Cowboy up! (downhill, that is)

Charles Leocha Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

A touch of the Old West at a ski or snowboard resort adds a distinctive flavor to any winter vacation. Imagine the scene: Snakeskin boots crunch down snow-covered sidewalks, blue jeans and cowboy hats are the dress of choice, pickup trucks outnumber luxury cars, and "Your Cheatin' Heart" wafts out into the streets — along with the aroma of beefy steaks sizzling on town grills. Skip the chardonnay, son. Pour me a tall one.

These following ski and snowboard resorts have a western flair that can make any winter-sports vacation a total change of place and culture. Bring your boots, come ready to dance, and get ready to belly up to the bar.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Jackson, Wyoming, is the definitive movie-set cowboy town. Here, the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is packed with dancers kicking up their heels to western bands, the wooden sidewalks echo to the click-clack of cowboy boots, elk-antler arches adorn the town square, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art lies nestled in the nearby hillsides. A sleigh ride through a wintering herd of thousands of elk will not soon be forgotten.

Only 12 miles down the road from Jackson is the Jackson Hole resort, which offers skiing and snowboarding for every level of the sport. The beginner and intermediate trails of the Casper Bowl area alternate between wide-open bowls and paths through the woods. The chutes and couloirs of Rendezvous Mountain will scare the pants off skiers and riders with any sense at all, and will push all skiers and riders to their limits. And when the Hobacks are open, the powder is deep, and the skies are sunny — well, life doesn't get much better.

Stay right at the mountain or get a place downtown; frequent shuttle buses make the connection between the resort and the town easy. Those who crave early-morning snow probably want to stay in Jackson Hole. Those who want to party hard and dance with the cowboys should set up camp in town.

Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley Resort, like the nearby town of Ketchum, Idaho, blends European elegance with an Old West, slab-of-beef flavor. Founded in 1936 as the first destination resort in America to encourage travel by train, Sun Valley became a magnet for Hollywood glitterati, top European ski racers and ice skaters. It was also home to one of America's most iconic writers, Ernest Hemmingway. Today the storied Sun Valley Lodge still provides luxurious accommodations, and the nearby hills serve as a retreat for celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Demi Moore, Clint Eastwood and Bruce Willis. Some visitors, like yours truly, claim to have met such stars while working out or visiting local bars.

The mountain, affectionately known as Old Baldy, claims a wonderful network of trails for intermediate and expert skiers and its slopes are punctuated with some of the most beautiful timber lodges and restaurants to be found at any resort in North America. Beginners have their own mountain, Dollar Mountain, and it is the perfect spot to learn.

Ketchum still has cowboy flair, though it has been overrun by the rich and famous and by plenty of wannabes. Head to the Pioneer Saloon for wonderful prime rib and for some of the biggest baked potatoes on any menu. Or head to the Sawtooth Club to relax in an Old West state of mind on couches in front of a roaring fire — or dine on the balcony overlooking the bar. Shoppers can find everything from upscale and authentic Western wear to rustic Rocky Mountain furnishings.

Steamboat.com Cowboy downhill competitor William Kusler at Steamboat Ski Resort

Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Jackson and Sun Valley are gussied up, but Steamboat Springs is about as unpretentious as a town can be. The cowboys seen sauntering down the sidewalks or sashaying on the dance floors are probably the real thing, not some big-city imitation. The fields between the town and the Steamboat ski area are real cattle ranches; the tops of their fence posts can be seen rising above drifting snows. The Cowboy Downhill event, held in mid-January, packs the town with cowboys from Denver's National Western Stock Show, and anyone who has ever witnessed the final competition of ridin', ropin' and skiin' will never forget it.

Intermediate ski and snowboard trails curl down wide and undemanding slopes, and plenty of good mellow terrain for beginners beckons at the base of the resort. Experts will find their challenge in the tree-skiing that is considered some of the best in the West. Steamboat carefully thins the aspens so that the center trails give plenty of space between the trunks; at the fringes of the tree-skiing areas, where the expert skiers head, the growth tightens up. Snowboarders are treated to terrain parks and half-pipes that are ranked among the best in the nation year after year.

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Steamboat Springs' cowboy heritage can be found at the F. M. Light & Sons store, which has been selling to real cowboys for more than 100 years. Browsing the store is a hoot and a chance to pick up a pair of chaps, chinks, spurs, cowboy boots or maybe a hat. I haven't found a good place for cowboy dancing, but the Mahogany Ridge has excellent music with good blues. Head to the Steamboat Smokehouse for hickory-smoked barbecued anything — chicken, steaks, chops, sausage, ham and more. The Old West Steakhouse is guaranteed to fill up any cowboy with generous portions.

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