JACKSON HOLE
Dave Miller
Lead Guide Supervisor PG 87
SKI & SNOWBOARD RESORTS PG 8
HELI-SKIING IN ALASKA PG 54
BACKCOUNTRY SKI GUIDES PG 38
ALPINE MEDICAL ADVICE PG 48
RESORT TRAIL MAPS PG 112
SLED DOG ADVENTURES PG 52
PHOTO GALLERY PG 62
RESTAURANT & CAFÉ GUIDE • SHOPPING • KIDS’ STUFF • FAMILY RECREATION PG 95
2014/15 WINTER VISITORS’ GUIDE
DD Camera Corral
307-733-3831 Shooting the West Since
1960
• 24.3MP FX • Full HD 1080 at 60p • 6.5 fps • Built-in Wi-Fi®
60 South Cache
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THE RESTAURANT
at the Cakebread Ranch
Call us at 307. 883. 2247 or visit opentable.com for a reservation. For further information visit our website at www.thecakebreadranch.com
Fine Dining and Beautiful Views of
Star Valley and the Salt River
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Get Back toYour Active Lifestyle Choose St. John’s Medical Center for the knee, hip, or shoulder replacement you need • Skilled orthopaedic specialists • Compassionate care team • Find out more through our education classes, offered twice a month. Sign up online at tetonhospital.org/jointclass
To view a video on the joint replacement program, scan here or visit tetonhospital.org/coe
St John’s Medical Center 625 East Broadway
307 739 7501
888 739 7499
CONTENTS RESORTS
8 16 24 26 29 34 37
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort JHMR Access & Resources Wounded Warriors, Teton Adaptive Sports Snow King Mountain Resort Snow King Access & Resources Grand Targhee Resort Targhee Access & Resources
14 15 25 38 42 44 46 54
The Sidecountry of JHMR BTNF Avalanche Center Helicopter Skiing in Jackson Hole Exum Mountain Guides Jackson Hole Mountain Guides Teton Backcountry Guides Skiing The Grand Teton Helicopter Skiing in Alaska
19 23 28 32 33 62 76 80 90 92
Most Kastles Per Capita Cardboard Cutout Man Snow King Volunteer Ski Patrol JH Ski & Snowboard Club Hall Of Fame & Ski Museum Doug Coombs Foundation Photo Gallery – 13 JH Photographers Pioneer of JH Skiing, Mr. Clarence Stearns Ski Town Jobs – entrepreneurs and career specialists 15 Minutes Of Fame – local skiers on national stage Keepin’ It Real – staying true to the core
48 52 95 99 102 104 106 108 111 112 114
Alpine Medical Advice Sled Dog Tours Activities and Events Restaurant Guide Café Guide Kids’ Shopping Guide Shopping Guide Business Directory Lodging Directory Resort Trail Maps Town of Jackson Map
BACKCOUNTRY
PEOPLE & EVENTS
Wade McKoy / TGR
RECREATION, SHOPPING, EVENTS, ADVICE
Chris Figenshau skiing Bird Brain couloir to film Griffin Post for TGR.
Cover: skier Dave Miller; photo Wade McKoy Publishers: Bob Woodall and Wade McKoy, dba Focus Productions, Inc. Editor: Wade McKoy; Copy Editor: Mike Calabrese Art Director: Janet Melvin; Photo Manager: Eric Rohr Advertising: Debra Snyder, Bob Woodall
Copyright—2014 by Focus Productions, Inc. (fpi). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
facebook.com/focusjh
Check out the website – jhskier.net
Printed in the U.S.A.
Contributing Photographers: Mike Bachman, David Bowers, Cody Downard, Jeff Diener, Chris Figenshau, Mark Fisher, David Gonzales, Jay Goodrich, Tristan Greszko, Tony Harrington, Kim Havell, Court Leve, Gabe Rogel, Jonathan Selkowitz, Wade McKoy, Patrick Nelson, Eric Seymour, Frank Shine, Mike Stone, Greg Von Doersten, Bob Woodall Contributing Writers: Jeff Burke, Mike Calabrese, David Gonzales, Kim Havell, Bridgid Mander, Wade McKoy, Joseph Piccoli, Dr. Andrew Bullington, Sandra Keats
The JACKSON HOLE SKIER annual winter visitors’ guide is free when picked up at one of 160 distribution points throughout Jackson Hole. Receive one in the mail by sending $6 to JH SKIER, P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, WY, 83001.
JEWELRY ORIGINALS
39 YEARS OF INSPIRATION AT 6000 FT. Gaslight Alley • Downtown Jackson Hole • 125 N. Cache
www.danshelley.com • info@danshelley.com • 307.733.2259 ALL DESIGNS COPYRIGHTED
RESORT TO POWDER
Jackson Hole MOUNTAIN RESORT Big year on record
Frosted railing, Tram summit
by Jeff Burke
t’s a common misconception that clear skies make the best powder experiences. Sure, bluebird days and cold smoke is a fantastic combo – crisp, shining sunlight, craggy peaks blanketed in white, and snow billowing across your shins as you bound down the path of glisse and glory. But many of the record-breaking 563,631 skiers who experienced Jackson Hole Mountain Resort last season seemed just fine with trading in postcard views of the Tetons for stormy conditions that were simply unbeatable. “It might get deeper,” as the maxim goes, “but it doesn’t get any better.”
I
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Wade McKoy photos
Jeff Leger (above) and Jess McMillan (below) ski the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort sidecountry.
Wade McKoy / KGB
Hadley Hammer runs full throttle down Cody Peak’s 4 Shadows.
Bob Woodall (1,4); Wade McKoy (2,3)
Teton Village and the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort celebrate Christmas with a torchlight parade and fireworks. Groomers then work through the night.
Jimi Figenshau and dad Chris
Tram laps with Matt Hansen
Tram Jam plays at the Bridger Gondola each Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For 40 days and 40 nights the Tetons experienced their own biblical event as the heavens worked double-shifts to produce continuous snowfall for hours around the clock. While much of the far West’s season was marred by low snowfall, Jackson began with a par-for-the-course November opening, and then picked up steam the last week of January. And it just kept going. For 40 days and 40 nights the Tetons experienced their own biblical event as the heavens worked double-shifts to produce continuous snowfall for hours around the clock. Throngs of skiers and riders were awarded with new blankets of snow almost every day—a constant real-world refresh button. Whether it was just groomed textbook corduroy, allowing beginners or carving aficionados the ideal canvas to hone their craft, or boundless fresh stuff for the powder hounds and thrill-seekers scouring the deepest recesses of the greater Jackson Hole environs in search of the perfect pow line, snow quality was what made last season such a gem. Bridger Teton Avalanche Director Bob Comey keeps a close eye on historical totals, and reported that the storm cycle dropped 200 inches of snowfall and 24 inches of moisture during the extended siege. Averaged out, imagine five new inches a day for 40 days. Not bad. “It was the second best February on record for both snowfall and moisture, second only to February of 1986,” he said. On closing day, the Raymer
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study plot at 9,300 feet reported an even 500 inches of snowfall (at the closing bell) for the 2013-14 season. It was the fourth-deepest snowpack on record over the last 48 years. But let’s not dwell on the past, especially with such a bright future just around the corner. This past summer JHMR augmented its snowmaking with a new pump house at the colloquially named Deer Flat area on Apres Vous Mountain. The resort is now able to produce three times the uphill capacity, thus making a consistently stronger opening for early season skiers and riders. With the high production of man-made bliss in the Casper area and Après Vous simultaneously, guests can enjoy more of the mountain’s beginner and intermediate terrain from the onset of the season. And when Old Man Winter decides to gear up for the game, all the better. There’s more. Construction has also been underway for the new Teton lift, scheduled to arrive for the 2015-16 season in celebration of the resort’s 50th anniversary. Rising 1,600 vertical feet into the Crags, a large mountainous swath of tree-gladed meadows and boulders, the highspeed quad will access 300 acres of intermediate-to-advanced terrain that was otherwise limited to the hikers willing to bootpack for untracked w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
Wade McKoy Jimmy Hartman drops a knee, doin’ the tele-turn in the JHMR sidecountry.
turns. From the new highpoint, skiers can enjoy 3,000 vertical feet of skiable real estate, new panoramic vistas of the valley and neighboring peaks, and a whole new way of skiing the mountain. Substantial trail work has also helped create the proposed venue for a World Cup Downhill that’s slated to return to Jackson in the coming years. For the immediate future, enthusiastic skiers and riders who appreciate the virtues of trailbreaking will be able to session the new runs associated with the lift via three designated bootpacks. Jackson Hole’s prized Headwall and Casper Bowl will continue to provide some of the best hike-to terrain this side of the Alps, offering sweeping bowls, technical chutes, and cliff drops for any appetite hungry enough to earn some turns. JHMR has American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA)
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accredited guides with decades of collective experience who can lead new and old guests alike, sniffing out fresh snow days after a storm to ensure an invigorating life experience. With 4,129 vertical feet of elevation gain, 2,500 acres of inbounds skiing, and myriad backcountry possibilities, Jackson Hole still retains top honors for all-around adventure in the snowy hills. And, if memories are the fuel for future dreams, then remembering last season is surely reason enough to dream big for this one. Jeff Burke is a freelance writer living in Jackson, and a longtime contributor to the Jackson Hole Skier and the Summer Adventure Guide. w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
Wade McKoy / KGB
Hadley Hammer goes huge off Fat Bastard on her way to a safe landing (out of frame).
The
Sidecountry
Beauty and the beast
Dave Miller, Lead Guide Supervisor, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
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Jeff Leger puts in the bootpack next to Powder 8 Bowl (Cody Bowl).
Wade McKoy photos
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is known for high-alpine steeps, long runs, and an open-gate policy that allows skiers and snowboarders easy access to the sidecountry. It’s literally right in front of your ski tips. But that short step out of bounds puts you in the untamed Tetons – no ski patrol assistance, no marked runs, and no avalanche mitigation to the slopes. Inherent dangers lurk in this wild mountain environment. “Whiteouts” can bewilder and trick skiers into the wrong drainage. “Sucker tracks” made by savvy locals in steep cliff areas and couloirs may be pathways to danger for unwary tourists who follow them. “Double-exposure” happens when more than one party skis the same drainage at the same time. To learn the proper mindset – how to think about avalanche conditions and snowpack mechanics, how to mitigate risk by using proper terrain evaluation and ski techniques, how to share the slopes safely – hire a guide. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Alpine Guides is one of the oldest ski guide services in the U.S. and boasts a world-class roster. They know where to uncover the hidden powder stashes and how to enjoy a safe, fun day in the mountains. Some important points for all backcountry travelers to consider: • Study the weather and avalanche data and forecasts. Make good decisions. Think with your head, not with your ego. • Beware of sucker tracks. • Do not ski down on top of other parties. Wait until they clear the area. • Don’t use a hit-list for the backcountry. Go with the safest option for the day. Every day is different for avalanche conditions: aspect, wind, new snow, etc. • Have the right gear and know how to use it. Beacon, probe poles,and shovel. Make sure to turn your beacon ON and test it with your buddy. • When on a big slope, before you make that first turn have an exit plan in case it slides. Look for an island of safety anywhere you have to stop. • Ski with a partner and let someone else know where you are touring. — Jackson Hole Skier
Jason Tattersall gulps snow for breakfast. w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
Bridger-Teton National Forest
Avalanche Center
Bob Woodall
On December 27, 1976, the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center (BTNFAC) issued its first daily avalanche-hazard bulletin (forecast). Drought conditions had allowed a scant 18 inches of snow to accumulate in Rendezvous Bowl. Available to the public via a recorded telephone message, the daily reports included: average snow-depth at the 9,000-foot level, plus new snow at 9,000 feet; recently observed avalanche activity and a general avalanche-hazard prediction for the backcountry; a weather forecast, including wind speeds and directions, high and low temperatures, and new snowfall. Today this information is still provided at 733-2664, but the center has updated its tools to take advantage Avalanche fracture lines on Powder 8 Bowl and No Name Face, 1999. of modern technology and science. Now most people use a computer or smart phone to access the daily report avalanche activity, makes snowpack observations, and conducts snowat jhavalanche.org. Last winter nearly 1.5 million contacts were made, eipack stability tests. That afternoon, local weather observations are exther from the website or the telephone hotline. changed with the NWS and an evening avalanche-hazard forecast for The forecast is also available via an Android App, with an iOS version the next day is formulated and posted on the website. coming out soon. The website – one of the first in the country to post Other products produced by the avalanche center include weekly daily avalanche-hazard information on the World Wide Web – was orig- snowpack summaries, avalanche-activity postings in Google Map forinally developed in the 1990s by Jim Kanzler and Larry Livingood. mat, snow-pit profiles, field observations, and avalanche-awareness The forest service operates the laboratory in partnership with the videos. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort on resort property in Teton Village. ComThree new Recreational Trails Program (RTP) Grants kept the avamunity support, both with funding and sharing observations of ava- lanche center busy last year. A 2013 RTP grant funded the purchase of lanches and snowpack, has been an essential component of center two new snowmobiles for the center, as well as summer helicopter flights operations since the 1980s. Currently, over two thirds of this funding de- to replace batteries at remote locations. It also funded avalanche edurives from private sponsors and public donations. cation in areas of Wyoming up to 450 miles from Jackson, providing avIn 2001, the Wyoming State Trail Program became an essential part- alanche education to over 500 people in snowmobile clubs and volunteer ner in the center’s operation, helping with Recreational Trails Program search & rescue groups in Rock Springs, Pinedale, Afton, Lander, Rivergrants to purchase and operate a remote network of automated weather ton, Dubois, Sundance, Saratoga, and Laramie. Similar efforts are stations for daily avalanche hazard forecasts in areas frequented by funded by this 2013 RTP grant for the upcoming 2014/15 season. snowmobilers and skiers on Togwotee Pass and in the Greys River Two other RTP grants obtained in 2014 enabled the center to replace Range. More recently, automated stations were installed at the Grand aging electronic components in 18 remote weather stations last sumTarghee Resort and Snow King Mountain Resort. mer and to purchase six new web cams that will be deployed in the The daily routine for an avalanche forecaster begins at 5 a.m. He arbackcountry this winter. These projects will ensure the avalanche cenrives in the avalanche laboratory and begins to compile data from the ter’s weather-station network remains operational for the next 10-to-15 weather stations and review recent avalanche activity and weather foreyears. casts provided by the National Weather Service (also an original partner). — Bob Comey, 18-year director of the Bridger-Teton Later that morning, the avalanche specialist investigates any reported National Forest Avalanche Center
Jason Tattersall blasts through the sunny, misty light between storms.
JACKSON HOLE
ACCESS & RESOURCES
A resort in full New Restaurant — Off Piste Market At the top of Bridger Gondola. a new grabn-go restaurant makes it easier than ever to refuel with good food. Boost your energy, like a racecar driver making a pit stop.
New twist to Steep & Deep Camp The January Steep & Deep Camp goes GoPro with coach Andrew Whiteford, arguably the most polished and prolific GoPro skier out there. Learn ski and film techniques with Whiteford by day, then learn video editing tips and techniques by night.
Kids Ranch Located in the Cody House next to the Bridger Gondola, the Kids Ranch offers agespecific activities for children from 6 months to 17 years old. Kids can experience Fort Wyoming and the Wild West Woods, an educational ski and snowboard program.
Stash Park “It’s a dream come true for snowboarders,” said Ranyon d’Arge, Park and Pipe supervi-
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sor. “To be able to hit four perfect rainbows (bent-over trees with both ends touching the ground) in a row, that’s huge.” “The Stash Park changed the way freestyle snowboarders ski Jackson Hole,” said Rich Goodwin, a park and pipe crewman. “You talk to the high school and middle school kids, they don’t even remember what run they used to take because now the Stash is all they take.” Jackson Hole’s four Stash parks are located on Campground, Ashley Ridge, Deer Flats, and at Antelope Flats. The Antelope Flats park is “super friendly, low on the ground, and meant for the kids,” d’Arge said. “It has a playground-like structure for a dropin, which makes it fun.” Stash parks are eco-friendly, all features constructed from deadwood, rock, and dirt rather than the more traditional plastic and steel components. “Instead of having burn piles, we clean up the hill and recycle a lot of the deadfall,” D’Arge continued. “We don’t harm any live trees.”
RFID Gates, New Last Winter, Popular too JH skiers for the first time last winter didn’t need to show the lifties a ticket or a pass. Instead, with the new J Card tucked away in a pocket, the turnstile opens using radio frequency ID technology (RFID). No need to carry a wallet, either. The J Card has Resort Charge Enabling technology – skiers can embed a credit card or a pre-loaded amount. But keep it away from your cell phone, iPod, or foil-wrapped gum and cold medicine; all can wipe out the data. Don’t worry, though: the data is recoverable and the lifties are still there to help.
JH Tapped / Twitter The jacksonhole.com website is also smartphone-compatible. Download the resort’s free app for maps, weather, useful tips, and mountain info. See which runs are groomed and which are closed. Locate yourself and your friends and family on the Jackson Hole trail map, courtesy of Google Latitude. Record your runs and log vertical w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
feet and distance. Display your tracks and replay your runs on the trail map. E-mail images to friends, post them to Facebook, or view them in Google Earth. This smartphone app does all that and much more. Check the resort’s Twitter # for frequent updates on snow conditions and status of lifts.
Mountain Hosts Jackson Hole Mountain Hosts lead complimentary orientation tours for intermediatelevel skiers, departing from the Mountain Hosts’ meeting place daily at 9:30 a.m. Additional tours for advanced/expert clientele depart from the top of Rendezvous Bowl on the hour, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Backcountry Yurt Luxury in the backcountry: an overnight stay in the Rock Springs Yurt. Your ski guide prepares dinner, dessert, breakfast, and hot drinks. Ski to the yurt through the backcountry gates or tour up from the base to the scenic location in lower Rock Springs. Don’t want to stay overnight? Ask about the hot gourmet lunch option or an Aprés Ski event.
Wade McKoy photos
Vertical-Foot Club Become a lifetime member of the Jackson Hole Vertical-Foot Club by skiing 100,000 feet in a week. Earn a certificate of achievement and a Western belt buckle for a lifetime total of 300,000, 500,000, and 1,000,000 feet. Open to all visitors. For more details on how to enroll, check in with the Customer Service Center. Smartphone users can download the free JH Tapped App to log vertical feet by GPS.
On-mountain Dining Top of the World Waffles – Ride the aerial tram to the summit and enter Corbet’s Cabin for freshly made sweet or savory waffles. Off Piste Market – The new grab-n-go, at Gondola summit, where quick but comfortable food keeps skiers skiing. Headwall Pizza and Dog House – At the Gondola summit, a casual restaurant serving fresh pizza, Kobe hot dogs, house-made soups, and gourmet grab-n-go items. Espresso bar and tea. Rendezvous – At the Gondola summit, floor-to-ceiling windows provide impressive views. Asian bowls and hand-rolled sushi, grill meals, full salad bar, and Idaho Salt-baked Potatoes. Couloir – At the Gondola summit, casual dining, full-service lunch. Favorites include the Snake River Farms Kobe N.Y. Strip Sandwich, Poached Pear “Waldorf” Salad. Non-skiers can purchase a gondola sightseeing ticket. Casper Restaurant – Classic gourmet ski comfort food. Burger bar, burritos, hot drinks with a kick.
Nonstop Flights from 13 Cities This list keeps growing, too. Cities with direct flights to J.H. now include Washington D.C., Newark, JFK, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Seattle.
Environmental Responsibility Situated in one of the world’s most pristine environments, the resort steadfastly maintains its pro-environment practices. The Couloir and the Deck restaurants are w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
Corey Felton rails a fin for the cameras on a KGB shoot.
Wade McKoy photos A Stash Park worker tags a featured snag enroute to some hammering and shoveling.
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The setting sun, a prelude to evening frivolity with access and resources.
Corey Felton asks, “Did you get the shot?” Another stormy ski day in JH. Jackson Hole’s Shreddie ready to take a shot. These unique mascots watch over the Stash Parks.
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members of 1% for the Planet, further complementing their already established ecofriendly practices: the majority of ingredients come from within a 250-mile radius; menus are designed seasonally to reduce the carbon footprint, and local farmers’ markets and ranches are extensively resourced. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is a founding member of the Climate Challenge, an innovative sustainability program that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the ski industry. JHMR also has a Golden Eagle Environmental Award, the highest standard of environmental achievement in the ski industry issued by the National Ski Area Association. The resort is celebrating its eighth year with an ISO 14001 registration, one of only two U.S. resorts to receive the designation awarded businesses that minimize their environmental impact. The resort is also generating a Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Management Plan designed to further reduce energy use, giving it the triple crown of environmental management: ISO 14001 registration, GHG Inventory, and an accompanying GHG Management Plan. And in the fight to save the whitebark pine from chronic beetle infestation that has killed vast numbers of the 1,000-year-old, high-altitude species, JHMR and the Bridger Teton National Forest has sprayed 250 trees and placed pheromone patches on 575 trees. w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
Wade McKoy
KASTLE COUNTRY Pepi Stiegler Sports, three-time U.S. Kastle Retailer Of The Year, continues to move forward with the brand. Last spring the highly acclaimed ski-tuning and retail shop in Teton Village expanded its line with three new Kastle products – the newly re-designed Chris Davenport FX series, the lightweight touring TX series (both available with skins), and a limited edition MX 98. Once again, Pepi Stiegler Sports occupies an elite position as one of the few full-line Kastle dealers in the world. Gov Carrigan, operations manager at Pepi Stiegler Sports, credits the Jackson Hole ski community for inspiring him to expand the line. “We are pleased that we can pair some of the world’s finest skis with one of the world’s finest big-mountain resorts,” he said. “It’s what our local skiers demand – the very best quality built on a foundation of durability. It’s most likely why you see so many Kastle skis on our mountain.” Carrigan specifically credited Jackson’s local skiers with the return of the limited edition MX 98, a full-throttle, woodcore/metal laminate, all-mountain GS ski. With over 1200 Kastle skis sold since the brand’s return to the U.S. market, Pepi Stiegler Sports continues to bring Jackson Hole skiers what they deserve – the very best. — Pepi Stiegler Sports Pepi Stiegler on Pepi’s Bench above The Cirque, circa 1980s
Teton Village’s independent alpine ski shops Where being #1 is a tradition
T WO LLOCATIONS TWO OCATIONS IN TETON TET ON VILLA VILLAGE GE PPEPI’S EPI’S A ATT THE ALPENHOF 307.733.6838 838 PPEPI’S EPI’S A ATT THE PLAZA 307.733.4505 WWW.PEPISTIEGLERS.COM W WWW .PEPISTIEGLERS .COM
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Wade McKoy
First tracks on No Name Peak
At the top of Bridger Gondola, the new grab-n-go Off Piste Market makes it easier than ever to refuel with good food and boost your energy, like a racecar driver making a pit stop. Tram Jam This year the Tram Jam band celebrates 21 years of lift-line entertainment. Playing at the base of the Bridger Gondola every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tram Jam entertains the passersby in lift-line. The family-friendly music includes cover tunes by Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin, and Elvis Costello, as well as originals by band founder Peter “Chanman” Chandler. Now a six-piece band, Chanman created Tram Jam as a duo over two decades ago and played weekly gigs on the Tram Dock. The Venue moved to its current location when the Gondola was completed in 1997.
consistently invested in JHMR for the long term,” Blann noted. Over the past 18 years the Kemmerer Family has invested an average of $8 million per year into improvements to the resort. By comparison over this period, JHMR has averaged 2.3 times more capital spend per skier visit than all Rocky Mountain Resorts as a group.
Saturday Music in March With live music from a variety of bands playing under the tram dock, the crowd slowly gathers after skiing, the snow bar brims with libations, and the tunes reverberate through a happy March Saturday afternoon.
2nd Annual Jackson Hole Rendezvous Festival From March 19 – 22, enjoy three nights of live music, all free.
Deep Snowpack & Another Skier-Day Record For the second year running, the resort broke its record for skier visits, logging 563,631, a 12% increase. And by the end of a stormy closing day, 500 inches of snow had fallen during the season, laying down a 140inch base and the fourth-deepest snowpack in its 48-year history. The increase in popularity was attributed to several factors, said JHMR President Jerry Blann. “Receiving the #1 Ranking by SKI magazine the previous fall created a tangible momentum for the season, and the success of this winter is truly a measure of all the hard work by our whole team,” he said. “We at JHMR feel very fortune to have such dedicated employees and ownership commitment to preserving the character of Jackson Hole. “Furthermore, the Kemmerer Family has
Let’s Be Friends!
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facebook.com/jacksonhole
twitter.com/jhski pinterest.com/jacksonholemtn/ foursquare.com/jhski web.stagram.com/n/jacksonholemtnrst/ w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
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“I’d add that this year’s success is also the result of many years of hard work and cooperative efforts between the mountain, the Jackson community, as well as the State of Wyoming. Working together makes Jackson Hole a much more attractive destination and has led to our joint success,” Blann said. — Jackson Hole Skier
Wade McKoy
Liza Sarychev in the moment, sailing past the lensman.
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Ned Wonson
Wade McKoy
Jackson Hole’s only life-sized, cardboard-cutout man
You can’t miss it. Six-foot-six, flat as a pancake – a cardboard man. Big smile. Hangs out around the ticket office. Designed to explain how to use the new JCard lift ticket. The model for the life-sized photographic cutout was Ned Wonson, Digital Marketing Manager at JHMR. We asked Ned how he happened to become the now-popular icon. Where did the idea come from? “Adam Sutner – JHMR Chief Marketing Officer – came up with the idea as a way to help inform guests where they should keep their JCard. In order to function properly, the new lift ticket must be placed between the shoulder and knees and not in the same Old acquaintances pocket as cell phones and wallets.” How did you get the gig and were who were on vacation there others vying to be the in Jackson actually model? “Truthfully, I got the gig because looked me up beI was the only person in the office cause they saw it.” that day. Our Creative Services Manager, Trisha Taggart, said she needed a photo. I didn’t even know what it was for. The pose was the last shot Patrick Nelson, JHMR Business Development Manager, took of me. I was just joking around at that point. For all the other shots I was just looking straight ahead holding the card in front of me. “It’s an honor for me, though somewhat embarrassing at first – especially walking around with them a few days before Christmas trying to set them up around the village. It was fun to hear stories of people taking pictures with the cutout and to receive pictures of friends with the cutout. Old acquaintances who were on vacation in Jackson actually looked me up because they saw it.” Originally there were three figures built, only two have survived. What happened to the third? “No one knows the current whereabouts of ‘Number 3.’ I’m thinking about offering a reward.” — Jackson Hole Skier
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since 1970
FINE JEWELRY O n t h e To w n S q u a r e 80 Center Stre et Jack son Hole, W yoming 3 07. 7 33 . 559 9 w w w. h i n e s g o l d . c o m
E XCLUSIVE DESIGNERS OF THE TETON JEWELRY COLLECTION SINCE 1970
TETON ADAPTIVE SPORTS
“It’s not a disability, it’s a possibility!”
t’s a familiar story: A once-avid outdoor athlete suffers a debilitating injury, and struggles to return to the field of play Daniel Riley, a Marine veteran of the Afghanistan war, turns that narrative on its head. “I was fit, but I wasn’t a ‘sports guy’,” said the 29-year-old Colorado native. “I had skied a handful of times … but athletics became a way of rehabbing for me.” Riley needed rehabilitation because he lost both legs after he stepped on an improvised explosive device while patrolling Marjah, in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in 2010. After numerous surgeries, he began rehabilitation and physical therapy at Naval Medical Center in San Diego. There, a physical therapist suggested he try surfing. Surfing, he said, put him in “a much better place” both physically and emotionally. For a Colorado boy, then, even one who hadn’t done much skiing while growing up, it was natural to try the sport once he returned home to Littleton, Colorado. So the motto “It’s not a disability, it’s a possibility!” used by Teton Adaptive Sports (TAS) fits Riley like a high-end ski glove. “Adaptive” skiing involves using additional or different equipment, alternative techniques, and adjustments in instruction. Riley is familiar with the part about different equipment. He uses a “sit ski” (exactly what it sounds like) and “outrigger” poles (ski poles with ski tips replacing the baskets) when he’s on the slopes. But he didn’t know about Teton Adaptive Sports when he checked the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s website in 2012 while contemplating a ski trip here. That led him to Kurt Henry, director of TAS. “I was just trying to get the lay of the land, but I talked to (Henry) and he told me the Steep and Deep Camp was coming up in a week and that there was a spot open,” Riley remembered. “Everything fell into place.” By the time he arrived at Jackson Hole, Riley said, he was a solid intermediate, “but Steep and Deep Camp really pushed me to develop as a skier.” Older designations for adapMike Colantuoni tive skiing—handicapped skiing, disabled skiing, and skiing for the physically challenged—no longer fit because one of the features of the TAS skiing program is that skiers who need modified equipment, physical assistance, or differently-styled instruction often are hitting Jackson Hole’s slopes with skiers who don’t need adaptive support. The name of the game is inclusion. During Steep and Deep Camp, adaptive athletes participate in all Steep and Deep activities on and off the snow, whenever possible. “As an amputee, I usually ski with other adaptive skiers. I really enjoyed the opportunity to be grouped with other skiers based on my abilities and not by the equipment I use to move down the hill,” said Joel Berman, a 2013 student Whatever the circumstances, virtually everyone can access the
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Mike Colantuoni makes tracks at the Teton Adaptive Sports / JHMR Steep and Deep Camp.
ski hill, Henry said. And everyone should. Riding gravity instead of wrestling with it is one of those magical experiences that connect us all. Which explains why Riley is “super psyched winter is around the corner. Skiing has become my biggest passion.” Sharing a love of winter with skiers everywhere, Riley now shares something else, a love for Jackson Hole. “I’ll come back every year I have a chance. There’s nothing like Jackson Hole.” And while that’s without a doubt the truth, TAS doesn’t stop there. Adding four days of skiing at Grand Targhee yields the Wyoming Adaptive Ski Experience, described on the TAS website as “a venue for solid intermediate skiers to make that significant jump to ‘all mountain’ skiers. “The combination of Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole creates a natural progression of terrain and conditions that accelerates the acquisition of new skills and attitudes. There’s a self-discovery process that takes place in the mountains and what happens on the ski hill becomes a metaphor for everyday life. What we learn in the end is that everything is possible!” So what’s possible? To the staff at Teton Adaptive Sports, everything’s possible. There are no limits. In addition to the Wyoming Adaptive Ski Experience and Steep and Deep Camp, lessons are available throughout the season in all disciplines for all ages and ability levels. For more information contact Kurt Henry at (307) 6993554 or tetonadaptive@aol.com. Joseph Piccoli has lived in Jackson Hole for nearly three decades and has written for Focus Productions publications for many years. He hopes to be considered an old-timer in another 20 years or so.
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Photo courtesy Patrick Nelson, JHMR
I
by Joseph Piccoli
Wade McKoy
HIGH MOUNTAIN
DESIGN + ROOTS + ENGINEERING
HELI-SKIING
Ease into the Jackson Hole Backcountry with HMHS owner Jon Shick. “For the first-time heli-skier, the ultimate experience is the very first run. It’s the adventure of riding in the helicopter and being dropped off on top of the mountain. Once the helicopter leaves and you look around, it’s silent and all you have is untracked snow below you. That’s the rush that you’re going to get from heli-skiing. I often hear from some of our guests, ‘Best day of our lives.’ “Our terrain is vast, 305,000 acres. It includes a wide variety of open bowls, steep chutes, enchanted forests, and glades. We probably have some of the best powder skiing in all of the country. “You can sign up for a day of helicopter skiing by yourself, or you can come with your friends. We pair one guide with five guests. Bring your own group of five for the best value and experience. “A day of helicopter skiing with High Mountain Heli-Skiing is six runs and about 12,000 to 15,000 total vertical feet. It includes a deli lunch. We ask that our guests be advanced to expert skiers. Snowboarders are also welcome and we ask that they be advanced to expert level as well. “Safety is our primary concern, not only on the snow, but around the helicopter. Briefings are conducted every day and we make sure everybody understands what’s expected of them before we actually bring them into the backcountry. “At the end of the day we hear all kinds of comments. Mostly it’s the best skiing they’ve ever had, or the best day of their lives. Some even say ‘better than sex,’ but we usually advise them not to tell that to their spouse. “For the ultimate deep-powder experience give us a call. We’d love to show you the adventure of helicopter skiing.” — Jon Shick w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
Disobeying convention sin since ce 2005. Space age materials. Inn Innovative novative engineering. Cutting-edge edge shap shaping. ing. search Since 2005, DPS has rredefined ed defined the boundaries of design gn in sear ch of the Born from turn, perfect ski. Bor n fr om an n obsession with the perfect tur rn, global storm across snow,, we chasing, and the transcendent endent mystery of a slide acr os ss deep snow are elevating ar e committed to elevati ing your craft with unmatched, high-tech tools born bred the bor n and br ed deep in th he mountains. breathe If you live and br eathe sskiing, kiing, we build your skis. world’s Find us at dpsskis.com, the world’ s finest ski shops, orr in the Jackson area ar ea at: Habitat Sports Targhee Grand T arghee Resort Steigler’s Pepi Steigler’ s Teton T eton Mountaineering
Skier: Stephan Drake. Photography raphy by Oskar Enander // oskar oskarenander.com enander.com
RESORT TO POWDER
Snow King MOUNTAIN RESORT Making tracks into the 21st Century
by Jeff Burke
very town has a hub, essential to its community. For Jackson, Snow King E Mountain Resort is that hub. Think of a city park, but with a 500-vertical-foot
mountain planted in the middle. Forming the southern perimeter of the town limits, the King is Jackson’s winter stomping ground, where its ski culture has been established over the past seven decades. But in the last few years, the town hill been making beautiful turns.
February 2014 – every day a powder day on the King.
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Powder days at Snow King are as real as they get. Steep, sustained pitches off the summit can entertain any expert to the valley floor 1,500 vertical feet below. Billowing snow and smaller crowds go well together, creating sublime conditions. Snow King has witnessed it all, the backdrop for much of the valley’s skiing history. The mountain has always been a training ground for aspiring alpine racers. The home court of the Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard Club, Snow King this fall received 21 new snowmaking guns, ushering in a new era for ski racers. Racers (and the public) will now have early season snow from the top of the resort—a major first for the town hill. No longer forced into early season hunts for skiable terrain, racers and the public can now hit the slopes much sooner than in the past. Mother Nature has at times been stingy with early season accumulations at the King’s more moderate elevation, so its new capabilities for laying a skiable swath from the summit benefits not only the ski club and its racers, but provides a better product for consumers.
next page.) Bottome line: more post-sunset real estate for skiers to plumb. Locals also flock to the Snow King for lunch-hour hot laps or post-job evening sessions – viable options for working stiffs with limited access to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort or Teton Pass. Many diehards actually drive to the King in their ski boots, an ever so subtle nod to Jackson Hole renaissance culture. The King gets the powder, too, and occasionally a southern storm drops even more snow on her slopes than anywhere else. Powder days at the King are as real as they get. Steep, sustained pitches off the summit can entertain any expert to the valley floor 1,500 vertical feet below. Billowing snow and smaller crowds go well together, creating sublime conditions. Gladed trees and the hike-to
Wade McKoy photos
Snow King Mountain Resort – the town hill – came to life in 1939, its first lift the handiwork of Neil Rafferty, who secured for the mountain a rope tow from nearby Teton Pass. Through the decades the King grew slowly, creating its own notable history of ski jumping and racing. A flourishing mountain-lifestyle culture has in recent years given Jackson Hole the reputation of world-class outdoors, replete with wildlife, adventure, and wide-open space.
Jackson native and JHSSC coach Max Hammer grew up skiing the King and remains a huge fan.
Accessed by the Rafferty and Cougar lifts, Old Man Flats area is also seeing a major facelift in its terrain park, a growing epicenter for the younger freeride skiers and riders who push their skill sets in different directions. Because of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s distance from town classrooms, many local kids can’t make the pilgrimage to its slopes after school. But thanks to the King, they can exit 7th period English, and be on the hill in 15 minutes, slashing turns, gliding rails, and make it home for dinner. And if they don’t… Not to worry. Snow King Mountain Resort just replaced a large portion of its night-skiing illumination with Ultra Tech Lighting, a green move that will radically improve ski-terrain visibility and the mountain’s profile while reducing light pollution for neighbors and resort guests. The new lights, Snow Bright™, will bring the runs intro greater relief for those slopeside while vastly reducing the light that escapes. You know the King is on the right track: the formidable Steamboat Springs resort has itself invested 1$ million in Snow Bright™ lighting for its move into night skiing. (See related story on w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
“S” chutes also offer more adventurous alternatives to skiers and riders hungry for that wilder experience. The Snow King Resort Hotel, a separate entity at the base of the Snow King Mountain Resort, has also undergone a major face lift. The airy multi-story lobby and lodge has updated its décor with modern Western trappings, breathing new life into its storied walls. A heated slope-side pool further freshens the atmosphere, while Hayden’s Post, the resort’s new signature restaurant and bar, boasts a serious upgrade. Expansive glass, new hardwood floors, open rafters—all major capital investments—have transformed an otherwise conservative hotel restaurant into an invigorating dining experience. Convenience has long been a hallmark of the King. Just blocks off the town square, Snow King afforded easy access for locals and visitors alike. That convenience, now coupled with painstaking advances in infrastructure, mountain operations, and service, will no doubt surpass the expectations of townies and travelers alike. And it might just guarantee the King destination-resort status.
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“I’ve had people six-inches taller than I am ski up to me and say, ‘Do you remember me? You helped me get off the hill twenty years ago when I was eight years old.’ That’s kind of cool.”
L
ast winter the Snow King Ski Patrol quietly marked its 75th Anniversary, but there’s no whispering when it comes to its dedication and preparedness. One of the first five National Ski Patrol charters in the West, the patrol maintains the highest standard of service – and largely from volunteers. Kevin Johnson, a volunteer ski patroller at Snow King since 1985 and one of its former directors, explained, "We have medical requirements and are trained to a similar standard as an EMT Basic but have more focus on the wilderness environment.” The prerequisite 120-hour course is extensive. Just as important, though – on the steeps and narrows of The King – is a strong set of ski skills. “It takes most individuals about a year to complete training in toboggan handling, medical knowledge, avalanche mitigation, and mountaineering, which includes mountain travel and rescue, backcountry survival, emergency-shelter building, makeshift toboggan building, and prolonged patient care,” said Johnson. The students and instructor/trainers all donate their time. “Candidate training can take two weeks, two months, or two years,” Johnson said. “We have a checklist, and prospective patrollers demonstrate skills in each category. “Once completed they receive a cross. And once they get a cross on their back, the public looks at them the same as they do me-–and I’ve got 28 years experience. So we hold them to a very high standard.” The payoff is huge for the 34 active volunteers, and eas-
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ily transcends the lack of monetary compensation. Bill Fogarty, a 21-year Snow King Ski Patrol veteran and also a former director, reflected on what volunteer service means to his crew. “Helping others,” Fogarty said. “That’s the main reason we put in the time. You help a little kid find his ski, or a kid who’s lost. You pick up a skier who’s injured and get ‘em down. They are so thankful.” Johnson agreed, recollecting, “I’ve had people sixinches taller than I am ski up to me and say, ‘Do you remember me? You helped me get off the hill twenty years ago when I was eight years old.’ That’s kind of cool.” At their annual end-of-season gathering, the volunteer patrol recognizes standout performance, awarding plaques for, as Johnson explained, “Services of a variety of natures: educational, all-round proficiency; some might be medical, some more avalanche driven. Some memorialize, as, for example, Dr. William Fogarty, Bill’s dad; or Don Fritch, a strong advocate of education, or Doug McLaren, one of the first rescue rangers in the park. All were members of our volunteer organization. We give awards to a Pro Patroller of the Year (there are 16 paid patrol staff), a Patroller of the Year, and a Rookie of the Year. “A nice thank you from somebody out of the blue, or a six pack is just as good,” said Fogarty. To inquire about participation on the Snow King Volunteer Ski Patrol, contact current patrol director Zach Zabrosky at 847-275-4610. — Jackson Hole Skier
Wade McKoy
Wade McKoy
From left: Adrienne Kirkwood (past patrol director), Kevin Johnson (past patrol director), Bill Fogarty (past patrol director), Bart Conrad (volunteer patroller)
ACCESS & RESOURCES
SNOW KING Night Skiing and Snowmaking, Expanded and Modernized
Devoted slopeside recreationists, from skiers to boarders to tubers, can’t get enough time on the snow. So the King’s new snow guns (21, of course, and part of a $3.5 million capital improvement project) should put everyone in a good mood – and on the slopes earlier than ever. A combination of permanent and traveling snow guns will fill in the runs from the summit to the base, thanks in part to hydrants along the way that will also supply potable water to the mountaintop. But there’s no point in blanketing Snow King Mountain Resort’s slopes if recreationists can’t take full advantage of it. With that in mind, the resort has green-lighted a stunning new upgrade for illuminating its nightskiing experience. It’s a big investment for Snow King Mountain Resort, the Town of Jackson, and the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club – and one that will likely light the way for the future. The newly installed Bright Lights™ is a revolutionary approach to brightening night-skiing’s experience that reduces night-sky light pollution, more effectively covers the slopes, and lowers energy consumption. Bringing night skiing into bold yet subtle relief, Tues.-Sat. from 4-7 p.m., the Ultra Tech lighting refracts through the snow rather than reflecting off it. Thanks to the upgrade, skiers
can expect to navigate more accurately the nighttime white stuff and enjoy the evening more completely. The beauty for the rest of us, though, is how minimally this will affect everything beyond the slopes. Conventional ski area lights make a whirring noise, likely not appreciated by animals or folks on or near the resort. Bright Lights™ don’t. And because they don’t use dispersed mercury, the Bright Lights’ mercury slugs can be mailed back to Ultra Tech for recycling. Less expensive to operate, too, the new lighting at the Snow King Mountian Resort provides a stellar combination of benefits on all fronts.
King Tubes Just plain fun! That would be King Tubes. Piloting these “doughnuts” on the smooth, groomed run promises to bring out the kid in everyone. Hard to tell whose enthusiasm is greater, the kids’ or the grownups’. Easy access provided by a rope tow. Hop on, then head down the slope. Must be at least 42” tall. Tues.-Fri., from 2-7 p.m.; weekends and holidays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Mountain Sports School Snow King Mountain Resort has been teaching skiing, and more recently snowboarding, for over 75 years. Its Mountain Sports School specializes in children’s and
BIGGER
JUMPS BETTER
rails MORE stoke NEW T ERRAIN PARK C O M I N G D ECEMBER 2014 w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
adult’s group and private lessons. For the full array of courses and clinics, visit www.snowkingmountain.com or call 307-734-3188.
Nordic Skiing & Snowshoeing A backcountry Nordic and snowshoeing trail at the summit of the King is a great option on those scenic, sunny days. The panoramic view of five mountain ranges surrounding Jackson Hole can’t be beat.
Pond Skim As the season winds down, the fun continues in high gear. Snow King will play host to a fresh take on polar dipping: pond skimming. Another of the mountain’s end-of-season gems, competitiors don suitable attire, buckle into skis or snowboards, then gather courage and speed to launch themselves across an ice-hemmed pond. Spectators and competitiors happily partake of the festivies, which also include food, beverages, and a contagious enthusiasm. Details at: www.snowkingmountain.com.
Ice Skating Snow King Sports and Events Center, located at the base of the Snow King Ski Resort, provides a rink full of activities, and is home to the Jackson Hole Moose hockey club. For more information, visit the center’s site at www.snowkingsec.com or call 307201-1633. Continued pg 31
The Torchlight Parade illuminates the slopes of Snow King, the Town of Jackson below.
Town Downhill, an annual citizens race.
The Pond Skim draws a large crowd of participants and spectators.
World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb closes the season.
Wade McKoy (1,3); Bob Woodall (2, 4, 5)
King Tubes, fun for all ages.
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SNOW KING
ACCESS & RESOURCES
Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club Events Snow King Mountain Resort continues its partnership with the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club (JHSSC). Once again, as the JHSSC celebrates its 76th anniversary, a full calendar of winter events will link The Town Hiill and the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club.
Pica’s Margarita Cup First up, the Pica’s Margarita Cup, five adult team-racing events. Run from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m as part of the Friday Night Under the Lights program, this crowd-pleaser boasts prizes, weekly raffles, food, a bar, and straight-ahead enthusiasm. January 16 and 30; February 13 and 27, wrapping up on March 6.
Wednesday Night Lights Other notable winter season events include the mountain’s Wednesday Night Lights activities. Held on, of course, Wednesday nights, these evening showcases and competiSpectators are as thrilled as tion draw the young and the inspired to rail jams. the competitors coursing Spectators are as thrilled as the competitors coursover the white stuff and the ing over the white stuff and rail in impressive skillful, the rail in impressive skillful, acrobatic displays. acrobatic displays. Under the lights, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Town Downhill, The Ski Club’s Mini-Hahnenkamm The Town Downhill (TDH), another JHSSC event, has been a Jackson tradition since 1982. The origin of its nickname, the Mini-Hahnenkamm, dates back to the 1950s, when Jim Huidekoper Sr., one of the ski area’s founders, named Snow King’s steepest run The Steilhang because it reminded him of a slope on Austria’s famed peak, the Hahnenkamm. This season’s race is scheduled for March 14-15. With divisions for Pro, Recreation, Telemark, Junior, Fat and Baggy and Snowboard, the event is the club’s way of recognizing that skiing, and ski racing, is truly a lifetime sport. Jackson Hole is one of the last places in the country to organize and support a non-sanctioned downhill race. This community favorite draws over 200 competitors and 500 spectators. Everyone is welcome to join in for live music, food, and a great race.
National & International Ski Races The Club will also host nearly 20 days of regional- and national-level events at Snow King Mountain Resort, Jackson Mountain Resort, and Trail Creek Nordic Center.
World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb Jackson Hole Snow Devils The hill’s final event is an unqualified spectacle: The World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb. Now in its 40th year, it’s held on Snow King’s pitch-perfect slopes. Riders throttle their way straight up the King’s snowbound terra firma, trying to nail the speediest high-mark. The event benefits the Jackson Hole Snow Devils’ various philanthropic missions. Slated for March 19 through March 22 this year. Call 734-9653 or go online at snowdevils.org.
Ice Climbing Ice, an unwelcome slope condition for recreational skiers, is a sought-after commodity at the Exum Ice Park. This winter the artificial-ice climbing wall enters its third year providing instruction and open climbing on eight top-roped routes in the northfacing shadows behind Love Ridge Condominiums. Open climbing costs $20, gear rental is $5, and is available on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. and on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4-8 p.m. Group lessons, reservations required, cost $150 for up to two people and are offered Sundays 9-11:30 a.m. For more info or to make reservations call 733-2297. — Jackson Hole Skier w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club Hall of Fame and Ski Museum An Illustrated timeline documenting the ski history of Jackson Hole
Last spring the inaugural class of the newly formed Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club Hall of Fame and Ski Museum was inducted at a gala dinner ceremony. The 12 inductees were selected from 70 nominees by the Hall of Fame committee, a volunteer group of seven. The project was born from a desire to record the ski history of Jackson Hole while many of its players were atill alive. “When Johnny Curtis – a personal friend and ski legend – passed away,” said Carrie Boynton, JHSSC Executive Director, “and I hadn’t taken the opportunity to interview him about his work with Trail Creek, taking the first women’s team to the Olympics, all the wonderful things he’d done, it broke my heart that it wasn’t documented, that these amazing people were passing away and their stories weren’t told.” Boynton galvanized into action. She wrote a grant to create a small museum, augmented it with private donations, and gathered a strong group of volunteers. “The timing worked out beautifully because it was the ski club’s 75th anniversary,” she said. “We got an intern, Sarah Gilster, who we later hired. She did a beautiful job, started documenting, collecting history, old photographs.”
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The museum is laid out as a timeline so that viewers can walk through history. “I hope it will inspire the kids,” said Boynton. “They can walk through the museum and see Olympic bibs, see the success of people that grew up on these mountains and in this town, and see what can be achieved through hard work Carrie Boynton with Pepi Stiegler and dedication.” The next class of inductees will be in four years, in conjunction with the Winter Olympics. The museum is located in the Snow King Center’s Lodge Room at the ski area base next to the Cougar Chair Lift. The biographies of the inductees are also available on the JHSSC website at jhskiclub.org — Jackson Hole Skier
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Wade McKoy photos
Those in the inaugural class who attended the awards banquet, from left back row: Bill Ashley, Cory Curtis for John Curtis, Pepi Stiegler, Harry Baxter, Bill Briggs, Pete Karns, Travis’s uncle for Travis Rice, Betty Woolsey’s niece Nathalie Goss; front row from left: Tommy Moe, Erich Wilbrecht, Martin Hagen
THE DOUG C OOMB S FOUNDATIO N
Wade McKoy
An opportunity for Jackson children from low socioeconomic families to take up skiing.
“KIDS WHO LIVE IN TRAILERS SKI
WITH KIDS LIVING IN MANSIONS,
OFFERING THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO FORM FRIENDSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER. SKIING CONNECTS PEOPLE TO EACH OTHER.”
a family, let alone the cost inWhen Emily Coombs founded volved to ski. By helping these the Doug Coombs Foundation in kids, we actually end up help2012 in honor of her late husband, ing ourselves and the people her goal was to create the opporwho visit Jackson by enabling tunity for kids from low-income this town to function and to families to learn to ski. have a population of active, “Skiing had a huge influence on happy children who are intemy life, as well as on the life of grated with their peers in Doug Coombs,” she said. “Doug school through skiing.” skied as a child at a tiny ski hill in The DCF is completely deMassachusetts, Nashoba Valley. pendant on financial donations We met through skiing and shared in order to provide this opportua lifelong passion of skiing and the nity for Jackson children from mountains.” low socioeconimic families. Doug Coombs spent his final To donate and to learn more years guiding clients throughout about the Doug Coombs Founthe mountains of Valdez, Alaska, Doug Coombs dation, please visit www.dougand the European Alps. “Many of “The parents of these kids, many of Hiscoombsfoundation.com. these people claim to have had the best days panic origin, work in Jackson in hotels, Email: emilycoombs@dougcoombsfounof their lives skiing with Doug,” she said. restaurants, shops, construction, cleaning dation.com. Tel: 307.733.7196 Or send check The Doug Coombs Foundation provided homes,” said Coombs. “The wages paid in to: Doug Coombs Foundation, PO 7665, skiing to 75 children from low-income families the service industry in Jackson, even with Jackson, WY, 83002. in Jackson last winter. This winter the DCF both parents working, isn’t enough to support plans to fund 80-100 children, ages three — Jackson Hole Skier through 14. Each child will receive skis, lift tickets, and instruction every weekend at Snow King. Additionally, a few children will be enrolled in the Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard program. New this year is a program ® where some of the parents of these children will also learn to ski “Children who live in trailers ski with children living in mansions, offering them the opportunity to form friendships with one another. Skiing connects people to each other,” Emily noted. K2, Marmot, and Smith, long-time sponsors of Doug and Emily Coombs, are also DCF donors, providing skis, jackets, helmets, and goggles. “Many people from around the USA have donated cash to help fund the expenses for these children to ski and for the DCF to operate,” she said. Mountain safety is an important part of the child’s education, too. “Getting kids to pay attention to the mountain environment is critical for their life-long education about the mountains,” said Coombs. “Once they reach the age where they will venture out into the backcountry, they will have a basic eduction, which will help them deal with avalanches and other mountain hazards.” The ski season will end with 50 of the DCF children skiing with JHMR ski instructors during the annual Marmot Coombs Classic on Open & Serving your favorites 5:00am - Midnight Daily March 22, 2015, courtesy of JHMR. The Marmot Coombs Classic, an event for skiers of all ages and abilities, celebrates the life and adventurous spirit of Doug Coombs. The DCF 1110 W. Broadway, Jackson, WY • 1 mile west of Town Square childen draw the raffle tickets and hand out the prizes.
Fast, Affordable and On Your Way. McDonald’s of Jackson Hole
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307-733-7444
w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
RESORT TO POWDER
Grand Targhee MOUNTAIN RESORT Find Your Rhythm By Jeff Burke
is a lot of things to many different people G –randtheTarghee mountain, the views, the terrain and deep snow.
With over 500 inches of annual snowfall coming to the western slope of the Tetons, Grand Targhee gets the lion’s share of powder in the range. As the saying goes: “Snow from heaven, not hoses.” Unlike some Rocky Mountain resorts’ more corporate feel, Targhee’s is cozy, with five chair lifts, and a simpler, less crowded skiing experience. The 2,600 acres of terrain spans three adjacent peaks— Fred’s Mountain, Peaked Mountain, and Mary’s Nipple – that white vastness harbors 2,200 vertical feet of huge, sweeping bowls, gladed trees, and a slice of craggy chutes off Peaked, keeping things interesting for all abilities. Grand Targhee also has its own 600-acre cat-ski operation where guests can have a markedly different powder experience, complete with guided instruction and backcountry lunch. There’s also 15 kilometers of groomed Nordic skiing on five trails – just in case you need to work on that cardio. Their attention to detail is only making an already great experience even better. Small changes continue to enhance the hill’s ebb and flow. “We’ve been glading and trail clearing on Ravenwood, Floyd’s Fantasy, and the terrain park,” said Marketing Director Jennie White. “We’ve also been removing old or dying trees to make for more spacious runs through the trees.” Additionally, the resort has improved the skier return egress from Sacajawea to the base area on Powder Reserve Traverse. If wilder snow is your thing, Targhee also maintains backcountry gates for hungry enthusiasts seeking untracked snow adjacent to the resort. Because Targhee is nestled in the heart of the Teton Range, it boasts some of the most spectacular backdrops to skiing in North America. Skiers and riders can find untouched glory just beyond the resort boundaries for days after a storm. “When open,” said White, “Targhee’s Peaked and Mary’s Nipple terrain has an open-boundary policy,” allowing anyone to access the goods without having to pass through a designated gate. As always, it’s a know-before-you-go; so if you don’t have the experience, avalanche skills, and gear to ski backcountry terrain, hire a guide. Grand Targhee offers guided backcountry packages through Yöstmark Touring. Like any resort with an eye for sophisticated civility, Targhee’s amenities have also been undergoing a renaissance. Across the board Targhee is upgrading within its environs, buildings, and areas to the tune of $1.5 million. From the ground up, hydronic heating will
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Gabe Rogel
But if there’s one quality that defines the Grand Targhee experience, it’s the rhythm. Not too slow, not too fast, the atmosphere of the ‘Ghee sets a pace like a perfect powder run, balanced and smooth, at times explosive, and all the while invigorating. The resort’s “flow” is similar to the sublime bliss of glisse, maximizing the overall experience for all who schuss the greater Targhee area.
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As the saying goes: “Snow from heaven, not hoses.” Unlike some Rocky Mountain resorts’ more corporate feel, Targhee’s is cozy, with five chair lifts, and a simpler, less-crowded skiing experience.
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Mike Leake, nocturnal stealth
Gabe Rogel photos
Jacqui Edgerly, corduroy brazen
line the paths throughout the resort’s interconnecting walkways and pedestrian plaza. The Branding Iron Grill, Targhee’s signature après culinary epicenter at the base, boasts a recently expanded kitchen, and the entire iconic Teewinot Lodge is now home to a new fleet of mattresses. Plus, every room at the resort will have boot driers, another small but worthy addition. And that’s not the end of it. “The Arcade will be turned into a new Pizza Parlor,” added White, “and Wild Bill’s seating will be expanded to accommodate more guests.” Bottom line: there will be plenty of room for paying customers and those who choose to brown-bag their lunch.
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Because the base of Grand Targhee sits at 8,000 feet, early season snow sticks around and that snowpack grows before others in the area. As a result, Targhee’s season begins with a punch in late November, often to the fanfare of greedy locals and savvy tourists who watch weather closely. That said, late-season storms can also bring significant snowfall into March and April, providing legitimate powder days well into spring while keeping a firm grasp on Old Man Winter until the not-so-bitter end. Given Targhee’s long season, there’s no need to rush. Instead, pick a time and a pace that best works for you. When you do, then find your rhythm.
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GRAND TARGHEE
ACCESS & RESOURCES
Mountain Characteristics
Tube Park
2,000 acres of lift-serviced terrain, 10% beginner, 70% intermediate, 20% advanced. Vertical rise: 2,270 feet. Base elevation: 7,860 feet. Groomed trails: 500 acres. Ski lifts: two highspeed quad chairs, one quad chair, one double chair, and one magic carpet. Nordic, Snowshoe, & Snow Bike Trails 15k of groomed Nordic trails make great cross country skiing, ski-skating, fat-tired snow bike, and snowshoe trails roll past the base area into the surrounding forest, glades, and meadows.
A $10 day ticket includes use of snow tube, tube runs, and lift access on the Papoose Magic Carpet. All riders must be over 42 inches tall. Special rates available for groups of 25 or more. Reservations are recommended for tubing after 6 p.m. Open Weds. through Fri. from 4-7 p.m. and weekends from noon to 7 p.m.
depth inventory of greenhouse gas emissions through The Climate Registry. A central mission in Grand Targhee Resort’s Sustainability Charter is to limit its environmental impact by making integrated changes in waste management, energy use, and local ecosystems. Grand Targhee is prioritizing sustainability by taking powerful steps to manage its carbon footprint
Green Practices
Shuttles
A leader in environmental resort practices, Grand Targhee Resort received the Golden Eagle Award for Environmental Excellence in 2009 and 2011. In 2007 it became the first North American organization to carry out an in-
Daily roundtrip shuttles run from Driggs and Jackson Hole. The resort is a scenic 48 miles from the Jackson Hole Airport, 85 miles from the Idaho Falls Airport. — Jackson Hole Skier
Activity Center Adventures Stop by the Activity Center to book a myriad of winter adventures. Snowmobile through Yellowstone for close-up views of bison and Old Faithful or tour other regional attractions like Mesa Falls and the Big Holes. Ride on a horsedrawn sleigh with an authentic cowboy and his trusty steeds to a high-altitude yurt and a western sleigh-ride dinner.
Mountain Tours Join a Mountain Host at the base of Dreamcatcher daily at 10:30 a.m. for a mountain tour. They’ll show you the view points and lesser known areas of the three mountains that make up Grand Targhee Resort.
The Nature Center Satisfy your wonderment of the Teton’s flora, fauna, and geology with a resort naturalist. Just stop by the Nature Center cabin between the Kid’s Club and Ski School. You can also book a 2-hr naturalist-led snowshoe tour at the Activities Center.
Ski & Snowboard School Under the direction of Mark Hanson, Grand Targhee Resort’s Ski & Snowboard School offers PSIA/AASI instruction for adults and children, as well as a special adaptive skiers program. The Start Me Up package for firsttimers combines soft snow with experienced instructors, beginner equipment, uncrowded slopes, dedicated beginner learning area, and the Papoose Conveyor lift. The Kids Start Me Up package is nationally recognized as an excellent children’s program. Grand Targhee’s Kids FUN Zone offers great terrain specifically designed to accelerate the learning curve. Early Tracks is for intermediated skiers and riders who are looking to get a jump-start on their day and enjoy Targhee’s powder paradise prior to the lifts opening to the public.
Guided Snowcat Adventures A hallmark of Grand Targhee, cat skiing on Peaked Mountain affords breathtaking views of the Grand Tetons. Twelve people ride a huge powder reserve of over 600 acres and up to 20,000 vertical feet in a day. Professional guides lead clients through a variety of terrain – expansive bowls, mellow glades, and steep treed pitches.
Terrain Park Boasts at least four to six rails per line, plus a jump section and two lines of features – one for beginners, one for more advanced skiers and riders. Look for new features this season with monthly changes and a local competition series. w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
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MAGNIFICENT BACKCOUNTRY
Get the Exum Experience with a Ski Mountaineering Clinic
Three-day Exum Ski Mountaineering Clinic students ascend 25-Short, basking in the view of Buck Mountain.
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he Teton Mountain Range, defining by Kim Havell and dominating the landscape of Jackson, Wyoming, is home to some of the world’s best guides – EXUM Mountain Guides among them. Over the past few years, backcountry skiing has seen the largest percentage of steady growth in the ski industry, so the need for education in snow safety and mountain travel is rising. In response to this demand, EXUM has designed a program to help and instruct those seeking to take it further and higher safely. As EXUM President Nat Patridge pointed out, “We started this clinic because skiers and riders wanted an affordable group program where they could learn ski-mountaineering techniques. This is an entry-level ski mountaineering course for people who have backcountry ski experience and want to take that knowledge and experience to the next level.” The course, heading into its second year, offers a carefully or-
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Right: North-facing couloirs can preserve powder for weeks, as this student discovered while skiing into Avalanche Canyon.
ganized three-day training program. The introductory day is on the local town ski hill, Snow King Mountain. The accessibility and high concentration of expert terrain at Snow King make it a perfect venue for honing steep-skiing skills, refining turns, and learning the basics of technical rope work in a controlled environment. Most ski areas do not allow inbounds rope training but Snow King makes an exception for this course. By honing these skills, the students are prepared to head into Grand Teton National Park for more involved training. According to EXUM, participants should be comfortable skiing blue terrain and above, and be able to skin up to a minimum of 4,000 feet in a day. Fitness is key and ensures more comfort and success in the longer, bigger days out in the hills. The range of topics and skills covers steep-skiing/riding technique, rope craft (knots, rappelling, basic anchors, skiing on belay), ice axe and crampon in-
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Wade McKoy photos
troduction, group communication and management, gear selection, partner communication, terrain assessment and hazard analysis. The skills practiced are then put to the test for the next two days as the clinic ventures up into the high peaks of the park and onto more complicated terrain. Led by world-class instructors, a group comprised of American Mountain Guides Association certified guides, PSIA instructors, and some of the most accomplished ski mountaineers in the world – many of whom have accomplished notable first descents – the clinic guarantees a fun environment for learning. This is an opportunity to get coached by the experts, to be
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trained by teachers who are career guides, passionate about the mountains. Patridge said, “The clinic is fun, affordable and the quality of instruction is high.” The three-day format easily fits into busy schedules. In its inaugural year, 2014, clients David and Susan Clifford signed up. Sue Clifford noted, “I am a volunteer ski patroller at Stowe since 2007 and at Tuckerman Ravine since 2012. I have done a number of trips to the Tetons and a big backcountry hut trip in BC. My husband has limited backcountry experience and has only traveled west once before. We have aspirations of Europe, BC, Iceland — just to men-
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Wade McKoy photos
Susan Clifford skis perfect powder amidst the majesty of Buck Mountain.
Brendan O’Neill prepares to rappel.
Instruction day on Snow King with Ben Gilmore.
tion a few. We knew we had to start smaller to get Dave up to speed and comfortable on his new split board, and assess skills, stamina, etc., before choosing our next trip. Having been to Jackson a number of times before, I knew it was the perfect training ground to gel our future travel team. We had a great time and our guides were great.� The thee-day clinic is a unique opportunity to learn and apply major components to a proper backcountry skiing foundation in one of the world’s premier locations for mountain adventure. Under the guidance
and experience of EXUM instructors, students come to observe and engage in valuable on-slope lessons while immersed in the mountain environment. In order to travel safely and intelligently in snow, guests in this program take those first the steps towards approaching their dream objectives in the big mountains. Kim Havell is a skier, mountaineer, and guide pursuing adventure, exploration, and aesthetic challenge both at home in the Tetons and abroad, sharing the story via photos and written word.
MAGNIFICENT BACKCOUNTRY
Celebrating 45 years of backcountry ski tours ackson Hole Mountain Guides (JHMG), established in 1968, is one of the premier mountain guiding services in the country. Due to steadily increasing demand from the public for backcountry
Kim Havell photo
by Kim Havell
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JHMG Senior Guide and Winter Coordinator Brian Warren scouts terrain in the Tetons (above). Kim Havell and friends tour Nez Perce (top).
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Wade McKoy Kim Havell powers through the wind and snow on her way down a wooded alley.
education, JHMG is now offering a one-day ski touring clinic that incorporates companion rescue and beacon skills.
This one-day program, referred to as the “Teton Tune Up,� tours guests in either Grand Teton National Park or up on Teton Pass with a refresher of their snow safety education. The “Tune-Up� combines the backcountry experience with on-slope training. On a typical JHMG guided winter ski tour, guests can expect to head into Grand Teton National Park, ascending and then skiing classics like 25 Short, Shadow Peak, Albright, or areas in Death Canyon and Garnet Canyon. In the spring, JHMG shifts toward ski-mountaineering endeavors but winter is all about hunting for the good snow. Senior Guide and Winter Coordinator, Brian Warren said, “We ski tour right from the trailhead, completing anywhere from four to sixthousand feet of vertical climbing and then ski back down to the car. We aim for an untracked, no-crowd experience, topping out on some of the sub-peaks of the Tetons, with views of the high alpine, and can provide an experience that includes anything from technical ski mountaineering to powder tree-skiing.� To provide a close interaction JHMG’s emphasis is on guiding smaller groups with low client/guide ratio. Their goal is to have guests w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
immersed in the park, in the solitude of its mountains, within the security of guided skiing and local expertise. Guests can expect ski guides with in-depth knowledge of the terrain in the park, and who track conditions and routes throughout the season. Their guides also work as avalanche educators, helicopter ski guides, and winter safety personnel around the world. After taking a Level I or Level II Avalanche Education Course, JHMG clients typically ask how to take their education to the next level. The new “Tune-Up� clinic is built to meet the
needs of those looking to accomplish a classic ski tour as well as polish their backcountry skill-set. The program is designed for the intermediate to advanced backcountry traveler looking to expand their knowledge and continue their education. Before heading out for a day with JHMG, for those visiting the area, Warren also recommends that guests ski “a day or two at the resort, heading out with a JHMR guide for liftaccessed backcountry, as well as a day or two at the Teton Pass before progressing into the bigger days at the park.�
Jackson Hole Mountain Guides
& Climbing School
# ! $ " ! # $ #!& % !
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MAGNIFICENT BACKCOUNTRY
Jackson Hole’s only backcountry hut system he approach to Baldy Knoll yurt started out smoothly enough. A well-marked skintrack led our crew of four through frost-feathered aspens,
Wade McKoy (ski); Jeff Diener (yurt)
by Brigid Mander
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A Teton Backcountry Guides yurt in evening glow (top). Jason Tattersall skis through a magic forest in the southern Tetons.
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Jeff Diener TBC yurts: provisioned, outfitted, warm, spacious, a mountain hut system extraordinaire.
sparkling in the afternoon light, but I kept falling behind.
It wasn’t the fault of the gently pitched, fiveand-half-mile climb. And I couldn’t blame a heavy pack; most of the things we’d need for this multiday trip were at the yurt. Rather, it was my incessant attempts to capture the sylvan beauty around us on my point-and-shoot. I couldn’t stop snapping shots–until a deep silence penetrated my obsession. I was alone in the frozen woods, my friends far ahead. By the time I rushed up the last powderfilled meadow to join everyone at the yurt, the January sun was low in the sky. Long shadows lay across the Tetons. Mountains and air were both bathed in a spectacular, deep-hued orange and red light. Our temporary home, dwarfed by the snowy peaks, was already warm and cheery. The woodstove was lit, cranking heat, and wineglasses were soon held aloft, a toast to our pristine, personal playground for the next three days. Everything needed for the stay, except for food, libation, and sleeping bags, was already stocked. In traditional yurt style, beds lined the walls, leaving plenty of social space in the center. We melted water on the stove and commenced a culinary celebration with cheese, meats, and a pasta dish mountainstyle before rolling satisfied and tired into our beds. The prospect of fresh powder and untouched lines right out the door awaited us in the morning; our only concern was how much w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
of it we would have time to ski on this trip. The next two days were filled with our pick of terrain, all to ourselves. We spotted lines in every direction. We climbed and skied steep little chutes and open faces in nearby valleys complemented by deep, cold powder in the rolling woods just behind the yurt. When it came time to leave, the ski back down to the trailhead went all too quickly, and we reluctantly coasted back into the real world. There was a bright spot, however: plans for the next trip to the yurts were in the works before we were even out of our ski boots. We chose a self-guided trip, available for experienced backcountry skiers. However, for
GIMMMEER !! SHELLTTEER
the less-experienced or those who just want to relax and think only about skiing powder, Teton Backcountry Guides also offers customizable, fully-guided, catered trips with optional porter service to and from the yurts. Guided, catered, three-day yurt expeditions with porter service from $865 per person; unguided from $44 per person, per night, based on eight people // tetonbackcountryguides.com Brigid Mander is a writer and skier living in Wilson, WY, and considers herself a connoisseur of fabulous ski huts from the Andes to the Arctic.
teton hut system day trips & hut tours D.I.Y. hut rentals deep wyoming powder teton pass grand teton national park
307.353.2900 skithetetons.com Authorized concessionaire of GTNP and permitte of CTNF. PHOTO: TUCK FAUNTLEROY
Skiing the Grand Teton A Johnstone Family Outing Last May, 15-year-old Sasha Johnstone climbed and skied the Grand Teton with his parents Hans and Nancy Johnstone and their friends, alpinists Greg Collins and David Gonzales. asha,15, and his mom Nancy climb up the icy Stettner Couloir. The climbing was straightforward, but I wasn't fond of the water running through the ice in several places. Sasha and his dad attempted the GT the previous year, and got as far as the top of the Teepee Glacier. This time, with both parents in tow, Sasha motored right up.
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eanwhile Collins, the mutant 52-year-old Idaho farmer, was ahead of us, breaking trail, keeping up a running dialogue about desert climbs, reggae music, farming, and the 20 - 30 times he'd previously skied the Grand.
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Sasha (rt) and Nancy Johnstone
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Text and photos by David Gonzales David Gonzales is a photographer, videographer, and writer who lives in Jackson Hole.
ear the bottom of the east face we stopped to duck into the 'Starr/Workman Sneak,' a short and steep couloir first utilized by Dan Starr and Doug Workman that allows a longer run down the East Face Snowfield and access into the middle of the Ford Couloir. I had to include an image of Nancy because she's one of the most badass
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women in the Hole. As an overworked 54-year-old local business owner and mother of three, she had time for only two ski runs this year: the Town Downhill and the Grand Teton. Literally. Those were
her two runs. It was agreed afterwards we should make T-shirts that say, 'I Want to Be a Nancy.' asha rips the Starr Sneak. We were in such a hurry to get off the summit and back down the Stettner Couloir (with 6-9 other skiers behind us) that I didn't get great photos of the ski run. The temps
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had only briefly dipped to 34 degrees on top of the tram that morning, so the clock was ticking and photography took a backseat to getting the flock outta there. Nancy and Hans Johnstone
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Sasha Johnstone
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ALPINE MEDICAL ADVICE
from Jeffrey Greenbaum, MD, Saint John’s Medical Center Medical Director, Emergency Department Anybody can have an accident. Cuts from ski edges, bone breaks from hitting rocks and trees, torn muscles, head injuries – those minor traumas are still the numberone reason we see skiers in the emergency room. But it’s the other range of preventable issues that we’d hope to see less of. Here’s some practical advice that will help keep your interaction with our medical staff within the social atmosphere of the tram dock, far away from the Emergency Room.
FROSTBITE AND FROSTNIP Keep it covered, and don’t forget the tips of the nose and ears, and the cheekbones. Be aware of extreme-cold and wind-chill warnings. Keep an eye on your ski partner’s flesh tones, and if their facial parts turn white, get yourselves out of the cold immediately. For minor cases, staying indoors for just a few minutes often does the trick.
SNOW BLINDNESS Snow blindness not only obscures vision, it’s very uncomfortable. It’s easily prevented, though, by wearing protective sunglasses or goggles – even when it’s cloudy.
Hunter Wood skis Shirley’s Snowfield on the east face of Cody Peak. The route was first descended by snowboard mountaineer John Griber in the early 1990s. Griber named it for his mother, Shirley Jones, who had passed away from cancer a couple years before.
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INJURY DUE TO ICY ENVIRONMENT We see lots of slips in the parking lot and on sidewalks that result in broken hips or arms, back injuries (including breaks), w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
Wade McKoy photos
ALTITUDE SICKNESS Acute mountain sickness (AMS). Symptoms, which may be mild or severe, include headache, fatigue, lightheadedness, lack of appetite, frequent waking from sleep, and nausea. The most common prevention for AMS is to ascend slowly over a period of several days, which allows the body to adjust. For vacationers to Jackson Hole, though, hydration is the number-one protection against altitude sickness. Avoid over-exertion the day before you travel and during the first few days at altitude. Arrive on your vacation rested, not exhausted. Avoid alcoholic beverages and sleeping pills. They inhibit proper acclimatization. If you drink coffee, don’t stop. It’s safe at high altitudes and stopping suddenly can actually cause AMS-like symptoms. If you develop signs of AMS you should return to valley elevations. Do not go higher until your symptoms have resolved, which usually occurs within 24 hours. Rest and avoid drinking alcohol and taking sedatives or sleeping pills as you recover. Aspirin and other anti-inflammatories can help prevent a headache that often occurs with AMS.
T I P S TO H E L P K E E P YO U S A F E
and head injuries (including lacerations). Wear footwear with good tread. Sports shops carry Yaktrax that are easily attached to any shoe and turn even slippery tennis shoes into ice grippers. It also helps to walk in a shuffling gate rather than in long strides. Driving a vehicle on slick winter roads without the proper tires and skills not only endangers yourself and your passengers, it also puts all other drivers and pedestrians at risk of injury or death. Consider taking the START bus. Pick up a schedule at any of the bus stops, or online at www.startbus.com
Kelly Gubbels RN I Jenifer Hoover RN I Jeffrey Greenbaum MD
“Save your friends from frostbite! Check your buddy's cheeks and noses for early signs of frostbite expecially on windy days and adopt a zero tolerance for cold fingers and toes. Frostbite can ruin not only this ski season but the seasons to come.”
INJURY DUE TO FATIGUE The majority of our ski-and-snowboard patients arrive in the ER between noon and four. And they usually tell a classic, lateday ski story in which they were tired.
INJURY DUE TO IMPROPER EQUIPMENT Boots that don’t fit correctly, bindings improperly adjusted, the wrong skis on the right day – these are all things sure to cause trouble for vacationers not quite prepared.
“Know when to call it a day. If you are tired don't do "one last run." You are more likely to get injured when you are fatigued.” — Jenifer Hoover, RN
“Always stay within your ability and know where you are going. Never blindly follow someone else's tracks. If you want to explore new terrain, then hire a Guide from the JHMR Ski School.” — Jeffrey Greenbaum MD
— Kelly Gubbels, RN
Urgent & Emergency Care Three convenient locations treating everything from breaks & sprains to major health emergencies. Clinic at Teton Village (open during ski season) Cody House, Teton Village, WY
307 739 7346
Family Health & Urgent Care 1415 S. Highway 89, Jackson, WY
307 739 8999
St. John’s Emergency Department 625 E. Broadway, Jackson, WY
307 733 3636
St John’s Medical Center Dial 911 in case of emergency w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
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by Andrew Bullington, MD, Teton Orthopaedics
Wade McKoy photos
THE MODE OF THREES
A young competitor at Grand Targhee’s Junior Freeride Championships takes a nasty fall.
A sage, old ski-town orthopaedist once told me the “Rule of Threes,” three factors associated with 90 percent of injuries that occur on the slopes. To wit: 1) Most injuries happen after 3 p.m. There’s a reason why my patients always say it’s the last run of the day. A hard day of skiing naturally results in end-of-day fatigue. So, if you’re feeling tired or burned out, then let the aprés ski begin early. The chairlift down is a much better motorized option than the ambulance to the ER. 2) Most injuries happen on the third day, just when you’re feeling confident enough to “Press Your Luck”… Like in the ‘80’s Games Show and its Whammie. Instead of the Whammie running across the screen, the ski patrol and ER docs take their spot and shuffle across your vision. Remember: three Whammies and you lose. 3) You stayed up past 3 a.m. or enjoyed a third drink at lunch. Sounds silly but it’s true. You might meet me in the ER at 3:30 after a fall on the ice or the next day after you woke up a bit unsteady on your feet and were therefore unsteady on the slopes. Just like our mamas told us, nothing good happens at that time of night or after that third drink. Besides being aware of the “Rule of Threes,” there is some “medicine” to help reduce ski injuries. In fact, three doses might be in order. Skiing and snowboarding are strenuous sports that require (wait for it!) three things: strength, balance, and limber joints. Preconditioning is the first step a skier can take to avoid injury and a visit to the orthopaedist. So before that first day on the slopes, strengthen the muscles that surround your knees, strengthen your core, and work your flexibility. The most common injuries that occur on the mountain can be predicted by which of the three modes of transportation down the mountain you choose. The two commonest modes of transportation down the mountain predispose you to the three types of injury you are most likely to sustain. Skiers most frequently injure the ligaments around the knee, the tibial plateau (leg bone at the knee), and the tibial shaft just above the top of the boot. In contrast, snowboarders most often injure the upper extremities: wrist, elbow, and shoulder.
SKIING Most ACL tears occur when the skier is offbalance to the rear (“in the back seat”) with the hips below the level of the knee. To avoid this,
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maintain balance and control while keeping arms forward and hips over knees. Generally, injuries to skiers happen because their ski bindings do not release. The ski can create an enormous amount of force through the knee, which can cause ligament failure. The MCl tops the list of torn ligaments, followed by the ACL. Make sure your bindings are appropriately adjusted for your skiing ability. Keep your ski tips up in powder.
SNOWBOARDING Wrist Braces – if you are a first time rider these have been shown to add some protection from a fall. If you do fall, lean back and let your bot-
tom take the brunt of the force. Avoid falling straight forward because the wrists and shoulders are a lot less forgiving. A bruised bum is better than a broken wrist. Be wary of traverses/cat tracks. These changes in slope/terrain can be difficult to navigate and often present hard compressed snow that can increase impact forces. Certainly, not all injuries can be avoided, but the simple tips above can help avoid them. With any luck, these tips can help keep skiers on their skis or boards and avoid the third type of transport down the hill: strapped into a sled piloted by the ski patrol.
TECHNIQUES TO KEEP YOU INJURY FREE can affect physical ability and endurance. Drink plenty of water before, during, and after skiing. Beer doesn’t count.” — Rafael Williams, MD
Andrew Bullington, MD I Rafael Williams, MD I David Khoury, MD
The physicians at Teton Orthopaedics believe many ski injuries can be prevented with proper physical preparation, suitable and properly adjusted equipment, and a little common sense.
pen late in the day, when people overexert themselves to finish that one last run before the day's end. A little time in the gym now will pay big dividends on the slopes later.”
“Maintain fitness: Be sure you are in good physical condition when ski season rolls around. Many ski injuries hap-
“Hydrate: When you combine altitude with physical exertion, you need to drink before you get thirsty. Even mild levels of dehydration
— David Khoury, MD
“Play it safe: Nothing ruins a great vacation as much as an accident that didn't have to happen. Wear a ski helmet. Make sure your bindings are properly adjusted. Observe signs and warnings. Avoid avalanche areas. Stop in a safe place where others can see you. Whenever starting downhill or merging, look uphill and yield. Safety on the slopes is everyone's responsibility. Ski safely – not only for yourself, but for others as well.” — Andrew Bullington, MD
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MUSH! HIKE! LET’S GO! Sled dog tours, a storybook experience “Mush! Hike! All Right! Let’s Go!” the musher calls out to his team.
he tale is tried and true. Whether it was Lassie and Timmy, Dorothy and Toto, Travis and Old Yeller, Duncan and Rin Tin Tin, or Buck and John Thornton, dog has always been man’s best friend. But 12 Totos pulling Dorothy, Tin Man, Lion, and Scarecrow down the Yellow Brick Road? Not in Dorothy’s wildest dreams! Well, what if Dorothy had found herself trudging down a trail deep in the Yukon? Maybe then she might have swapped the ruby red pumps for a dog sled and her precious Toto for a team of Alaskan huskies to pull her home. Dog sledding combines that primal relationship of man and his loyal canine with the rush of whisking through snow-covered country and disappearing into the wild. It’s
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A dog’s-eye view.
By Sandra Keats the Jack London storybook experience. Imagine a day where a foot of untouched powder settles over the Jackson Hole Valley. You leave your skis at home and, bundled in layer upon layer with a thermos of hot chocolate in hand, you take to the trail with a local musher. “Mush! Hike! All Right! Let’s Go!” the musher calls out to his team. The dogs explode into motion, and off you go, dog and man, on a picturesque journey across frozen rivers, snow-blanketed valleys, dense forest, and rugged mountains. For you this is a one-day adventure. For the musher, though, it’s a lifestyle. Just ask Jackson Hole’s eight-time Iditarod veteran Frank Teasley. It was the romantic allure that initially grabbed him and
pulled him into the dog-sledding lifestyle. But now it’s the rewarding relationship between a musher and his dogs – and the commitment to those dogs – that keeps him involved yearround in this hobby. “There’s a difference between a musher and someone leading a dog team,” Teasley said. “A musher lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes dogs – 365 days a year the dogs come first. It’s like having a very large family.” Teasley, owner of Jackson Hole Iditarod Sled Dog Tours, started running dogs in 1979 with three Siberian huskies and a chair nailed to two skis. He now owns the largest touring company in the nation. He refers to his 200dog company as a “pension plan” for his veteran racing dogs and “high school” for his younger, less experienced pups. w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
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The dogs are silent as they go about their work on the trail.
Dog sledding combines that primal relationship of man and his loyal canine with the rush of whisking through snow-covered country and disappearing into the wild. It’s the Jack London storybook experience. “It’s like having more than 200 kids, which is extremely demanding, both physically and emotionally,” Teasley said. “Recognizing that every decision, like taking a vacation, is based on (the) dogs. The first priority, always, is that the dogs are taken care of.” And it’s thanks to them that Teasley has successfully raced through Oregon, Montana, Minnesota, Alaska, Wyoming, and even Argentina. They’ve won the Race to the Sky in Montana three times, the UP 200 in Michigan in 2004, and hold the record for the Bear Grease race in Minnesota. Teasley’s team has run the Iditarod eight times, including their best time in 1991, a sixth-place finish out of 74 racers. That same year they received the Sterling Silver Award for the most improved kennel and the Leonard Seppala Humanitarian Award for the “best cared-for team” in 1989. During his earlier years competing in the Iditarod, Teasley and other racers voiced concern that “The Last Great Race” wasn’t easily accessible to spectators. Spectators could view the start in Anchorage and maybe the finish in Nome two weeks later. But unless fans snowshoed deep into the Alaskan wilderness, sometimes in 40-below-zero temperatures, most of the 1,000-mile-plus race remained a mystery.
“I have to give credit to the Iditarod for putting dog sledding on the map,” Teasley noted. “It’s a great race; it will always be a great race.” But Teasley decided in 1995 he was a bigger fan of the “Stage Stop” race concept, which enables the media and spectators to see teams cross the finish line each day. So Teasley created what is now the largest dogsled race in the lower 48 states: the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race (IPSSSDR). Now in its 19th year, and boasting nine different starts and finishes in seven different Wyoming towns and one each in Montana, Idaho, and Utah, the 400-mile race provides an alternative to the typical marathon-style races. Teasley says this type of race is much better for the dogs than marathon races, where dogs rest only as much as they run. But a stage race allows the dogs to rest more than they run. Additionally, every dog in the IPSSSDR is examined by a veterinarian and “microchipped,” a high-tech procedure involving implanting a microchip under the dogs’ skin, so their vitals can be routinely checked. “The dogs have no ulterior motives,” Teasley said. “You take care of them, they take care of you.”
A JOURNEY BACK IN TIME by Blair Pendleton
S ounds of nature and the swooshing of the sled’s runners through the snow create the soothing soundtrack to our journey. Snow-blanketed trees seem to fly by as we mush along at nearly seven miles per hour. It seems to me, however, that we’re maxing-out around 20 mph. Could be. When racing, these same dogs average a speed of 17.8 mph for a total of 60 miles! At one stop, we switch drivers, and I take a seat in the sled’s cradle to become another musher’s cargo. Riding so low to the ground offers a totally new and amazing scene. It’s as if I’m one-on-one with the dogs. I notice their every movement and begin to pick my favorites. One dog, Ally, enjoys the snow so much, she repeatedly bumps her behind into the snow bank by the trail. Another looks back at me each time we pause for a picture break, a pleading look in his eye, waiting for the cue to continue: “Alright!” Really, it sounds more like “Aaahh-ight.” But the dogs definitely understand and bolt into a run at each command. After a few hours, we make it to Granite Hot Springs, a pool constructed in 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Steam rises from the 112-degree water and brilliant rays of sun poke through snow-heavy limbs hanging precariously over the spring. We excitedly make our way toward the pool to soak in its warmth.
JACKSON HOLE IDITAROD SLED DOG TOURS Hosted by Jackson Hole’s own 8-Time Veteran Iditarod Musher, Frank Teasley A recipient of Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award • Learn Mushing First Hand Drive your own sled team! • Jackson based tours in the Bridger-Teton National Forest • Meals, transportation, supplemental clothing provided • Half-Day and Full-Day Tours, Reservation Required • Serving the immediate and surrounding area • Enjoy a soak in a natural 105° hot springs on our famous Granite Creek Canyon tour For Reservations or Information
Call: 307-733-7388
JACKSON HOLE IDITAROD SLED DOG TOURS P.O. Box 1940, Jackson Hole, Wy 83001 www.jhsleddog.com
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Photos by Bob Woodall & Wade McKoy/Focus Productions, Inc.
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HELICOPTER SKIING IN ALASKA
Where Dreams Come True Helicopter skiing in Alaska is many things to many people: a pilgrimage for the faithful ski addict, an annual junket for ski-industry businessmen, a stage for ski-flick crews. Once sampled, though, heli-skiing is a difficult concoction to give up. Imagine you’re a passenger in a helicopter, zooming through Alaska’s wild, majestic peaks. Your eyes fill with iconic ski terrain, the super-sized powder bowls and gargantuan chutes. You’re living in a skier’s dream, a broad spectrum of incantations, from mellow visions of powder runs to stark, ski-movie-style spines and faces. These three Alaskan heli-ski companies – each with its own unique twist – can deliver this skier’s dream to you. If you’re a strong intermediate skier who loves and respects the mountain environment, you have everything you need.
Photos, both pages by Court Leve / Points North Heli-Adventures RIGHT: There’s No Turning Back for Jess McMillan as she descends a steep spine in the eastern Chugach Mountains while fiming with the Warren Milller crew for the aforementioned film. ABOVE: It’s not always white-knuckle skiing for the athletes and camermen, as shown by Jess McMillan cruising down a mellow glacier during a Warren Miller shoot for its 2014 release No Turning Back.
AK Heli-ski Guide continues next six pages
— Jackson Hole Skier
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Court Leve / PNH
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Points North Heli-Adventures, Inc. CORDOVA, ALASKA
Photo by Tony Harrington / Points North Heli-Adventures
Terrain Overview
Contact Info & Social Media
The only heli-skiing operation utilizing the eastern side of the Chugach Mountains. With over 1,500 square miles of skiable terrain for clients to explore. We cater to intermediate-level, recreational skiers and snowboarders, as well as world-class athletes.
ALASKAHELISKI.COM; 907-424-7991; facebook.com/PointsNorthHeli
Location, distance from airport
PNH base in Cordova is 40 miles from Valdez, AK.
Touring and Snowcat options
Snowcat skiing available on no-fly days. While everyone hopes to heli-ski every day of the week, that’s not always possible. Sometimes the refresh button gets hit.
Season
February 18, 2014, to April 27, 2014
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Eastern Chugach Mountains stretch to the horizon with over 1,500 square miles of skiable terrain for clients to explore.
Years in Operation
16, PNH has been family owned and operated since its inception.
Down-Day Activities
Resort skiing at Mt. Eyak, ski/snowboard touring, sea-kayaking, snowmobiles, boats to take guests fishing, ice climbing, snowshoe tours, adventure hikes, and glacier tours.
Lodging Amenities
State-of-the-art lodge with private heli-port located directly on the water’s edge. Meals are included and the chef specializes in fine cuisine. The lodge offers wireless Internet access, sauna, massage and laundry. w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
Alaska Rendezvous Heli-Guides THOMPSON PASS, ALASKA
RIGHT: Mount Billy Mitchell, a giant even by Alaskan standards, presents a myriad of possibilities in the Alaska Rendezvous backyard.
Terrain Overview For 15 years, the Alaska Rendezvous Guides has operated out of the ‘Blue Hole’ of the Chugach Range with a commitment to a professional and fun experience. Our location offers fast and easy flights to some of the most incredible terrain in Alaska. Mile 45 offers easy access to terrain and you can pick your line from your hotel window or poking your head from your vestibule; some of these lines are sustained 55-degree, 4,000 vertical foot faces. However, so are mile-long glaciers, perfect-powder pitched peaks and terrain that has never been skied. Alaska Rendezvous Guides offers something for everyone and will only pair you with people within your same ability range.
Location, distance from airport: 45 Miles North of Valdez, AK
Touring and Snowcat options Touring options on down days
Season
March 7- April 25
Contact Info & Social Media Info@arlinc.com; 907.822.3300 Facebook: facebook.com/alaskarendezvous Twitter: @ak_rendezvous Instagram: @AK_Rendezvous
Years in Operation 15 years in operation
Down-Day Activities Cross-country skiing, touring, snowshoeing
Lodging Amenities
Eight-room lodge with two queen beds per room, 250 sq. feet, bathroom, boot driers, laundry facilities
Pricing
$1,050 single day $9,905 Double Occupancy $10,505 Single Occupancy
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All photos by Frank Shine / Alaska Rendezvous Heli-Guides
ABOVE, BELOW: Pick your line from your hotel window. Some of these lines are 4,000 vertical, sustained-55-degree faces. Others are mile-long glaciers, still others perfect powder on variably pitched peaks.
3 $7 6 ( :( / / *2, 1* / ( ) 7 , 1 7 +( ´ &$8/ , ) / 2:( 56 µ
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Valdez Heli-Ski Guides THOMPSON PASS, ALASKA
ABOVE: With more than 2,500 square miles of glaciated mountains, we offer everything from scenic glaciers and powder bowls, to steep couloirs and big mountain faces. BELOW: The lift is half the fun when it comes to helicopter skiing.
Photo by Mike Bachman, Valdez Heli-Ski Guides
Terrain Overview With more than 2,500 square miles of glaciated mountains, we offer everything from scenic glaciers and powder bowls, to steep couloirs and big mountain faces. The cold maritime snowfall in our region is world-renowned, enabling us to ski some of the steepest terrain in North America with a confidence and security not possible anywhere else. Runs average between 3,000 and 5,000 vertical feet, with our longest run at 6,200.
Location, distance from airport 35 miles from Valdez airport
Touring and Snowcat options While we all hope to heli-ski every day of the week, we know thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not always possible. A snowcat keeps us skiing and riding every day of your stay.
Season
Photo by Greg Von Doersten, Valdez Heli-Ski Guides
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Photo by Mike Stoner, Valdez Heli-Ski Guides
TOP: Some LZs just beg to be taken at a slower pace while enjoying a bite of food and cup of hot tea. ABOVE: The cold maritime snowfall in our region provides world-renowned powder skiing.
Contact Info & Social Media Website: www.valdezheliskiguides.com Email: info@valdezheliskiguides.com Find us on Facebook & Instagram!
BRIAN NEVINS
Photo by Mike Bachman, Valdez Heli-Ski Guides
HELI-SKI LODGE
STEEP &DEEP CASUAL LUXURY
Years in Operation 22 years
Down-Day Activities Snowcat skiing from the lodge.
Lodging Amenities
Luxury double and single accommodations, fine-dining restaurant, historic Tsaina bar, full gym, library/reading room, guest laundry, gear storage, and free airport shuttles from/to the Valdez airport.
Pricing
Single Day-Skiing : $1,100 All-Inclusive 3-7 Day Packages: $4,451 - $10,390 w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
22 YEARS of big mountain skiing The industry’s MOST EXPERIENCED guides Storm-day SNOWCAT skiing Heli-ski–specific LODGE Scrumptious LOCALLY SOURCED meals
ONE EPIC PACKAGE!
907.835.4528 www.valdezheliskiguides.com
GALLERY
SKIER: ELIZABETH ANN KOUTRELAKOS
PHOTOGRAPHER: DAVID BOWERS —
“Skinning on sastrugi. This photo, to me, represents friends
enjoying the raw, harsh beauty of winter. This was photographed at 1/500th sec. at f/9 with a 10-24 mm lens.”
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SKIER: JEFF BRINES
PHOTOGRAPHER: CODY DOWNARD — “That was one of the deepest days of the season. It was dumping, windy, and cold – a great recipe for good pow
shooting. I love the way the skis are floating through the
snow cranking the turn, the beautiful trees in the background, and the snow flying off Jeff's skis.”
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SKIER: AIDEN ULRICH
PHOTOGRAPHER: JEFF DIENER — “I love the variety of stuff I’m shooting one day to the next.
This shot is something different, a new angle, cool man-made
terrain, and Aiden going big! Mogul skiing (and a little day-glo) were my passions growing up in upstate New York. I moved to Jackson to cultivate a habitual need for backcountry powder.”
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SKIER: JEFF LEGER
PHOTOGRAPHER: CHRIS FIGENSHAU — “Jeff is doing a humongous Acid Drop into S & S couloir. What
Mark Fisher
you can't see in the pic is the enormous grin on his face. I
think he did this drop three times last year, not to mention
numerous times in years past, for fun. I have done it exactly ZERO times. It scares the crap out of me.”
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SKIER: GRIFFIN POST
PHOTOGRAPHER MARK FISHER — “Skiing and filming around Mount Moran for three days, we
decided to run up the East Horn on the last day. During the descent we spotted this section of steep snow with the
Grand Teton framed perfectly behind the ridge. The terrain
was steep and exposed, and the snow wasn’t perfect. Griffin, being the phenomenal skier that he is, skied this slope with
grace and precision, making it look like bottomless powder. It
was the perfect ending to an awesome trip.”
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SKIER: ANDREW WHITEFORD
PHOTOGRAPHER: JAY GOODRICH — “During a dry spell we scouted a line that no one was skiing in the backcountry and decided to try and find an entrance, and then secondly, an exit from the
line. We luckily discovered both, in addition to great light and untouched snow. What was important for me, from a photography perspective, was the soft,
diffused light trickling through the horizon at this time of year. I knew if I could capture Andrew in a high-speed turn, the snow that he was throwing in the air
would backlight with this diffused glow. He nailed his turn and I think the image was successful because of that fact.”
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SKIER: ANDREW WHITEFORD
PHOTOGRAPHER: TRISTAN GRESZKO — “I've always loved this shot, though I don't think it's ever been
published. It was my first shoot with Andrew, and possibly his firstever ski shoot in Jackson, too. We were both unknown back then, so no one paid any attention, even though it's an amazing spot in the Crags with dreamy light and a gorgeous turn. It's also fading
into history as we speak – they're building a lift near the Crags for next winter and this one last little bit of semi-inaccessible terrain
within the resort will probably never be the same.”
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SKIER: JASON TATTERSALL
PHOTOGRAPHER WADE MCKOY — “I love the way this photo feels. Cold. Single-digit temps., north wind, Mount Glory, Feb. 2, 2014. The layers of light and shadow add depth. The frosted
snag claws at Tatt. The ice-creamed trees, the wind-sculpted snow. And the Tatt move, setting up to ski through the mark of a thrown snowball. I’ve
worked with Jason for 30 years and he has always known exactly how to
make good photos. This best-of-sequence moment came before the intended composition of skiing past the snag, so I’m glad I started shooting early and panned through the shot, instead of locking off.”
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SKIER: TREVOR HIATT
PHOTOGRAPHER: GABE ROGEL — “This shot of Trevor was taken on the back side of Targhee – ‘The
Playground.’ For photographer and skiers alike, this zone boasts some of the area’s best and most easily accessed terrain, not to mention
great light. I’ve always loved the contrast of the morning light there,
due to its northeast aspect. If you face north, you get the silhouetted light shown in this photo. If you turn the other direction, you can find my favorite light: skier in the light with a shadowy background.”
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SKIER: JEFF ANNETTS
PHOTOGRAPHER: JONATHAN SELKOWITZ — “Last winter I skied and made photos almost every day, many
Wade McKoy
times on the hill behind my house or in the backcountry, and many times using my pocket camera and iPhone (lately I use
my big cameras more in the Andes than in the Tetons.) Jeff’s
enthusiasm for hitting this zone was contagious. He had many cool lines already picked out. Our years of working together made this one run most productive.”
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SKIER: TIGGER KNECHT
PHOTOGRAPHER: ERIC SEYMOUR — “This photo was taken in the Alta Chutes. I shoot inbounds a lot, and new angles and perspectives are hard to find. There are so
many amazing photographers in Jackson Hole, and Jay Goodrich
is one I really admire. He taught me some technical tricks to capture this style photo (using an ultra-wide lens and full-frame
camera). I like how the distortion of this photo, with the trees closing in on Tigger, showcases the steepness of Alta One.”
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SKIER: JEFF LEGER
PHOTOGRAPHER: GREG VON DOERSTEN — “This was one of those rare moments from last season when a
group of athletes were sessioning Corbet's. There were a number of lines people were sizing up. Jeff had his eye on the S&M Acid Drop, which was easily 35-to-40 feet. He went back and forth on how
much speed he needed before he sent the cliff. I ended up capturing a POV angle from my perch on the S&S rock, which provides an airy
feeling. The storm provided a raw feeling, and Jeff did the rest to create this classic Jackson image.”
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SKIER: CHRIS NEWSON
PHOTOGRAPHER: BOB WOODALL — “The East Ridge of Tensleep Bowl is one of my favorite
spots. Usually I shoot skiers leaping into the air with the tram and Tetons to the north. This day fog obscured that option and an inversion layer created a totally different situation,
plus no waiting for the tram. I gave Chris instructions and he
executed them perfectly and we got this dreamy shot of him hanging in space, floating above the clouds.”
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Ski Pioneers Major Clarence “Stearnie”
Stearns settled in Wilson after WWII, ski patroled during the early days of
Jackson Hole, and founded Hungry Jack’s
I
by Wade McKoy
Now in his nineties and still enjoying life with his wife Dodie in the house above Wilson that they began building in the mid-1900s, the young man from Rochester, Minnesota, arrived in Wilson, Wyoming, as “one of the Glory Boys.” Major Clarence Stearns flew 25 1/2 bombing missions in WWII and was shot down over Germany just 1/2 mission shy of reaching his quota and turning in his war wings. Eventually captured by the Germans, Major Stearns joined the rest of his bomber crew in a P.O.W. camp, where they spent 13 months until the allies prevailed. After the war, Stearnie heard the call of the West and began working as a store keeper in Yellowstone National Park, where he met his soul mate, Dodie. They married, moved to Jackson, and eventually settled in Wilson, where – in the midst of having four children and starting their own general store – Mr. And Mrs. Clarence Stearns lived the wonderful life that they continue today. Skiing, clearly, has been a big part of Stearnie’s life in the valley. As Stearnie sat in his home near the base of Teton Pass, he shared his stories as one of Jackson Hole’s ski pioneers. “We winter-kept for Betty Woolsey at the [Trail Creek] ranch. She said, ‘I have three or four acres above the road I’ll sell you. We had it surveyed and it was barely one acre. But she wanted to buy a cow, so she dropped the price from $400 to $300. I had a book, How To Build A House For $5,000, and I’ve been
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Wade McKoy
f you’ve shopped at Hungry Jack’s General Store, eaten breakfast at Nora’s Fish Creek Inn, skied on Teton Pass, Snow King, Targhee, or at Teton Village, you’ve followed a time-worn path pioneered by a man most locals know only as Stearnie.
Mr. Clarence Stearns at his home above Wilson.
building it for 50 years. “When I worked summers in Yellowstone, I ran the general store at Tower Falls. With that inbred in me, I always had the feeling I wanted to own a general store. “My first job was as night clerk at the Wort Hotel, where we rented about three rooms a night to salesmen. No tourists. After Christmas they closed the desk and rented rooms over the bar. I then got a job as co-pilot on the rotary snowplow. We would plow up to Jenny Lake and then, at noon, turn around and plow our way back to Jackson. After that I was a tempory ranger at GTNP for six months. That winter of 1951, when we lived in Jackson, I worked at the saw mill up Curtis Canyon. Then I worked for the lumber yard in Jackson. “All this time I was trying to convince this gal in Wilson to sell me the Wilson Market,
where Nora’s is now. The Post Office was in the west quarter of the building, and the rest was groceries. “Francie Schofield had it, and she would sit there under one light bulb, ironing most of the day. Finally she decided her creditors had (had) the best of her and she’d sell it. We bought it and we were there about eight years. I think the rent was $85 a month. But we weren’t getting along with the owner of the building, so she gave us a month to get out of there. She had another couple picked to run the store, and figured we’d just quit. We had borrowed $8,000 from Dodie’s mother and had already bought five acres right across the street. It was the year they built the Sojourner Inn, one of the first ones at the Village, and the contractor from Boise said, ‘I’ll put you up a store in a month.’ A month later, here’s this w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
Photos: (left) courtesy Trail Creek Ranch, Betty Woolsey Collection; (top) courtesy Clarence Stearns
ABOVE: “This is the high school ski club I belonged to when I was about sixteen (center frame) in Rochester, Minnesota. You can see the Haugen binding with a leather strap that went around your heel and a buckle that tightened it. But before that, as kids we just had a toe strap and a piece of inner tube rubber band that went around your heel. In those days all anybody did was Telemark turns. Nobody in this country knew about parallel skiing and Christie turns. That came later. “We did quite a lot of jumping as kids. We built a scaffolding at the top of Pill Hill (where the doctors live) on Dr. Plummer’s property from some lumber we stole from him, and we jumped off it. Later, the jump blew down and the doctor took his lumber back.”
“But the pioneer of skiing around here, as far as we were concerned, was Betty Woolsey. Especially on The Pass.” square box with a deck and we moved in.” Dubbed Hungry Jack’s, the name was suggested by Stearnie’s father and recalls a lake and historic resort in Northern Minnesota. Now, of course, the name has another and endearing history in the heart of Wilson. “I was open seven-days-a-week. I was also the first paid ski patrolman at Snow King, where I worked in the daytime. I came back to the store at five o’clock to take over from our one employee, Grace Gale, and work nights, and also worked the store on weekends. This was in the late ‘50s. “We have four children: Forest, Todd, Heidi, and Jana. “We had always given Forest a season pass on Snow King for his birthday in August, so when the Village opened, we bought him a season pass – and it was the first one ever sold! We’ve got a picture of Forest receiving it from Paul McCollister (who, with his business partner Alex Morley, conceived the Jackson Hole Ski area). “I patrolled the first two years out there. That first year Paul took the credit cards and went to Europe. Alex was left holding the bag and they didn’t have any money for the payroll and debts. He came up with the w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
“Skiing the powder in the forties. Note turned up wooden skis.” —Betty Woolsey
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Photo by Allison Vonmaur
would go down and haul you idea of selling a lifetime pass for back up in his ski jitney. It was a $1,000; or, if you bought a lot in truck with a cab on the back. Teton Village for $10,000, you You sat inside and there were ski got a lifetime pass. Dodie had a racks on the outside. And there $2,000 life insurance policy that was a small warming house at had just matured and said, the parking lot. ‘Well, the kids may have to go “I remember skiing on the without shoes, but I’m getting Pass one day with Neil and it us each a lifetime pass.’ was that eating snow that flies “Then, I found it was much up in your face, and Neil says, more pleasurable to just ski ‘By God, that’s better than sex.’ than to patrol, so we just skied “But the pioneer of skiing quite a bit after that. In the early around here, as far as we were days in Jackson Hole we preconcerned, was Betty Woolsey. ferred the boot-packed slope, Especially on The Pass. Betty skiing in old army surplus boots and Sis Wigglesworth were on and doing stem and Telemark the first women’s Olympic alpine turns. The skis were wooden, ski team (men’s and women’s made by Northland Skis and alpine skiing debuted in the Lund Skis, and were very long 1936 games in Garmischby today’s standards. Partenkirchen, Germany). After “In the old store, John Wilthat, she and some of the other son, from Alta, Wyoming, would Olympic skiers skied Teton Pass sell us eggs once a week, and and named some of the runs. one day he said, ‘I wish you’d Betty bought the Trail Creek come over and ski this mounRanch in 1942 and took her tain behind my farm. We want guests skiing on Teton Pass. to see if it would make a ski “Muggs Schultz worked the area, something to keep the ranch with Betty. She was a young people in the valley.’ He beautiful skier – Betty was menkept begging me, so I got Doc toring her as a future Olympic MacLeod and Sverre Engen, skier– and Muggs was on her who I skied with in those days, way up before she got hurt. and we went. They had all these She’d gone up Telemark Mounranchers and the bishop of the tain where the rope tow used to church breaking trail for us on be, and down the other side snowshoes and we came along there was always a wind corbehind with our skis and nice. She hit that and flipped climbers [skins]. They had a hot Stearnie and Dodie skiing on their life-time passes at Jackson Hole. over. Broke her neck. I just haplunch for us half-way up. We pened to be along with another had wonderful skiing. Doc said “Dodie had a $2,000 life insurance policy fellow who was a ski patrolman. [of the proposed Grand Targhee that had just matured and said, ‘Well, the We got a toboggan and salt ski area], ‘With the Mormon bags and loaded her off of there. Church behind it, it’ll go,’ but I kids may have to go without shoes, but I’m She never did ski after that, a litsaid it was ten years premature. getting us each a lifetime pass. Then, I tle bit cross country but not And that’s about what hapmuch. Muggs is in her 80s now pened. It took several owners to found it was much more pleasurable to just and still works at the ranch. make it go. ski than to patrol.” “Doc MacLeod used to patrol “Early on [at Teton Village], I with us on the Pass. He would went up with Alex in a Christy drive his jeep up, but he was always late because he was always pulling Cat before there was anything built. They were going to have a circle of A-frames at the base, with businesses below and housing for employ- people out. Then he got smart and started driving his Volkswagen Beetle. ees above. Alex said, ‘Don’t you want a business up here?’ But I had “In town it was always real cold. At first we lived up on Snow King in enough to do in Wilson. a little log cabin. A family of boys lived below us, and we always said we “Before that, Doc MacLeod and Paul McCollister and I were skiing could tell how cold it was by how fast they ran out to the outhouse. Glory Bowl (the landmark attraction on Teton Pass), and, where that “It was before the days of packers [snow groomers] and I can rerock-band comes across, it had become a water chute running into a member Neil, somebody else, and I going up with snowshoes, when the snow tunnel. It was good skiing, but Doc and I came around that rock ridge real slow. Well, Paul came around too fast and plunged into that snow was deep, and packing a track down till it was just wide enough ice-cold water with his skis up against that tunnel of snow, just scream- for skiers to turn. Nobody skied the powder in those days, they wanted the packed snow. ing like only he could. We had to climb up and pull him out. We say, “Neil at one point started to have a place on the backside of Snow ‘That’s the day we saved Teton Village!’ King called Sunlight Basin. He had power poles and ropes on wheels The real origins of skiing in the Hole going up as a tow; John Harrington and I were drilling holes for the “A skier that should get more attention is Neil Rafferty. Neil, in my day, wheels to carry the uphill tow rope. But it didn’t get any attention, it just was the grandfather of skiing. He started Snow King with a rope tow and ran for a winter or two. ‘Course people would ski down the backside, then with a single chair with wooden towers. It was an old mine cable. There is a poster in Hungry Jack’s of Dodie on this lift, photo by Virginia find some good snow, and come out Leeks Canyon. I remember we had one bad slide in there, a guy going up for the last run and went down that Huidekoper. “Neil also, with an old military vehicle, developed a powerful rope tow way. I remember I had just gotten home and got a call. It was the secon Teton Pass, that we used for early season skiing prior to Snow King ond day before he was finally found. We were using poles, probing every receiving enough snow. It was real steep, and Telemark run (where the which way, but then I came up with having a string line across and everygeneral public skied) got pretty well filled with moguls. But you could ski body line up on the string line, probe, and move forward a foot. We had all the way down the ridge to Glory Slide Lake [Crater Lake], and Neil never used that method before. Actually I think it was Ginny Huidekoper
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Photo courtesy Trail Creek Ranch, Betty Woolsey Collection “I show Mrs. Herman Kiaer, manager of the U.S. Women’s ski team, the slopes of Teton Pass. Glory Mt. in background.”— Betty Woolsey.
and Georgie Morgan that hit him [found his body with their probe poles]. “Once a year we had hot wine parties in the ski patrol room up on top of Snow King. Bob Saffron from the Forest Service would come up and play his accordion, and we’d sing and have a big party. Then we would come skiing down with torches, just something to see a little bit. “Seven years I patrolled at the King, and in 1960 I went out to Squaw Valley on the Olympic Patrol, and I remember seeing Pepi Stiegler. He was very shy, almost just a boy there. (At Squaw, in his first of two Olympics, the reserved 22-year-old Stiegler won the Silver Medal in giant slalom; four years later at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck he won a Gold Medal in slalom and Bronze in GS.) Then I heard he was coming here to head the ski school and I thought, ‘How could that shy little kid run a ski school?’ Pepi is a good friend of mine today. He used to give free lessons once a week. Dodie and I went to that a few times. You got a cap that said, ‘I skied the last run with Pepi.’ “At the Olympics – and at Snow King – it was all boot packing. Jim Huidekoper [senior], who tried to get in the military and never could, knew how to get it done. They had the Army out there packing, and I looked up at the mountain one day and here came this big V of solid soldiers, boot packing. And at the head of it was Huide. They gave him a gold-painted boot, and we had a special patch made that w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
said, ‘Are you a member of the Olympic ski patrol? Y.B.Y.B.P.A I M’ (Which stood for ‘You bet your boot-packing ass I am.’). “I didn’t retire until I was 70. I had more fun after that. Skiing more than ever (three or so times a week) and lots of canoe trips. We paddled the northern Yukon and the Barren Lands; and from our wilderness cabin in Saskatchewan, Canada, we would frequently get flown out to the headwaters of a river or chain of lakes, then work our way back to the cabin. “In the cold winters before climate change, the snow conditions were a lot different; when you skied across the snow on The Pass, on
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the flat surfaces the snow would settle under you. There was a lot more depth hoar and ball bearings in the snow. Avalanche conditions were much greater then, than they are today. We stayed off slopes that people ski now. We never skied Glory Bowl until it corned up – and then with great respect. Doctor McLeod’s son died in a slide in the late ‘40s. Jim Huidekoper was in a small Jeep that was covered. Luckily they got him out alive.” The years have been good to Stearnie and his family, it seems, and pretty good to the valley because of folks just like him, pioneers of one of the country’s now most celebrated ski communities.
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307-733-2415
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SKI TOWN ENTREPRENEURS
IGNEOUS AND MAIDEN SKIS
Mike Parris, Mikey Franco, and Kelvin Wu build skis and snowboards in Jackson Hole.
continued pg 83
From top: Mike Parris, Mikey Franco, and Kelvin Wu at their work.
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Wade McKoy photos
By Liza Sarychev
In a world where company growth and return on investment drive the ski industry, a handful of small-batch ski designers have emerged to humanize how we buy skis. And with just a handful of custom ski factories in the U.S., our tiny mountain town is lucky enough to have not one, but two! True to the unique Jackson vibe, Igneous and Maiden specialize in creating one-off custom skis and snowboards. Some of their clientele know every detail about the ski they want built, others not so much. For the latter, the company works with the individual to determine the best shape, flex, and camber profile by asking a series of questions like how often they ski, where they ski, and what kind of terrain they prefer. The term “handmade skis” has been gaining popularity, but is somewhat misleading because every ski in the world is handmade. A factory worker places layers of P-tex, fiberglass, and wood into a steel mold. Traditional ski companies source these materials and then use machines to process them into workable components — a factory process. But for Igneous and Maiden, building skis is a craft. Igneous re-defines handmade skis right down to the core – by actually milling and laminating their own wooden cores. They also cut base material, bend steel edges, and sand sidewall profiles, all by hand. This vertically integrated process increases the precision, quality, and durability of their skis. Igneous owner Mike Parris painstakingly obsesses over every ski he creates. The company’s original goal 20 years ago was to build skis that withstand the rigors of a full season at Jackson Hole. Although, their skis have been known to last for as many as 1,000 on-snow days. During those formative years, Igneous clientele totaled a few ski bums living in their vans. They would scrape together a thousand bucks to buy a pair of skis they helped design, that skied great, and that could withstand a season of bell-to-bell days in the most rugged terrain. Mikey Franco, owner of Franco Snowshapes at the Igneous factory, takes hand-crafting to an even deeper level. For the 2015 line, he’s creating 30 limited-edition top-sheets made of whitebark pine. Some might argue that sourcing a rare, endangered tree that only grows above 8,000 feet goes against the grain. But Franco wants to help call attention to the plight of this beleaguered tree – a species dying by the millions from naturally occurring beetle infestation bolstered by climate-change – by felling and milling some already dead trees at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. After milling the logs, he planed them, cut out the most attractive slivers for top-sheet use, and sanded those into a veneer. As a final touch, he inscribed GPS coordinates of the tree. The rider can visit the stump that’s now part of their new snowboard.
Wade McKoy photos The challenging terrain and variable snow conditions found in the Tetons demand durable skis to withstand hard use. Above left: Pro skier Sasha Dingle descends a chalky slide layer in Central Couloir on Cody Peak at the boundary of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Above right: Sasha Dingle tackles a freeze-thaw, breakable crust on Codyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pucker Face. Below: Bill Bowen rides his Igneous skis into S&S Couloir.
SKI TOWN ENTREPRENEURS
ARBOR WORKS TREE SERVICE Corey and Taylor Felton work in timber to ski.
What brought you to Jackson? We grew up in Hamilton, Massachusetts. Corey had some friends that lived in Jackson and after college he came out for a winter and never left. I’m his younger brother and I eventually settled in Jackson, too, after spending some time in Breckenridge, Colorado; Mt. Hood, Oregon; and Taylor Felton chainsaws a cottonwood to clear Park City, Utah. I grew a powerline. up skiing and raced for 10 years before moving on to halfpipe and park for another 10 years. I got hurt one too many times, so when I moved to Jackson and discovered powder, I forgot all about pipe and park. Corey also raced through college but after he moved to Jackson his race skis collected dust. He competed in a few big-mountain competitions, but he’s old now (34) and can’t land flat anymore. Describe your business. We specialize in tree, stump, and deadwood removal, as well as pruning, thinning, clearing, cabling and bracing, weight reduction, and
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ornamental and evergreen shaping. Corey started doing tree work in ‘98 in Massachusetts. He began as a ground man and climber, and has worked for eight different tree companies. He trained me for three years in Jackson before we began Arbor Works in 2012. We bought a bucket truck, chipper, stump grinder, and chip truck from a dealer in Florida. Everything had a 30-day warranty, but nothing worked when it arrived. It cost us half as much as everything was worth to be fixed, and when the dealer wouldn’t reimburse us those costs, we took him to court – and won. But he fled the country. We are one of seven cases filed against this crook. He almost sunk us before we ever got started. The chip truck still doesn’t run and the stump grinder never did show up. You work summers to ski winters? Our tree season runs mid-April through early December, depending on snow and when the phone decides to start and stop ringing. Other than tree work, our passion lies with skiing – away from lifts and crowds. We’re both still supported by companies to promote their brands and showboat for the cameras. We helped create “The Run Around” website in 2011, a webisode series that covers snowmobileaccessed skiing. It allows us to do what we want, in the mountains with our friends. Sponsors: Scott, Salomon, Camelbak, Asterisk Jharborworks.com arborworkstreeservice@gmail.com 307-413-8375 Therunaroundblog.com
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Wade McKoy / KGB photos
Corey Felton skis 4 Pines, a popular sidecountry area outside the boundary gates at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
TETON PASS AMBASSADOR
Wade McKoy
John “Jay” Pistono created his job to preserve a threatened haven.
This position was created because of threats to limit access on Teton Pass. I realized the enforcement agencies were losing patience and that we (skiers and snowboarders) were using Teton Pass without much respect, or restraint, or humility. Some days cars were parked in the southbound travel lane. Dogs were running around unleashed, people hiking all over the road – it was messy. And more people started skiing the north side, which potentially put more slides on the road, even from people exiting in selfish places on road cuts. I started doing the job on my own, as a volunteer, out of concern that we were ruining a great place. Teton Pass has so much potential to raise the human spirit, and it’s pretty easy to get to. Initially, I got a lot of attitude, like, “Who the eff are you?” I still get those, but less often. People got on board with the ethic of respect John “Jay” Pistono and started spreading the word to the tons of visitors we get up there every day. It’s age everyone to put away the Gopro and the turned into a community effort, supported by ego when you ride the pass. The last thing we Friends of Pathways (please give your support need to do is to put it on the map anymore than it already is. Once you’ve found your way to FOP). It’s no secret that the pass is no secret. Es- to the pass, we welcome you, one and all. But pecially now, because word travels fast – re- please, do your run, catch your buzz, and then ally fast when the powder is good. Our shut up about it. Here are a few basic codes to ride with: numbers are up for out-of-state and worldwide • Work with the enforcement agencies in all visitors. And our numbers are up for locals because people like untracked snow. And lately, regards • Carpool and park tightly • Take care of your pet, in all respects • Ride with respect people are willing to work to get to it. and humility. It is popular, we all get that. But I encour— John Pistono Continued from pg 80
A couple minutes south of the Igneous factory is Maiden skis. Founder Kelvin Wu started building his own skis 10 years ago while living in Seattle, working as an engineer and skiing weekends at Crystal Mountain. He started building his own skis to take the mystery out of the ski-making process and just to see if it could be done. He then founded skibuilders.com to help hobbyists like himself build skis in their garage. In 2011 he quit his job and moved to Jackson to pursue custom ski-building full time under the Maiden brand. It’s headquartered in a south-Jackson warehouse. Because Maiden ski factory houses an array of high-tech equipment, including an impressive industrical CNC (computer-controlled) router to shape wooden cores and a sublimation printer for custom top-sheet graphics, they can build any ski imaginable. Techies, tinkerers, and gear enthusiasts make up the bulk of Maiden’s clientele. In addition to hand-crafting customs skis, Kelvin plans to host a series of workshops, teaching clients how to make their own skis. For the future, Kelvin hopes to keep Maiden small in w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
order to provide a personal relationship with each customer and to maintain uniqueness and craftsmanship of every ski. Sure, there are plenty of cheaper skis, but they don’t tell the same story. The connection between you, the company, and the skis makes a custom ski priceless. Maybe you’re able to come by the factory and lend a helping hand with your skis or find the stump that your snowboard once grew out of. Or maybe you run into Kelvin or Mike in tram line a year later and take a lap catching up on the adventures of those skis you built together. Don’t take my word for what makes custom skis special. Go visit the Igneous Factory on Gregory Lane or the Maiden Factory on Deer Drive and see for yourself what custom skis are about. They’re used to people stopping by, so they’ll be happy to have you! Hailing from Washington, D.C., Liza grew up skiing the icy bumps of Whitetail, Pennsylvania, and settled in Jackson in the winter of 2010-11. She competes on the Freeride World Qualifier and hopes to eventually fuse her ski career with one in product development.
SKI TOWN ENTREPRENEURS
MOUNTAIN MOVERS
Marvin Howard at the wheel.
I started Mountain Movers in 1991 after being fired from my lifty job. We’d received a foot of snow, so I started the lift and took a bunch of runs – before we opened. For a guy whose desire to ski obviously transcended common sense and reason, the moving industry seemed a perfect place. The work itself is good ski training – heavy lifting, climbing stairs, the anaerobics of loading and unloading trucks – and the busy season is not winter. Several other noteworthy ski bums realized I was onto something and came to work for me. Photographer Chris Figenshau was a Mountain Mover on and off for about a decade as he developed his career. Micah Black lasted all of 12 days right before he signed his contract with Spyder and skied off into history. Forrest “Jump” Sandberg was one of the more influential, insightful employee/ski bums. He once jammed a 27-foot experimental aircraft into a 26-foot moving truck using wood to brace and block it and removing parts that were approved by the engineer. And there’s always “the immovable object.” There seems to be a 2,000-lb. gun safe in every household. But one especially large project – and publicly celebrated – was moving the Teton County Treasurer’s office over a three-day Labor Day weekend. With five trucks and 15 movers we transported hundreds of filing cabinets, desks, chairs, personal effects
and over five decades of records, files, and personal information of Teton County residents. The treasury opened on Tuesday at 8 a.m. without missing a beat. Not one file was out of place. It was a monumental move for Mountain Movers. Many moves have stretched the imagination and creativity of Mountain Movers. When Verizon upgraded all their satellite towers in the summer of 1999, I worked hand in hand with the helicopter crew. We airlifted satellite equipment, some weighing in at 1,500 lbs., to three mountaintops around the valley. I got most of my helicopter experience during this move. Recently we completed the TSA security upgrade at the Jackson Hole Airport, exchanging four lanes of x-ray machines over four nights. My employee, Aaron Collota, and my general manager, Bill Alder, took on the task flawlessly, handling $10 million in security equipment and completing the task at 6 a.m. on July 3, in time for the busy July 4 weekend. Some of the equipment weighed 6,000 lbs. We used fork lifts, pallet jacks, and even the old Roman technique of wooden dowels to roll these items into place on the marble airport floors. Skiing has also evolved into a career for me. I manage a website, marvinskis.com, and I’m very active on Facebook. I post my everyday adventures and observations on life that are in the moment. Some of my postings are entertaining, some irrelevant, and some just shameless self-promotion, but, as I see it, no one has ever stood out in a crowd by standing in the back of the room. I love skiing and the ski community more than life itself! I have about 30 friends and about 100 clients that come out to ski with me every year. I ski about 110 days during the winter months and 10-14 days in the summer by traveling down to South America or up Beartooth Pass, where I used to do a fun clinic with Doug Coombs. I have done several trips with Benny Wilson and the JH Air Force crew to Whistler Blackcomb, Canada. From 2000-2009 I tagged along with Steve Jones and Teton Gravity Research to Europe and skied some great places in Germany, Italy, and France. The most memorable trip was aiding Erik Roner with his first ski base jump. We spent two days climbing and prepping a launch in the Italian Dolomites, just to have it all be over within a few seconds. But it launched Roner’s career and made me realize that I wanted to be a part of skiing for the rest of my life. — Marvin Howard
Marvin Howard taking care of his obsession inbounds at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
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Bob Woodall (ski); Wade McKoy (portrait)
Marvin Howard, a force of nature
SKI TOWN ENTREPRENEURS
N. W. DUKE CO., INC
Wade McKoy
Norm Duke, wire-rope specialist
Norm Duke of Wilson, Wyoming, is a rare breed of ski town worker – one of only six wire-rope specialists, or “splicers,” in the U.S. Two more reside in Canada, an additional 25 outside the Americas; that’s 33 splicers world-wide to inspect and service all the cables that carry all the chairlifts, trams, gondolas, and numerous other cable-driven conveyances of man. Norm and his wife Marva own N. W. Duke Co., Inc., a wire-rope service. Their clients include 35 areas – our local three ski resorts among them – and various airports (to service automated people movers). They travel from early April until Thanksgiving, and sometimes work into December. It’s demanding work, both physically and mentally, to organize 10-to-20 people – in a day or two – to put together a 150-to-200-foot splice. “I began splicing in 1980,” said Norm, who apprenticed under splicer Bob Diener for two years. In 1982 the Dukes started their own company, incorporated in ’84, and soon found themselves guests at the world’s primary wire-rope manufacturer, Fatzer AG in Romanshorn, Switzerland. “They flew Marva, me and our 5-year-old son, Tyler, to Switzerland,” Norm recalled. “I trained with Fatzer for five weeks. Much of the skill I have now, though, I developed on my own over the years.” The Dukes also perform electromagnetic wire-rope inspections, testing the rope’s integrity by analyzing metallic cross-sections over its entire length. “Marva is a vital part of the business,” said Norm, “assisting me in the field with electromagnetic testing, preparing reports, bookkeeping, and arranging our travel.” Duke plans on splicing for another two or three years, time he will also spend training an apprentice, passing on the ropes of the trade – the wirerope service that keeps our ski and snowboard resorts running safely. — Jackson Hole Skier
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Norm Duke and crew splicing the JHMR Aerial Tram cable last fall.
FLIGHT NURSE
SKI TOWN CAREERS
Nursing is an ideal career for avid skiers. The work is condensed into twelve-hour shifts, which allows lots of free time during the week. I often joked that rather than going to medical school, I went skiing a hundred days a year for 10 years! I think I made the right choice. My parents met at Alta in the ‘50s and they loved to ski. My father was an airline pilot, my mother a flight attendant. We lived in San Francisco and every year they took us out of school to go on a ski trip. The rest of the season we skied in Lake Tahoe, and, after I graduated high school, we moved there. I went to California State University, Chico. Aside from being America’s number-one party school, they have an excellent nursing school. I graduated 28 years ago with a BSN and promptly moved back to Tahoe to begin my careers in skiing and nursing. I focused on surgical nursing for years, but then switched to the Emergency Department. I moved to Jackson in 1990 and worked at the Teton Village Clinic and at St. John's Medical Center before becoming a flight nurse for Classic Air Medical. Flight nursing is absolutely the coolest thing I've ever done. It combines my love of caring for people with the excitement of flight, and gives me complete autonomy in my career. I work nine days a month, which leaves plenty of free time – for skiing. When we get a call, we’re in the air within 10 minutes. From our base at the Riverton Airport we fly either a King Air twin engine airplane or a Bell 407 helicopter. Both aircraft perform well in the mountains- and both are outfitted as flying ambulances augmented with advanced life-support equipment. We work closely with our medical director, Dr. Mike Hudson, and we utilize the latest treatment protocols. We average one flight a day, but I’ve had as many as four – I cried, “Uncle!” after that day. It’s very fatiguing to fly. Flight scenarios range from facility transfers to scene calls. Facility transfers can involve transporting patients from small rural hospitals to major medical centers, which gives us a chance to hone our critical-care skills. Scene calls are the most exciting, though. They usually come from an EMS or the county sheriff’s office and can involve rescues. And it’s pretty cool to land in a helicopter on the highway. The most bizarre flight I had was a scene call to 911 from a WWII veteran who was having difficulty breathing. He put old toilets in his yard to help him estimate distance, so he
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Wade McKoy
Gretchen Knori, an avid skier, blends careers.
Gretchen Knori on the heli-port, ready for action.
could shoot at the helicopter as we flew in (fortunately he didn't shoot at us). It was my first experience with the hoarder lifestyle. There were tunnels of trash through the house, and cats everywhere. I looked around,
wondering if we were being filmed for a reality TV show. We weren’t. We got him to the hospital, though, and he is etched in my memory forever. — Gretchen Knori
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SKI PATROL
SKI TOWN CAREERS
Cool under fire.
What does it take to open the mountain on a big-snow morning? What skills do patrollers need?
Jake Elkins, ski patrol director “It takes 48 staff members to do snow control on bigsnow mornings. The avalanche-hazard reduction routes have been developed and refined over a 49-year history. Patrollers are assigned routes for the season and a number of patrollers have been on their routes for many years. In December and January it’s still dark when we go up. By the time we start our hand-charge routes, it’s early daylight. The weather can be pretty ‘Western’ up there, too: 80 mph winds, snow and blowing snow – difficult conditions to navigate in.” Pete Linn “The most important skill for a ski patroller to possess is the ability to stay calm and clear-headed in dangerous situations, even when people around them are panicking.” Walter Stoessel “It’s a deep question: what’s it like doing snow control in dark and stormy conditions? It’s empowering. It’s humbling. It’s dangerous. It’s peaceful. It’s beautiful.” Kevin Brazell “Patrollers need to be strong skiers, good toboggan handlers, and have good first aid skills. We must get to the scene quickly and safely (and look good while doing it). We must manage the injuries, remember the names, and deliver the patient to the next level of care. And it helps to have a good sense of humor – and a cool signature (for signing autographs.)”
SKI GUIDE
Pete Linn during “tear down” at seasaon’s end.
30-year veteran guide Dave Miller understands the program.
Wade McKoy photos
My job description as Lead Guide Supervisor at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is to keep an eye on the guide program, so I’m out there early every morning watching over my guides while they are working out of bounds. I also play the role of backup guide. The resort sidecountry gets a lot of use by the public. Guided groups
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make up a very small percentage of users out there, even though the guide service is usually fully booked. And that’s why, a lot of times, we’re just shepherds. Rob Hess (JHMR lead guide) and I run into stuff because we’re out there working. Last season there were three major incidents with public groups, and I happened to be the first responder on each of them. One resulted in a death, another in injury, but the third had a happy ending. On the day after Christmas I was tail-guiding with Rob Hess. His group wanted to go up Cody, so we all climbed up the ridge and dug a pit. Rob didn’t like the looks of his pit, so we took the easiest, safest route down and warned the guides that it was a sketchy day. The wind had blown in a hard deposit, and we didn’t like the feel of it. We then headed toward Cody Bowl and called Amy (fellow guide), who was also climbing the Cody ridge. We could see a group standing at the top of Pucker, and she warned those guys not to go. We skied a lap on Cody Bowl, climbed it again, and were getting ready to go around the back side towards Pinedale. I heard Rob say, “Oh no,” and I knew automatically what was happening. I came back around the corner and saw smoke and clouds and I looked at Rob and said, “What do you think?” and he said, “I got this covered Miller, you better go.” So I took off and pretty much pointed it across Powder 8 Face. I was able to locate the victim under about 3 1/2 feet of snow in 6 minutes, which is really good. It took us longer to get him out. His buddy came clambering down the hill and helped us. It was a really sketchy day on Cody. And it cost a young man his life. continued next page 2 0 1 5 J AC KS O N H O L E S K I E R
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JH SKIS
Bob Woodall
Eddie Woodard’s ski-rental and delivery business is effective, efficient, and constantly evolving.
JH Skis owner Eddie Woodard
How did you know what was needed to start and run this service business? I grew up ski racing and worked at a ski shop throughout high school, so I learned early on the dynamics that go into renting skis. JH Skis is consistently evolving; we are always learning how to be more effective and efficient each year. Does it allow you to ski most days? Unfortunately, not every day as we are extremely busy. But I get out every chance I can. What’s your perfect work day? Powder days are the best. Everyone is stoked to be out on the mountain.
What has been the biggest challenge? Starting the company. We began running JH Skis out of my garage and now we have five locations – Jackson, the Aspens, The Lodge of Jackson Hole (exclusive to hotel guests), Snake River Lodge (exclusive to hotel guests) and of course the delivery service. Biggest reward? To see the company continue to grow. What tip would you like to give visiting skiers? On your day off from skiing go on a wildlife tour with Backcountry Safaris.
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The next event, three ski patrollers from another ski area skied into a zone above M&M that they didn’t know anything about. Sucker tracks everywhere. Easy skiing. Until it’s a cliff band. There have been a lot of incidents there. And these three knocked off a slide and it took them down. One blew his knee and was heli-ed out. They were really lucky. They went over a pretty big rock band. I was up on the top of the mountain. I always check in with the patrol, see what’s going on. Right when I was walking out the door, the incident was called in so I got there first, spotted it, told everybody which way to come in, and stabilized the guy. Towards the end of the season came the next event, a film crew. I saw them at the top and knew where they were going. When they dropped into Breakneck they knocked off a huge slide and one guy got buried. Rob Hess called it in. He was on the Green River traverse towards the 4 Pines hike. He saw it. Said (over the radio), “Man down.”
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The heck of it was, I’d just clicked into my skis. The day before we had told the patrol that we couldn’t find the sled on 4 Pines. We’d had so much snow it was buried. I went up there with the patrol and they had their skis off, probing around, finding the sled, digging it out. When the call came in. I took off from the top of 4 Pines and hauled ass. I got there first, saw a snowboard on top of the snow pile, grabbed it and there were feet attached to it. That’s what saved the guy’s life. The snow for the photographers was chest deep. They were trying to get to their guy but it was impossible to do quickly. It was lucky that I was above the site and could ski to it. Good timing on their part. And my part, everybody’s part. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. The ski patrol, though, saves lives every week. Snow-control, first response and evacuation on in-bound injuries – it’s all in a day’s work for the ski patrol. They are the true rescue pros. —Dave Miller w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
DOOR 2 DOOR
SKI TOWN ENTREPRENEURS
Bob Woodall
Marc Titre keeps employees pumped and clients happy in his ski-rental and delivery business.
From left: Jason Balogh, Robert Thompson, and Door 2 Door owner Marc Titre
What made you start this business? I have been working in ski shops since I was 18 in Steamboat Springs, CO. I turned down management jobs multiple times in the ski industry because the pay was only a little bit more than being a tech. At age 24 I finally found the opportunity to move forward. I worked for D2D in Steamboat, also turning down a management job there, in order to see how the guts of the operation worked. Jackson was the last premiere resort that had no Christy Sports D2D.
Does it allow you to ski most days? The first three to four years of being in business I didn’t ski or snowboard much. Every year does allow for more time on the hill. I owe that to my crew of returning employees every season. I have never had to put an ad in the paper looking for employees. All employees have been hired on a referral basis. What’s your perfect work day? Powder in the morning and at night, five vans with ten guys driving around making the Jackson Hole tourist experience something they will never
forget. I pride myself on the best-paid ski techs in the valley, delivering a high-quality product, and making people laugh at the same time. What has been the biggest challenge? Mostly small town politics. I have been in the ski industry for fifteen years and have learned to roll with the punches. A favorite line at D2D is “next problem?” Biggest reward? For me it’s as much about the employees as the customer. I like for the crew to have a good time and be pumped on their job and on life in general. The good attitude is transferred directly to the guests. They really do go hand in hand. What tip would you like to give visiting skiers? If you are going to bring your boots, try to take them in your carry-on. If you can cram your ski pants and coat in there as well, do it. You can always buy a tooth brush when you get to town if your luggage doesn’t show up. In the winter, with all of the extra weight of ski and snowboard gear, checked-in luggage often doesn’t show up. — Jackson Hole Skier
15 Minutes of Fame
Local skiers attract national ski-media exposure Pop Art icon Andy Warhol famously said, “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.”
Poster courtesy Warren Miller
Years later he changed his mind and said, “I'm bored with that line. I never use it anymore. My new line is 'In 15 minutes everybody will be famous.'” Whatever the implication, our local skiers can mostly take it or leave it. It’s an end to a means, and they mean to be skiing. Here is what they said when asked, “When did your ‘15 minutes of fame’ begin and how has it changed your life?”
JESS MCMILLAN "Wow. Kind of a brutal quote. In a competitive skier’s words, ‘You may be the very best in your sport for a moment in time, but there will always be someone better, working harder, pushing harder, wanting it more.’ “The highlight moment for me happened when I won the World Tour. I thought my life would change once I achieved the accolade of World Champion. It didn’t. It changed because I had worked hard enough and learned enough to become a World Champion. My goal – to ski for a living – didn’t change and it was up to me to keep
working hard toward achieving that goal. “Media exposure has done a couple things for me. When I married Eric Seymour, my dad gave a toast at our wedding. He said, ‘Now it's time to get a real job.’ The media exposure has helped my father realize that I have a ‘real’ job. He loves seeing me in the movies and magazines, and it's also a way for him to show off his daughter and to say that he's a proud father. “I am starting ski camps around the world: Iceland, Alaska, Chile, and Russia. Hopefully, my media exposure will help me promote these camps and help me continue living my original dream — to ski for a living.”
JESS MCMILLAN, featured skier on Warren Miller’s 2014 promo poster, has ski segments in No Turning Back and in Pretty Faces, an all-female-skier film produced by Unicorn Picnic Productions. Photos of McMillan appear in September 2014 issues of Powder, Skiing, Ski, the April 2014 Pilates Style magazine.
LYNSEY DYER “’15 minutes of fame’ is relative. I'm not sure that we skiers have what most would call real fame. I'm no Brittany Spears, and the little bit I've gotten in the ski world hasn't changed much. If anything, I've always prayed that if I ever made enough of a name to have people listen to anything I have to say, it would be meaningful to some people’s lives and I would never take that for granted. “My prayer for Pretty Faces is that it will connect people back to a moment when anything was possible and offer hope that if one believes in their dreams, they can make them happen. Watching grown men tear up in the audience shows me that we did it. They feel something meaningful for them. That's all that matters.”
LYNSEY DYER, first-time producer and owner of Unicorn Picnic Productions, made Pretty Faces using Kickstarter to raise the funds. Photos of the former free-ski champ have appeared for years in ski magazines and clothing catalogues.
PEPI STIEGLER
Wade McKoy photos
“My ‘15 minutes of fame’ began right after passing the finish line at the Olympic Slalom in the Lizum near Innsbruck. Fifteen minutes this way or that, it was not as significant as the Olympic victory. My life changed completely after I crossed that finish line. “The magazine articles bring back great memories from my ski-racing past, and the Olympics in particular. I appreciate the editors at The Ski Journal deciding to feature me.” PEPI STIEGLER, circa 1970s, skiing the Hobacks. The Ski Journal profiled Stiegler this winter in its Christmas issue, # 8.3. The article was wriiten and photographed by JH SKIER co-publisher Wade McKoy.
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“My fifteen minutes of fame started without anybody telling me. I’m sort of aloof now that I have been told repeatedly about it. More people know my name. My friends sometimes look at me and smile. Most people look at me with more curiosity – they are entitled. I feel some people are jealous of...I don’t know what. And random people now ask my opinion, even for my advice, on some of life’s big questions. Weird.”
Wade McKoy photos
“My fifteen minutes of fame started with my comp. run in Snowbird last year. It continues with the Jay Goodrich photo of Fat Bastard that has appeared everywhere from National Geographic to Powder. “Media Exposure still feels pretty weird to me. It definitely has helped me find sponsorship and support so I can continue to chase my dreams. It also helps explain to my friends with city jobs what I am doing with my life.”
BILL BOWEN
“WILD BILL” BOWEN, as seen in Powder magazine, photographed by local Mark Fisher, written by local and Powder editor Matt Hanson. Bowen also appeared in a Backcountry magazine profile, written by Jacksonite Brigid Mander. Two features in two national magazines equal a third mention in this rag. Nice goin’ Bill!
GRIFFIN POST
Max Hammer appears in KGB’s Wyoming Triumph, TGR’s The Dream Factory, Way of Life, and Almost Ablaze, Powder magazine, The Dartmouth (college newspaper), on ESPN.com, and in ads for Line Skis.
MAX HAMMER
“To start, I don't feel famous. The only people who recognize me from skiing are the kids I coach in the winter with the Jackson Hole Ski Club. I see filming as an excuse to use lots of brain power and physical exertion to achieve silly, skiing ideas I dream up over the summer. However, it has also brought me involvement with cool companies (Patagonia, Dynafit, Line Skis, Smith Optics) in terms of product design and testing, and travel opportunities, so I'm definitely grateful for the support. “I don't know when my ‘15 minutes’ began, probably more around the time when I was ski racing intensely as a teenager. Maybe that means my time is up?”
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“I’d use ‘fame’ fairly loosely here, as I think it only applies to small circles. But I suppose it began when I started filming with TGR in 2010. “With media, since I’m super facetious and dry by nature and I’ve found people often misinterpret me in casual conversation – particularly on social media, which largely lacks tone – I’m pretty careful about saying or posting anything that can be taken literally or the wrong way. Because if I do, it usually ends up in a conversation about the finer points of sarcasm.”
KIT DESLAURIES
At press-time the editors learned of Kit’s selection by National Geographic as one of the 10 Adventureers Of The Year. As reported in a Jackson Hole News & Guide article by Clark Forster, “DesLauries is a former two-time Freeskiing World Tour champion and is the first person to climb and ski the Seven Summits. She holds several first descents, and this spring she completed a two-week expedition during which she combined science with adventure in the secluded mountains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.” Congratulations Kit! — Jackson Hole Skier
GRIFFIN POST appears in TGR’s 2014 film, Almost Ablaze, in previous TGR movies, on Outside Television, and in Powder, Skiing and Outside magazines.
Kit DesLauriers
HADLEY HAMMER
Mark Fisher
HADLEY HAMMER is featured in October Powder, in Marmot ads, and in the movie Pretty Faces.
KEEPIN’ IT REAL
Some call Back Strachers a throwback. Leger just says, “They rule.”
Skid Luxury
Jeff Leger, ski bum to the core, family man at its center. Skid Luxury has legs. The title and logo for a 1990s ski-bum video produced by Jeff Leger and Matt O’Donnell, Skid Luxury has since become an icon of Jackson Hole ski culture. “My movie Skid Luxury was a dinky little flick that no one will ever remember,” Leger said. “But the name and the logo has taken on a life of its own.” Most recently Skid Luxury served as a team name in another bastion of ski culture, the annual Gelande Quaff beer chugging contest. Not only did they win, Skid Luxury took home the championship trophy for a second consecutive year – a first in the decades-old debauch.
“They approached me for ‘sponsorship,’” said Leger. “I was stoked to give them the logo, and when I offered up coin for team gear, they wouldn’t take it – a classic Skid Luxury move.” Jeff Leger arrived in Jackson Hole like many coming-of-age youths – a free man seeking self-actualization in the ski-bum lifestyle. He found it – living and working at the Hostel, skiing every day, adopted by the Jackson Hole Air Force – and soon the ski culture institutions of the era were running in his veins. After creating the logo for his movie, Leger hired a blacksmith to make a Skid Luxury branding iron, “to brand some stuff,” and he produced a few Skid Luxury belt buckles to give to friends. But, to his surprise, the slogan had caught fire with the public at large. “People ran with it,” he said. “Soon I was see-
ing t-shirts, ski gloves, hats, whiskey flasks…I’ve seen at least three people with Skid Luxury tattoos! One guy used his blow torch to cut the logo into a fire metal pit. You can see that in Darrel Miller’s movie Action Jackson.” Leger’s Skid Luxury concept began a “tip of the cap to anybody following their dream, despite social and financial hurdles.” He cites the many ski-town examples: early trams, left-over pizza slices, free beer, back-door show entrances, first tracks – anything that brightened a skid’s existence, he said. “It’s changed for me over the years,” he acknowledged. “Now it’s trading baby sitting days with my neighbor so we can get in more pow turns. And it’s still a little bit secretive, not immediately obvious. When you see a Skid Luxury sticker, there’s that bit of intrigue.” — Jackson Hole Skier
Storm Show Studios
Darrell Miller
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Jackson native Darrell Miller continues his lifelong focus and 20-year filmmaking career on snowboarding and skiing the region’s jagged peaks with his contemporary pioneers of ski mountaineering. “My filmmaking influence comes directly from the life-changing experiences I’ve had in the Tetons,” he said. “The goal is simple: inspire people to accomplish what they set out to do, be it climbing and riding a mountain, or whatever personal goal they set.” Land Of 1000 Dreams, the latest from Miller’s company Storm Show Studios, is his 14th film. Produced in partnership with Full Room Productions, the highlights include Derek Depiero’s first free-ski of the formidable G-String, a 500-foot hourglass couloir with a mandatory 60+-foot air in the middle; Miller’s second descent of Billy Goat Couloir, a.k.a. Lightning
Bolt, first ridden in 2003 and not repeated until now; Kelly Halpin’s and Elizabeth Koutrelakos’s masterful descents of Cody Peak; and top gun Jeff Leger’s swan dives off Jackson Hole’s biggest drops. In an age of extravagant, high-budget ski films, Miller prefers to capture winter in Jackson Hole from the trenches. The resulting films are still sleek with time-lapses, slider moves, and emotionally raw music, but the focus is on climbing and riding big mountains and deep powder. Two of Miller’s films landed coveted spots on The Ski Channel’s “Top 100 Ski Films Of All Time.” His films have also received numerous “Best Of” accolades from the Powder Video Awards and the Cold Smoke Awards. — www.stormshow.com w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
Wade McKoy photos
Darrell Miller keeps the gear lean, the goal clear – to ride.
KEEPIN’ IT REAL
Jackson Hole Babe Force
Photo courtesy JHBF
Bad-ass ladies club welcomes all ages, all skiing levels.
The JHBF second gathering dominates Thunder Run.
Board of Directors (from left) Sarah Felton, Jenny Wolfrom, Crystal Wright, Elsa Smith, Kaki Orr, Karissa Tuthill (not pictured). “The big demographic is the main thing for us,” said Wright. “A lot of these types of organizations just reach the younger generation. But what about all the ladies on this mountain, across all generations, who are pushing themselves like we do?” The board awards a patch to those who inspire others. “You get a patch by inspiring someone else or by pushing yourself,” said Orr. “Teaching someone, helping them get outside their comfort zone.” Their mission statement: Jackson Hole Babe Force will encourage you to push your limits, gain confidence, and support each other, all while building relationships with other like-minded women who are down to get buck wild in the mountains. www.jhbabeforce — Jackson Hole Skier
Wade McKoy photos
Jackson native and extreme-ski champ Crystal Wright, skiing with her friend Sarah Felton one day in Granite Canyon, witnessed an older local male skier purposely misleading a younger group of just-arrived wannabes down the wrong trail. The girls got “Grrrr agro,” and started brainstorming what would soon become a major movement – The Jackson Hole Babe Force. “The crux is inclusion, camaraderie, community,” said Wright. “There’s been so much progression in women’s skiing in Jackson. We wanted our movement on the realm of meeting the ripping women skiers here. I met Kaki on the first Babe Force ski day and I was blown away.” About 30 women showed up for the inaugural Babe Force ski day. And while that seems like a lot, the second gathering, one month later, saw more than 130 women – the youngest six, the oldest 82.
The Hostel
Affordability includes wax room, ping pong, roaring fireplace.
The Hostel’s 49-year history in Teton Village began when Colby Wilson built the four-story hotel and proceeded to raise four sons at the base of a new and daring ski area. It became legendary as Benny Wilson and cohorts hatched the Jackson Hole Air Force and Howard Henderson showed classic ski movies in the basement. Today it’s the last refuge for inexpensive accommodations in upscale Teton Village. The Hostel stills rents four-person bunk rooms for $40-a-head. And King-sized-bed private rooms for $80-to-$120. Free WiFi. Free coffee, too. The basement could be the best part, though. A huge area serves a variety of uses. Guests have access to a ski-tuning bench, a ping pong table, a pool table, and a living room with fireplace and TV, tables with puzzles, checkers, chess, and card decks. And the locals can take advantage of The Hostel’s ski lockers — complete with boot dryers —for rent at seasonal rates. The offices of the Jackson Hole Skier occupy a place at The Hostel in Suite 102, Focus Productions, Inc. World Headquarters. For 27 years and counting, ski legends of all stripes have passed through our revolving door. The Hostel is a stalwart lighthouse to keepin’ it real. Isaac Dan waxes his snowboard after playing ping pong, chess, and watching TV by the fireplace in the family room. The Hostel’s got it going on. w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
— Jackson Hole Skier
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KEEPIN’ IT REAL
Mike Tierney
Last fall local skier and painter Mike Tierney showed his art at White Columns Gallery, New York City’s oldest alternative-art space. Tierney produced 15 new works for the show, curated by Peter Doig, a renowned Scottish painter who, as it happens, also skis, sometimes in Jackson Hole. The opportunity to exhibit in this elite setting emerged from Tierney’s work at Igneous, the local ski factory that provides him art space and sometimes features his original art on its top-sheets. “Peter Doig ordered some skis,” said Tierney. “He walked into Igneous and said, ‘Wow, what is this place?’ We made him a burley pair of old-school skis, and when he came back to pick them up he asked me how my painting was going. “I told him I was painting every day and not skiing at all, and his eyes just lit up. He had taken a similar Mike Tierney with one of his favorite paintings. path through life – a house painter, a skier, did some art – and wound up a mega-star in the art world. Sold a me an exhibition and setting me up with a truck to haul all this stuff to New York, painting for $12 million bucks. And he really likes my art, said it was like looking into where I hope to make some money.” his past. Three days before his departure Tierney was finishing the work. “Then he said, ‘Mike, we really want to help you out with your art. Bring it to “It’s wicked concentrated right now. This is the essence of being an artist, you the world.’” live for that buzz,” he said, looking fresh and ready. “I’ve got some fancy, formal Then it was Tierney’s eyes that lit up. stuff to show, and some abstract, junk-yard dog, ghetto-raw pieces. It’s a good The process began with Tierney donating a painting to the gallery for their ancross section. If I had more space I’d like to do more subject stuff, not strictly nual fundraiser. It sold for $7,000. mountains. But that’s the connection. It all comes back to the skis.” “So gallery got seven grand,” said Tierney. “I got no money but they’re giving — Jackson Hole Skier
Dave “The Wave”
Bob Woodall
Circle of life brings Wave home Keepin’ It Real wouldn’t be complete without hearing from one of the originals. Dave “The Wave” Muccino began the serious part of his life as a skier in Jackson Hole in the 1980s. He then journeyed the world’s grand stages as he followed his life’s path through the decades. The Wave has now come back home. As always, his strong work ethic supported these athletic endeavors. Dave Muccino first showed up at The Hostel in 1972 for the Pepi Stiegler Summer Race Camp. A decade later he began returning to The Hostel for regular winter pilgrimages to Jackson Hole, and skied with the fledgling Jackson Hole Air Force. “Benny Wilson made the first patches and the Air Force was born,” said Muccino. The Wave’s subsequent association with Doug Coombs led him to Alaska, as he once again tracked and engaged in a pioneering moment. Soon he became head guide for Alaska Backcountry Adventures and remained on the forefront of extreme ski culture. Skiing in Alaska eventually led to windsurfing in Hawaii. He had a daughter, Sarah, and raised her on Maui. He found the same caliber of people in the windsurfing world as he had with skiing. After eight years windsurfing waves the size of The Hostel, family reorganization brought him back to the mainland. His daughter is now with him full-time and he works as a ski instructor at JHMR. “Seeing Sarah enjoy and embrace my same passions is the most rewarding gift of all,” he said. Now that’s keepin’ it real. — Jackson Hole Skier
Dave Muccino, Banana Zero, 1989 w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
Wade McKoy
Local skier shows art in NYC
DIVERSIONS
MORE TO LIFE THAN SKIING
Bob Woodall photos top, bottom
Wade McKoy
by Mike Calabrese
NEW R PARK — Astonishing as it seems, Jackson Hole, bordering both Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, this year itself welcomed a new one, the R Park. Winter and summer won’t be the same for walkers, bikers, strollers and – most importantly for winter recreationists – for skiers! The recently created 40-acre playground, nestled right on the Snake River’s banks and ideally set between Jackson, Wilson, and Teton Village, also happens to be connected by one of the country’s coolest new pedestrian spans – over the stunning Snake River. Great video and info about the new R Park and the pathways bridge at http://rendezvouslandsconservancy.org Aside from its own groomed ski trails, the R Park will connect to those of the Centennial pathway and the Emily’s Pond pathway, both also groomed for cross-country and skate skiers by the Teton County / Jackson Parks and Recreation Department. Already just about the best and busiest rec. outfit this side of the Mississippi, it maintains nine crosscountry tracks, about 20 miles of both classic and skate terrain. For a trail map, track grooming schedules, ski conditions, and more info, visit the website: www.tetonparksandrec.org or dial up the activity hotline, 739-6789. SNOW-BIKING – An offshoot of mountain biking, snow-biking continues to earn new adherents. not to mention a flourishing trend among rental enterprises. And a growing number of snow-bike races are held on Nordic tracks and groomed snowmobile trails. Distances range from 15k to 30k. Grand Targhee MountainResort hosts races on Dec. 13 and March 28 this season. Snow bike demos are available before and after the race. Grand Targhee also allows snow bikers on its Nordic trail system throughout the season. At Snow King Mountain Resort, the Snow King Fat Bike races are slated for February 9 and February 17. THE INTERNATIONAL PEDIGREE STAGE STOP SLED DOG RACE – Don’t be put off by the cumbersome title. Launching from Jackson’s Town Square, mushers and their enthusiastic charges press on through the snowy landscape of four states: Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah. The festive kickoff, on January 30, 2015, is itself reason enough to hit downtown Jackson. Go online at wyoming stagestop.org for photos of cool canines, celebrants, and festivities surrounding the event. NATIONAL ELK REFUGE – Officially it exists as a refuge for elk. But time and circumstance now force these majestic ungulates to share that winter range with bighorn sheep, bison, mule deer, and yes, Virginia, sometimes wolves and mountain lions. Even grizzlies have been spotted crossing its scenic expanse. The National Elk Refuge rubs up against the town of Jackson, affording visitors the chance to mingle with wildlife – unimpeded by zoo bars or cages. And running quiw w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
Snow bike race on Togwotee Pass.
Supporters at the Pathways Bridge’s opening ceremony reveals just how popular this new link will be for the valley’s outdoor crowd.
Kids love the mushers launching from Jackson’s Town Square in the IPSSSDR. 2 0 1 5 J AC KS O N H O L E S K I E R
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MORE TO LIFE THAN SKIING
nations in northwest Wyoming, each with its own special features. Some are snowmobile playgrounds, others are primarily for viewing nature’s wonders. Togwotee Pass, Granite Hot Springs, Green River Valley, and the Greys River Valley are the playgrounds, while Yellowstone and Gros Ventre areas are for observing wildlife and the natural world. ICE SKATING –The local parks and recreation organization sets up and maintains four rinks around the valley. A perfect activity for families looking to enjoy relaxing exercise. For rink locations, hours, and restrictions, visit www.tetonparksandrec.org.
King Tubes, the thrills of sledding in a mountain setting
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HOCKEY – “Go Moose!” is the battle cry for the Jackson Hole Moose, who play fullcheck hockey in the Elite Senior A division of the USA Hockey Association. Grab all the home action Friday and Saturday nights at Snow King Sports and Events Center. Visit the Moose online at jacksonholemoose.com. RECREATION CENTER – Of course we have heated indoor-recreation outlets! Even the hardiest of locals come in from the cold every now and then. Just two blocks north of the town square on 155 East Gill, Jackson’s first-rate rec. center houses a gymnasium with full-size basketball and volleyball courts, an aquatic center, locker rooms, and a public meeting room. The aquatic center consists of an eight-lane competitive-workout pool, a therapeutic pool, a leisure-water pool, a hot tub, a water slide, a teaching pool, and sauna steam rooms. Open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday; from 12 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, and noon to 7 p.m., Sunday. For daily fees, call 739-5056. Go online at tetonparksandrec.org. SNOWSHOEING – Walk softly but carry a good camera, especially in mountain country! Grand Teton National Park offers ranger-led snowshoe hikes at 1:30 p.m. every day, from late December to March, weather and conditions permitting. A $5 donation is requested but snowshoes are provided. A popular activity for locals and visitors, so reservations are recommended. For more details call 7393300 or visit the park’s site: nps.gov.grte. CROSS COUNTRY SKIING – For the independent-minded, both Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks harbor trails and unparalleled landscape for cross-country skiiing. w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
Bob Woodall (tubing); Wade McKoy (2)
etly through that high-altitude savannah is one of the country’s most famous trout streams, Flat Creek. You can look, but don’t unholster that rod until late summer. For the latest on the refuge, visit www.fws. gov/nationalelkrefuge. SNOWMOBILING – In most places, winter is tolerated, not embraced. But this is snow country! With so much of the white stuff carpeting Wyoming’s mountains each winter, learning to love it is a necessity. And a great way to appreciate this plush ermine mantle is astride a snowmobile. So saddle up and head into the great white open. There are several major snowmobile desti-
Snowmobile guide Brandon Murphy rides Togwotee Pass.
Bob Woodall Wade McKoy
Definitely part of winter’s wild side, ski joring pairs Old and New West skill and excitement.
Conditions, access questions, or transportation possibilities are all best researched at either www.nps.gov/grte or www.nps.gov/yell. SHRINERS’ JACKSON HOLE SKI-JORING CHAMPIONSHIPS – If the cutter races ignited a fever for horses, racing, and snow, or if you missed all the fun, the Shriners’ Jackson Hole Ski-Joring championships run on the following weekend, February 21 and 22, 2015. Not to be outdone by horse-drawn charioteers, skiers trust their skills and reins to cowpokes and their steeds while barreling along the track. Thundering hooves, blazing speeds, and air-time off jumps guarantee thrills for all. w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
TETON COUNTY LIBRARY – Need time to chill? Or maybe to warm up? Recently expanded, Teton County Library can easily lay claim to one of the valley’s best-known secrets: Libraries are flat out sweet! And this one is second to none, from high-tech to page-tech to service and setting. Check it out, like most locals do. Go online at www.tclib.org and plug into Jackson Hole. JACKSON HOLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM – While you’re online, try this address: www.jacksonholehistory.org. It’ll transport you to the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum and the days of yore. We love this place, and it’s perched just a few blocks from the town square. Truly a worthwhile visit or side trip if you’re in the downtown area. PARAGLIDING – Clear days and light winds in our valley help set the stage for another equally astonishing view of Jackson Hole – from a paraglider! This breathtaking experience requires no athletic ability, and experienced pilots can even help those a bit daunted by heights. Or, for a fresh take on over-snow travel, try your hand at snow kiting. Call 307690-8726 or visit jhparagliding.com. THE WYOMING RANDONEE ROUNDUP — This one will take your breath away. Anybody can jump on a lift, board a gondola, or hop on
HAPPY HOUR Wednesday - Saturday 4:00pm to 6:00pm Aprés in the TPCC Lounge & Enjoy 1/2 Off ALL DRINKS & Our Under $10 Aprés Menu!
www.tetonpines.com
(307) 733-1005
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An annual spring music concert series, The Rendezvous Festival, is free to all.
Open Mic nights at the Village Café and at Elevated Grounds are a Johnny Verdon (pictured) production and showcase a wealth of ski-bum musical talent.
The annual Gelande Quaff World Championships bring out the revelers. Local team Skid Luxury has won the championship trophy two years running.
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a tram for a shot down the slopes on the region’s three ski resorts. But what if you had to hump your way up before that exhilarating descent? That’s exactly the challenge randonee racers – amateurs and pros alike – accept when they skin up the race terrain at Snow King, Grand Targhee, and the JH Mountain Resort. These roundtrips would tax a mountain goat’s stamina. This year’s competitions are set for January 10-11. Visit jacksonrandoneerace.blogspot.com. SHRINERS’ ALL-AMERICAN CUTTER RACES – A Western version of horse-drawn chariot racing, the event always attracts a huge celebratory crowd during President’s Day Weekend. Now in it’s 44th year, it’s slated for February 14 and 15, 2015. Teams run two abreast in a 1/4-mile sprint to the finish at the polo grounds south of Jackson. Competitors are auctioned in a Calcutta wager before each heat, so high stakes and excitement mark this celebration, which raises money for the Shriners’ philanthropic mission. Go online at jhshriners.org for heart-pounding videos of this classic event or call 307-690-4669. TRIPLE CROWN – Watch or be watched in these winter festivals that push everyone’s adrenalin into the fun sphere: The Moose Chase on Saturday, February 14, 2015, at Trail Creek at the base of Teton Pass; The Town Downhill on Snow King Mountain, March 1415, 2015; and the big daddy of them all, the Pole Pedal Paddle, slated for Saturday, March 28, 2015, at Teton Village, along Wyoming highways 22 and 26, and on the Snake River, from South Park to Astoria. All events sponsored by the Jackson Hole Ski Club. Check ‘em out at www.jhskiclub.org. COOMBS CLASSIC – Iconic ski-mountaineer and Jackson Hole local Doug Coombs (1957-2006) earned legions of admirers. His passion for adventure skiing inspired countless others to explore the backcountry and carve the sidecountry. To commemorate his remarkable skiing life, Marmot and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will again host the Marmot Coombs Classic, this year on Sunday, March 22, 2015. Cool raffle prizes, too, from Marmot and K2. A party featuring live music will follow the event outside of Nick Wilson’s Cowboy Café. To sign up for the event, meet at the bottom of the mountain by 8:30 a.m., where you’ll pick your desired route and receive your commemorative patch. Visit jacksonhole.com/marmot-coombs-classic. THE DICK’S DITCH CLASSIC, Jackson Hole’s premiere race event for skiers and snowboarders, run on elaborate courses of man-made and natural terrain. Two categories, of course, require two weekends in March. Snowboarders will face off on one weekend, skiers on the other. For registration info call 307-739-2770. Pro divisions earn cash prizes. Editor and musician Mike Calabrese owns Noteworthy Music Agency, the region’s premiere music-booking enterprise.
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Bob Woodall (quaff); Wade McKoy (2)
MORE TO LIFE THAN SKIING
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Diverse Dining Dazzles Body & Soul
ackson Hole sports a raft of adventure opportunities, so it better have a way to fuel the very bodies enjoying some of nature’s most dazzling features. Diverse appetites and a range of pocketbooks, among visitors and locals alike, demand an equally expansive menu of gustatory stimulation. Here are a dozen dining delights as colorful as Jackson Hole flora and fauna. Some are already noted for their coveted dining awards, others are ready to make their mark. There’s no pretense among these outlets. Whether nestled in the heart of downtown, along a stunning valley byway, or perched atop one the most spectacular vantage points anywhere, these eateries promise to complement the Jackson Hole experience. From artisan hot dogs to cuisine nodding to the globe’s four corners, at ground level or the summit of the slopes, Jackson Hole serves up a heady collection of culinary creations to nurture both body and spirit. — Mike Calabrese
Photos Bob Woodall & Wade McKoy
Visit www.jhdiningguide.com
Pro skier Liza Sarychev presents a buffalo prime rib prepared by Chef Robyne Befeld and supplied by the Jackson Hole Buffalo Meat Company. Modeling for the cover of the Jackson Hole Dining Guide she wears a blouse from Terra boutique.
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DINING & RESTAURANT GUIDE ALPENHOF BISTRO & THE ALPENROSE
THE BLUE LION RESTAURANT
Dining at the Alpenhof is a true delight. Start the day with an European breakfast buffet in the Bistro. Lunch is served on the outside decks or in front of a roaring fire. Dining can be elegant in The Alpenrose or casual in the Alpenhof Bistro while enjoying European inspired fare. Conveniently located at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
For 36 years serving Jackson’ s favorite rack of lamb. Also serving elk, steaks, fresh fish, pasta, poultry and vegetarian entrées. Call about the nightly 20% discount. Live acoustic guitar music most nights. Located in a refurbished historic home. Open nightly at 5:30pm. Reservations recommended.“Ask a local about us.”
Next to the Tram | Teton Village 307.733.3242 www.alpenhoflodge.com/dining
160 North Millward St. | Jackson 307.733.3912 bluelionrestaurant.com
THE BUNNERY BAKERY & RESTAURANT
Famous not only for our wonderful baked goods, but for Jackson's most delicious breakfast with a roster of classic and southwest omelettes and eggs, whole grain waffles and p a n cakes, and the freshest juice this side of the orchard. We proudly brew Starbucks Coffee. Just 1/2 block north of the Town Square. 130 North Cache | Jackson 307.733.5474 bunnery.com
COULOIR RESTAURANT
FULL STEAM SUBS JACKSON HOLE, WY
HAYDEN’S POST RESTAURANT & BAR
Located at the summit of the Bridger Gondola, Couloir is Jackson’ s Hole’ s most unique dining experience. A 3-time recipient of the Wine Spectator Award, Couloir is renowned for exceptional hospitality and a menu featuring American cuisine with Rocky Mountain roots. Dinner Wednesday through Friday at 5:30pm.
We offer a large variety of steamed subs, hot dogs, and many more items. Every day from four to close is Hot Dog Happy Hour, where all hot dogs are 2 for 1. That’ s a great time to try the Chicago Style or the famous Reuben Dog. For healthier option, make any sub a salad. Gluten free options are available as well.
Inspired by its surroundings and local traditions, Hayden’ s Post offers a sophisticated, yet approachable, menu of Mountain West regional cuisine. The rustic atmosphere, with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains, makes Hayden’ s Post the perfect location for an intimate dinner or a celebration with family and friends.
JH Mountain Resort | Teton Village 307.739.2675 jacksonhole.com/couloir-restaurant
180 North Center | Jackson 1 Block North of Town Square 307.733.3448 fullsteamsubs.com
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Snow King Resort | Jackson 307.734.3187 www.haydenspost.com w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
JACKSON HOLE SKIER
DINING & RESTAURANT GUIDE HEIDI’S BROOKLYN DELI
MANGY MOOSE RESTAURANT & SALOON
NIKAI SUSHI ASIAN GRILL & SUSHI BAR
Whatever your "ing" activity may be, hunger will present itself. At Heidi's Brooklyn Deli we're prepared to help you get back to your "ing" by filling your "ing" induced appetite with a delightful and healthy sandwich, salad, wrap, or smoothie. So come on by and let us craft you something satisfying.
Since 1967, the Mangy Moose continues to be a must stop on any visit to Jackson Hole. Enjoy a hearty and affordable breakfast or lunch. Visit the Mangy Moose Saloon (named one of the top ten apres ski bars in the world) for a Spicy Margarita while listening to live music on our stage. Share a delicious dinner with your family in the Mangy Moose Restaurant. Grocery store on our lower level as well. JH Mountain Resort | Teton Village 307.733.4913 | www.mangymoose.com
Enjoy an evening at Jackson’ s favorite sushi bar. Casual, contemporary atmosphere, just 2 blocks north of the Town Square. Fresh fish flown in daily from all over the world we take pride in offering something for everyone. Our open-display grill offers an exceptional variety of Asian inspired cuisine. Full-service bar specializing in creative tropical cocktails, & a unique and affordable wine list.
365 West Broadway | Jackson 307.201.1210 www.heidisbrooklyndeli.com
225 N Cache, Jackson 307.734.6490 www.nikaisushi.com
PICA’S MEXICAN TAQUERIA
SNAKE RIVER BREWING COMAPNY
STIEGLER’S RESTAURANT & COPPER BAR
Pica's menu ranges from tacos & burritos to great salads & authentic dishes from different regions of Mexico, all with homemade corn tortillas. Some favorites are the Baja fish & shrimp tacos, the wet burrito, & homemade chile rellenos. Try our margaritas made with freshsqueezed juices. Featured on Food Network Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
Make yourself at home at Snake River Brewing in the heart of the Teton Mountain Range. All roads, trails, bike paths, climbing routes and ski runs lead to “The Brewpub”! After a day in the great outdoors how can you not partake of a tasty malt beverage and a delicious meal? “The Brewpub”! Open 7 days a week, 11am – 11pm.
1160 Alpine Lane | Jackson Across from Albertson’s | 307.734.4457 www.picastaco.com
265 S. Millward | Jackson 307.739.BEER (2337) www.snakeriverbrewing.com
For a unique and memorable evening come to Stiegler's. For 31 years, host and chef Peter Stiegler has served guests authentic Austrian specialties from his homeland, as well as classic Continental entrees. Come in for apres ski and warm up by the fire where you'll enjoy great food, attentive service and the charming ambiance of a Tyrolean home. Open at 5:30 Tuesday–Sunday. At the Aspens | Teton Village Road 307.733.1071 www.stieglersrestaurant.com
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Cafés start the Day
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Photos Bob Woodall; Top right photo courtesy Genavieve Pain
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afés, beloved haunts of coffee lovers and conversationalists the world over, are no less prized in Jackson Hole. Hints of Paris, the Orient, or city life adorn the décor and menus in these valley cafes. And like their counterparts everywhere, locals gather here to sample handcrafted coffee specialties and kitchen creations, or to press an ear to the valley grapevine hoping for the latest pearls of insight into the slopes, the backcountry, or the bubbling nightlife. Music and art, of course, are also part of café fare, all of it homegrown and shaped by Jackson Hole’s cultural stew. Best of all, no cookie-cutter corporate directives micromanage the tenor of these gathering spots. The feel, food, and libations in these hangouts are as fresh as the crisp, clean mountain air that infuses the lives of the area’s denizens. But best of all, even the mundane is elevated in a Jackson Hole café. — Mike Calabrese
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JACKSON HOLE SKIER
CAFÉ GUIDE LOTUS CAFE ORGANIC
PEARL STREET BAGELS
Located off the beaten path, we serve delicious breakfast & lunches. A made to order menu to suit dietary needs. Pastries, egg wraps/sandwiches, authentic French crepes, a unique vegetarian omelet & burrito, fresh soups, salads, paninis. Organic locally roasted coffee, teas, fresh fruit smoothies, icecream shakes. Relaxing atmosphere, French-Cafe music, WiFi, Parking.
Bakery, breakfast, lunch & dinner. Organic meats, vegetarian, vegan & raw choices. Fresh & vibrant flavors from around the world including American, Asian, Indian, Latin & Thai. Offering entrees, appetizers, soups, salads, smoothies, fresh extracted juices, espresso, tea, full bar & house infused spirits. Accommodates dietary restrictions & allergy related concerns; endless gluten-free choices. 145 N Glenwood | Jackson 307.734.0882 www.tetonlotuscafe.com
It's been our pleasure to make Jackson Hole's best bagels since 1990. In addition to authentic boiled & baked bagels, we have fantastic sandwiches, salads, cookies, muffins, organic coffee, and a full espresso bar. We also offer homemade soups in winter. Come in and see why we were voted the locals' favorite coffee shop for the past five years.
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Alpine, Soups, burgers, brats, & entrees, WY beef Steak. Aprés Ski Swiss, full fondue, Wiener Schnitzel, Jager Schnitzel, wild game & fish
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145 W. Pearl Av. | Jackson Fish Creek Center | Wilson J-307.739.1218 | W-307.739.1261 pearlstreetbagels.com
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Alpenhof Bistro 733-3242 Alpenrose Restaurant 733-3242
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1110 Maple Way | Jackson 307.733.5282 cafebohemejh.com
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Pastries, wraps, sandwiches, crepes, organic coffees, smoothies
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At Bridger Gondola Summit, Seasonal Menu Featuring American Cuisine w/Rocky Mountain Roots, Local Meats
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Couloir Restaurant & Bar at 9,095’ @ JH Mountain Resort 739-2675 Dornan’s Pizza & Pasta 733-2415 X-204
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Full Steam Subs
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Häagen-Dazs 739-1880
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Hayden’s Post 734-3187 at the Snow King Resort
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Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli 307-201-1210
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JH Buffalo Meat Co 733-4159 800-543-6328
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Lotus Cafe Organic 734-0882
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Mangy Moose & RMO Cafe 733-4913
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McDonald’s 733-7444
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Nikai Sushi 734-6490
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Pearl Street Bagels J-739-1218 W-739-1261
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Pica’s Mexican Taqueria 734-4457
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Pinky G’s Pizzeria 734-PINK (7465)
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Snake River Brewing Company and Restaurant 739-BEER
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Stiegler’s Restaurant 733-1071
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Subs, Salads, Chicago Style Dogs, Gluten-free Options & Bread Ice Cream, Espresso, Sorbet, All Natural Gluten Free New American Rustic, Campfire-inspired Fare that matches modern-day tastes with the Favors of the West, Local Meats Brooklyn-style Subs, Salads, Wraps, Smoothies, Desserts, Gluten-free Opt Retail & Mail Order, Natural & Sustainable Buffalo & Elk Meat Organic Meats, Vegetarian, Vegan & Gluten-free Options, Bakery, Pastries, Smoothies, Tonics & Full Bar Hearty & affordable breakfast, lunch, dinners with family Freshly prepared breakfasts & regular menu favorites
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Bagels, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches, Espresso, Organic Coffee Traditional Mexican, Weekend Brunch Pizza, Soups, Salads, Gluten-free Options, Comfort Food, OPEN LATE Wood Fired Pizza, Pastas, Burgers, Local Meats Sandwiches, Soups & Salads Austrian Continental, Classic Continental, Fine Dining, Aprés Ski
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The Restaurant at the Cakebread Ranch 307-883-3474
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Woodfired Authentic Food, Bountiful Organic Farm Fine Dining Experience in beautiful Star Valley, Wyoming
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Village Cafe 732-CAFE
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Reservations: R-Recommended; AC-Accepted;Y-Yes; N-No; OT-Opentable.com; Bar Service: Y-Beer, Wine, Cocktails; B/W-Beer/Wine only; Take-out, Delivery: TO-Take-out; DL-Delivery; CT-Catering; PP-Private Parties ALL JACKSON HOLE RESTAURANTS ARE SMOKE FREE Credit Cards; AE American Express; DS-Discover; MC-Master Card; VI-Visa; Healthy Options: O-Organic/Natural, L-Locally Sourced, S-Sustainable;
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Family Outings Mean Fun
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the cold. A dip in the county rec. center’s hot tub or heated pool will help end the day on a festive note. Anytime, though, is perfect for celebrating in Jackson Hole, say, with a pizza and ice cream party after ice skating on the town square rink! There’s even a kids’ museum in the valley, where parents can hold that fiesta and enroll the young celebrants in craft classes. Jackson makes it easy to keep it in the family. — Mike Calabrese
Photos: Bob Woodall
ackson Hole beckons grownups and kids, outdoors and indoors. Why not make a family affair out of your winter adventure? The whole brood will get a kick out of slope-side antics like skiing under the stars and evening lights. Or tubing down those runs! And there’s always plenty of room on a sleigh ride into the heart of the elk refuge. But sometimes kids—and honestly, parents—have to come in from
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JACKSON HOLE SKIER
KIDS SHOPPING GUIDE
Jackson Hole’ s source for unique children’ s clothing and accessories. Fun, functional, wearable fashions in sizes newborn through“tween.” Kickee Pants, Pure Baby, LeTop, Mimi and Maggie, Nano, Appaman, and many more! 140 E. Broadway | Jackson 307.739.2176 www.tetonkids.com
The widest selection of toys in the area especially Lego, Melissa & Doug, and plush animals.
Jackson Hole’ s only baby boutique! Featuring eco-friendly & locally handcrafted products to enhance the adventure of parenting. A variety of delightful MUST HAVE items for Mama & Baby!
10 E. Broadway South Side of Jackson Town Square Located Inside of Lee's Tees 307-200-6066
245 W Pearl Ave | Jackson 307.200.4904 www.backcountry-baby.com
PINKY G’s PIZZERIA
HÄAGEN-DAZS ICE CREAM
All natural ice cream (Gluten-free flavors available). Non-dairy sorbet, huckleberry shakes, smoothies, sundaes, shakes, espresso drinks, ice cream cakes. We make our own waffle cones! Locally owned and operated. Since 1993, southeast corner of the Jackson Town Square.
90 E. Broadway | Jackson 307.739.1880 www.haagendazs.com
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Affordable new & gently used consigned clothing, shoes, outerwear, toys, baby equipment, bedding and more. Maternity clothing, Preemie to size 12 yrs. Facebook: Just For Kids Jackson Hole Wyoming. 150 Scott Lane | Jackson 307.734.3422 j.forkids@yahoo.com
Cozy up at Pinky G’ s Pizzeria! The local favorite. Located ½ block off Town Square. Televised on Guy Fieri’ s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Voted Best Pizza in Jackson Hole. Try the menu favorite, The Abe Froman, with spiced sausage, mozzarella, and basil. With 20 beers to choose from, full bar & live music, we are sure to keep you entertained. Jackson’ s only place OPEN LATE! 50 W. Broadway | Jackson 307.734.PINK (7465) www.pinkygs.com
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Shopping in a Winter Wonderland
he Teton landscape is something of a mecca—for recreationists, tourists and, admittedly, the lucky inhabitants on both sides of its renowned mountain range. But visitors and locals alike flourish because of the practical, the whimsical, and the soulful. So everyone, in any of these roles, at some point goes shopping. And Jackson Hole’s not a bad place to invest some of those consumer hours. Gear shops, sporting the high-tech and the functional, guide and supply the adventurous in the heart of Wilson and on the Pass’s west side. But gear isn’t the only thing that empowers a life in a mountain community. Area residents depend on— and appreciate—locally owned enterprises for their role in the area lifestyle. Wine and spirits can enliven winter outings, dinners at condos, even meals at restaurants. And everyone has occasion to say thanks to someone special, perhaps with artisan creations, flowers and, yes, art! — Mike Calabrese
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Photo Bob Woodall
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JACKSON HOLE SKIER
SHOPPING GUIDE
Intergalactic Headquarters of all things pow, dirt, and style located in inner-city Driggs on the main level of the Colter Building. Your quest for the Teton lifestyle is understood here. Good times for the Tetons and beyond. . . Think HABITAT for bike, snow, fish, and mountain style.
A flower shop in the rustic European and country tradition. Offering the best quality Flowers, Designs, and Event Services for 4 generations. Same day delivery for Teton County areas & nationwide delivery with our Certified Floral Network. Call or visit our website to order.
Inner City | Driggs, Idaho 208.354.7669 http://ridethetetons.com/
180 N. Center St. | Jackson, WY 83001 P - 307.733.2500 www.jhflowerboutique.com info@jhflowerboutique.com
Thirsty after an exhilarating day in the winter wonderland we call Jackson Hole? Stop by Westside Wine and Spirits in the Aspens on Teton Village Road for a savory wine, scrumptious beer, or tempting spirit. Our knowledgable staff are here everyday from 10am-9pm.
$UW IRU /L YL QJ Jackson’ s most diverse gallery and gift shop. Locals and visitors alike are thrilled to see the great selection of “cool stuff.” Handmade accessories, home furnishings, fine art, pottery, jewelry and gifts for all occasions are artfully displayed in every room.
At the Aspens | Teton Village Road 307.733.5038 www.westsidewinejh.com
265 W Pearl Ave | Jackson 307.733.4619 www.wildhands.com
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The highest quality, hand-crafted, one of a kind American Indian Art. Specializing in exceptional award-winning Navajo Rugs & Pueblo Pottery, Two Grey Hills also carries a BEAUTIFUL selection of contemporary & traditional Native American fine jewelry. 110 East Broadway | Jackson 307.733.2677 www.fineindianart.com
WILSON BACKCOUNTRY SPORTS
The local’ s backcountry ski shop located at the base of Teton Pass. We can outfit you with the right ski gear from the leading brands to enjoy our awesome backcounty. Rentals for randonee, telemark & cross-country skiing & snowshoes. Experienced ski techs give tuning & repairs. Fish Creek Center | Wilson 307.733.5228 | wilsonbackcountry.com
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Directory
APRÉS SKI | BREW PUBS | BACKCOUNTRY GUIDES | CUSTOM SKIS | DINING | HELI-SKIING
APRÉS SKI, BREW PUBS, LOUNGES, LIQUOR & WINE GRAND TARGHEE RESORT
of soup. Stop by for dinner on weekends and holidays for authentic Mexican cuisine. PG 37 THE TRAP BAR & GRILLE World Famous Trap Bar is THE place to go after skiing the best powder in the West. Enjoy great food, great drinks, and live music almost every weekend. PG 37
THE TRAP BAR & GRILLE World Famous Trap Bar is THE place to go after skiing the best powder in the West. Great food, great drinks, and live music almost every weekend. We also offer the White Lightnin’ Invitational Open Mic every Tuesday afternoon. (800) TARGHEE, GrandTarghee.com PG 37
WILD BILL’S GRILL Treat yourself to authentic Mexican fare, salsa, burgers, homemade chili, soups, pizza, and more all at Wild Bill’s inside Rendezvous Lodge. New this year, Wild Bill’s will offer fresh pizza inside the Arcade during weekends and holiday evenings. PG 37
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, MOOSE
DORNAN’S PIZZA & PASTA Specialty pizzas, calzones, salads, pastas, sandwiches. Enjoy great food & the best view of the Tetons. Full-service bar, open for lunch. M-F 11:30-3; Sat/Sun 11:30-5; Bar 10-6. 733-2415 ext 204. PG 79
DORNAN’S PIZZA & PASTA Enjoy great food & the best view of the Tetons. Full-service bar, open for lunch. Wine & Liquor store. M-F 11:30-3; Sat/Sun 11:30-5; Bar 10-6. 733-2415 ext 204. PG 79
JACKSON SNAKE RIVER BREWERY The Great American Beer Festival’s Small Brewery of The Year, 2000 & 2001. Serving tasty brews, delicious pizzas, pastas & sandwiches. Free WiFi. From 11:30 am to Midnight, 7 days a week. 739-2337 PG 101 WYOMING WHISKEY - Wyoming wasn't made by man. Wyoming is a singular blend of earth, rock, wood, grains, water weather and a whole lot of time. Same for the whiskey. Distilled, aged and bottled in Kirby, Wyoming. wyomingwhiskey.com PG 2
JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT – TETON VILLAGE ALPENHOF BISTRO Located next to the Tram in the Alpenhof Lodge. Breakfast, lunch, aprés, dinner, full bar, fondue, beer, pretzels, brats, warm fireplace. 307-733-3242 PG 100 MANGY MOOSE SALOON Since 1967, the Mangy Moose continues to be a must stop on any visit to Jackson Hole. The Mangy Moose Saloon has been named one of the top ten apres ski bars in the world. Enjoy a Spicy Margarita while listening to live music on our stage. Wine, beer & liquor store on our lower level. 307-733-4913, mangymoose.com PG 101 NICK WILSON'S COWBOY CAFE Located next to the Tram. Breakfast, lunch, daily specials, burgers, pizza, snacks and more. Vibrant Après Ski Happy Hour 3-6pm with food and drink specials. PG 11 VILLAGE CAFE In the Inn at Jackson Hole. Breakfast, lunch, & Aprés Ski, dinner until late. Espresso, baked goods, wraps, sandwiches & the best pizza. 7am-10pm. Locals' aprés ski spot with full bar. 307-732-CAFE PG 15
TETON VILLAGE ROAD-ASPENS & TETON PINES STIEGLERS Come in for aprés ski and warm up by the fire where you'll enjoy great food, attentive service and the charming ambiance of a Tyrolean home. Open at 5:30 Tuesday–Sunday. Teton Village Road, At the Aspens, 307-733-1071, stieglersrestaurant.com PG 101 TETON PINES HAPPY HOUR Wednesday–Saturday 4 pm to 6pm. Aprés in the Teton Pines Country Club Lounge & enjoy 1/2 off ALL DRINKS & our under $10 Aprés Menu! 3450 N. Clubhouse Drive (307) 733-1005, tetonpines.com PG 97 WESTSIDE WINE & SPIRITS Thirsty after an exhilarating day? Stop by Westside Wine and Spirits in the Aspens on Teton Village Road for a savory wine, scrumptious beer, or tempting spirit. Our knowledgeable staff are here everyday from 10am-9pm. At the Aspens | Teton Village Road 307-733-5038, westsidewinejh.com PG 107
BACKCOUNTRY GUIDE SERVICES EXUM MOUNTAIN GUIDES Avalanche instruction, winter mountaineering, ice climbing at the Exum Ice Park, camps for everyone: Ski & Snowboard mountaineer clinics, Live-to-Ski Camp, Fantasy Camp, Moran Camp, backcountry ski weeks for women. Private backcountry ski trips daily. 307-733-2297, exumguides.com PG 41 GRAND TARGHEE RESORT FREE MOUNTAIN TOURS Backcountry Tours, and Early Tracks programs with our professional guides. (800)-TARGHEE or GrandTarghee.com PG 37 JACKSON HOLE BACKCOUNTRY GUIDES Experience the Teton backcountry with a certified guide to reach untracked powder and challenging runs. Call Jackson Hole Mountain Sports School, 307-739-2779, jacksonhole.com PG 45 JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN GUIDES Since 1968. Join JHMG for a day of untracked powder & solitude. Novice to expert ski tours, Teton ski mountaineering, Level 1,2 & 3 avalanche courses & ice climbing. AMGA accredited.307-733-4979, jhmg.com PG 43 TETON BACKCOUNTRY GUIDES Operates the only hut system in the Tetons, allowing you an unparalleled backcountry experience with our professional guides. Since 1986. Daily Tours for all abilities in Grand Teton Park & Teton Pass. 307.353.2900, SkiTheTetons.com PG 45
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, MOOSE
DORNAN’S TRADING POST GROCERY Open 8-5 daily. Gourmet cheeses & specialty foods, full grocery, gas available 24 hour. ATM 733-2415, ext 201; In the Moose Village, Grand Teton National Park. PG 79
JACKSON-TETON VILLAGE ROAD-STAR VALLEY BLUE LION RESTAURANT For 36 years serving Jackson’s favorite rack of lamb. Also elk, steaks, fresh fish, pasta, poultry and vegetarian entrées. Call about the nightly 20% discount. Reservations recommended. 160 North Millward, 307-733-3912, bluelionrestaurant.com PG 97 THE BUNNERY Best breakfast in town, served all day. Fresh baked pastries & we proudly brew Starbucks Coffee. On North Cache, 1 block north of the town square. 733-5474 PG 100 CAFÉ BOHÈME Off the beaten path, delicious breakfast & lunch. Pastries, egg wraps/sandwiches, authentic French crepes, a unique vegetarian omelet & burrito, fresh soups, salads, paninis. Organic locally roasted coffee, teas, fresh-fruit smoothies, ice cream shakes. 1110 Maple Way, 307-733-5282, cafebohemejh.com PG 103 FULL STEAM SUBS Large variety of steamed subs, hot dogs, and salads. Every day 4pm to close is Hot Dog Happy Hour, 2 for 1 dogs. Make any sub a salad. Gluten free options. 180 North Center,1 Block North of Town Square 307-733-3448, fullsteamsubs.com PG 100 HÄAGEN DAZS All natural ice cream (gluten-free available). Sorbet, Huckleberry shakes, smoothies, espresso, ice cream cakes, sundaes. Locally owned and operated since 1993. SE corner of the Jackson Town Square. 90 E. Broadway, 307-739-1880, haagendazs.com PG 105 HAYDEN’S POST Inspired Campfire Cuisine in a modern rustic setting with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. Craft beers and tempting local dishes offer an authentic wyoming experience. In the Snow King Hotel, 307-734-3187, snowking.com PG 100 HEIDI’S BROOKLYN DELI Classic deli sandwiches along with creative selections that will satisfy your hunger. Made with fresh ingredients and homemade breads, gluten free and vegan options also available. 365 West Broadway, 307-201-1210 PG 101 JACKSON HOLE BUFFALO MEAT Buffalo: jerky, salami, smoked roast, steaks & burger. Elk: steaks, burger & jerky. Gift packs, smoked trout & more! Free Samples. Certified 100% natural. We ship. In Smith’s Plaza. 733-4159/800-543-6328, jhbuffalomeat.com PG 115 LOTUS CAFE ORGANIC Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Organic meats, vegetarian, vegan & raw choices. From around the world including American, Asian, Indian, Latin & Thai. Entrees, appetizers, soups, salads, smoothies, fresh juices, espresso, tea, full bar & house infused spirits. Endless gluten-free choices. 145 N Glenwood, 307-734-0882, tetonlotuscafe.com PG 103 McDONALD’S® OF JACKSON HOLE Where quality, service, cleanliness & value are a tradition. Featuring McDonald’s® freshly prepared breakfasts & regular menu favorites. WiFi available for your convenience. 5:00am–midnight. 1110 West Broadway at highway 22. PG 33 NIKAI SUSHI Enjoy an evening at Jackson’s favorite sushi bar. Casual, contemporary atmosphere, just 2 blocks north of the Town Square. Fresh fish flown in daily. 307-734-6490, nikaisushi.com PG 101 PEARL STREET BAGELS Offers authentic boiled and baked bagels, sandwiches, salads, soup, cookies, muffins, organic coffee, and a full espresso bar. Open daily from 6:30am-6pm in Jackson and Wilson. J-307-739-1218, W-739-1261 PG 101 PICA’S MEXICAN TAQUERIA Tacos, burritos, salads & authentic dishes from different regions of Mexico. Favorites are the Baja fish & shrimp tacos, the wet burrito, & homemade chile rellenos. Margaritas made with fresh-squeezed juices. 1160 Alpine Lane, 307-734-4457, picastaco.com PG 97 PINKY G’S PIZZERIA Cozy up! Voted Best Pizza in Jackson Hole. Located 1 block off Town Square. Televised on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We have 20 beers to choose from, full bar & live music, we are sure to keep you entertained. Jackson’s only place OPEN LATE! 50 W. Broadway 307.734.PINK(7465) pinkygs.com PG 105
BUS SERVICE
SNAKE RIVER BREWERY & RESTAURANT The Great American Beer Festival’s Small Brewery of The Year, 2000 & 2001. Serving tasty brews, burgers, delicious pizzas, pastas & sandwiches. Free WiFi. From 11:30 am to Midnight, 7 days a week. 739-2337, snakeriverbrewing.com PG 101
GRAND TARGHEE EXPRESS Daily transportation from Jackson Hole & Teton Village to Grand Targhee.307-734-9SKI PG 37 START BUS Jackson to Teton Village – Schedules , routes & fares are available at bus stops, lodgings & information centers. 733-4521
STIEGLERS For a unique and memorable evening come to Stiegler's. For 31 years, host and chef Peter Stiegler has served guests authentic Austrian specialties from his homeland, as well as classic Continental entrees. Open at 5:30 Tuesday–Sunday. Teton Village Road, At the Aspens, 307-733-1071, stieglersrestaurant.com PG 101
CUSTOM MADE SKIS – FACTORY DIRECT
THE PINES RESTAURANT Creative American bistro cuisine with internationally inspired offerings. Steak, fish, vegetarian options. (307) 733-1005, tetonpines.com PG 97
IGNEOUS Custom Skis, hand-crafted in Jackson Hole. 734-8788, igneousskis.com PG 83
THE RESTAURANT AT THE CAKEBREAD RANCH Located in Star Valley, Wyoming. We offer an unmatched wading experience, a bountiful organic farm and a pristine fine dining restaurant. 307-883-3474, thecakebreadranch.com PG 4
MAIDEN SKIS believes skis should be as unique as the skier. Handcrafted custom skis tailored for your skiing style with graphics you design. Made in Jackson Hole. 307-264-1640 maidenskis.com PG 85
DINING – RESTAURANTS – CAFÉS GRAND TARGHEE RESORT THE BRANDING IRON GRILL Enjoy lunch and dinner daily while dining slope side with your family. We offer a welcoming atmosphere that is upscale, casual, and family friendly. Reservations (800) TARGHEE or GrandTarghee.com PG 37 SNORKEL’S CAFE AND BISTRO Slopeside bistro, enjoy a cup of hot coffee or cappuccino with a Wyoming-style breakfast burrito; come back for lunch for a fresh sandwich with a steaming cup
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JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT – TETON VILLAGE ALPENHOF BISTRO Next to the Tram in the Alpenhof Lodge. Serving breakfast, lunch, aprés ski, and dinner. A locals’ favorite serving European-style meals. Soups, burgers, brats, and entrees. Great deck outside, roaring fire inside. 307-733-3242, alpenhoflodge.com PG 100 ALPENROSE RESTAURANT Located next to the tram in the Alpenhof Lodge. Enjoy a relaxed dining experience with contemporary cuisine. Guests favorites Wiener Schnitzel, Jager Schnitzel, as well as wild game and fish entrees. Open for dinner 6-9pm, reservations recommended, 307-733-3242, alpenhoflodge.com PG 100 MANGY MOOSE Since 1967, the Mangy Moose continues to be a must stop on any visit to w w w. f o c u s p r o d u c t i o n s . c o m
JEWELERY | ART | LODGING | MEDICAL SERVICES | MUSIC | PHOTOGRAPHY | RESORTS Jackson Hole. Enjoy a hearty and affordable breakfast or lunch. Share a delicious dinner with your family in the Mangy Moose Restaurant. Grocery store on our lower level as well. 307733-4913, mangymoose.com PG 101
US POST OFFICE: Teton Village: M-F 9:30-4, Sat 9-12, 733-3575; In Jackson: New P.O.-corner of Powderhorn Ln & Maple Way; Old P.O.-corner of Pearl Av. & Millward St. 733-3650.
NICK WILSON’S COWBOY CAFE in the Tram building, daily specials, sandwiches, burgers, chili, pizza & beer, wine & liquor. Breakfast-lunch & aprés ski, 7:30am-6pm daily, happy hour 3-6pm. PG 11
JEWELRY – ART – FLOWERS
VILLAGE CAFE In the Inn at Jackson Hole. Breakfast, lunch & Aprés Ski. Espresso, baked goods, wraps, sandwiches & the best pizza. 7am-10pm. Local's aprés ski spot with full bar. 732-CAFE PG 15
JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT – ON THE MOUNTAIN CASPER RESTAURANT Cozy mid-mountain skiers/boarders retreat. Specialty burgers, burritos, a warm up station serving hot drinks with a kick, and a new Bloody Mary Bar. PG 15 CAFE 6311 Base of the Bridger Gondola, serving toasted bagels, breakfast burritos, ever popular wrap sandwiches, and espresso and coffee drinks served all day. PG 15
DANSHELLEY JEWELERS Wyoming’s Finest Jewelry Experience since 1976! From diamonds & elk ivory, to Teton & wildlife originals & exquisite one-of-a-kinds! This gallery transcends the ordinary! Downtown in Gaslight Alley, just off the Town Square. 125 N. Cache, 307-733-2259, DanShelley.com PG 7 HINES GOLDSMITHS Since 1970 Exclusive Desigers of Teton Jewelry Collection from exquisite gold & diamond pave to sterling silver; handmade gold & silver charms, hand-etched crystal & barware w/the Tetons, Wyoming Bucking Bronco & wildlife. 80 Center St, East side ot the town square. 307-733-5599, hinesgold.com PG 97
CORBET'S CABIN Top-of-the-World waffles at the top of the tram on Rendezvous Mountain, quick snacks, hot drinks with unlimited views that are on the house. PG 15
JH FLOWER BOUTIQUE A flower shop In the Rustic European and Country Tradition. Offering only the best quality flowers, designs and event services. Delivery available sameday in Jackson Hole and nationwide. Order online, or call or email. 180 N Center, 307-7332500, info@jhflowerboutique.com, www.jhflowerboutique.com PG 107
COULOIR RESTAURANT Fine dining at 9,095 ft. Step off the Gondola and walk into this contemporary and elegant restaurant. Exceptional hospitality, delectable locally-sourced American cuisine with Rocky Mountain roots. Lunch daily, dinner Wednesday-Friday. Reservations recommended for dinner. 307-739-2675, jacksonhole.com PG 15
TWO GREY HILLS INDIAN ARTS & JEWELRY The highest quality, hand-crafted, one of a kind American Indian Art. Specializing in exceptional award-winning Navajo Rugs & Pueblo Pottery, Two Grey Hills also carries a BEAUTIFUL selection of contemporary & traditional Native American fine jewelry. 110 East Broadway, 307.733.2677, fineindianart.com PG 107
OFF-PISTE MARKET Located at the top of the Bridger Gondola. Offering hot Sicilian pizza, grab and go items, and other ski essentials. Great view of Rendezvous Mountain and Corbet’s Couloir. PG 15
WILD HANDS ART FOR LIVING Best selection of fine art handmade gifts, pottery, home accessories, furniture, mirrors, lamps and more. Very unique handmade items. 265 W. Pearl Ave. 307-733-4619, wildhands.com PG 107
RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AT 9,095 FT. Offering fresh salads, soups, Asian bowls and stir fries, grill meats and baked potatoes. Great view of Rendezvous Mountain and Corbet’s Couloir. PG 15
KIDS SHOPS
HELI & CAT–SKIING
JACKSON
ALASKA RENDEZVOUS LODGE & HELI GUIDES, a full-service lodge, operates out of Valdez, Alaska, from March 1 through September. We offer full-service guides for Heli-skiing, whitewater rafting & fishing. 307-734-0721, 907-822-3300, arlinc.com PG 59
BACKCOUNTRY BABY Promoting natural and locally made essentials. Organic and Bamboo Baby apparel/ bedding. Maternity and nursing clothing. Unique gifts, baby registries, and gift delivery services. A small boutique with a lot to offer! 245 W. Pearl Ave, 307-200-4904, backcountry-baby.com PG 105
GRAND TARGHEE SNOWCAT POWDER ADVENTURES Over 600 acres reserved for the ultimate powder experience. Breathtaking views of the Grand Tetons and over 500 inches annual snowfall. Half & Full Day options available. (800)-TARGHEE, GrandTarghee.com PG 37
JUST FOR KIDS Affordable new & gently used consigned clothing, shoes, outerwear, toys, baby equipment, bedding and more. Maternity clothing, Preemie to size 12 yrs. Facebook: Just For Kids Jackson Hole Wyoming. 150 Scott Lane, 307-734-3422, j.forkids@yahoo.com PG 105
HIGH MOUNTAIN HELI-SKIING flies skiers into the mountains around Jackson Hole for daylong powder-skiing excursions for intermediate to expert skiers. 733-3274, heliskijackson.com
TETON KIDS Jackson Hole’s source for unique children’s clothing and accessories. Fun functional, wearable fashions in sizes newborn through “tween.” Kickee Pants, Pure Baby, Letop, Mimi & Maggie, Nano, Appaman, and many more! 140 E. Broadway, 307-739-2176, tetonkids.com PG 105
POINTS NORTH HELI-ADVENTURES Experience Alaska’s legendary Chugach Range. With over 2,000 square miles of terrain, world-class guides, and 3 A-Star helicopters on-site, our allinclusive trips will immerse you in the Alaska you’ve always dreamed of. (877) 787-6784, alaskaheliski.com PG 57 VALDEZ HELI-SKI GUIDES Our heli-skiing is unlike anything you could ever imagine. Runs are long & adventurous, up to 5,000 vertical. Deep powder is the norm. We cater to advanced & expert skiers & riders so groups are always small. 907-835-4528, valdezheliskiguides.com PG 61
ICE SKATING SNOW KING CENTER at the base of Snow King Ski Area offers indoor daily public skating. For an updated schedule and prices call 734-3000 PG 29 OWEN BIRCHER PARK Outdoor public rink, illuminated 6-10 p.m. nightly, downtown Wilson 733-5056.
TETON TOYS Best selection of toys and games in the region especially Lego, Melissa & Doug, and plush animals. Huge play area for the kids! Located on the Town Square inside of Lee’s Tees. 307-200-6066, tetontoys.com PG 105
LODGING GRAND TARGHEE GRAND TARGHEE RESORT’S selection of slopeside rooms will fit any style budget. The mountain village and rustic base area offers all the necessities to shopping, dining and access to 2,600 diverse acres. In-town vacation homes offer great access to Teton Valley and the resort. (800) TARGHEE, GrandTarghee.com PG 111
INFORMATION – SERVICES
GRAND TARGHEE SPA After a day on the mountain enjoy a massage or a soak in their heated outdoor saltwater pool and hot tub. 1-800-TARGHEE PG 111
AVALANCHE HAZARD & WEATHER FORECAST 307-733-2664, jhavalanche.org
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, MOOSE
FOCUSPRODUCTIONS.COM Subscribe to our magazines, order posters & photography. Read the online editions of Jackson Hole Skier, Teton & Yellowstone Country Adventure Guide, & the Jackson Hole Dining Guide. focusproductions.com.
DORNAN’S SPUR RANCH CABINS 1 & 2 bedroom log cabins with full kitchen & living room. Located on the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park at Moose, with breathtaking views of the Tetons. 307-733-2522, dornans.com/cabins PG 79
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK 307-739-3300
JACKSON
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 307-344-7381
ANTLER INN Downtown Jackson. 100 units, hot tub, some fireplaces & suites, meeting room, fitness room. Ski & snowmobile packages available & ski shuttle. 43 W Pearl. 307-733-2535 or 1-800-522-2406, townsquareinns.com PG 32
JACKSON HOLE & GREATER YELLOWSTONE VISITORS’ CENTER on North Cache Street in Jackson has information on all activities in the area. Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00, Sat-Sun 10-2 pm. or call the JACKSON HOLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 733-3316 JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT GUEST SERVICE Located next to the tram ticket windows. Information on mountain/valley activities & events, daily snow & weather conditions, vertical foot club, lost & found. 307-739-2753, jacksonhole.com PG 11
COWBOY VILLAGE RESORT In the heart of Jackson Hole, offers 82 individual log cabins accommodating groups of 2–6 people. Property amenities include kitchens in all cabins and two hot tubs. Ski & snowmobile packages available & ski shuttle.120 South Flat Creek Drive. 307-733-3121 or 800-962-4988, townsquareinns.com PG 32
JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN HOSTS Complimentary Mountain orientation tours leave from the front of Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village at 9:30 am daily. Hosts can answer questions & assist with anything from directions to off mountain activities. 307-739-2697 PG 11
ELK COUNTRY INN 88 units with 25 new log cabins. Family units with lofts. Hot tub & guest laundry. Ski & snowmobile packages available & ski shuttle. 480 W Pearl, 733-2364 or 800-4TETONS, townsquareinns.com PG 32
JACKSON HOLE SKI CLUB Since 1938 has provided a ski education foundation for Alpine, Nordic & Snowboard junior racers. For discounts on local services & merchandise, buy a membership at local ski shops. 733-6433
JACKSON HOLE SUPER 8 Experience true western hospitality in the heart of Jackson Hole. Complimentary breakfast, evening popcorn, free wireless internet, microwave/refrigerator. Custom packages & group rates. 750 S Hwy 89, Jackson, 800-800-8000/307-733-6833, jacksonholesuper8.com PG 111
LOST OR STOLEN SKIS should be reported to the Sheriff’s Office 733-4052 or through the Guest Service Center, 739-2753. SKI & SNOWBOARD STORAGE & LOCKERS Leave your gear at the mountain, convenient lockers & basket check available at the Bridger Center. 307-739-2755 PG 11 SKI & SNOWBOARD STORAGE & LOCKERS @ THE HOSTEL Affordable ski lockers hold 2-4 pairs of skis OR 2 snowboards. Storage for 2 pairs of boots + boot drying$600 per season when paid by cash/check. Daily($15) and weekly($90) lockers too. 307-733-3415, info@thehostel.us PG 111 TETON COUNTY LIBRARY has 50,000 books including a skiing and mountain climbing section, periodicals, newspapers, historical information and photographs. M-Th 10-9, Fri 10-5:30, Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5. Closed legal holidays. Corner of Snow King & Virginian Lane. 733-2164 w w w . j h s k i e r. n e t
49ER INN AND SUITES Downtown Jackson. 142 units, 30 fireplace suites, indoor & outdoor hot tubs-fitness room, meeting facilities, continental breakfast. Ski & snowmobile packages available & ski shuttle. 330 W Pearl, 307-733-7550, 800-451-2980,townsquareinns.com PG 32 PAINTED BUFFALO INN provides comfortable lodging in the heart of downtown Jackson. Swimming pool, sauna, continental breakfast, WiFi & in room mini-fridges and microwaves. Shuttle stops are just a few of the conveniences we offer our guest. 400 W. Broadway, 800288-3866 / 307-733-4340, paintedbuffaloinn.com PG 111
JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT - TETON VILLAGE ALPENHOF LODGE European style lodging & dining at the base of JHMR. Hot tub, pool, sauna, massage therapy, all in a cozy lodge setting with friendly professional staff. Many 2 0 1 5 JAC KS O N H O L E S K I E R
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Directory
SNOWSPORTS SCHOOLS | SLEDDOGS | SPORTS SHOPS & APPAREL | TUBE PARKS
rooms feature fireplaces and/or balconies & everyone enjoys a complimentary breakfast to start the day. 307-733-3242, alpenhoflodge.com PG 111 THE HOSTEL Recognized for its value, location, and atmosphere, the Hostel is a Jackson Hole tradition. Our guest rooms have either a king bed or four twin beds, private bathrooms, daily housekeeping service, and access to our game room. All this and the lowest slope side rates. Private Room: $59-105, Bunks: $28-36 each. 307-733-3415, thehostel.us PG 111 JACKSON HOLE RESORT LODGING Conveniently located next to the Teton Village Market, slopeside lodging & accommodation for all seasons. Affordable condos to luxury vacation homes, perfect for family getaways & reunions. 800-443-8613, 307-733-3990, jhrl.com PG 111
MEDICAL SERVICES & EMERGENCY CARE ST. JOHN'S CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN ORTHOPAEDICS Jackson Hole's orthopaedic specialists are renowned for their experience in knee, hip or shoulder replacement procedures and Stateof-the-art technology. 888-739-7499 or visit tetonhospital.org/coe PG 5 ST. JOHN’S CLINIC AT TETON VILLAGE Medical Clinic for winter sports injuries and ailments. Open 7 days a week during ski season. Staffed with board-certified emergency medicine physicians. Located at the Kids Ranch Building, Cody House, 307-739-7346. PG 49 ST. JOHN’S FAMILY HEALTH & URGENT CARE Walk-ins welcome. X-ray & laboratory services on-site so doctors can assess & treat your condition promptly. Open extended hours, evenings & weekends. In the Smith’s Plaza, 1415 S. Hwy 89, 307-739-8999 PG 49 ST. JOHN’S 4 PEAKS CLINIC IN TETON VALLEY IDAHO Mon - Fri: 8:30 am - 6:30 pm; Saturdays: 8:30 am - 12:30 pm. 852 Valley Center Drive, Driggs, Idaho, 208 354 4757 PG 49 ST. JOHN’S EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT Staffed 24/7 by board-certified emergency medicine physicians. St. John’s offers comprehensive hospital care including diagnostic imaging, certified Clinical Laboratory & Surgery Center services. 625 E. Broadway, 307-733-3636 PG 49 TETON ORTHOPAEDICS has a team of doctors and physical therapists that offer a full spectrum of medical care devoted to diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. Same-day appointments available. 555 E. Broadway, next to St. John’s Medical Center, 307-733-3900, 800-6591335, tetonortho.com PG 50
MUSIC NOTEWORTHY MUSIC AGENCY Provides entertainment for all types of occasions. Call Mike Calabrese, 307-733-5459, jhnoteworthy@gmail.com, noteworthymusicagency.com pg 110
PHOTOGRAPHY & CAMERAS DD CAMERA CORRAL Jackson’s oldest full-service camera store. Binoculars, digital & film cameras, including Nikon, Canon, Leica. Friendly & knowledgeable staff. 2-hour film & digital processing. 60 So. Cache, across from Eddie Bauer. 307-733-3831 PG 3, 113 & 114
SKI & SNOWBOARD RESORTS GRAND TARGHEE RESORT Is a year round mountain resort situated on the western slope of the Tetons in Alta, Wyoming, accessible through Teton Valley, Idaho. Home to 500 annual inches and the most snowfall in Wyoming. (800) TARGHEE, GrandTarghee.com PG 37 JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT General Info 1-888-DEEP-SNO; snow conditions 307733-2291; Ski School and activities 307-739-2779, jacksonhole.com PG 11 SNOW KING MOUNTAIN RESORT is a hub for every kind of winter activity, offering downhill and cross country skiing, snowshoeing, ice climbing, tubing and much more. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 4pm. 307-733-3194, snowkingmountain.com PG 29 SNOW KING NIGHT SKIING Open 4pm – 7pm Tuesday through Saturday, Rafferty and Cougar lifts. Night skiing on Snow King is both convenient and a unique way to enjoy the evening. (307) 7333194 PG 29
SKIING–NORDIC SKI CENTERS GRAND TARGHEE NORDIC CENTER Featuring 15km of groomed classic and skate-specific trails. Snowbikes allowed on trails with rentals from Teton Mountain Outfitters. (800) TARGHEE, GrandTarghee.com PG 37 NORDIC CENTERS Six maintained tracks and centers are open to the public in the Jackson Hole & Yellowstone area. TETON PINES Over ten miles of groomed trails, Teton views, ski rentals, ski instruction, and a warm Clubhouse. 307-733-1005, tetonpines.com PG 97
SKI & SNOWBOARD SCHOOLS GRAND TARGHEE SNOWSPORTS SCHOOL Our certified professionals provide a comprehensive experience for you and the family. Featuring a range of children’s lessons, daycare, group or private lessons in alpine, nordic, snowboard, telemark and adaptive disciplines. 1-(800)TARGHEE, GrandTarghee.com PG 37 JACKSON HOLE KIDS RANCH Located in the Cody House at JHMR. Infant & child care: ages 6 month- 3 years. Ski/snowboard programs for ages 3-17 years. Kids Ranch participants experience Fort Wyoming, an outdoor playground with a Magic Carpet surface lift. Teen camps available during Christmas, President's Week and Spring Break. 307-739-2788. PG 11 JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN SPORTS SCHOOL The complete mountain experience with children’s programs, private and group ski, snowboard, telemark or adaptive lessons, and specialty camps. 307-739-2779 PG 11 SNOW KING MOUNTAIN SPORTS SCHOOL The Sports School offers all day, three hour and two hour private lessons, am or pm, all and half day group lessons, children’s privates and season long programs. 307-733-3188 PG 29
SLED DOG ADVENTURES JACKSON HOLE IDITAROD SLED DOG ADVENTURES Half & full day trips into the Teton backcountry & Granite Hot Springs. Learn mushing first hand, drive your own sled team. Meals, transportation, supplemental clothing provided. 307-733-7388, Email-bark@jhsled-
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dog.com, jhsleddog.com PG 53
SPORTS SHOPS, SKI RENTAL & APPAREL GRAND TARGHEE RESORT – DRIGGS, IDAHO TETON MOUNTAIN OUTFITTERS AND BOARD SHOP The latest styles & gear for men, women & children. Our master boot fitters are on hand to customize your boots. The Board Shop is your slope side specialty snowboard shop for traditional decks, powder boards, specialty boards and split boarding alike. (800)-TARGHEE, GrandTarghee.com PG 37 HABITAT HIGH ALTITUDE PROVISIONS Provides top-shelf service, outdoor equipment and clothing. The right skiing, snowboarding backcountry clothing and other high altitude provisions in Driggs Idaho.1-208-354-SNOW (7669), Habitat@grandtarghee.com PG 107
JACKSON – TETON VILLAGE – WILSON DOOR 2 DOOR Ski Rentals delivers high quality equipment to homes, hotels, and condos in Jackson and Teton Village. Located at 650 West Broadway and at the Hostel. 307-733-4077 d2dskis.com PG 89 DPS designs the world’s most advanced skis. Inspired by a vision to make perfect skis DPS introduced the world’s first and only Pure prepreg carbon fiber sandwich ski, transferred the word “rocker” from surfing to skiing—then built the first rockered ski with sidecut—and unleashed the Spoon and Spoon Technology. dpsskis.com PG 25 HOBACK SPORTS Featuring the latest Wintersteiger tuning machines. Overnight repairs, full ski & snowboard rental shop, retail sales of major brands, specializing in expert boot-fitting. Located in Jackson at 520 W. Broadway. 733-5335 PG 31 HOLE IN THE WALL SNOWBOARD SHOP The original Teton Village snowboard shop. Upstairs in the Bridger Center. The latest from Burton, Arc’teryx, Smith, Anon, Oakley & more. A great hang out area for all ages with soft couches, TVs featuring the latest snowboard flicks, cool staff and the occasional sighting of some of the JH Snowboard athletes! 307.739.2689 PG 11 JD HIGH COUNTRY OUTFITTERS Purveyors of outdoor gear in Jackson, quality outdoor apparel, guiding services, footwear, skiing, firearms and camping equipment for over forty years. On the Jackson Town Square, 50 East Broadway, 733-3270, jdhcoutfitters.com PG 19 JH SKIS Delivers the best powder and all mountain ski equipment right to your door. Atomic, Rossignal, Jones Snowboards, Poc. Three locations in Jackson and Teton Village. Monday Sunday, 7am-7pm. 307-413-9300, www.jhskis.com PG 115 JACKSON HOLE SPORTS The mountain ski shop. In the Bridger Center at the base of the Gondola. Largest selection of fashion, technical outerwear and accessories from Marmot, Kjus, Patagonia, Mountain Hardwear, Smith, Oakley and Giro. Skis and boots from Rossignol, K2, Salomon, Fischer, Dynastar and Atomic. Custom boot fitting, precision tunes and repairs from an experienced staff. 307-739-2687 PG 11 PEPI STIEGLER’S Skiers and snowboarders alike, we take care of it all. Let our staff assist you in finding the perfect equipment, from the right base layer to the perfect ski boot. We provide you with exactly what you need. Two locations in Teton Village, in the Olympic Plaza, 733-4505, and the Alpenhof 733-6838, pepistieglers.com PG 19 PETER GLEN SKI & SPORTS Huge selection of ski & snowboard clothing equipment & accessories for men, women, & children, including Spyder, Obermeyer, Bogner, Burton, K2 & more! PeterGlenn.com PG 88 STIO Designed and Developed in Jackson Hole. Stio is apparel you can live in- in both the epic and quieter moments of outdoor life. Visit Stio's Mountain Studio at 10 East Broadway (Cache St. Entrance), Jackson, Wyoming. (307) 201-1890, www.stio.com PG 21 TETON VILLAGE SPORTS Jackson Hole’s oldest and most trusted ski shop. Performance oriented product lines from Noronna, Arc’teryx, Patagonia, Bogner, Fire and Ice, Volkl, Tecnica, Rossignol, Salomon and more. TVS will make your skiing and shopping experience exceptional. A great selection of high performance demo skis and professional boot fitters always on staff, you will realize why TVS is the choice for skiers looking for the best. 307-733-2181 PG 116 WILSON BACKCOUNTRY SPORTS The local’s backcountry ski shop at the base of Teton Pass. We can outfit you with the right gear from the leading brands to enjoy our awesome backcounty. Rentals for randonee, telemark & cross-country skiing & snowshoes. Experienced ski techs give tuning & repairs. Fish Creek Center, 307-733-5228, wilsonbackcountry.com PG 107
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, MOOSE DORNAN’S GIFT SHOP Rental & sales of cross-country skis, snow shoes. 7332415, ext 301, In the Moose Village, Grand Teton National Park. PG 79
TUBE PARKS-TERRAIN PARKS-ICE PARKS KING TUBES PARK Tubing made easy through access with a rope tow and a smooth groomed run. Anyone over 4’2” can ride. King Tubes is open on weekends from 11:30 am-6:30 pm and Tuesday through Friday from 2:30pm-6:30pm. There will be special hours for the Holiday Week check the hotline for details. 307-734-8823, snowking.com PG 29 GRAND TARGHEE TUBING PARK Grand Targhee Resort The tubing hill is perfect for the whole family. Catch some air in the Terrain Park. PG 37 JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT Terrain parks, halfpipe, and Burton Stash Parks. PG 11 SNOW KING ICE PARK is operated by Exum Mountain Guides and offers artificial ice climbing on a 40ft wall with a diverse array of ice features. 307-733-2297
NOTEWORTHY MUSIC BOOKING AGENCY • The finest live music acts in the region • Jazz • Swing • Rock • Country • Solos • Duos • Trios & Big Band • Impeccable References
Michael Calabrese • 307-733-5459 P.O. Box 289 • Wilson, WY 83014
www.noteworthymusicagency.com • jhnoteworthy@gmail.com
Lodging Directory Alpenhof Lodge
The European-style Alpenhof Lodge is located next to the tram in Teton Village. The Alpenhof is known for friendly professional service, cozy rooms and creative Swiss cuisine. Many rooms feature fireplaces and/or balconies and everyone enjoys a complimentary breakfast to start the day.
Grand Targhee Resort
P.O. Box 288, Teton Village, WY 83025 1-800-732-3244 www.alpenhoflodge.com res@alpenhoflodge.com
Alta, Wyoming 83414 800-TARGHEE (827-4433) GrandTarghee.com
Jackson Hole Resort Lodging
Hostel Recognized for its value, location, and atmosphere, the Hostel is a Jackson Hole tradition. Our guestrooms have either a king bed or four twin beds, private bathrooms, daily housekeeping service, and access to our game room. All this and the lowest slope side rates. Private Room: $99-105, Bunks: $28-36 each.
Conveniently located next to the Teton Village Market. Ski-in / Ski-out lodging and accommodations for all seasons. Affordable condos to luxury vacation homes, for family getaways and reunions. Properties in Teton Village, the Aspens and Teton Pines.
Teton Village, Wyoming 83025 307-733-3415 www.thehostel.us, info@thehostel.us
McCollister Drive, Teton Village, WY 83025 800-443-8613 Fax: 307-734-1077 www.jhrl.com, info@jacksonhole.com
Jackson Hole Super 8
Painted Buffalo Inn The Painted Buffalo Inn offers comfortable rooms for the budget conscious traveler. Unwind in our sauna or indoor pool and wake up to a continental breakfast. We’re located 3 blocks from the town square with a shuttle stop to Teton Village on property. We offer discounts to locals, their friends and family as well as ski club members. 400 West Broadway, Jackson, WY 83001 800-288-3866 / 307-733-4340 www.paintedbuffaloinn.com info@paintedbuffaloinn.com
Experience true Western hospitality in the heart of Jackson Hole. Just steps away from the free city bus and ski shuttle. Complimentary breakfast, evening popcorn, free wireless internet, microwave/refrigerator, cable TV with HBO and free local calls. Ski packages & group rates.
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Alpenhof Lodge Grand Targhee Resort Hostel Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Jackson Hole Super 8 Painted Buffalo Inn
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Lodging Index
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750 S Hwy 89, Jackson, WY 83001 800-800-8000 / 307-733-6833 www.jacksonholesuper8.com jacksonholesuper8@wyom.net
HOTELS ~ MOTELS LODGES ~ RESORTS
Our selection of slopeside rooms will fit any style, budget and truly complete your vacation. The mountain village and rustic base area offers all the necessities to shopping, dining and access to 2,602 diverse acres. In-town vacation homes offer great access to Teton Valley and the resort.
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JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT
Mountain Characteristics
Base elevation: 6,311 ft. – Summit elevation: 10,450 ft. Vertical rise: 4,139 ft. (longest continuous in the country) Skiable terrain: 2,500 acres 22 miles of machine groomed terrain 10% beginner, 40% intermediate, 50% advanced Longest run: 4.7 miles 22 miles of machine groomed terrain Average annual snowfall: 38 feet (456 inches)
Lifts
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One 100 Passenger Aerial Tram One eight passenger high speed gondola Three detachable hight speed quad chairlifts Four fixed grip quad chairlifts Two double chairlift One fixed grip triple chairlift One magic carpet
SNOW KING
MOUNTAIN RESORT
Mountain Characteristics
Base Elevation: 6,300 ft. Top elevation: 7,871 ft. Vertical rise: 1,571 ft. Skiable terrain: 400 plus acres 300 acres of machine groomed terrain 15% beginner 25% intermediate 60% advanced Longest run: 9/10 mile • Night Skiing • KingTubes Snow Tubing Park • Half Pipe & Terrain Park
Ski Lifts
• One triple chair • Two double chairs • One surface tow
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GRAND TARGHEE RESORT
Mountain Characteristics
Base elevation: 8,000 ft. Top elevation: 10,000 ft. Vertical rise: 2,000 ft. Skiable terrain: 2,000 acres 500 acres groomed terrain 10% beginner 70% intermediate 20% advanced Longest run: 2.5 miles Average annual snowfall: 42 ft. (504 inches).
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Two-High Speed Quad Chair One-Quad chair One double chair One magic carpet
Snowcat Skiing on Peaked Mountain
Skiable acres: 1,000 plus Vertical rise: 2,000 ft Longest run: 3.2 miles
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ART – JEWELRY GIFTS – PHOTOGRAPHY DD Camera Corral – 33 Dan Shelley Jewelers – 25 Hines Goldsmiths – 29 JH Flower Boutique – 28 Jackson Hole Resort Store – 30 Two Gray Hills Indian Arts – 37 Wild Hands Art For Living – 18 KIDS SHOPS Back Country Baby – 18 Just for Kids – 9 Teton Kids – 38 Teton Toys – 31 LODGING Antler Motel – 34 Cowboy Village Resort – 12 Elk Country Inn – 13 49er Inn – 17 Jackson Hole Super 8 – 4 Painted Buffalo Inn – 14 MOUNTAIN GUIDES & HELI-SKIING Exum Ice Park – 42 High Mountain Heli-Skiing – 8 JH Mountain Guides – 2
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RESTAURANTS – CAFÉS MEDICAL SERVICES Blue Lion Restaurant – 20 St. John’s Family Health The Bunnery – 26 & Urgent Care – 3 Café Boheme – 5 St. John’s Medical Full Steam Subs – 27 Center – 40 Häagen–Dazs – 36 Teton Orthopaedics – 39 Hayden’s Post Restaurant – 41 Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli – 15 JH Buffalo Meat Company – 2 Lotus Café – 22 McDonald’s of Jackson Hole – 7 Nikai Sushi – 24 Pearl Street Bagels – 21 Pica’s Mexican Taqueria – 6 Pinky G’s Pizzeria – 23 Snake River Brewery & Restaurant – 19 SPORTS SHOPS & APPAREL Door 2 Door –10 Hoback Sport –11 JD High Country Outfitters –35 JH Skis – 16 Stio Mountain Studio – 32 Igneous Custom Skis – 1
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Time Well Spent Let us bring your ski/snowboard rentals to you
307-413-9300 3 07-413-9300 0
jhs jhskis.com kis.com m
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