Granite Canyon, examples of this include Cascade, Paintbrush, and Death Canyons, all of which are in Grand Teton National Park. Glaciers are also responsible for most of the lakes in the Tetons, including Jackson and Jenny Lakes, which were formed when meltwater filled holes left behind by retreating glaciers.

While glaciers are no longer shaping the Tetons, tectonic activity continues its work on the range. Due to the upthrust of the Teton Fault, the Tetons are still growing, albeit at the very slow rate of approximately 1 millimeter a year.

To hike through the work of glaciers, take the Cirque Trail from the top of the Bridger Gondola to the top of the Aerial Tram (or from the top of the tram down to the top of Bridger Gondola). This 1.8 mile trail crosses one of the many cirques carved in the Tetons by glaciers during the Pinedale glaciation period.

If you’re looking for something longer, consider taking the Aerial Tram to the top of JHMR and then hiking to Marion Lake and down Granite Canyon. A 6.25 mile hike from the top of the tram, Marion Lake is a depression left behind by a Pinedale-period glacier that filled with water. Enjoy lunch at the lake and then you can retrace your route back to the top of the tram or hike about 9 miles down the length of Granite Canyon and back to the JHMR base area. If you head down Granite Canyon, keep your eyes peeled for polished bedrock, another feature of glaciation.

Today there are 10 named glaciers and one unnamed glacier in the Tetons. All of these formed during the Little Ice Age (1350-1850AD) and have been mostly retreating since the late 1800s. (The exception is between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s, when the glaciers were stable.) The Tetons’ glaciers were first surveyed in the late 1920s and have been surveyed periodically since. The Teton, Middle Teton, Schoolroom, Petersen, and Falling Ice Glaciers are surveyed annually. While JHMR has some year-round snowfields, none of the Tetons’ 11 glaciers are at JHMR.

There is no hole in Jackson Hole. “Hole” was a term 19th century trappers and explorers used to describe large, low-lying valleys. The valley itself—ringed by mountains—is the hole. These same trappers called Teton Valley, on the west side of the Tetons, Pierre’s Hole, although that name didn’t stick like Jackson Hole did.

Hiking in Teton Village

Ongoing Evolution and Adaptation

Bighorn Sheep

The summit of JHMR is 10,450 feet above sea level. Here, winter temperatures routinely drop well below zero and an average of more than 40 feet of snow falls annually. “The Teton Mountain range is a harsh environment and a hard place to survive,” says Ashley Egan, a biologist with the Bridger-Teton National Forest, which includes JHMR. Still, there are animals that, thanks to millennia of evolution and/or more recent behavioral adaptations, make their lives here.

As a species, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep have evolved to make their home in cliffy, mountainous terrain. Their wide-set eyes provide a large angle of vision while specialized hooves and rough soles provide a natural grip. The bighorn sheep that live in the Tetons have also been forced to adapt their behavior. Today, about 175 bighorn sheep call the Tetons home, but historically—archeological evidence shows bighorn sheep have lived in the Tetons for at least 6,000 years—and the range was home to significantly more. Bighorn sheep are very sensitive to the presence of humans; the arrival of settlers and subsequent development in Jackson Hole permanently cut the Teton sheep off from their traditional migration routes and low elevation winter ranges. In their effort to avoid humans, today the Teton herd lives year-round in the range’s higher elevations.

“The Teton range bighorn sheep have learned how to occupy and survive in some of the most gnarly, extreme mountain terrain in the Rocky Mountain West year-round influenced by the presence of humans,” Egan says. “There are other ungulate species that spend summers at high elevations, but the Teton sheep are unique for living in the high alpine year-round.” There are bighorn sheep in the Gros Ventre Mountains, on the eastern side of Jackson Hole, and they migrate down to lower elevations and the valley floor during winter. It remains to be seen if the Teton herd’s effort to adapt will save them, though. With only about 175 members and isolated from other populations, it is at risk of local extinction.

To help the Teton sheep survive, in 2022 JHMR partnered with the BTNF to create seasonal voluntary bighorn sheep avoidance zones in and adjacent to the resort. The goal of these is to keep winter recreationists from putting additional stress on the herd. “In winter, we don’t want sheep burning any more energy than they have to. If there aren’t people they feel they have to avoid, that helps,” Egan says. To learn more, visit tetonsheep.org.

Clark's Nutcracker

Clark’s Nutcrackers are raucous, charismatic, and adapted so that they’re integral to the survival of whitebark pines. In the same family as crows and jays, Clark’s Nutcrackers have dagger-like beaks—the better to rip into tough whitebark pine cones and extract seeds—and a pouch under their tongue in which they can stash up to 15 of the peanut-sized whitebark seeds and carry them away to bury for the winter. While Clark’s Nutcrackers, which are gray with black wings and usually about 10 inches in length, have a mutualistic relationship with whitebark pines, it is not an even relationship; whitebark need Clark’s Nutcrackers more than the birds need the tree. There are no other species of birds that can open whitebark cones, extract the seeds, and disperse them. While Clark’s Nutcrackers prefer whitebark pines, in the absence of them the birds will eat the seeds of other pine species. Listen to the Clark's Nutcracker call below! Note: other birds can be heard in the background. 

 

See Clark’s Nutcrackers at the top of the Bridger Gondola and Aerial Tram in the summer. In the winter, they migrate downslope, so they can even be spotted around the Teewinot Lift.

Wolverines

Although wolverines look like small, squatty bears, they are members of the weasel family. (Weighing between 30 and 50 pounds, they’re the largest land-dwelling member of the weasel family. We put the “land-dwelling” qualifier in there because otters are also members of the weasel family. Giant otters have a longer body length than wolverines and sea otters can weigh more). Evolutionary traits that allow wolverines to live in habitat like that found at the top of the Aerial Tram include paws that act as snowshoes and that also have built in crampons; the tip of each of a wolverine’s 20 toes is curved and sharp enough to allow it to scale a frozen waterfall or cliff without difficulty.

We don’t know as much about wolverines as we’d like, though. The species is notoriously difficult to study in the wild because it is highly sensitive to human disturbances and also because wolverines are amazing long distance travelers, roaming and hunting over territories as large as 600 square miles. Also, there just aren’t that many—only between 250 and 300 in the lower 48 states. In the Tetons it is estimated that there are fewer than 10 wolverines.

In 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the North American wolverine in the contiguous U.S. as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, citing current and increasing impacts of climate change and associated habitat degradation and fragmentation as contributing to the species’ decline.

Photo taken by Vladimir Cech

Mammals of the Mountains

While both yellow-bellied marmots and American pikas live in the highest elevations at JHMR and are vulnerable to a changing climate, the outlook for the latter is much more dire. Pikas can overheat and die when exposed to temperatures as relatively mild as 78 degrees Fahrenheit. To protect themselves, the grapefruit-sized members of the rabbit family inhabit only high elevations. In the Tetons, it is rare to see a pika below 9,000 feet. Marmots, though, “are fairly opportunistic in their habitat selection,” says Ashley Egan, a biologist with the Bridger-Teton National Forest, on which JHMR sits. You’re as likely to spot a marmot while hiking around the base area’s Teewinot lift as you are up in Rendezvous Bowl at the top of the tram.

Temperatures across the continent were once cool enough that American pikas—there are about 58 species of pika worldwide, including the Large-eared Pika, which lives at up to 20,000 feet in the Himalaya—lived at lower elevations. As temperatures have risen over the last 12,000 years, the species has retreated to higher and higher elevations. But, once you’re living year-round at the 10,450-foot summit of Rendezvous Mountain, there isn’t anywhere higher to go. American pika might be the first species to go extinct due to climate change.

The pikas at the top of the tram are figuring out a way to adapt, though. Larry Livingood, a naturalist and former ski patrol avalanche forecaster for JHMR and the BTNF, says that he has observed that pikas now favor the cooler north-facing slopes of Rendezvous Mountain rather than the south-facing Rendezvous Bowl for their dens.  

Since pikas are such strong indicators of climate change, it’s helpful that it is fairly easy for researchers to study their historic presence. “We look at where their feces and haystacks used to be and where they are now,” Egan says. Feces needs no explanation. Pika haystacks are a marvel, monuments to a summer of hard work by each pika. While marmots hibernate through the winter—and fall and spring, actually; marmots hibernate for about 8 months of every year—pikas do not. Because the grasses, wildflowers, and forbs they eat are not available in winter, pikas spend most of the summer gathering vegetation, which they collect on rocks to dry in the sun (preventing the vegetation from growing moldy) before storing the stacks under rocks. The average size of a haystack is about 60 pounds! An adult pika weighs less than half a pound.

Over the winter, pikas don’t always utilize the entirety of the haystack that they’ve amassed. “When the snow melts, we can see piles of these forage reserves,” Egan says. You don’t need to be a researcher to spot haystack remnants. “Folks looking for them should be able to see some,” Egan says.

Because decay doesn’t happen as quickly in the high, dry climate preferred by pikas as it does at lower elevations and in more humid climates, the species’ haystacks and feces can last for about ten years. Although ten years is a blip in time when talking about adaptation and evolution, “we’ve seen an apparent change that is big enough to support the idea that pika are trying to adapt,” Egan says.

You will hear a pika before you see it. A member of the rabbit family, pikas are only about 7-8 inches in length. If being the size of a grapefruit doesn’t make them hard enough to spot, their fur works as camouflage in the talus fields that are their preferred home. But pikas chirp, sing, and bleat to alert their colony to the presence of predators, announce their territory, or during mating. “Their alarming call is pretty notorious and hard to miss,” Egan says. “But if you’re patient you should be able to see one, too.” (Egan reports often seeing one as soon as she moves away from the top tram dock.)

A Bird's Eye View of Alpine Life

Resilient Residents

Black Rosy Finches are the only bird that lives year-round in the highest reaches of JHMR, but more than 350 species of birds have been observed on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, on which JHMR sits. Just because a bird has been observed on the BTNF, which is 3.4 million acres (bigger than Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks combined and the third largest national forest outside of Alaska), doesn’t mean that it has a presence at JHMR, but, it’s safe to write that it’s possible to observe a couple of hundred species of birds at the resort. Meet a handful of species likely to be spotted around the top of the tram in the summer.

American Pipit

If you see a bird cartwheeling through the air, it’s likely a male American Pipit trying to attract a mate. “Like hummingbirds, Pipits perform airborne gymnastics to attract females,” says Larry Livingood, a naturalist and former ski patrol avalanche forecaster for JHMR and the BTNF. Pipits, which are about the size of a house sparrow, aren’t just showy in the air; when they walk around the ground they look like they’re strutting and wagging their tail. An adaptation that helps the species walk on snowfields are a long hind toe and toenail. Because they nest on the ground, Pipits here are prone to predation by larger birds and by carnivorous animals like coyotes, foxes, and pine martens. In Maine, the breeding population of Pipits is listed as endangered because of its limited distribution, but the population of the species in Wyoming, and the rest of the U.S., is healthy. 

 

Rock Wrens

As industrious as they are resourceful, rock wrens might have one of the shortest migrations of any of JHMR’s migratory birds (if not the shortest): between the bottom and top of the resort. The species, which is not a great flier (perhaps explaining its short migration route), builds nests and spends the summer in cavities and holes in rocks at high altitude. When winters come, they fly downslope. Unlike some animal species that are sensitive to humans and human disturbance, like bighorn sheep and wolverines, rock wrens do well in altered landscapes. Rock wren nests have been found in restored Mayan and Aztec ruins, road cuts, gravel pits, and even refuse heaps. At the top of the Aerial Tram there are plenty of rocks in which they can build their nests, though. While rock wren nests themselves are often hidden, the birds often build a noticeable “walkway” that leads to the nest cavity. These walkways can be elaborate, using flat stones and small sticks and even human-made objects.

 

Paul Marvin, XC576854. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/576854.

American Goshawk

Thanks to a long, rudder-like tail and short, broad wings, American goshawks have superb aerial abilities. They’ve been a favorite bird of falconers for more than 2,000 years. The name “goshawk” comes from the Old English word for “goose hawk” and references the species’ habit of preying on other birds. In Wyoming, American red squirrels comprise about 30% of goshawks’ diets. Female American goshawks are are 25% heavier than males. Together, a mating pair of goshawks build— and maintain—as many as eight nests, and are fierce protectors of them. At JHMR, the forests around Tensleep Bowl have been home to a pair of goshawks.

 

Tayler Brooks, XC59174. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/59174.

Delicate Dance of Algae and Fungi

Growing at the Edge of Life

“Lichens are so important at high elevations in and around Jackson Hole,” says Trevor Bloom, Forest Botanist with the Bridger-Teton National Forest, in which JHMR is located. As important as lichens are to our high altitude habitats, they are even more fragile. “At the top of the tram, lichen can take hundreds of years to accumulate, and be disturbed with just one step off the trail,” Bloom says.

Lichen, which isn’t a single organism, but a symbiotic partnership of a fungus and algae or cyanobacteria, is integral to life in the high alpine because it both creates soil and also helps maintain soil structure. Lichen species that grow over rocks weather minerals from them, which, very (very) slowly breaks the rocks down into soil. And then there are lichen species that form biocrusts on soil and help with soil cohesion, preventing water and wind erosion. “A lot of the alpine plants we know would not be able to survive without lichen,” Bloom says.

Lichens, some of which are considered to be the oldest living organisms on the planet, are also a food source for high alpine animals including bighorn sheep and pikas. “Lichen isn’t necessarily a significant food source, but in a time of need like winter, when exposed vegetation is scarce, lichen might be all there is, which makes it very valuable,” says Ashley Egan, a BTNF biologist.

Lichens’ role in high elevation habitat makes it that much more important to stay on trails when hiking around the top of the tram and other Teton peaks. “For sure you’ll risk trampling lichen biocrusts in addition to alpine plants, some of which can take 100 years to establish, if you step off the trail,” Bloom says. JHMR is working with an independent botanist to see if some high alpine plants and lichen can be successfully moved but this work is not yet conclusive. “The best thing to do is stay on trails and not disturb them in the first place,” Bloom says.

Some lichen, like Wolf lichen, a bright yellow-green lichen that grows on trees at JHMR from the base area to the top of treeline, are poisonous. Wolf lichen got its common name because it was used in 17th and 18th century Europe to poison wolves. (It was also used to poison foxes and its scientific name, Letharia vulpina, relates to this; “vulpes” means “fox” in Latin.) Some Native American tribes used wolf lichen for poisoned arrowheads. While wolf lichen is poisonous to carnivores, it is not poisonous to the tree it grows on, nor to a handful of small mammals including rabbits, hedgehogs, and mice. And wolf lichen is more than a poison; Indigenous people in the interior of British Columbia used it as poultice for swelling and bruises and tea made from it was used to stop bleeding.

About 120 species of lichens have been identified in the Tetons through surveying at seven areas in the range, including Granite Canyon (just north of JHMR) and Rendezvous Mountain at the top of the tram. Just over half (64) of the identified species grow on rock. 25 species grow on soil; 25 species grow on wood and bark; six species are on moss on soil or rock. At the range’s lower elevations and in its forests the survey team found the lichens they expected—ones similar to those collected from Yellowstone National Park and Montana. The lichen communities found in the high alpine of the Tetons were significantly different from those surveyed at similar elevations on the Beartooth Plateau and in Yellowstone National Park, though. The survey team surmised that this difference had to do with the steep slopes of the Tetons, which cause relatively more unstable soil and rock substrates, making it harder for lichens to establish.

Challenges of Climate Change

Evolution of Extinction

The mountain pine beetle (MPB) is a native insect that has long coexisted with whitebark pine forests. “There have always been beetles in the whitebark,” says Nancy Bockino, a field ecologist who has studied the species in the Tetons for over 20 years. But in recent decades, warming temperatures have allowed MPB populations to explode to epidemic levels, overwhelming even healthy trees. Today, there are more dead than living whitebark pines across the West.

“The problem isn’t the beetles themselves,” Bockino explains, “but the climate changes that are allowing more of them to survive.” Historically, fall and spring cold snaps killed off beetles before they could produce protective proteins. One such event in October 2009, with lows of -20°F across the region, “killed most of the beetles getting ramped up in the valley.” But without these freezes, beetles thrive.

Once a tree is infested, it can’t be saved—and one tree can produce enough beetles to kill two or three more the next year. Thanks to its infrastructure and access, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) is uniquely positioned to actively manage the threat.

“JHMR can do some extra good stuff,” says Bockino. “And they are.”

Each year, JHMR crews place about 800 verbenone packets on whitebark trees. Verbenone is a naturally occurring beetle pheromone that signals a tree is already full, discouraging further infestation. “Mountain pine beetles are bad fliers,” Bockino says. “If they waste energy flying between ‘full’ trees, they may not survive.”

You can spot these white or green packets near Casper Ridge, Tensleep Bowl, and the top of Bridger Gondola. Larger or genetically valuable “plus trees”—those showing natural resistance to white pine blister rust—receive extra packets. “They’re the most special whitebarks we have, and we want to protect them the best we can,” says Dusty Perrin, JHMR’s engineer and monitoring coordinator.

In winter, Perrin and patrol crews ski the mountain identifying “brood trees”—those already infested—by spotting pitch tubes (small resin masses) on their bark. Come spring, these trees are cut down and burned before the beetles emerge. “Burning is the best way to kill larvae,” Perrin says. “And we’ve seen very little beetle activity in treated areas the following year.”

Even before whitebark pine was listed as threatened in 2022, JHMR took initiative. During a high-alpine construction project, the resort voluntarily transplanted 26 whitebark seedlings that would have been lost—23 survived thanks to hand-watering all summer.

“We’re not trying to eliminate mountain pine beetles,” Perrin says. “We’re just trying to keep the population in check.”

The Whitebark Pine's Seed and Nature's Need

Stewardship for Survival

“I don’t know that a stand of whitebark exists at JHMR that has no beetles and has no white pine blister rust,” says Nancy Bockino, a whitebark field ecologist that has been studying the species in the Tetons, including those at JHMR, for more than 20 years. “There are whitebark that don’t have beetles and whitebark that don’t have blister rust, and those are the ones that we target to take care of.” This isn’t true only for the whitebark at JHMR, but throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). It was because of the threat of MPB and blister rust that whitebark pine were listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in 2022; it is the widest-ranging tree species ever listed.

While mountain pine beetles (MPB) are native to the GYE, climate change has allowed their population to swell to epidemic proportions much more frequently, for longer durations, and also more widespread than in the past. Until the mid-20th century, there was a MPB epidemic about once every 60 years. There have been two epidemics in the GYE since 2004.

White pine blister rust is an invasive fungus native to Asia. It arrived in the U.S. in the early 1900s via a shipment of Western white pines from Europe and it quickly spread from the West Coast. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that blister rust’s potential impact on whitebark raised concerns. The fungus forms cankers that kill a tree’s living tissue. Stressed whitebarks have less energy to fight off MBP and whitebarks fighting off MPB have less energy to fight off white pine blister rust.

It’s not as hopeless as it sounds, though. About 25% of the whitebark in the overall population have a natural genetic resistance to white pine blister rust. Since this has been discovered, researchers across the expanse of whitebark pine habitat have sought to identify these “plus” and “elite” trees. Plus trees are WBP that, in the field, appear to have a genetic resistance to white pine blister rust; an elite tree is a plus tree whose genetic resistance has been tested and proven. USDA nurseries test if a plus tree is an elite tree by subjecting the seedlings of plus trees to spores of blister rust. Uninfected seedlings mean the parent tree is an elite tree. One elite tree has been proven from four identified plus trees at JHMR. 

Cones from elite WBP trees from across the region, including JHMR’s elite tree, are sent to a USDA nursery in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho where they are grown into seedlings and then sent out to be replanted. In the early 2010s, JHMR planted about 1,000 rust-resistant whitebark seedlings from the Coeur d’Alene nursery. Another 1,500 rust-resistant whitebark seedlings will be planted at the resort in 2025.

You can identify a whitebark infected with white pine blister rust because it will have what looks like macaroni-and-cheese powder on its trunk or branches. This “powder” are the reproductive cells of the fungus.

The Art of Alpine Adaptation in Action

The gnarled, low-slung trees in the high alpine of the Tetons are Mother Nature’s bonsai, pruned not by scissors but by lashing winds and frigid temperatures. Whitebark pine can grow straight and be 60 feet tall, but at the highest, most inhospitable reaches of its range, a big, mature whitebark might only be 8 feet tall. Such stunted trees are known as krummholz (pronounced CRUM-holes), a German word that means “crooked wood.”

Whitebark pine are not the only species of crooked wood. Around the world, krummholz can be European spruce, mountain pine, balsam fir, red spruce, black spruce, subalpine fir, subalpine larch, and Engelmann spruce, among other species. Krummholz happen at different elevations in different places depending on the local treeline. Treeline is the highest altitude or latitude at which trees are capable of growing and, on any one mountain, can vary by hundreds of feet depending on shelter, exposure, soil, and moisture. Across larger regions, like the U.S. (or the world), treeline varies by thousands of feet because of factors ranging from latitude to growing season, snow cover, geography, and location (and more).

At JHMR the treeline and krummholz are at about 10,000 feet (plus or minus several hundred feet based on factors mentioned above). But in parts of Mexico, the treeline and krummholz are at about 13,000 feet (±1,000 feet). In Maine, the treeline and krummholz can be as low as 2,500 feet. Wherever you are in the world, when you see a krummholz you’ll know that it is living at the absolute edge—krummholz grow where a tree’s resource gains exceed its losses by only the thinnest of margins.

Staying short to survive is a forced adaptation. Only trees that are protected, whether sheltered by rock formations or by their own dense, gnarled branches, can survive in the environments that krummholz form. And it is the environment—fierce winds and ice buildup—that kills the tree’s growing tips, known as apical buds, forcing it to stay short and grow horizontally rather than vertically.

Relics of the Ocean at 10,000 Feet

It’s not just the wildflowers on Cody Peak’s fossil-y dolomite and limestone that are worthy of attention. To date, 482 plants have been identified at JHMR. “JHMR is one of the best studied and surveyed areas of the Bridger-Teton National Forest at this point,” says Trevor Bloom, Forest Botanist at the Bridger-Teton National Forest. (JHMR sits on the BTNF.) Nine of these 482 species are forbs or flowers that are considered sensitive, either by the USDA Forest Service or by the state of Wyoming, which maintains a National Diversity Database. The three species considered rare and important to the USFS—largeflower triteleia (Triteleia grandiflora), Broadlipped Twayblade (Listera convallarioides), and Payson’s Bladderpod (Lesquerella paysonii)—require that JHMR, before doing any project, whether building a new hiking trail or installing a new ski lift, survey the project site for their presence. If any of these three species are found, JHMR must take mitigation efforts.

Meet Some of JHMR's Most Interesting & Rare Species of Flowers

Payson’s Bladderpod likes growing in limestone and, because it is one of the three USDA BTNF sensitive species that JHMR has to survey and mitigate for, the Bridger-Teton does not disclose exact locations of where it has been found. But generally, “it is quite abundant near the top of the tram, and should be avoided by staying on marked trails,” Bloom says.

The large flowered triteleia, Triteleia grandiflora, has only been found at three sites on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, and all three of these sites are nested at JHMR. A species of lily (that some say looks like a combination of a lily and an onion), it is believed to have been first collected along the Columbia River in Oregon in 1806 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The flower’s base stem, called a corm, has been used as food by Native Americans and European settlers.

Antennaria aromatica, commonly known as scented pussytoes, isn’t on the BTNF’s list of regionally sensitive species, but is on the list of Wyoming Plant and Animal Species of Concern. “It’s a pretty rare plant,” Bloom says. “One of the only places I’ve ever seen it is at high elevations at JHMR.”

Cutthroat Trout & the Snake River

While Jackson Hole and the mountains surrounding it used to be part of an ocean, today the Snake River, easily seen from the top of the tram, is the valley’s main water. More than 1,000 miles long, the Snake is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the continent’s largest river that flows into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake’s headwaters—where it starts—is just north of Jackson Hole, on Two Oceans Plateau in Yellowstone National Park. In 2009, the Craig Thomas Snake River Headwaters Legacy Act designated 414 miles of rivers and streams in the Snake River Headwaters region as “Wild and Scenic.”

The Snake River in Jackson Hole is special for many reasons, including its healthy population of the only species of trout native to Wyoming, cutthroat trout. Elsewhere, cutthroat trout populations are in decline. There were 14 unique subspecies of the trout that evolved in western North America. Thanks to human development and invasive species like brook, brown, and rainbow trout, two of these are now extinct and the rest are hurting. The Snake River watershed in Jackson Hole is the last, best, and largest watershed still dominated by cutthroat trout.

There are a couple of theories for why cutthroats in the Upper Snake have fared better than cutthroat in other major river systems in the West: 1. It is high elevation and fed by winter snowpacks that, to date, haven’t deviated that much from their historic norms even as the climate warms. 2. The number and scale of the federally protected lands in the region—there’s Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and also the Bridger-Teton National Forest, which is bigger in size than Grand Teton and Yellowstone combined—keeps significant human development at bay.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is touted as being one of the few remaining intact ecosystems on the planet. People travel to the GYE to see all of the same terrestrial wildlife that lived here before the colonization of the area, including bison, wolves, moose, elk, and pronghorn antelope. Leslie Steen, the Jackson-based Wyoming State Director of Wyoming Trout Unlimited, told Jackson Hole magazine, “Not that many people know that under the water, we also have something that’s similarly precious and unique.”

Catch a Cutthroat Trout

"Big Red" - a Feat of Modern Engineering

Railway in the Sky

A team of four—head of tram maintenance, tram maintenance supervisor, and two tram mechanics—work to keep Big Red running safely. To monitor weather conditions, they use thermometers and anemometers mounted on each of the five tram towers and the base and top stations. To monitor Big Red itself, which includes inspecting its cable and towers, the team rides in an open crow’s nest 12 feet above the interior of the tram cabin. “It’s only visible if you know it’s there,” says Head Tram Mechanic Mike Vase about the perch.

The Crow’s Nest puts the tram team eye- and ear-level with the 4.85-mile long cable the tram cars are affixed to, allowing them to visually and audibly inspect it, and giving them a view and listen down into the sheaves on the carriage and each tower. Watch a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to run Jackson Hole Mountain Resort's iconic Aerial Tram now, and ride along in the Crow’s Nest.

Watch "Crow's Nest: Jackson Hole Tram"

Migrate, Adapt, or Die

Wildlife Migration in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Each year, mule deer travel up to 250 miles between the Tetons and Wyoming’s Red Desert—facing highways, rivers, fences, and more. This is the longest documented mule deer migration in the world, and just one of many epic journeys across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), a 22-million-acre area spanning parts of three states and home to six migrating big game species.

Large-scale animal migrations have largely disappeared around the globe, with only a few remaining: caribou in the Arctic, wildebeests in Africa, and big game in the GYE. “There’s a tremendous opportunity to conserve migration here,” says Matt Kauffman, leader of the Wyoming Migration Initiative.

While migration tracking has a long history—Native tribes followed game for centuries, and early state biologists used snow tracks—modern GPS collars revolutionized the science. Researchers mapped the 150-mile Path of the Pronghorn and the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer route. Today, there are about 40 known migration paths in Wyoming, with efforts underway to protect them.

Key policy wins include:

  • 2008: Path of the Pronghorn becomes the U.S.’s only federally designated wildlife corridor.

  • 2018: Interior Dept. signs order supporting migration habitat.

  • 2020: Wyoming enacts the nation’s first executive order to protect state-identified migration routes.

Path of the Pronghorn

North America’s fastest land animal, have traveled the same corridor between Jackson Hole and the Upper Green River Valley for over 6,000 years. They can run up to 60 mph and detect motion from 4 miles away. A live webcam captures their seasonal migration each spring and fall.

Deer 255: A Record-Breaking Journey

In 2016, researchers collared a mule deer—later named Deer 255—in the Red Desert. She went on to complete a 242-mile migration to the Tetons, the longest mule deer migration ever recorded. Most deer in her group migrate about 150 miles. Deer 255 died in April 2024, likely killed by a mountain lion.

Learn More

Visit the Grand Migrations exhibit at Grand Teton National Park’s Craig Thomas Visitor Center in Moose, or watch the 25-minute film Animal Trails: Rediscovering Grand Teton Migrations.

How You Can Help

Drive carefully at dawn and dusk in spring and fall when wildlife is most active near roads.

Dog Policy

Summer Policy: During the summer season, service animals are permitted to both upload and download the Tram and gondolas. Non-service animal dogs are allowed to download the gondolas only; they are not permitted on the Tram and cannot upload via either transportation option.

Winter Policy: Throughout the winter season, dogs are prohibited from riding any chairlift, gondola, or Tram, regardless of whether they are service animals or not.

Service Animal Policy

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We offer a variety of activities that bring the ultimate mountain experience to individuals of all ages and disabilities and/or adaptive needs.

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The above prices are online only and window rates are higher. Save by purchasing in advance. Same-day online tickets match window rates. Rates vary per season. June 7 - September 7, 2025, Bridger and Sweetwater Gondola access is included with your Summer Sightseeing Ticket, including one Evening Gondola trip (in addition to the Aerial Tram). Teewinot chairlift access is not included with this ticket and is reserved for Bike Park bikers only. This sightseeing ticket does not include bike park access.

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