Teton Valley Magazine - Winter 2012-13

Winter 2012-13 • Complimentary Copy

PET PARADE Visiting Teton Valley’s vets

30 WAYS to PLAY

Skiing the BIG Holes LO C A L F L AV O R S • A L L I N A D AY ’ S W O R K • FA M I L I A R FA C E S • D I N I N G G U I D E

Teton Valley The Best of Both Sides of the Tetons

1 SOUTH MAIN ST :: DRIGGS, ID 83422 :: JHSIR.COM :: 208.354.8880 :: 888.354.8880

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Winter 2008-09

TETON VALLEY MAGAZINE

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Teton Valley Magazine

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This 1-acre lot in Snow Crest Ranch located on Stateline Road offers easy access to Grand Targhee Ski Resort. Landscaped entrance, paved roads, trail network, and open space throughout the development. Stunning Teton views. $95,000 Contact Doug Gemmel, 208-201-4087, doug@altarealty.com.

Enjoy the spectacular panoramic view from this Custom Built 2100 sq. ft. home on 2 acres. This home has 2 bds. 2 baths, loft, in-floor heat and so much more! $469,000 Contact Kui Urban, 208-313-4521, kui@altarealty.com.

Teton and Valley views are top notch from this 4 bed/3 bath Teton Valley home.

Energy efficient design includes heat recovery ventilator and in-floor heat. Beautiful home! $359,000. Contact Dave Dery, 208-709-4155, dave@altarealty.com.

Highly desirable Alta, Wyoming building lot. Great views, walk to award winning Alta School and Nordic ski track, quick access to town, ski resort and Valley amenities. Sales comps available. $149,000.00. Contact Dave Dery, 208-709-4155, dave@altarealty.com.

Super cute and efficient 3 bedroom home in Town of Driggs includes adjoining half-acre lot. Nicely landscaped, passive solar and wood stove offset heating costs. $169,000. Call/text Amy Dery, 208-705-5319, amy@altarealty.com.

This 10 acre parcel offers dramatic Teton views + a 5 bed, 2 bath home. Kitchen and living area are upstairs and offer elevated views of this gorgeous site. Partially fenced and ready for your horses. $285,000 Contact Kathy Runyan, 208-351-3706, krunyan@altarealty.com.

Located on the Targhee Village Golf Course this home has incredible views and is within walking distance of National Forest land. This 3 bdrm, 3 1/2 bath home features top of the line finishes, a wrap-around deck and heated 3 car attached garage. $585,000 Contact Kathy Runyan, 208-351-3706, krunyan@altarealty.com.

Large 3.39 acre building site near Victor with water shares for irrigation, great proximity to Jackson, allows horses and has beautiful views of Teton Valley and the surrounding Teton, Big Hole and Palisade Ranges. $69,500 Contact Mark Thompson, 208-705-7660, mark@altarealty.com.

Toll free (877) 395�6239

www.altarealty.com 2

Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

(208) 354�8988

Teton Valley Magazine

91 East Little Avenue Driggs, ID 83422

DEPARTMENTS

6 EDITOR’S NOTE 10 CONTRIBUTORS 12 TETON VALLEY

top to bottom

30 Ways to Play, Exciting Reciting, Touring 200 Years Ago, and more

18 FAMILIAR FACES

table of contents

Ski Tales, Wedding Bells, and Valley Trails: Mark Hanson

BY LUCY FLOOD

36 ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

28

The Pet Parade

BY JAYME FEARY

42 TRAIL TALK

Big Turns in the Big Holes

BY AMY HATCH

46 FIELD NOTES

Reeling in the Winter

BY LUCY FLOOD

50 COMPASS POINTS

A Peripatetic Soul

BY DEB BARRACATO

Mary’s Nipple Challenge 2013

BY PATTIE LAYSER

ILLUSTRATION AND PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: MEGHAN HANSON, TOM TURIANO, JAYME FEARY

54 BODY AND SOUL

42

36 FEATURES: TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

22 THINKING LOCALLY, ACTING GLOBALLY

Business owners find a special brand of magic in Teton Valley

BY MOLLY LOOMIS

32 RAISING THE BAR

Omnivorous Locavores

BY LUKAS BOONE

64 EXPOSURE

Winter on the Teton River

PHOTO BY LUKAS BOONE

DIRECTORIES

28 DISCOVERING COMMUNITY

Plan One/Architects and the INL

BY ROB MARIN

56 LOCAL FLAVORS

Kate Schade keeps it real

11 58 60 62 62

ADVERTISERS’ DIRECTORY DINING GUIDE LODGING GUIDE CHURCH DIRECTORY SCHOOL DIRECTORY

ON THE COVER: A red fox (Vulpes vulpes)

BY MEL PARADIS

rests in a snow-covered valley field.

Photograph by Marina Nell.

Teton Valley Magazine

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Teton Valley Magazine

O F D R I G G S, I D A H O

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Unique Western Gifts Fine Western Apparel Boots Hats Saddles Tack

145 Valley Centre Drive Located 1.5 miles North of downtown Driggs, Idaho, on the “Western Side” of the road

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LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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editor’s note Doing business in Teton Valley ID since 1992

Teton Creek Resort #314 “Booking was especially great. The person found what we were needing regarding location & it couldn’t have been more perfect. A big thanks for making our stay so enjoyable!”

—Francis P. - Albert Lea, MN Trail Creek Springs #106 “A lovely home in a quiet well landscaped area.

Just what we look for, my family and myself enjoyed the small town location and relaxing time spent in Victor, Idaho. It truly was our home for a week.

Excellent service, value and great people to deal with. Thank You.”—David J. - Alcester, SD

f rentals for all seasons b Condos • Cozy Cabins • Luxury Homes Short-term, monthly and long-term rentals

www.grandvalleylodging.com (208) 354-8890 • 1-800-746-5518 P.O. Box 191 • 158 North 1st Street East Driggs, Idaho 83422

LOCAL SOLUTIONS

Peak Printing Peak Printing ll a Sm op Sh

Big Ideas

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local solutions

copies shipping graphic design architectural prints faxes gifts office supplies computer accessories kodak photos frames printer ink invitations posters greeting cards signs flyers public computer 76 S. First St. 76 S 1st Street Driggs, Idaho passport photos Driggs, Idaho 208-354-7337 lamination info@peakprinting.net invoices business cards 208.354.7337 presentations binding logos letterhead peakprinting Authorized Ship Center postcards @silverstar.com Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Business, Not as Usual

A

fter we began putting together this edition of Teton Valley Magazine, it became clear that it could be called “The Business Issue.” So loaded did we find ourselves with pieces about local small businesses making big differences, that we’ve devoted the entire features section to a triad of stories focusing on a quartet of valley enterprises.

The longest of the three tells the rather amazing story of Plan One/Architects, a local firm doing important work with Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Plan One— in partnership with Idaho Falls-based Ormond Builders—is designing INL’s Energy Systems Laboratory, an 87,000 square-foot facility in which new energy technologies will be developed, as well as INL’s $48 million Research and Education Laboratory.

As frequent contributor Rob Marin writes in his story, “… a local company designs a regional facility for a national research lab addressing global energy issues. Teton Valley is no longer as isolated as it once seemed.”

In addition to the business features, there’s a “Familiar Faces” story about Mark Hanson, whose job it is to manage the Grand Targhee Ski and Snowboard School’s team of seventy-five, and an “All in a Day’s Work” piece about the valley’s three veterinarian services and the hard work these animal doctors do to keep our best friends bouncing.

But it’s not all work and no play. We also take you backcountry skiing in the Big Holes, winter fishing on the local rivers (brrr), and skiing laps at the Mary’s Nipple Challenge. The Challenge is a fundraiser (with the emphasis on the first three letters, fun) at Grand Targhee benefiting the St. John’s Hospital oncology program.

Back to business, sort of. Endurance cyclist Jay Petervary of Victor works at Fitzgerald’s Bicycles, one of the businesses featured in this issue. This past summer, Jay set a new record for the 2,750-mile Tour Divide, a race Outside magazine highlighted in a 2008 story titled “The World’s Toughest Bike Race Is Not in France.”

Jay pedaled from Banff, Alberta, to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, in an unthinkable fifteen days, sixteen hours, and four minutes.

Why do I mention this? Because back in the 1990s, I researched and mapped the route the race follows, the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, for the Montana-based Adventure Cycling Association. I consider it a sort of fat-tire harmonic convergence that both Jay and I—the route’s record-holder and its architect—happen to call the Victor area home. (Okay, I admit it, I really tell this story so we can use this photo of Jay and me together.)

Whether you’re a Nordic skier, a snowboarder, a fireside literature lover, or a snow biker like Jay Petervary—or all four—we at Powder Mountain Press hope your winter is a good one.

Teton Valley Magazine

PHOTO: GABE ROGEL

CLAIR’S VISION

O U R PA S S I O N 1 9 9 3 • 2 0 1 3

Teton Valley Magazine

20

YEARS

285 E LITTLE AVE DRIGGS ID 83422 208 • 354 • 2828 YOSTMARK.COM

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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Publisher Nancy McCullough-McCoy nancy@powdermountainpress.com Editor in Chief Michael McCoy mac@powdermountainpress.com Art Director Sage Hibberd graphics@powdermountainpress.com Photo Editor/Ad Design Marianne Sturken art@powdermountainpress.com Marketing & Sales Representatives Nancy McCullough-McCoy nancy@powdermountainpress.com Marketing & Sales Assistant Joan Mosher info@powdermountainpress.com Copy Editor Jeanne Anderson Editorial Contributors Deb Barracato Lukas Boone Jayme Feary Lucy Flood Meghan Hanson Amy Hatch Pattie Layser Molly Loomis Rob Marin Marina Nell Mel Paradis

Teton Valley Magazine is published twice yearly by Powder Mountain Press, LLC. 110 E. Little Ave. • P.O. Box 1167 Driggs, Idaho 83422 (208) 354-3466 tel • (208) 354-3468 fax www.LifeInTheTetons.com ©2012 by Powder Mountain Press, LLC. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Editorial comments, ideas, and submissions are welcomed. The publisher will not be responsible for the return of unsolicited photos, articles, or other materials unless accompanied by a SASE. Printed in the U.S.A. Volume 16, No. 2

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Teton Valley Magazine

Get Back on Your Game Consider St. John’s first for the knee, hip or shoulder replacement surgery you need Jackson Hole’s orthopaedic specialists are renowned for their experience and credentials Nursing compassion and excellence make St. John’s a top choice in the region State-of-the-art technology for optimal outcomes -- including the area’s only surgical GPS navigation equipment Visit tetonhospital.org/coe or call 888 739 7499 for more information

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Teton Valley Magazine

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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contributors

Lucy Flood (Familiar Faces, page 18; and Field Notes, page 46) is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous publiications, including The Atlantic online, InsideClimate News, and the Jackson Hole News&Guide.

Lucy was a 2010–11 Middlebury Fellow in Environmental Journalism. She wrote about the Oregon Trail in southern Idaho and Bill Boney’s Dining In Catering for last summer’s Teton Valley Magazine. Previously, she has covered topics for the publication ranging from the Kotler Ice Arena to massage therapists, stream restoration, and the Meredith Wilson family of Alta.

Amy Hatch (Trail Talk, page 42) has been skiing for as long as she’s been able to walk. Her passion for powder took her from Colorado to Alaska to the base of the Tetons. Amy is the owner of Jackson Hole Packraft & Packraft Rentals Anywhere and writes a column for the Jackson Hole News&Guide called “Mountain Sides.” When not tapping away at the keyboard, she can be found running trails, mountain biking, making up silly songs for her infant daughter, cooking a Thai peanut dish for her husband, or throwing the ball for her two dogs. Amy lives with her family in Victor.

“I love being a valley girl,” says frequent contributor Pattie Layser (Mary’s Nipple Challenge, page 54).

“The Tetons offer me everything from climbing thrills to berry-picking, but the best aspect is living among a community that rallies ’round its own. If I’d pioneered here, homesteaders would have appeared to raise my house.

Today, as in the 1800s, the Code of the West covers the backsides of both friends and strangers. After interviewing Grand Targhee Resort’s staff, I believe their support of us Challenge skiers is not about good business, but about being good neighbors.”

A longtime river guide and world traveler, Rob Marin (“Thinking Locally, Acting Globally,” page 22) finally settled into family life and a job managing Teton County’s GIS system. He admits taking an eight-to-five gig was not an easy transition, but he thoroughly enjoys working with a great county staff and a rewarding home life with his partner Sabine and her daughter Lia. “Despite our struggling local economy, recreation and overall quality of life are the reasons Teton Valley has been my base camp for fifteen years,” Rob says, “and why I want to locate my family here now.”

WE DO IT ALL!

With over 66 years of serving the public in the same location— We “moose” be doing it right!

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Teton Valley Magazine

On-The-Farm Service 4x4 Bearing Packs ” Oil Changes “ Alignments Brakes On-The-Road Service Safety Siping & Studs Best Buy on Tires

80 W. Little Ave., Driggs • 354-8161

Advertisers’ Directory Alta Realty.............................................................. 2 Blue Spruce Cleaners......................................... 26 Broken Spur........................................................... 5 C.R.A.S.H........................................................ 40, 41 Community Foundation of Teton Valley............. 4

peaked sports for the mountain minded

208-354-2354 • 70 E. Little Ave • Driggs, ID

Corner Drug.......................................................... 49 Dining In Catering, Inc....................................... 49 Driggs Health Clinic........................................... 41 Driggs Veterinary Clinic..................................... 15 Drs. Toenjes, Brizzee & Orme, P.A.................... 17 Fall River Rural Electric Co-Op.......................... 27 Garage Door Handiman..................................... 45 Grand Targhee Resort ........................................ bc Grand Valley Lodging............................................ 6 Graham Faupel & Associates­—Jenn Honney Dawes ��� 35 Guchiebird’s......................................................... 25 Habitat.................................................................. 25 Harmony Design & Engineering........................ 20 High Peaks Physical Therapy Health & Fitness �����27 Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce............. 63 Jackson Hole Historical Society & Museum ����� 15 Jorgensen Associates, PC................................. 57 Kaufman’s OK Tire.............................................. 10 PHOTO: JOSH NASH; SKIER: KEVIN OLSEN

Linn Canyon Ranch............................................. 15 Madison Memorial Hospital........................ 45, 53 McDonald’s® of Jackson Hole......................... 35 MD Nursery & Landscaping, Inc................. 31, 34 Peak Printing.......................................................... 6 Peaked Sports...................................................... 11 Powder Day Photography.................................. 53 Powder Mountain Press..................................... 48 Plan One/Architects............................................ 39 Sotheby’s International Realty­—Dan Willert....ibc Sotheby’s International Realty..........................ifc St. John’s Medical Center.............................. 9, 26 Teton County School District 401...................... 20 Teton Valley Bible Church.................................. 61 Teton Valley Cabins............................................. 44 Teton Valley Foundation..................................... 21 Teton Valley Hospital............................................ 1 Teton Valley Realty Management...................... 17 The Driggs Stovehouse...................................... 48 Victor Emporium.................................................. 57 Victor Health Clinic............................................. 40 Victor Valley Market............................................ 44 Warbirds Café/Teton Aviation Center................. 8 Yöstmark Mountain Equipment.......................... 7

ALPINE • X-COUNTRY • SNOWBOARD BACKCOUNTRY • PERFORMANCE CLOTHING

PHOTO: TIM DIPPLE

Teton Thai............................................................. 39

SKI TUNES • SKI REPAIRS • DEMOS & RENTALS Rossignol • Atomic • Fischer • Never Summer • Ride Dynastar • Dalbello • Marker • Marmot • Mammut OR • Smartwool • Loki • Garmont • Giro • 22 Designs Teton Valley Magazine

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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t e t o n va l l e y t o p t o b o tt o m 9. Dance with the snow ghosts on a cat-skiing excursion at Grand Targhee

2. Carve up the ice at the Kotler Arena

10. Head over the hill (Pine Creek Pass) to relax in Heise Hot Springs’ soothing waters

3. Skate or classic ski on Teton Valley Trails & Pathways’ groomed Nordic trails 4. Join Teton Valley Adventures for a snowmobile tour 5. Look for trumpeter swans on the valley’s unfrozen waters (but don’t scare them into flight) 6. Watch man’s best friend in action at a Grand Targhee Resort Avalanche Dog Demo

12. Track critters on a snowshoe hike with Grand Targhee’s naturalist 13. Take a horse-drawn sleigh ride, followed by dinner, at the Linn Canyon Ranch 14. Sign up for a yurt overnight with Rendezvous Backcountry Tours or at Harriman State Park

8. Soar over the valley on a scenic flight with Teton Aviation

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WINTER WONDER

PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: PENDL’S BAKERY & CAFE, GUCHIEBIRD’S, WARBIRDS CAFE, BILL BONEY, TETON SPRINGS HEADWATERS GRILLE, ALPINE WINES, WARBIRDS CAFE, PENDL’S BAKERY & CAFE, VON TRUPP PRODUCTIONS, TETON SPRINGS RESORT & SPA

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Teton Valley Magazine

WAYS

7. Explore the Teton outback on skis or snowboard with Yostmark Backcountry Tours

11. Head over the other hill (Teton Pass) for some night tubing under the lights at Snow King

OUTSIDE

1. Rent a super-fat bicycle at Peaked Sports and go snow biking in the Big Holes

PLAY

PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: RICK LABELLE, STAFF (2), CHI MELVILLE, GEORGE A. KOUNIS, TETON VALLEY FOUNDATION, STAFF, CHI MELVILLE

TO

INSIDE

15. Tuck into an apple strudel and espresso at Pendl’s Bakery & Café

16. Slip into Guchiebird’s and just try not to buy something 17. Hit the weights or stretch out at High Peaks Health and Fitness

20. Relax and repast beside the runway at Warbirds Café 21. Tackle a half-pound Train Wreck burger at The Brakeman American Grill 22. Hit the valley’s best deli at Victor Valley Market 23. Have a tuneful apres-ski experience at Grand Targhee’s Trap Bar 24. Sample some reds or whites at Alpine Wines 25. Order a pie and a porter at Wildlife Brewing & Pizza 26. Catch a flick at Pierre’s Playhouse 27. Hurry over for some curry at Teton Thai in Driggs

18. Slurp a soda at the Victor Emporium or Corner Drug in Driggs

28. Backhand the little white ball at Wildwood Room’s Monday night ping–pong

19. Treat yourself to a soak and massage at the Teton Springs Stillwaters Spa & Salon

29. Sip a nightcap fireside at the Headwaters Grille in Teton Springs

Teton Valley Magazine

30. Get down and funky at a late-night live music session at the Knotty Pine LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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Earle F. Layser of Alta, a regular contributor to the pages of Teton Valley Magazine, hits a bull’s-eye with his most recent book, The Jackson Hole Settlement Chronicles: The Lives and Times of the First Settlers (Dancing Pine and CreateSpace, 2012). If you want to explore the truth behind some of the region’s most prevalent Wild West myths, look no further—this 238-page volume profiles Jackson Hole’s original pioneers, including its bachelor settlers and outlaws (who sometimes were one and the same), and its prominent first families. Richly illustrated with nearly forty drawings and photographs, the book is also well annotated, with more than 250 notes and a twelve-page bibliography. The Jackson Hole Settlement Chronicles is available at the Victor Emporium and at several outlets in Jackson, including Valley Bookstore, the Wort Hotel gift shop, and the Jackson Hole Historical Society & Museum.

—Jeanne Anderson

VISITING TETON VALLEY, AGO 2 CENTURIES In 1812, Robert Stuart carried dispatches from the Columbia River to New York, passing through Teton Basin en route. The twenty-six-year-old selected experienced crewmen who’d arrived with Wilson Price Hunt’s 1811 expedition (see “200 Years of Tourists,” Teton Valley Magazine winter 2011–12): Benjamin Jones, John Day, André Vallé, and Francis LeClerc. Partners Robert McLellan and Ramsay Crooks traveled east too.

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Teton Valley Magazine

EXCITING RECITING Four hundred students assemble enthusiastically, yet respectfully, in the auditorium at Teton High School.

Backstage, an eclectic group of teens are gathered, silently mouthing words and clutching small, well-worked slips of paper. The tiny font is the key to their success; the words are their medium, their memorization is the performance.

Each teen in the audience has felt similar pressure. Required as a unit in the THS English curriculum, every student has memorized and recited a poem in front of his or her English class. This assembly showcases the best performer from each class. The ante has been upped—these top students are now competing for a slot in the regional competition.

Poetry Out Loud is a nationwide recitation contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Scenes like this one at Teton High are being enacted at high schools across the country. The competition is tiered with regional and state competitions to single out the best students; finalists then move on

Departing Astoria on June 29, these seven reached the Snake River near Boise by mid-August. When two men scrambled down the banks for water, they discovered John Hoback, Edward Robinson, Jacob Reznor, and Joseph Miller. This quartet had been futilely trapping beaver for the past year and was destitute. The chance encounter saved their lives.

At Company caches near today’s Twin Falls, Stuart requisitioned “everything necessary for a two year’s hunt” to outfit Hoback, Robinson, and Reznor, sending them on their way. Miller decided to stay with Stuart’s party. At the Portneuf River, Miller guided them away from the Snake, heading for a mountain pass in hopes of finding his previous trail—but was soon lost. Near the site of Soda Springs they encountered Crow Indians who admired their horses,

PHOTO: TOP RIGHT, JEANNETTE BONER

READING ROOM

Top finishers in the 2011 Poetry Out Loud competition at Teton High School included Ali Abey (left) and Chris Mataisz.

to compete at the national gathering.

The prize is something to inspire: $20,000.

Poetry Out Loud debuted at Teton High School in 2006. Since then, two THS students have made the cut to attend the state competition. Jacquelyne Pierce represented Teton twice, placing third, matching Ana Bencomo’s third place for her state performance.

For more information, visit www. poetryoutloud.org or attend the Teton High School competition, which takes place annually in December. Better yet, ask a local teen to recite a poem; they might just remember a few words for you.

—Liz Onufer

causing the Astorians anxious nights knowing enemies were around. Several watchful days brought them to the Greys River.

Stuart decided to take Hunt’s previous trail rather than waste time searching for Miller’s pass. Headed for Teton Valley, six days elapsed with no sign of the Crow. They reached Alpine, where Jones, sent to scout, could find no way through the impenetrable Snake River Canyon.

On September 19, the Crow finally stole Stuart’s horses. Forced to travel afoot, the party divided essential supplies into makeshift packs. Their sole beaver trap was set each evening; every beaver caught was “cut up, in order that each might carry his share” of meat. continued on page 16

Catherine Coe Photography

Linn Canyon RanCh A Classic Taste of the West

Elegant Sleigh Ride Dinners Holiday Parties • Private Events • Winter Activities

(208) 787-5466 • 1300 E 6000 S, Victor, ID 83455 linnranch@silverstar.com • linncanyonranch.com

parking available behind the museum

Driggs Veterinary CliniC Serving Teton Valley’s large and small Animal Needs for Over 30 Years

eMergenCy Care aVailaBle 208.354.2212 North of Driggs, 1309 N. Highway 33 Teton Valley Magazine

www.driggsvet.com

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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continued from page 15 Fording the Snake appeared risky, so the party built rafts. Drifting twenty miles through Swan Valley, they camped at Fall Creek. Farther downriver, they killed an elk. While skinning it they found an arrowhead, convincing them that Blackfeet were nearby. Finally, three miles below today’s Heise Bridge, they camped on the Snake a final night.

Discarding the rafts, they crossed the river, then hiked along the mountains’ base. They saw antelope but were afraid shooting would attract the Blackfeet.

On September 30, Stuart spied smoke

rising ahead. He had found Green Canyon Hot Springs; the “smoke” only steam.

They slept in a gully along Canyon Creek, concealed from their imaginary foe. Descending the mountains via Packsaddle Creek, they reached the Teton River and camped on Horseshoe Creek.

The next morning, Jones was attacked by a grizzly bear while setting the trap. He shot, wounding the bear and breaking Stuart’s gunfire ban. So, after killing five elk, the party moved upstream into Horseshoe Canyon, enticed by more meat.

On October 6, the Astorians crossed Little Pine Creek. Following Trail Creek,

and passing the site where Victor now stands, they halted at its junction with Moose Creek.

Beyond Teton Pass, the Astorians traversed Jackson Hole and continued east on an adventure-packed journey, reaching St. Louis on April 30, 1813.

Stuart’s accomplishments, including finding South Pass, were largely forgotten until the mid-1830s when Astor hired Washington Irving to write Astoria; or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains.

—Jim Hardee

DIGITAL YELLOWSTONE If you search the iTunes store or Google Play (for Android users), you’ll run across at least a couple of Yellowstone National Park smartphone applications whose creators have Teton Valley ties.

Whitney Tilt of Bozeman, Montana, has compiled Flora of the Yellowstone Region.

Whitney is the brother of Tye Tilt, owner of Mountain Valley Mushrooms west of Driggs.

During his high school and college years, Whitney spent a lot of time here on the Tilt family ranch, which his dad purchased in 1976. His new app presents more than 320 wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees readily found in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. With each species detailed in a clear, informative manner—and including both photos and illustrations—the app is useful for both casual observers and regular visitors to the Yellowstone country outdoors. An easy-to-use key permits users to select flower color, leaf type, and other characteristics to quickly identify unknown plants. Published by High Country Apps, you can purchase it for $4.97 via www.highcountryapps.com.

Yellowstone Hotspots is the creation of Teton Valley Magazine editor and veteran travel writer Mike McCoy of Victor. Introduced in July 2010, the application’s fifth version launched in September. Published in partnership with Sutro Media, it includes dozens of entries falling within the categories of accommodations, bicycling, campgrounds, “featured creatures,” food and drink, geologic/thermal features, hiking/horseback riding, museums/visitor centers, resources (including transportation options), lakes and streams, scenic drives, and shopping. These entries are organized geographically by Grand Loop North, Grand Loop South, the six entrances (including the little used Bechler Entrance), and Yellowstone Access Cities (Bozeman, Cody, Idaho Falls, Jackson, and Livingston). Also included, McCoy says, “are dozens of photographs, Google maps, external links, and corny jokes.” Aimed at visitors ranging from Yellowstone veterans to first timers, the app is available for $2.99 at the iTunes store and Google Play.

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Teton Valley Magazine

1,344

Teton Valley Realty Office B Office C Office D Office E

Listings and Sales by Teton Valley Realty since January 2000.

More than double that of any other Teton Valley Brokerage.

Source: The Teton Boards of Realtors MLS

Sales by Teton Valley Realty

Short Sale/Foreclosure Property Analysis Specialists

Mark Rockefeller: 208.351.1411 Julie Rockefeller: 208.351.1412

“Local Brokerage, National Results”

208.354.2439

253 S. Main • PO Box 604 • Driggs, ID tetonvalleyrealty.com

Mandy Rockefeller: GRI, SFR, ABR: 208.313.3621 Bill Fay: 208.351.4446 Jenna Child: 307.413.4368 Tayson Rockefeller: 208.709.1333 Dan White: 208.206.1516

Doctors Toenjes, Brizzee & Orme P.A. COSMETIC & FAMILY DENTISTRY 305 East 5th North • St. Anthony • 624-3757 204 Main Street • Ashton • 652-7868

Highest Quality Dentistry at A Value Worth The Drive.

• Cerec - Same Day Crowns • Cosmetic Dentistry • Zoom In-Office Whitening • Veneers, Lumineers, and Crowns & Bridges • Implants • Professional Hygiene Cleaning • Dentures & Partials • Emergency Care • Smile enhancement consultations and second opinions at no charge

Dr. John Toenjes, D.D.S. Se habla espanol

Dr. Gabe Brizzee, D.D.S.

Teton Valley Magazine

Dr. Drostan Orme, D.D.S.

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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fa m i l i a r fa c e s

Ski Tales, Wedding Bells, and Valley Trails A

Mark Hanson works at all elevations

By Lucy Flood

Mark Hanson’s love of skiing, along with his passion for people and business, have made him a good fit at Targhee for twenty years.

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s Mark Hanson describes the feeling of freedom he gets arcing down a wide groomer at Grand Targhee Resort, he articulates it so eloquently that he puts me on that slope beside him. I can almost hear his edges carving those gorgeous, wide turns.

Hanson asserts that the resort has good snow every day of the season, but even so, he particularly loves a powder day—twenty-eight degrees and dumping. “It’s exciting to be there in the teeth of winter and just totally playing with it,” he says.

This is Hanson’s twentieth year of working at Grand Targhee Resort, and it’s evident from the way he speaks

Teton Valley Magazine

about teaching, skiing, and riding that his work still fires him up. As only the third ski school director to have graced the resort’s slopes, he oversees a team of seventy-five.

Back in 1992, when Hanson and his wife Nell ditched their jobs in radio advertising in Eugene, Oregon, he wasn’t looking to make a name in the recreation business. Even by mountaintown standards, his initial aspiration of becoming a ski bum for a season was quite modest.

When he and Nell arrived in Jackson, they settled into a shack behind what was then the Sundance Motel. But a place to live was about all they found on the Wyoming side of the Tetons. After

PHOTOS: POWDER DAY PHOTOGRAPHY

two weeks and no luck in their job hunt, they crossed the pass to Idaho. Inside of two hours, Nell had secured a job at Grand Targhee’s front desk and Mark was signed on as a driver for the resort’s airport shuttle.

One of the main perks of Hanson’s shuttle gig was ample time to ski between airport runs. Top that off with an innocent kiss he received from the late actress Jill Clayburgh when he dropped her off at the airport, and he says that first winter was a success.

In his second year at Targhee, Hanson began working in the ski school under the iconic Gene Palmer, director of the program from 1969 through 1995 (see “One Good Turn” in the winter 2009–10 edition of Teton Valley Magazine). Palmer’s first replacement didn’t last long, and by Hanson’s sixth year, he stepped fully out of his ski bum role to become the program director himself.

These days, Hanson often starts his day at 8 a.m. with the Early Tracks program, where he guides intermediate

and advanced skiers on a few runs before the lifts officially open. This early morning excursion fits in well with his loose goal of teaching four or five ski lessons a week. He models his role after the player-coach who, in sports like professional basketball, would rotate between standing on the sidelines coaching in uniform, and jumping in to play just like anyone else.

“I would consider that I didn’t do everything in my job description on a given day if I didn’t get face time with our guests,” Hanson says; “and hopefully, that’s on snow.”

He is thoughtful about how to create a constructive environment in the Grand Targhee Ski and Snowboard School.

Because it’s such a relatively small place, he says there is a welcoming vibe and a feeling of camaraderie that he wants to continue fostering.

Hanson also helped implement a payraise system that encourages instructors to become certified in more than one discipline—alpine skiing, snowboard-

Teton Valley Magazine

ing, telemark skiing, and Nordic skiing.

Doing so allows the instructor to have more teaching opportunities and also to better serve the resort’s guests. “We have a lot of folks who [are what] I like to call cross-dressers, and I’m one,” he says. “I love to teach multiple disciplines.”

For Hanson, the most challenging lessons can be the ones given to beginners, but he says those are also often the most rewarding because of a beginner’s steep learning curve. He also manages to fit in complimentary tours of the mountain to help guests get oriented so that they can feel more at ease, especially in the inclement weather conditions not uncommon at Targhee.

Though it may sound like Hanson spends a lot of his day skiing, he also banks his fair share of hours in business and strategy meetings. The benefits of being the head of a ski school at one of the best snow playgrounds in the world are not lost on him. “The resort has treated me well,” he says, “and, in response, I have given my heart and

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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Teton Valley Magazine

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MARK HANSON

TeTon school disTricT 401 (208) 354 2207 • tsd401.org

soul to it.” He also acknowledges that working at Grand Targhee has allowed him to fully play to his strong suits, which include bringing his positive attitude to bear on his love of skiing and the outdoors, as well as his interests in people and managing a business.

Hanson has also had the opportunity to raise two daughters with Nell here, and to step up his responsibilities to the greater Teton Valley community.

He’s now closing in on his second year of serving as president of the board of Teton Valley Trails and Pathways (TVTAP)—an organization promoting pathways that he says make the community healthier and ultimately more livable and desirable.

TVTAP is currently collaborating with groups outside the valley to promote the concept of a system of trails that would go all the way from Jackson, through Teton Valley, up to Ashton, and into Yellowstone National Park. “That could become a world-famous bike trail,” Hanson says.

Hanson also recently stepped into the marriage business. Seriously. After his friends Squeak Melehes and Patti Kauf recruited him to officiate at their wedding, he has since presided over another wedding and expects he may be asked to do more. He jokes that if you’re in need of making an honest woman out of your girlfriend, he just might be your guy.

But be forewarned: Hanson’s not running any junk-show wedding operation; he puts a lot of thought into preparing his ceremonies. And on the upside, he may be able to help you make it happen at Targhee.

“I’ve officiated summer weddings,” he says. “I would love to do one with skis on.” TV

The Teton Valley Great Snow Fest

exists to bring joy, excitement, and economic vitality to our community during a traditionally slow time of year. The Festival brings hundreds of visitors to the valley, offering a boost to local businesses and exposure to local nonprofits, while providing fun and diverse events for all ages. www.greatsnowfest.com

Due to the incredible support of our donors, Kotler Arena is now proud to offer: • Warming hut • Skate rentals • Pro-shop • Concessions • Indoor restrooms • Locker room

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The Kotler Ice Arena offers youth and adult ice programs, including Adult Rec-League Hockey, a Youth Ice Hockey League, and Adult Recreational Broomball.

Located in Victor’s Pioneer Park, on the corner of Baseline Dr and Agate St, it couldn’t be easier to get out and enjoy the ice.

South Baseline Road Victor, ID 83455 (208) 201-5356 tetonvalleyfoundation.org/recreation/kotler-ice-arena/

Teton Valley Foundation works to make the good life in Teton Valley even better by providing cultural, recreational, and educational programs and facilities that boost the local economy and make our community a better place to live and to visit. Our programs include Music on Main, Kotler Ice Arena, the Great Snow Fest, Driggs Art Walk, Oktoberfest, and Bingo.

Making the good life in Teton Valley even better.

teton valley FOUNDATION Teton Valley Magazine

PO Box 50, Victor, ID 83455 (208) 201-5356 www.tetonvalleyfoundation.org info@tetonvalleyfoundation.org LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Thinking Locally, Acting Globally Plan One/Architects’ work with the INL reverberates from Driggs to distant destinations

by Rob Marin

The structural steel erection of the Idaho National Laboratory’s Research and Education Laboratory (REL) in Idaho Falls.

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Teton Valley Magazine

T

hese days, discussions about Teton Valley’s economic future can take on a resigned tone.

Plummeted property values, job scarcity, and struggling retail shops sometimes dominate the dialogue. How will this beautiful but isolated highcountry basin ever attract new business and create new employment?

Should we go all-in for tourism? Maybe. Will another land rush come to the rescue? Perhaps.

More likely, our community will need to think outside the box—and the valley—to create a sustainable economy less vulnerable to market volatility.

Throughout the recent boom and bust, one local firm, Plan One/Architects, quietly and successfully marketed itself throughout the region. They have set a forward-looking example for business people who seek a Teton-region quality of life but don’t want to sacrifice financial success. More recently, the architects of Plan One designed a major, cutting-edge facility that will be employed in solving some of humankind’s most daunting challenges. This in turn could bring an increasingly global economy one step closer to Teton Valley’s door, perhaps creating new and previously unconsidered opportunities.

Plan One Plan One might not be a household name, but their work is familiar to most locals. The firm’s designs include the new Teton Middle School and Teton County Courthouse, as well as the distinctive U.S. Bank building in Driggs. Plan One is also behind renovations at Teton Valley Hospital, Teton High School, and the Driggs City Center. Additionally, they are currently working with The Development Company, based in Rexburg, toward redesigning the former Ford dealership in Driggs as a commercial center.

Though a larger city might be a more convenient base of operations than Driggs, Plan One Vice President and architect Bob Heneage says they stay here because of the beauty, recreation, and open spaces. “We’re here because we want to live here,” Heneage says.

However, Plan One’s reach also extends across the West, with project locations ranging from Arizona to northern Idaho.

Heneage says Plan One was founded in the 1980s in Jackson, and moved to Driggs a decade ago. The firm, with seven local employees, also maintains offices in Cody and Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Specializing in institutional and commercial design— with an extensive list of schools, hospitals, banks, and government offices in its portfolio—Plan One has worked on projects as large as the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

Energy-efficient green design is the goal of many Plan One projects, and a number of their buildings have been awarded prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Because Plan One did not pursue work in the saturated second-home building market, they weathered the real estate bust fairly well.

“At the time the firm was in its major growth phase, no one else was doing major commercial [design],” Heneage explains.

Design/Build: Aiming High Plan One has partnered with Idaho Falls-based Ormond Builders on a number of major projects, utilizing what is known in the industry as a “design/ build” delivery system. By sharing responsibility, and closely integrating architectural and construction efforts, risk is minimized for the client, and completion time and cost are reduced. Heneage says Plan One and Ormond have together secured over $100 million worth of construction contracts using this approach.

Four years ago, they responded to a request for proposals from Battelle Energy Alliance, the primary contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), for a huge new lab facility in Idaho Falls.

Developing a detailed conceptual design for a complex, $18 million facility was a gamble, given they would be bidding against big firms from Salt Lake City and Boise.

The risk paid off. The Plan One/Ormond bid was accepted for what will soon be INL’s Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL), an 87,000-square-foot facility devoted to developing new energy technologies.

Subsequent to the ESL contract, the Plan One/Ormond partnership won the bid for an even larger

PHOTO: SCOTT MOSES - PLAN ONE/ARCHITECTS

“These are probably the two biggest construction projects in East Idaho since the recession,” Heneage says.

Teton Valley Magazine

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

INL project. The $48 million Research and Education Laboratory (REL) will enable collaboration among scientists and engineers from government, academia, and industry, and will complement research at the ESL and other ongoing projects at INL. “These are probably the two biggest construction projects in East Idaho since the recession,” Heneage says.

INL’s Mission: EBR-1 to Alternative Energy The Idaho National Laboratory, sprawling across 890 square miles of the Snake River Plain in East Idaho, is widely known as a nuclear facility.

However, the emphasis of the lab’s scientific mission has evolved over the decades, pushed and pulled by geopolitical, resource, and environmental realities.

Established in 1949 on a former artillery range, the National Reactor Testing Station (as it was then known) was the site of the world’s first electricitygenerating breeder reactor: EBR-1. As Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union escalated, the lab’s mission included the development of nuclear submarine propulsion systems. Events like the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident in 1979 led to an increased focus on nuclear waste cleanup and safety. The increasing scarcity of fossil fuels, as well as the threat of carbon-induced climate change, brought about more recent research into alternative energy technology.

Dr. David Miller, Director of Science and Engineering at INL, says that while the lab’s research empha24

Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

sis has shifted over the years, its current mission has stabilized into three overlapping categories: nuclear energy research, national security, and energy and environment.

Ongoing nuclear work is aimed at creating safer and more efficient “next-generation” reactors, as well as improved radioactive fuel recycling and handling methods.

National Security efforts include cyber-security research, nuclear non-proliferation initiatives, and defense applications, such as the production of uraniumdepleted armor for the Army’s M-1 Abrams tank.

Yet new energy and environment research may be the most groundbreaking of all, as it explores new ways to generate, store, and effectively implement a variety of energy sources on a large scale. The new, state-of-the-art labs designed by Plan One will be integral to this area of INL’s mission.

The Energy Systems Lab: Biomass, Batteries, and Hybrid Energy INL’s new Energy Systems Lab should be in full operation sometime in 2013. “The ESL is a critical component of [INL’s] future,” says Dr. Steve Aumeier, INL’s Associate Director for Energy & Environment. He explains that the lab will take a comprehensive, more holistic approach to addressing national and global energy challenges, since everincreasing demand will almost certainly require the

Teton Valley Magazine

ILLUSTRATIONS: BEAU JACOBY - PLAN ONE/ARCHITECTS

“We’re trying to be leaders in putting these things together ...” says Dr. David Miller. “There is no single-point solution.”

Clockwise, from top: Southeast view of the Energy Systems Laboratory; public front entry of the Research and Education Laboratory; REL aerial view.

simultaneous use of fossil, renewable, and nuclear energy.

Dr. Aumeier says researchers and engineers at the ESL hope to better understand the interplay between various energy sources, developing hybrid delivery systems that leverage the advantages of each while reducing environmental impacts.

For example, solar panels and wind turbines produce clean, renewable energy—but intermittently, and not necessarily during peak demand.

Existing power grids are not designed to draw from these power sources on a big scale.

On the other hand, fossil fuels and nuclear produce more steady power, but both have environmental and safety drawbacks. Successfully integrating each of these into a common grid system could produce an efficient, stable power supply while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and prolonging nonrenewable energy supplies.

“We’re trying to be leaders in putting these things together,” says Dr. Miller. “I think people have to shift their perspective. There is no single-point [energy] solution.”

The ESL will also focus on overcoming technical obstacles in bio-fuel production and advanced energy storage.

While corn is currently used to produce bio-fuel, non-food-crop sources of biomass (like grasses, forest by-products, and agricultural plant waste) represent a huge potential fuel source, without adverse impacts on food prices and prime agricultural land. ESL researchers hope to develop better systems for compacting, transporting, and processing bulky biomass feedstock. Advanced energy storage research is all about producing better batteries, a key component in developing more practical electric cars.

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Teton Valley Magazine

lab, the ESL will build and demonstrate applicable, real-world technologies in these areas. And, according to Dr. Aumeier, ESL employees will range from well-trained technicians to Ph.D.level engineers and research scientists.

“You’re going to see very high-quality people attracted to the lab,” he says.

The new Research and Education Lab will also be “a really good recruiting tool” for INL, according to Dr. Miller. The Plan One/Architects-designed,131,000-squarefoot complex—to be completed by August 2013—will house up to two hundred staff members. It will represent a muchneeded modernization of INL’s existing research facilities, which were largely built in the pre-Internet era.

The REL will employ scientists to perform chemistry and materials research in support of ESL’s engineering efforts as well as for the nuclear program. Dr. Miller explains that chemical-separation research is at the heart of modern manufacturing processes and many of the alternative technologies to be developed by ESL. One mission of the REL is to reduce dependence on scarce, rare-earth elements necessary for modern manufacturing by developing substitutes and methods of recycling existing resources. Given that China is known to possess the lion’s share of many key elements, this work will take on strategic importance as that country’s economy increasingly rivals our own.

From Local to Global and Back The story of Plan One’s involvement with the new INL labs is a prime example of the ever-dwindling degrees of separation between the local and global in a twenty-first century world: a local company designs a regional facility for a national research lab addressing global energy issues. Teton Valley is no longer as isolated as it once seemed.

Scientists at INL already have a longstanding relationship with Teton Valley.

Many who work at the site regularly

recreate here on weekends, volunteer on the Grand Targhee ski patrol, and/ or own local property. “There are a significant number of people from the lab that have places over there,” affirms Dr. Miller, who owns a home in Teton Valley himself. With the opening of the huge new energy and research labs at INL, a new wave of educated, well-employed people will no doubt discover the wonders of Wydaho.

Dr. Miller says research and development at the new labs may spin off local consulting firms, suppliers, and other businesses. He believes modern connectivity would easily enable such firms to locate in Teton Valley. They may well want to; some INL contract employees already telecommute from the valley.

A local company designs a regional facility for a national research lab addressing global energy issues.

In fact, the proximity of the Tetons is a selling point for INL. “The quality-of-life issue is one of the things we use to recruit people,” Dr. Miller says. As such, and in view of the recent and coming developments at INL, it may behoove Teton Valley leaders to actively woo new INL recruits.

So, okay, a new high-tech lab complex in Idaho Falls won’t save the day for Teton Valley, economically speaking. As with energy development, there is no single silver-bullet solution. But it is one more project that helps put the region on the map. If it results in a few more local businesses (like Plan One, for instance), ones that can thrive in a national economy and generate good local jobs, then it seems like a step in the right direction. TV

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27

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Discovering Community

by Molly Loomis Illustrations by Meghan Hanson

Business owners find a special brand of magic in Teton Valley

T

Peak Printing occupies a pretty little yellow house with blue trim located on First Street, about a block away from Driggs’ main intersection.

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hroughout the years, various Jackson Hole business owners have sent feelers over Teton Pass to test the trade waters of Teton Basin. Typically, these enterprises serve as Idaho-side adjuncts of stores or restaurants whose primary base of operations remains in Wyoming.

Here we highlight a pair of local businesses with Jackson roots whose owners have committed fully to doing business here, bringing important services to the quiet side of the Tetons. In both cases, the owners have found an intense passion for place among valley residents—one that is hard to resist and has them investing in the thriving spirit of innovation they’ve found in Teton Valley.

Teton Valley Magazine

Business with Social Benefits Imagine strolling through the doors of a cozy house-turned-business handily located in the center of Driggs a block away from the main intersection in downtown. You’re greeted by name. Printer and copy machines hum in the background while the owner, Becky Strout, armed with a soft Southern accent and kind demeanor, effortlessly juggles working with a mother and daughter trying to operate the digital photo printer, a customer loaded down with boxes for FedEx, and a visitor who has just come by to shoot the breeze. Art supplies line the shelves, and posters announcing local events hang on the back walls ready for delivery.

In 2006, when Becky’s husband, architect Roger Strout, opened a Driggs branch of his Jacksonbased firm, Strout Architects, the couple discovered a void in architectural print services. Voilà!

Peak Printing was born.

But as the economy weakened and the need for reproducing blueprints declined with the construction slowdown, the Strouts were unsure if they could maintain the business. Determined to do what she could to make it successful, Becky committed to driving from Jackson to Driggs to work in the store a few days a week.

The result has been a lot more than she bargained for—she not only has sustained the business, she has tapped into a community and social scene that she’s thrilled to be a part of. She even lives part-time above their shop now.

“I thought I’d be always going back to Jackson after work,” Strout says. “But we’re finding we’re getting much more engaged in this community than we would have ever thought.” Even her husband frequently commutes over the pass after work to enjoy Teton Valley’s social offerings, such as the music nights at Alpine Wines in Driggs.

Strout’s involvement extends beyond the social sphere. She’s an active member of the Downtown Driggs Community Association, and says she has

found herself “blown away” by the level of involvement and genuine interest from town officials.

“I just don’t think that would happen in Jackson,” she says.

Strout admits that prior to making the move to Driggs, she regarded Teton Valley as a bedroom community, a place where people bided their time until managing to relocate to Jackson Hole. But instead, she has found a distinct community, one containing a collective (and contagious) energy of enthusiasm, creativity, and optimism.

“There are outstandingly creative people in all sorts of unexpected pockets in the valley,” Strout says. “I think people are choosing this low-key, laidback lifestyle, but they’ve got high-powered ideas and they’re happy to use local businesses. It’s got a huge economic effect.”

Strout is a creative person herself; she comes from a family of artists and is a graphic designer by training. Her favorite part of Peak Printing is working with customers on projects.

“I don’t love copying a onehundred-page book,” she says.

“But I love problem solving.

Thinking of creative solutions to help people’s businesses—that’s my favorite.”

Another favorite is working with locals on family scrapbooks. “There is such a rich tradition of documenting ancestry here,” she says. “It’s fun to get a sense of the history of the valley.”

Strout looks forward to continuing to expand the business and its offerings, including more graphic design and architectural design services, as well as crafts like bookmaking and paper projects such as embossing and intricate design cutting. She says people in Jackson often ask her when she’s going to sell the business and get back to the east side of the pass.

“I’m not!” she says, laughing. “I love it! I’m investing in it. I’ve got new equipment; [the business] is going to grow!”

“Thinking of creative solutions to help people’s businesses­— that’s my favorite.”

Teton Valley Magazine

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Creating a Velo Culture Scott Fitzgerald has been a well-known fixture in Teton Valley for several years. He served as mayor of Victor, worked as a driving force behind the creation of the popular Victor Bike Park, and has advocated for winter snow bike access on public lands. But it wasn’t until this past year that his shop, Fitzgerald’s Bicycles, peddled its way over the pass to its new location in Victor. The business had been running in Jackson for ten years.

A Teton Valley resident since 2004, Fitzgerald was finally free of the Teton Pass commute, leaving him more time to spend with his wife Jannine and young son Braden. But quality of life wasn’t the only reason for the relocation. It was just as much about making a sound business decision.

A small-town bike shop in snow country that deals only in bicycles is a rarity. Fitzgerald explains that by being based in Jackson, where rents are exponentially higher, the store struggled during the winter months when sales slowed. Expanding to skis and snowboards was the obvious choice, but he wasn’t interested.

After months of searching for the right space in Victor, Fitzgerald found a property large enough to accommodate the shop’s inventory and desired repair space; a place just off Highway 33 with easy access to the Victor-Driggs Pathway trailhead. And

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so, rather than signing his name to another lease, he made a down payment on a mortgage.

“We feel we can serve all our customers better now because we have long-term stability,” Fitzgerald says. “I’m not sure how much longer we could have kept it as just a bike shop [in Jackson]. The [sales and service] volume is lower … but the lower cost of doing business in Teton Valley makes up for it.”

That cost advantage is why he thinks other business owners might find it worthwhile to investigate a similar move.

“Get in while you can,” Fitzgerald says. “Teton Valley has been slower to recover than Jackson, but [the communities] are joined at the hip. It will get better. The beauty, the amenities, the lifestyle in Teton Valley—there are a lot of reasons to get in now. There’s a commitment by the community to invest and improve in their downtowns. That, in combination with the trails system, is going to make it a coveted place to be.”

For Fitzgerald, the best part of moving the business has been the appreciation displayed by valley residents; he says the enthusiastic welcome has been “really inspiring.” Perhaps it’s because the community recognizes that Fitzgerald’s Bicycles provides Teton Valley with a rich nexus for a velo culture.

Teton Valley Magazine

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When Scott Fitzgerald found the ideal building in Teton Valley to house his thriving bicycle business, he signed a mortgage instead of a lease. The shop is located near the junction of Highway 33 and Cedron Road in Victor.

Fitzgerald is just as fired up about his community as he is about bikes, and combining the two is one of his major goals. He is involved in local trail planning efforts; the Wydaho Rendezvous Mountain Bike Festival; and Victor Velo, the nonprofit responsible for the city’s bike park and cyclo-cross race series.

And this past summer he launched an offshoot business called The BikeTender, offering guide and support services to local and visiting cyclists. Next fall they plan to add a “Harvest and Handlebars” event, a bike tour visiting organic and bio-dynamic farms in the valley.

“It will be similar to a wine-country experience,” Fitzgerald says; “a big farm lunch with fresh food, then time to meet the farmers.”

He would also like to create multi-day snow biking tours that include snow camping. “We want to sell experiences, not just products. We want to give people a reason to visit Teton Valley, then stay here.”

Finally, in part to combat the inevitable winter slowdown, Fitzgerald’s has launched the new Nine Bar. Both Fitzgerald and Jannine, the visionary behind the full-service espresso bar, hope it will become a hub not just for cyclists, but for a broad cross-section of valley residents and visitors.

Fitzgerald’s belief about what a bike shop should be helps explain the cult-like following his shop has developed over the years: “When you go to a town for the first time, you go to the bike shop and the brew pub to get a feel for the place,” he says.

Fitzgerald’s facility in Jackson sat next to Snake River Brewing, and—as “luck” would have it—not one, but two brewpubs are conveniently located just up the street from Fitzgerald’s Bicycles in Victor. TV

Teton Valley Magazine

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TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Raising the Bar

Kate Schade keeps it real

by Mel Paradis

Kate Schade’s life today is full of food bins, paperwork, marketing meetings, and product deliveries. Here she stands in her production facility northeast of downtown Victor.

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Teton Valley Magazine

K

ate Schade came to Teton Valley to spend a summer with her brother—more than twenty years ago. Since then, during all that time, with the exception of finishing a last year of college and taking a yearlong sojourn to Spain, she has had her roots firmly planted in the Tetons.

Schade’s routine in her early days here was packed with cleaning houses and waiting tables, and spending the remaining daylight hours outdoors skiing and biking. As she enjoyed the life of a ski bum in the mid-1990s, she found buying food at the resorts to be too pricy, and although she liked many of the commercial energy bars on the market, they would freeze in cold conditions. She looked to her own cupboards for a solution: Oats, peanut butter, dried fruit, coffee, and whatever else she could find were packed into a baking pan, thus forming the precursor of the Tram Bar. As the years flew by, Schade continued to work multiple jobs while supplying friends and coworkers with her homemade energy bars.

With each passing year, more and more people prodded her to sell the bars commercially. While flattered by the love and praise her product generated, she resisted being tied down by the bar-making process; after a decade of questions, however, she relented and decided to give Tram Bars a commercial go. A friend designed the label, while Schade figured out packaging. Next, she secured a commercial kitchen space from an employer, Nora’s Fish Creek Inn, over the hill in Wilson. At last, Schade was both willing and able to sell her product legally to the general public.

Nevertheless, she continued juggling multiple jobs.

Her workday began early at Cosmic Apple Gardens in Victor, where she did chores and managed farm share workers; it ended late, as she counted tips after an evening at Nora’s. Some days she even sold gear at Wilson Backcountry Sports. In the spare time that she somehow eked out, she delivered Tram Bars to local establishments throughout Jackson Hole and Teton Valley.

When the bar business really began to take off,

Schade found herself at a turning point: Stay small and local, or go full steam ahead into the booming industry of energy bars. She chose the latter, and today Kate’s Real Food has eight employees who help produce the Tram Bar, Handle Bar, Grizzly Bar, Stash Bar—and the Tiki Bar, a new tropical-flavored treat.

While they’re distinctly different from her early days of bar production, Schade’s days now are just as busy. Instead of having four or more separate jobs, she has more than four jobs in one. She is not only the head of the company, she also acts as bookkeeper, employee manager, marketing strategist, and quality-control specialist. She still tries to squeeze in skiing: On a good powder morning, she may arise at 5 a.m. to carve some turns on Teton Pass. If no powder is to be had, she’s up at the crack of dawn instead to answer emails and kick-start business for the day.

Next on the agenda: meeting with her team to discuss sales and marketing strategies, which are ever evolving and growing. Then Schade is out the door to meet with customers and make local deliveries. “I love to be out representing our company,” she says. Later, she returns to the computer to finish up the day’s business, often long after the sun has set.

On top of everything else, Schade has bureaucracy to deal with. Because all of Kate’s Real Food bars are Certified Organic and Kosher, she must ensure that ingredients and labeling are in accordance with these certifications. Consequently, she also spends a lot of time sourcing organic ingredients to use in all of her bars.

Ultimately, Schade’s goal is to give back to the “communities” she loves—the organic food movement and the world of outdoor recreation. The saying “Think globally, act locally” is manifested through Kate’s Real Food’s use of organic ingredients and sponsorship of nonprofits and foundations in the greater Rocky Mountain region. Her work at Cosmic Apple Gardens opened Schade’s eyes to the positive environmental ramifications of growing foods organically. After switching to organic ingredients for

Schade’s goal is to give back to the organic-food and outdoor-recreation “communities.”

Teton Valley Magazine

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

33

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

her products, she says, she and her early customers tasted a real difference.

Promoting play is another cause dear to Schade’s heart. One of her favorite experiences was volunteering with an adaptive sports program. She loved watching kids who could not walk overcome their fear of even climbing on the ski sled, only to burst into laughter as they zipped down the hill. Now, whether sponsoring adaptive sports and bike races or supporting trail crews by providing her products, Schade wants to make sure that people are able to enjoy the outdoors.

The sky is the limit for Kate Schade. This January she travels to San Francisco to the Winter Fancy Food Show, where she’ll introduce the previously mentioned Tiki Bar, which contains mango, cashew, and coconut. With its release, Kate’s Real Food will feature a line of five bars sold through an expanding network of outlets.

When she returns from California, it is doubtful that Schade’s days will be any less busy. If she is lucky, though, there will be plenty of fresh powder days to get her up and out the door early, and into the great outdoors—before she heads back to the office, and the test kitchen.

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Teton Valley Magazine

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35

a l l i n a d ay ’ s w o r k

Dr. Don Betts of Driggs Vet Clinic gets a kiss from a four-legged friend.

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Teton Valley Magazine

The Pet Parade Story and photography

by Jayme Feary

Helping Teton Valley’s animals, and animal lovers, every day

Editor’s Note: The writer followed each veterinarian for a day. To minimize confusion, he condensed three days’ events into a single day.

M

orning at Driggs Vet Clinic. A man arrives carrying his red dog, Rebel, not much bigger than a pack rat. Two days earlier Rebel had consumed a box of d-CON, a rodenticide that prevents blood from clotting.

Dr. Don Betts knows that one box of dCON can kill a dozen small dogs.

Unable to stand, Rebel can barely lift his head. Calm and expressionless, Dr. Don lifts Rebel’s upper lip and finds white gums. Not enough red blood cells are circulating; they are flowing to internal bleeding sites. Rebel’s chest heaves, trying to oxygenate the few remaining red blood cells. Without testing, the vet knows that blood is likely filling the right lung and pooling inside like a lake.

Despite Dr. Don’s veterinary education and thirty years of experience—or maybe because of them—a hint of futility shows on his face. He shakes his head.

“This little dog is in big trouble.”

Dr. Don places Rebel on an absorbent pad, towel, and heating disk in a stainless steel cage and hangs an IV bag above the door. The dog peers out with a worn expression as his chest contin-

ues to rise and fall. What are Rebel’s chances? “Less than ten percent,” says Dr. Don. And he heads off to examine a couple of horses with skin problems.

Across the valley at Victor Veterinary Hospital, Dr. Jane Linville has just finished examining the fractured metacarpals of a dog injured a few days ear-

lier in a dog fight. Everything is healing great. She gives care instructions to the owner and moves on to exam room #1 to check on West, a nine-year-old chocolate Labrador. A normally vibrant and friendly dog, West moves like an old man. Something isn’t right, his owner says. West acted odd all night. He would not eat or come inside. The woman wants to make sure he hasn’t eaten a dead animal or poison or swallowed a foreign object.

Dr. Jane’s expression of mild concern seems etched permanently on her face, and she exudes a composure resulting from twenty-two years of experience.

As if West is the only animal needing her attention, she runs blood and stool tests, which are negative. Because West’s kidney and liver functions are normal, Dr. Jane sees no cause for alarm and sends the Lab home with instructions to watch him carefully and to call immediately if his condition changes. Tension drains from the owner’s face. She smiles, and West trots out behind her, wagging his tail.

Meanwhile, Beatrice, an Airedale, is lying on her back, tongue lolling out like a piece of meat, each foot tied to a corner of the surgery table. A heart and bloodpressure monitor pulses in the background. Beatrice’s owner has asked Dr. Jane to repair a tiny hernia and, while Beatrice is under anesthesia, to spay her. Though the Airedale is beautiful in her own hairy way, her owner doesn’t want a pack of little beauties running around.

Having donned a surgery cap, safe-

Teton Valley Magazine

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

By noon, Dr. Winger has driven to six homes and treated twelve animals.

37

Clockwise, beginning above: Dr. Summer Winger with yellow Lab Jake and his owner; Dr. Winger checks a patient feline patient; Dr. Jane Linville takes a rare break at her Victor Veterninary Hospital; Dr. Linville performs surgery on Beatrice the Airedale.

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

ty glasses, and a mask, Dr. Jane cuts through the belly skin with a laser. Tendrils of smoke rise and fill the room with the odor of roasting flesh. A bit of fat has worked its way through the tear in Beatrice’s abdominal muscles, and Dr. Jane removes it and determines that all organs are in their proper place. She has almost finished stitching Beatrice when the suture breaks and she has to start over.

With the hernia repaired, Dr. Jane cuts another incision. Unable to find the uterus with the spay hook, she stares off into nowhere as if seeing through her fingers; she finally locates the uterus and draws it out. “Wow, this is a long one,” she says. She removes the organ, stitches Beatrice, and sends her to the recovery room.

By noon, Dr. Summer Winger of Circle S Mobile Veterinary Services has already driven with her technician to six clients’ homes to treat twelve animals.

They’ve given shots to a pug, a postcancer follow-up to a yellow Lab, an eye exam for a cat, blood draws for two horses, and treatment for a goat that ate

Teton Valley Magazine

too much grain. Now they arrive in their mobile clinic at a home to euthanize Joseph, a twenty-year-old gray cat who sleeps on pads covering the bathroom floor because he can’t control his bowels or walk downstairs to go outside. As if convincing herself she is making the right decision, Joseph’s owner says he has enjoyed a rich life. She can do nothing more for him.

Dr. Summer peeks through the doorway at the tom, whose skin drapes loosely over his bones. He is lying on his side and barely raises his head. As if she has no more appointments, Dr. Summer converses with Joseph’s owner, asking reverently about the cat’s last years.

What a good cat. The woman is still jabbering as she turns away from the scene because she cannot bear to watch.

As though she believes every animal deserves this kind of an end, Dr. Summer kneels and strokes Joseph from head to tail, which barely flicks. Then the injected sedative relaxes him for the overdose of barbiturates that will stop his heart and push him over. The wall clock ticks. He takes a breath and settles

Circle S Mobile Veterinary Services Summer Winger, DVM (from Washington State University) (208) 201-8188 www.circlesmobilevet.com General practice including all animals large and small. Mobile clinic: All visits are ranch and house calls.

Driggs Veterinary Clinic Donald Betts, DVM (from Colorado State University) Sarah Griffel-Thompson, DVM (from Washington State University) (208) 354-8380 www.driggsvet.com General practice including all animals large and small. Office visits, ranch calls, and house calls.

Victor Veterinary Hospital Jane Linville, DVM (from Oregon State University) (208) 787-2114 www.victorveterinary.com General practice including small animals and horses. Office visits, ranch calls, and house calls.

Teton Valley Magazine

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

39

Health Care

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Right: Rebel, with a cause—­hoping to get well so he can go home.

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Teton Valley Magazine

as still as a stuffed animal. Dr. Summer positions the chest piece of her stethoscope on his ribs. “He went with just the sedative. He was ready.”

His owner stares quietly for a moment and then, smiling slightly, says, “Yes, I guess he was ready.”

Dr. Winger drives several miles and rolls up to a large roofed kennel, home to a three-month-old gray wolf pup she had examined a week ago for weakness in the back hips and legs, stiffness in the leg joints, and muscle atrophy. Having researched the symptoms, she thinks she has a diagnosis—Neospora caninum, caused by a parasite in raw meat.

If caught soon enough, the condition is treatable; in late stages, fatal. One of its owners lifts the wolf pup, which whimpers and sinks back to the concrete.

One o’clock. Dr. Don has successfully treated several animals including one horse with ringworm and another with two wire cuts above the knee. While he has a free moment, he scarfs down a sandwich and enters case notes into his computer. Before operating on an Old English sheepdog, he looks in on Rebel, who is lying prostrate in his cage with

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By an hour and a half after closing time, Dr. Don has treated four dogs, two cats, and five horses, and he has euthanized two dogs. Before leaving for the night, he looks in on Rebel. By morning, he believes, the little dog will be dead.

Twice during the night Dr. Don drives back to the clinic to check on Rebel, and through the next day he administers intravenous fluids. Rebel’s chest rattles all day and through the night.

In the morning, Dr. Don opens the clinic door. There lies Rebel, no longer laboring to breathe. He raises his head and looks out with bright, clear eyes. Dr. Don smiles. Rebel is breathing easier.

He has more energy. Call the owner, he says. Tell him he can pick up his dog.

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LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

41

t r a i l ta l k

Big Turns in the Big Holes

Lines (both the downhill runs and the uphill bootpack crowds) are shorter in the Big Holes, but the snow rivals anything found on Teton Pass.

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Some locals take a pass on the Tetons, heading instead for this unheralded range

PHOTO: KEVIN GROVE

by Amy Hatch

Teton Valley Magazine

O

vershadowed by their loftier sisters to the east, the Big Hole Mountains are largely ignored by the majority of local backcountry skiers. But a few in-the-know ’boarders and skiers see it differently, recognizing the Big Holes as a great place to carve turns in steep, deep powder.

“It’s a way to experience Teton Passtype terrain without the crowds,” says author Tom Turiano. “Plus, you get the views of the Tetons, which you don’t get at Teton Pass. [The range] has the feel of having the potential for major adventuring.”

Due to a wide variety of terrain, from mellow touring loops to narrow chutes— coupled with light, dry snow similar to what you’ll find in the Tetons—the Big Holes and Pine Creek Pass area earned their own chapter in Turiano’s upcoming book (which has the working title of Jackson Hole’s Best Backcountry). A well-known mountain guide who has published two prior books on local skiing and mountaineering, Turiano says his latest project, once published—the target is 2013—should really help to disperse people from Teton Pass.

The Big Holes flank the western edge of Teton Valley, with Victor and Driggs a few miles to the east. From either town, the range appears rather tame, composed more of rolling hills than gnarly steeps.

But from this benign base, the Big Holes crescendo into impressive peaks.

To be precise, the Big Hole Mountains and the northern end of the Snake River Range meld together, with a seemingly arbitrary line separating the two. This area, all of which is in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, is casually and collectively referred to as the Big Holes.

The Big Holes have long been a secret stash of sorts—those interviewed for this article freely shared some of the more commonly known places to ski and ride,

while remaining mum on their truly favorite slopes. But even as the range gets more publicity, it may never experience hordes of backcountry skiers.

“The pitches are not that long, [but] the access is long,” says Todd Chapman, who uses a snowmobile to reach ski terrain. “The decent ski slopes aren’t accessible to people who just skin … like Garns [Mountain] and Relay Ridge.”

Stouts Mountain, which sees a fair amount of human-powered recreation, may be the one exception. (Be aware that it can be accessed legally only for spring skiing, after April 15; see sidebar on this page.) And there are those hardy souls willing to invest days to get to the goods, or those who have built up the strength, efficiency, and endurance to skin up and ski places like Garns and Relay Ridge in one day.

Chapman is quick to caution that using a snowmobile to access Big Hole skiing itself requires know-how. While the east side of the range has plenty of groomed snowmobile trails, the west side, Chapman’s predominant access point, often requires him to make a fifteen-mile ride on unmarked logging roads with numerous creek crossings.

“You need to be a snowmobile pro and have the right equipment,” he says.

Another such pro is Matt Roberts, a Henderson Canyon resident who has been using a snowmobile for twenty years to earn his turns in the Big Holes.

“It’s a beautiful place to ski,” he says, “[but] the long fall line spots are so few, they can’t withstand a lot of pressure.”

While Roberts jokes that his favorite place to ski in the Big Holes is the “headwater of No-Tell-’Em Creek,” he is less tight-lipped about the possibilities for ski touring, suggesting Henderson Creek, Horseshoe Creek, and Mahogany Creek as basins to explore. These areas can be

“You don’t have to feel pressure to get first tracks ... like [on] Teton Pass.”

Teton Valley Magazine

Peaks to Prowl Black Mountain Pros: Radical north face for powder; big southwest face for corn.

Cons: Remote, and big-time avalanche terrain.

Garns Mountain Pros: Good terrain on range’s second highest peak.

Cons: Fairly remote; big aspect is south facing, so it’s best in spring.

Henderson Creek and Patterson Creek Pros: Beautiful touring areas with aspen groves and gentle grades in the valley bottoms and on the ridges.

Cons: Parking can be difficult—be mindful of neighbors.

Horseshoe Canyon Pros: Various options include Mount Manning, with its gentle northwest slopes, and the steep chutes of Relay Ridge. Relatively short approaches.

Cons: Tricky route finding to approach Relay Ridge. Avalanche danger is extreme.

Pine Creek Hogback (between north and west forks of Pine Creek) Pros: Can access in a day, not too much snowmobile activity.

Cons: Ridge is heavily corniced and difficult to traverse.

Piney Peak Pros: Highest peak and some of the best terrain, including big vertical and skiable lines on all aspects.

Cons: Super remote. Requires three full days to ski it under human power.

Stouts Mountain Pros: Good access, good steeps.

Cons: Lots of V-shaped gullies and prime avalanche terrain. Closed through April 15, because access requires crossing a strip of wildlife winter-range closure.

Information supplied by Tom Turiano

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

43

Right: Skiers en route to tracking down, and tracking up, some pristine Big Hole powder.

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particularly good destinations during periods of high avalanche risk.

“There’s a lot of low-angle, safe skiing to do … that’s easily accessible from the trailhead,” he says.

While Chapman and Roberts embrace motorized transportation as a way to ski the Big Hole’s best lines, not everyone is happy about the roaring sounds that have settled over the range.

“I don’t ski the Big Holes anymore,” says Alta resident Chi Melville, who operated a hut system for skiers in the range in the 1980s. Before the days of powerful snow machine engines, Melville and his business partners hauled yurts in and out of the Big Holes every year, trading their friends’ muscle power for free nights in the yurts. Teton Mountain Touring, as it was known, operated from 1980 to 1987. They had a total of three yurts in the hut system, which could be linked up for extended backcountry tours.

“The Big Holes are not that accessible, and that’s why it was a great place to have a hut system,” Melville says, “be-

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Teton Valley Magazine

cause I didn’t feel like we were competing with day skiers.”

But now, he says, “I don’t have any interest anymore,” explaining that many of his former favorite slopes have become the playground of snowmobilers, as technology and riding skills have improved over the past three decades.

Turiano, who dubs the Big Holes “a sacrifice area,” would like to see snowmobiles limited to summer roads.

“When you start taking snow machines up onto peaks, that’s when the quality of the experience for everyone starts to go away,” he says.

High Mountain Heli-Skiing of Jackson Hole made its own noise in the Big Holes in 2011, when it held a temporary oneyear permit to fly there. The company did a few exploratory trips and one commercial trip, and ultimately decided the terrain wasn’t worth the time and expense necessary to gain the permits for continued operations in the Big Holes.

“It’s not ideally suited for heli-skiing,” says company owner Jon Shick. “There’s some great backcountry skiing, there’s

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no doubt, but the verticals are shorter, the aspect is not ideal, and there is just not enough of what we really need— north-facing, long, sustained verticals without a lot of traversing.”

Aside from the issues of motorized competition and inaccessibility, the Big Holes suffer from wind scouring and avalanche-prone terrain, says Don Sharaf, co-owner of the Victor-based American Avalanche Institute. “It’s the first barrier [to] wind coming across from the Palisades and Snake, so they tend to form really big cornices,” he says.

Overall, the snowpack in the Big Holes is quite similar to that of the Tetons, say both Sharaf and Turiano. Sometimes it is shallower in the Big Holes, a condition compounded by the fact that many ski approaches are at lower elevations than those in the Tetons. Another small difference is that east-facing aspects tend to crust up sooner in the Big Holes.

The east-facing aspects in the Tetons have more of a north tilt, while the majority of good east-facing terrain in the Big Holes is true east or even southeast, Sharaf says.

Generally, though, if there is a weak layer in the Teton snowpack, that weak layer also exists in the Big Hole snowpack; likewise, a powder day in the Tetons is a coldsmoke day in the Big Holes.

The advantages of skiing the Big Holes are as numerous as the perils, and that’s still their draw. “It’s a pretty fun place to explore,” Sharaf says. “There are a bunch of places I won’t name, which are still off the radar—which is great.”

Roberts echoes Sharaf’s sentiments: “The real charm of the Big Holes is that nobody else is skiing there,” he says. “So you can let the snow sit after a big storm and settle until it’s safe to ski. You don’t have to feel pressure to get first tracks on it, like what happens many times in more frequently used areas, like Teton Pass.” TV

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45

field notes

Reeling

in the Winter Some hardy anglers scoff at the notion of an “off season”

by Lucy Flood

Victor resident and veteran Teton Valley Magazine contributor Bruce Smithhammer prepares for a day of cold-weather fishing on the South Fork.

46

Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Teton Valley Magazine

PHOTO: KEVIN EMERY

W

hen winter lays its white blanket over the Tetons and adjacent valleys, snow crowds the rivers and hides the boat ramps. That’s when the region’s waters get a rest from the hordes of anglers who find so much pleasure in being on them.

But even from December through May, a small group of devoted fly fishermen make their way out to the riverbanks, where they find solace in the stillness. And on any given day, ice fishermen congregate on Jackson Lake and Island Park Reservoir to auger through the ice in search of the one that got away last winter.

For those souls who are willing to brave the cold, winter fly fishing and ice fishing can be a highlight of the year, providing dimension to the dark season and bringing them deeper into the heart of the Tetons.

Three such avid winter anglers talk about what else drives them.

Vance Freed: Tough love Almost anytime the temperature rises to near thirty degrees, WorldCast Anglers head guide Vance Freed of Driggs can be seen tramping through the snow toward the South Fork or the Henry’s Fork. His dog, the Captain, goes with him to get in on the action. “The fishing is super, super good around here in the winter,” Freed says.

When asked to recount his favorite winter fishing memory, Freed dives into a story about being out in the middle of a nasty snowstorm. After landing one fish, he hooked into another; he could tell it was a very, very big fish. He had it on his line for fifteen minutes before the hook pulled out.

“The fish will live on in my memory and haunt me forever,” he says.

Freed acknowledges that fishing will test your love if you do it long enough.

He’s had days that have tried him, but he says it’s precisely those days that keep him fascinated by the sport. It can be cold, really cold, standing there in the water in your waders. Gear freezes up and it’s easy to break a rod. Sometimes, the fish go into an almost catatonic dormant state, making them difficult to catch.

Having spent so much time on rivers, Freed has observed that fish tend to assemble together in holes in the winter.

“You can catch a lot of different species of fish and sizes of fish all in [a stretch of] two hundred yards,” he says. That’s why if you catch a fish in a particular spot, Freed suggests staying there, as more fish are likely close by. He notes that sometimes the fish will all rise at once, through what he interprets as a strange collective Borg mentality.

Because of winter’s unique challenges,

Freed recommends hiring a guide for a day to show you the best spots, which flies to use, and other tricks of the season.

Boots Allen: It’s the solitude Like Vance, what gets third-generation fly fishing guide Boots Allen out fishing in the winter more than anything is the fact that it can be good—really good, he says. That and the solitude. On many occasions he won’t see another angler all day. “Being alone on a stream is a fantastic feeling,” says Allen, who lives near Victor.

He primarily fishes with dry flies and nymphs on the Snake River in Wyoming and the South Fork in Idaho, and his excursions progressively increase as January rolls into February and February into March. He focuses on mid-to-late afternoon, when water and air temperatures begin to warm, which allows the aquatic insects and the trout to become more active.

Allen appreciates how fishing brings him more in tune with the changes happening in Greater Yellowstone.

Out there on the river he feels the days getting longer, warmer.

As spring approaches, he sees mountain bluebirds reappearing. The willows and other salix species begin sprouting buds.

“You know your ecosystem is again changing,” he says. “You can smell it, and I love that smell.”

The winter also allows Allen to observe and participate in special hatch events. “Blue-winged olives are on the water when I am guiding in March, April, May, and again in October,” he says, “but when there is a big emergence in the winter, the fishing can be lights out.”

“Being alone on a stream is a fantastic feeling.” -Boots Allen

Teton Valley Magazine

Vance’s Picks: Top Flies: Trina’s Bubble Back Emerger, Prince Nymph, stonefly patterns, and various midge patterns.

“You can catch some very big fish on some very small flies,” he says.

Preferred Clothing: A warm base layer, lots of down, neoprene waders, and a solid shell. (He also packs his latest books on tape.)

Boots’ Picks: Top flies: A Blue Wing Olive Foam Emerger (size 16 to 18), Sanchez’s Krystal Midge Emerger (size 18).

Nymphs: Booty’s Day-2 Midge Pupa (size 18), Cream Soft Hackle, Black Copper John (size 18).

Preferred Clothing: Wool #4 base layer and socks, R4 Fleece, Rio Gallegos waders, and fleece fingerless gloves, all from Patagonia; Redington fleece pants; wading jacket and fleece beanie, both by Simms.

Rod and Reel Choice: Sage XP 6wt. or 5wt.; Scott S4 with Rio Gold Line. Reels are Ross Evolution and Ross Vexsis.

Daryl’s Picks: Top Jigs: Declined to disclose his favorites, although he did mention Foxy G, minnows, and bullheads in passing.

Preferred Clothing: Insulated coveralls, wool shirt, and wool pants.

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

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Teton Valley Magazine

Daryl Zohner: Catch and keep Daryl Zohner—who, before retiring last summer, owned Driggs Garage for years—still relies on the maps of Jackson Lake that he acquired back when he started ice fishing there in the mid-1960s.

Little X’s mark the sand bars where, he says, the fish tend to be suspended at sixteen to twenty feet deep, and the best fishing is found.

Zohner laughs as he tells about falling through the ice on Palisades Reservoir twice in one day. His insulated coveralls kept him floating around like a cork the first time he went through. Luckily, when he went down the second time, he still had a rope attached to him, and his friends were able to haul him out.

“Now I know what those holes look like when the fish look up at them,” Zohner says.

That was the last time he fished Palisades. He says the ice is safer on Jackson Lake, and the mackinaw from there are better to eat anyway.

Some of Zohner’s fondest memories are of constructing more than a dozen snowplanes for winter fishing. An airplane propeller and a rear-mounted engine pushed the little car-like vehicles across the lake on skis. (See “Flying Over the Snow” in Teton Valley Magazine, winter 2010–11.) Once he and his friends arrived at their fishing holes, they sat inside their snow planes beside a propane heater and fished out the door. “It was pretty comfy,” he says.

It’s a point of contention for him that

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Teton Valley resident Don Carpenter has the South Fork of the Snake River to himself on a chilly February day.

after the winter of 2001–02, snowplanes were banned from Jackson Lake. Even so, he still loves ice fishing there.

He’s usually out on the lake by 6:30 a.m., in time for when the fish start biting just after daylight arrives.

“There isn’t a prettier place in the world than Mount Moran when that sun comes up,” he says. “It turns that mountain red.”

Mid-February is Zohner’s favorite time to fish. That’s because, he says, the Jackson Lake mackinaw shed their teeth at the end of January and beginning of February. “Their mouth is sorer than hell [as new teeth emerge], and they don’t eat much. But once the teeth are in, they get vicious and are easier to catch.”

Zohner favors twelve-pound test line and a light bass rod because they make the fish more fun to catch. “A twelve pounder will take you two and a half hours to get to the hole and up,” he says.

“But if you got thirty-five pound test line on there and a big reel, you just crank ’em in like a winch.” Not much challenge there.

Once a fish is out of the water, he says, it takes them about four flops before they freeze.

Zohner typically packs things up around noon, but says that if you can stay until just before dark, they’ll start biting again. Once he gets back home, he smokes the big fish and fillets the small ones to eat right away. TV

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c o m pa s s p o i n t s

A Peripatetic Soul For “Wandering Ted Kunz,” the road just may be home

I Clockwise from top left: The Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico; on a ferry bound for Ometepe Island in Nicaragua; cycling on a canal in Amsterdam; Ted and his Harley on Beartooth Pass, Montana; high on southern Bolivia’s Altiplano at an elevation of around 14,000 feet; relaxing on a bench in Logan, Utah.

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f you’re trying to find Ted Kunz, you might have to look in some tiny town high in Mexico’s rugged Sierra Madre, on a lonely road in South America, or among the late-night diners at a trendy eatery in Amsterdam. If your timing is right, you might even bump into him on Main Street in Driggs, where he’s just woken up from a nap on the old courthouse lawn.

Just don’t go looking for this Ted Kunz on Facebook. Unless you’re privy to his alias, you won’t find him there.

But he’d rather meet you in person anyway. “What I really like about travel and about life are the chance meetings,” he says. “All serendipity.”

If you do run across Kunz, you may or may not recognize him. It’ll depend on whether he’s skipped the shower and shave or gotten himself shined up for a meeting in New York City. Unkempt and sporting a thick black beard, he can walk undetected down the dusty streets of most any Third World town—until he flashes a smile with straight white teeth that hint at his Western origins.

Teton Valley Magazine

Lured by the possibilities, Kunz has spent much of the past four years on the road. He’s a wanderer at heart, though not rootless. His family tree extends back five generations in Teton Valley, to his great-great-grandfather Samuel Kunz, a Swiss immigrant who homesteaded on the west side of the valley in the 1880s.

Ted’s surname might sound familiar, but he didn’t spend much time in Teton Valley until fairly recently. Even now, he sleeps more nights in a converted Thule cargo box mounted to the top of his Jeep than he does in a bed on his rare visits to his parents’ farmhouse near Driggs.

You may recognize Ted Kunz as “The Traveling Man” from the column he wrote for the Teton Valley News from late 2010 through early 2011. He shared glimpses of his journeys through Mexico and Central America before a chance to appear in the BBC documentary American Nomads lured him back across the border sooner than he expected.

Kunz caught the travel bug as a teenager riding his bike to neighboring towns from his home in the Boise area.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TED KUNZ

by Deb Barracato

After two years at college in Utah, he moved to Manhattan to finish his degrees in finance and economics at New York University. His post-college career path spurred the travel bug even more, taking him to Hong Kong and Europe.

But dissatisfaction with the culture of his profession—coupled with the realization that at thirty-three he had plenty of money, no bills, and no responsibility to anyone other than himself—inspired him to leave his job in international finance and hit the road in 2008. Since then, the thirty-eightyear-old has dabbled in volunteerism and seasonal work, from guiding river trips in Jackson Hole to laboring with a welding crew on a remote water tower in the Arizona desert.

Kunz says that he’s not financially set to retire. If he could get paid for miles logged, borders crossed, or strangers befriended, he would become a professional traveler. Short of that, he just may put down some roots of his own here in his ancestral home.

Or return to the world of high-

powered money movers, quickly boosting himself up an income bracket or three. “It’s tempting,” he says, likening cash in the bank to firewood on the porch. “In either case, I’d prefer to have a little more than I need.”

Interviews last fall led to a serious offer with a reputable firm, but Kunz felt unprepared to jump back into the fray.

Perhaps the Zapatista T-shirt he wore concealed beneath his starched buttondown kept him attuned to his true aspirations, which—with the exception of his Jeep, a Harley, and some nice Italian shoes—rarely include material acquisitions.

“I don’t take pleasure in shopping for expensive things,” he says. “Part of the secret to real freedom is having the ability to resist the temptation.

You can spend $50,000 for a brand new car, or you can head out and see ten countries for a year.” unz had long dreamed of traveling the length of South America on a motorcycle, kicking off the trip with a crossing of the roadless Darién Gap on the narrow isthmus connecting the Americas. In musings to friends, he put that dream to rest (at least temporarily): “Ticks. Giant-sized scorpions. Paramilitary groups. Bottomless swamps. Malaria. Exhaustion. Natives. Land mines. Snakes. Dudes chewing coca leaves. Mosquitoes. Bees. Rain.

Kidnappings. My mom. All reasons why I’m gonna wuss out on my dream to cross the Darién Gap.” Instead, he bought a one-way ticket to Medellin, Colombia, the stand-in starting point for his South American motorcycle tour. In November 2011, he purchased a KTM 640 Adventure bike and headed roughly south, aiming to celebrate the New Year in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, at the bottom

of the continent.

It might be the repeated encounters with serendipity—that agreeable phenomenon of having just what you need appear at the precise moment you need it—that Kunz will remember most about his journey of nearly 18,000 miles.

Though he’s far from a conventionally religious man, Kunz acknowledges the workings of providence in these many lucky breaks. He’s experienced firsthand the guiding premise of Brazilian novelist Paul Coehlo’s book The Alchemist, in which the protagonist learns “...when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

For example, when he broke down on the Carretera Austral, the rocky route through Chile’s desolate southern reaches, serendipity appeared as a van with two Austrians who just happened to have a batterypowered drill and an identical spare bolt to replace the one on his bike that had snapped in two.

Then a bum clutch left Kunz pondering the possibility of a 1,500-kilometer chug in first gear. His riding companion at the time, Christian Hessing of Germany, pulled from his gear sack some high tensile wire, “liquid metal” epoxy, and a Leatherman tool—and fixed the bike on the spot.

Later, during the Christmas holiday, fuel pump difficulties stranded Kunz in a little Argentinian town, one lacking a mechanic, and he feared his goal of reaching Ushuaia by New Year’s Eve might be lost. But he was found by the exact guy who could help him. Using the ruined fuel pump membrane as a template, this fellow fashioned a replacement out of a membrane pulled from an old kitchen stove. The repair worked beautifully, and gave Kunz good reason to accept an invitation to enjoy a holiday meal in celebration.

Teton Valley Magazine

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

“You can spend $50,000 for a brand new car, or you can head out and see ten countries for a year.”

K

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in Jackson Hole.

Above: The start of a bad day on bad roads in Bolivia’s Amazon Basin.

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W

hile extensive foreign travel can definitely be mindexpanding, Kunz acknowledges the inevitable mental telescoping that takes place when you’ve been on the road alone for months. “You end up spending way too much time in your own head,” he says, adding if it’s true that time feeds the devil’s workshop, then he must be an artisan by now.

“I always second-guess my decision to travel, especially when the mode of travel is a motorcycle on challenging roads through wild weather in thirdworld countries filled with many desperate people.

“It’s dangerous,” he says, with nary a hint of irony.

But Kunz has been either burdened or blessed with a restless nature, and he readily accepts his tendency to secondguess everything: “Doubt is healthy.

I’m suspicious of certainty.” He does wonder if he’ll ever transition to a more stationary life and the normalcy that it could bring—job security, a family, daily showers.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TED KUNZ (3), TONY JEWELL PHOTOGRAPHY (TOP RIGHT)

Top: Guiding (and rescuing) on the Snake River

The subsequent six months saw Kunz slowly working his way north again, open to whatever side adventures arose.

Nearly everywhere he went, he recalls, people welcomed him into their homes, sharing meals and mutual curiosity.

With these spontaneous friendships, he greatly improved his Spanish and developed a ground-level appreciation for the cultures and lifestyles he encountered.

After a string of crashes on Bolivia’s weather-ravaged North Yungas Road culminated in two herniated disks, Kunz parked himself in nearby La Paz for nearly two months of recuperation. This stretch of roadway, also called the Death Road, is regarded by many sources as the “most dangerous road in the world.”

Unsure of whether he would ride again, he took a local doctor’s advice and spent much of his time lying in bed—when he wasn’t downtown with his camera documenting labor demonstrations.

His back improved, however, and he resumed riding to Medellin, although his planned figure-8 route ended up looking more like the number 6.

In life, there are many changes.

Come discover ours.

Above: Participating in the MooseCross cyclocross festival at the Victor Bike Park in October.

Left: Pondering a precarious river crossing on the Ruta del Che in central Bolivia.

“Right now, I see no path thataway, and that makes me nervous, too,” he says.

Kunz spent this past summer working on the Snake River in Jackson Hole, for him a long period to stay in one location. Whenever he finds his body in repose, his mind continues to travel the world. His thoughts carry him to African savannahs and dusty market towns as he contemplates an east-to-west motorcycle crossing at mid-continent. They lure him to Central Asia, and the possibility of a foot trek through the region’s five “stans,” the rugged countries of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

While he’s keeping his options open— including the possibility of returning to the financial realm—Kunz recognizes that the more time he spends on the road, the more improbable reverting to a relatively normal life might become.

For Ted Kunz, wandering the world may just be a permanent state of being. TV

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b o dy a n d s o u l

Save the Date: Mary’s Nipple Challenge 2013

by Pattie Layser

Targhee’s over-the-top fundraiser celebrates valley lives

I

n Teton Valley, Wydaho, my life and those of my women friends are shaped largely by physical challenges: climb the Grand, perfect the telemark turn, through-hike the Tetons from west slope to east, run the John Colter Half Marathon … the list is long. But one out of eight of us will add this goal to our life list: Survive Breast Cancer.

Too often, having cancer becomes how others identify us, but battling cancer can’t define us. We are your mom, your sister, your sweetheart; the best friend who taught you to ski crosscountry, a favorite neighbor who always guides you to the first ripe huckleberries … this list is long, too.

The 2012 Mary’s Nipple Challenge at Grand Targhee Resort boasted thirteen competitors. Some were veterans whose race pledges guaranteed major fun, monies for a great cause, and new personal records. Others were breast-cancer warriors, flanked by friends encouraging their full recovery, or families skiing both to salute those fighting cancer and in appreciation of their own robust health.

My reason to ski was three-pronged: My cancer has metastasized. St. John’s oncology center is more crowded today than during my 2006 treatments. And more of my sister patients now are very young women.

The Teton Vista Traverse carries skiers to Mary’s ascent point, where they proceed to earn their turns by way of a boot pack to the summit that allows countless laps.

From the top, Mary’s dishes up prime northern Rockies powder; challenging gullies rimmed by snow-ghosted pines offer 1,100-vertical-foot runs.

Beautiful though she is, Mary can still intimidate. So, in 2012, Grand Targhee retained a high level of competition and encouraged a broader range of skiers in the Mary’s Challenge by agreeing to tally separately the total number of vertical feet skied by those favoring other runs accessed by the Dreamcatcher lift.

Prizes were awarded to purists and recreational skiers alike—season ski passes, passes for other Gillette-family ski areas, lodging/restaurant packages, music festival tickets, Smith sunglasses, cat skiing certificates— and also to 2012’s best-costumed, Keely O’Donnell, a masterful snowboarder dressed as an Amazonian Una-Boob.

At a later date, I talked with Andy Williams, Grand Targhee’s special events coordinator, and Ken Rider, director of marketing and sales. Before the discussion wrapped up, I was high-fiving their commitment to expanding Targhee’s annual fundraiser that supports breast cancer patients through the St. John’s Medical Center Foundation in Jackson (see sidebar).

“Let’s turn Mary’s pink!” Williams exclaimed (the slogan has since become part of Targhee’s promotion for the event); “paint [the mountain] with pink-

From top: Robert Lovell, Justin Meyer, and Kylee Hanson show off their new hats; Leon “Slim” Weston obviously believes two hats are better than one; Pattie Layser (orange parka) signs up for the Challenge while a bearded

M

ary’s Nipple, aptly named, rises modestly to an elevation of 9,920 feet and is nested between Peaked and Fred’s mountains.

Andy Steele awaits his turn.

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Teton Valley Magazine

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF GRAND TARGHEE

“Let’s turn Mary’s pink!” -Andy Williams

WHERE THE MONEY GOES “St. John’s Hospital Foundation was created in 1991,” explains foundation president Liz Finegan. “But fifteen years ago, recently retired nurse Judy Basye convinced the hospital to create a separate oncology [program].”

In part because of St. John’s collaboration with Salt Lake City’s Huntsman Cancer Institute, Dr. John Ward, breast oncologist and hematologist, travels from Utah to Jackson twice a month to orchestrate treatment protocols.

“No one is turned away from care,” Finegan says, “and paramount to our healthcare mission is supporting each patient’s dignity as a human being.”

Prior to the foundation, Basye ran the St. John’s Cancer Patient Assistance Program. She observed patients, including single mothers arriving alone.

As treatments exhausted them or their funds, she coordinated volunteer support: drivers, childcare, hospice service.

Now when women lose their identity, their hair, or their will to fight, oncology nurses work with the foundation’s breast cancer support fund to provide wigs, massages, and introductions to support groups. Jackson businesses also dig in; Ella’s Room has personnel trained in fitting prostheses, for example, and the Hitching Post Lodge is among those housing out-of-town patients.

When cancer turns a patient’s world upside down, the nurses listen to hear what’s needed to heal. When a Native American woman who had never missed treatments or her job teaching school was homebound on her reservation, her car received a new transmission. When a Lyman woman panicked at the cost of driving to Idaho Falls for radiation, she received gasoline vouchers.

“What moves me about the Mary’s Nipple fundraiser,” says Finegan, “is the community’s generosity; how [local] people care for one another.”

It takes more than medicine to heal the sick.

clothed challengers. 2012’s competitors raised the most money ever. Let’s double that amount!”

“This should be big,” agreed Rider.

“Honoring those who died from breast cancer, celebrating those who survive, and giving women [and men] newly diagnosed a hope-filled future.”

“What about selling prayer flags?” I asked. “Donors could personalize theirs with tributes and blessings. We skiers could pack them up Mary’s, string them across her peak, and fly everyone’s wishes for health and longevity from the summit.”

“Absolutely!” they chorused.

Encouraged, I suggested another change. When I left my home in Alta for the 2012 challenge at 11:30 a.m. on January 28, the temperature was four below. March is warmer, and generally has better snowfall. Any chance the date could be changed for 2013?

“We’ll hold our Fifth Annual Mary’s Nipple Challenge either the first or second weekend in March,” declared Williams.

Dave Hudacsko continues to be another dedicated Mary’s Nipple deputy. Before partnering with Andy Hamby to form R.A.D. Recycling in the valley, he was Targhee’s PR person.

Hudacsko started Save Mary’s Nipple in 2008–09, a year when eleven hundred Idaho women and about a third that many Wyoming women were newly diagnosed with breast cancer. In fact, since 2008 breast cancer has been the leading cause of death among Idaho women—perhaps because the state’s rate for cancer screening is America’s lowest; statewide, more than a third

of women over forty have not had a mammogram in the past two years.

Rattled by hard facts, Hudacsko stepped up. “Andy spearheads every great resort event. Without extra manpower, countering breast cancer’s rise is a tough challenge. Let me help!”

“Everyone can help!” Williams said.

“Vote for new categories of competition.

Volunteer services. Would you like to see team, as well as individual, competitions? How many challengers would run snowshoe laps? Spin snow bike laps around Rick’s Basin? Would valley businesses donate a portion of race-day sales, rentals, or services? Would you party on the hill apres-race, bidding on raffle or silent auction items?” (Email your ideas to Andy at awilliams@grandtarghee.com)

Teton Valley Magazine

LifeInTheTetons.com | Winter 2012-13

M

ary’s Challenge snowballs community and charity into colossal fun. It’s on my calendar, in my heart. Originally I moved here because the Tetons forged a singular playscape, but I remain because our mountains attract special people, shaping a community of uncommon character.

I can say this because I know my neighbors. But for out-of-valley folks, Connecticut-based naturopathic doctor Alan C. Logan, co-author of Your Brain on Nature, explains it well: “…people who regularly immerse themselves in nature have high levels of brain activity in regions associated with altruism and love.”

I think Logan would agree that Grand Targhee has perfected communal health, born of snow-based fun: Ski Mary’s Nipple with me in 2013! TV

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lo c a l f l av o r s

Omnivorous Locavores From beef to bok choy, locally grown food graces the tables of our homes and restaurants

by Lukas Boone

T

he mercury can dip below the freezing mark virtually any time of the year at Teton Valley’s lofty elevations. Even in July, the closest thing we have to a sure-fire frost-free month, the temperature has hit 27 in Driggs and Victor (and no doubt even colder at the river). High winds, hard rains, hammering hailstorms, and searing sun are common at the height of the growing season.

Despite this meteorological melee, we’ve raised a bumper crop of optimistic green-thumbers around here. Or maybe it’s because of the challenges, gardeners being the gluttons for punishment they sometimes appear to be. Yet their plots yield wonders. These dedicated horticulturists unflinchingly grow things that can’t be grown here. Tomatoes. Corn. Pumpkins.

Greenhouses, such as Teton Valleymade GrowHuts, emerge from the basin’s rich soil like May morels. Residents

dry, can, freeze, ferment, and pickle their produce. They smoke, jerk, and freeze their meat, both domestically grown and wild-harvested. They raise chickens for their eggs, cows and goats for their milk. It’s nothing short of a mini-agricultural revolution.

Even now, as you read this in December—or January, February, or March— our gardening visionaries are channeling spring, imagining new ways to deal with those pesky moose or deer, figuring fresh strategies for raising the perfect eggplant. They’re starting seeds inside; getting lost in catalogs from Peaceful Valley and Gardener’s Supply.

Stepping up to the commercial level, we’ve got CSAs and organic outfits like Cosmic Apple Gardens, Blue Flax Farm, Snowdrift Farm, and Aspen Glow Farms (whose mid-1990s creation by Ted Wells is often credited with starting the local-food ball growing). Farmers experimenting with new crops like

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quinoa. Restaurants—Forage in Driggs, Spoons in Victor, others—sourcing food resources from local growers. We have Full Circle Education and Slow Food in the Tetons. Raw milk and Teton White Cheddar from Paradise Springs Farm; gelato and wheels of Yellowstone cheese from Teton Valley Creamery. Chanterelles and shiitakes from Mountain Valley Mushrooms.

Beers, breads, and bars filled with energy are brewed and baked locally.

It’s B-eautiful, and a lot of it is obtainable at Barrels & Bins. The new Grand Teton Vodka, distilled from Idaho potatoes and Wydaho waters. Grass-fed, hormone-free beef from HD Dunn & Son and Teton Waters Ranch. Healthy and delicious fare made or grown here that’s sold beyond the valley as well as within it.

This is not news to a lot of readers. But when you consider the many pieces of it all, it really is quite a puzzle. The locavore movement may be gaining ground all over the place, but here in Teton Valley it’s spreading like a prairie wildfire.

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57

dining guide BROULIM’S FOOD AND PHARMACY 240 S. Main St., Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-2350 Open Monday–Saturday 7am–11pm The Service Deli in Broulim’s grocery serves breakfast daily from 7am to 9:30am. Broulim’s also features a Daily Special six days a week (closed Sundays). You can order sandwiches to go made from your choice of Columbus meats and cheeses. There is a full menu at the Pack Saddle Grill, with burgers and sandwiches to go, as well as hot baked or rotisserie chicken all day long, an espresso bar, Italian sodas, smoothies, take-and-bake pizza, and other meals to go. Don’t forget about all the freshly prepared salads, and Broulim’s has its own Sushi Bar and hot Asian food. Inquire at the Deli for catering services.

CORNER DRUG 10 S. Main St., Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-2334 Open Mon–Sat 9am–6:30pm Located at the stoplight in historic downtown Driggs, the family-owned and -operated Corner Drug has been a local favorite for satisfying that ice cream craving for more than a hundred years. Try a fresh lime freeze or a huckleberry milk shake. Corner Drug also has your weekend essentials and a full-service pharmacy. Hunting and fishing licenses and tackle available. (p. 49) DINING IN CATERING, INC. Bill Boney, Owner & Executive Chef 208-787-2667, toll-free 800-787-9178 www.diningincateringinc.com Dining In Catering, Inc. is the region’s most experienced outdoor event catering company, receiving rave reviews for great food and service. Owner and executive chef Bill Boney and his staff have catered the biggest events, weddings, and corporate retreats to take place in Jackson Hole and Teton Valley. Dining In Catering also offers a banquet location in Teton Valley—The Wildwood Room, which has become the gathering place for the valley’s best events. (p. 49) GRAND TARGHEE RESORT 800-TARGHEE (827-4433) www.grandtarghee.com Looking for a romantic dinner after taking in those incredible views of the Grand Teton? Or a pint and some world-famous Wydaho Nachos after a day of deep powder turns on our slopes? The variety of restaurants and eateries at Grand Targhee Resort offers just the ticket. Grand Targhee Resort dining establishments feature the finest local ingredients and a wide variety of menu items made from scratch. The Branding Iron offers fine slopeside dining created with inspiration and a casual, family focus. The famous Trap Bar is the place to unwind after skiing the best powder in the West. Enjoy great food, great drinks, and live music! Snorkel’s Coffee House & Bistro is your neighborhood coffee house, serving freshly baked pastries, pancakes, breakfast burritos, and piping hot coffee in the morning and deli items during the lunch hour. And Wild Bill’s Canteen is much more than your average ski-day lunch café, offering a range of fresh lunch options—from soups made from scratch daily, to South of the Border creations, to American “Kobe” Wagyu beef burgers. (back cover)

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Winter 2012-13 | LifeInTheTetons.com

Teton Valley Magazine

LINN CANYON RANCH 1300 East 6000 South, Victor, ID 83455, 208-787-LINN (5466), www.linncanyonranch.com Dash through the snow in an authentic western sleigh, drawn by powerful Percheron draft horses, at the Linn Canyon Ranch in beautiful Teton Valley.

Nestled in its own private canyon, the ranch is a winter wonderland, where sleigh bells ring as you glide across open meadows. Join us for delicious steaming hot chocolate followed by an elegant dinner in our historic lodge. Experience the special service and atmosphere the Linn family is known for. Twenty-four hour advance reservations required. We also offer holiday and private parties. (p. 15) McDONALD’S® 1110 W. Broadway @ Hwy 22, Jackson, WY 83001 307-733-7444 Open daily 5am–midnight Fast, Affordable, and On Your Way! Whether you’re driving over the pass on your way to Grand Teton National Park or commuting to your job on the “other side,” make McDonald’s® a part of your day. We’re serving your breakfast favorites like the classic Egg McMuffin®, McSkillet™ Burritos, and McCafe™ beverages featuring Lattes, Mochas, and Frappes. Our Premium Salads, Fruit and Yogurt Parfait, Real Fruit Smoothies, and Fruit and Maple Oatmeal are delicious choices to support your healthy, active lifestyle. (p. 35) O’ROURKES SPORTS BAR AND GRILLE 42 E. Little Ave., Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-8115, Open Mon–Sat 7:30am–9pm, Sun 7:30am–Noon A favorite among locals for years, O’Rourkes is open all day, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This sports-style restaurant/bar packs the plates with homestyle breakfast, fresh-cut steaks, burgers, delistyle sandwiches, and all-time favorites like fish and chips. Pesto and traditional pizzas, meal-size salads, and standard “pub grub” round out the menu nicely.

Dine in or carry out.

PENDL’S BAKERY & CAFÉ 40 Depot St., Driggs, ID 83422 (1 block NW of the stoplight) 208-354-5623, Open Daily Looking for a latte and warm Apple Strudel? Find them at Pendl’s, where Kitzbuhel Konditor Fred Pendl has passed his baking traditions on to daughter Martha. From Nussknackers to Florentiners, Linzertorte to Chocolate Rolls, Old World Austrian pastries and confections continue. Delectable assortments of hand-rolled pastries and strudel baked daily, with homemade muffins, savory quiches, and cranberry granola rounding out your morning. Enjoy fresh coffee and fine espresso any time of the day.

Eat in or take out a tasty lunch special from 11:30am to 2pm. Open seven days a week. We look forward to welcoming you at Pendl’s.

SPOONS BISTRO 32 W Birch St., Victor, ID 83455 208-787-2478, Open Thursday–Monday at 5:30pm, reservations recommended This small boutique restaurant of thirty-two seats is tucked just off Main Street in Victor. Chef and Pastry Chef-owners Travis and Nicole utilize cutting edge techniques of molecular gastronomy to bring a new twist to old favorites. Offering local favorites such as braised beef short ribs with red wine demi glace, American Kobe burger with bacon and onion rings, and seared Idaho trout with mushroom sherry cream sauce. Spoons Bistro strives to offer the freshest local ingredients and makes as many items in-house as possible.

TETON THAI 18 N. Main St., Driggs, ID 83422 208-787-THAI (8424) Lunch Mon–Fri 11:30am–2:30pm; dinner Mon–Sat 5:30–9:30pm Jackson Hole’s favorite Thai restaurant can now also be found in Driggs. Teton Thai offers something for everyone. Enjoy a variety of exotic dishes, from Crispy Duck Pad Gar Pow to Muslim-style Masaman curry, all made from our family’s recipes from Bangkok. Sit at the kitchen counter and watch our chefs prepare your dish. Enjoy specialty sake cocktails, as well as a range of imported beers and wine. Dine in or take out. (p. 39) THE BRAKEMAN AMERICAN GRILL 27 N. Main St., Victor, ID 83455 208-787-2020 Open 11:30am–8pm Mon–Thurs, 11:30am–9pm Sat–Sun Freshly ground chuck is where The Brakeman Burger begins. Our butcher, Josh, grinds select cuts of beef daily here at The Brakeman and blends it with very special spices. We serve our burgers up on a terrific bun with the freshest lettuce, tomato, and red onion, and pair it with our fresh-cut fries. Our customers insist we’ve got the best burger they’ve ever tasted!

We’re all about fresh at The Brakeman American Grill: crisp, tasty, and innovative salads, along with veggie burgers and other sandwiches. Great atmosphere, terrific music. Dine in or take out.

THE HEADWATERS GRILLE AT TETON SPRINGS 10 Headwaters Dr., Victor, ID 83455 208-787-8130 www.tetonsprings.com The Headwaters Grille serves dinner Thursday through Saturday during fall, winter, and spring operations from 5pm to 9pm (children’s menu also available). Conveniently located at Teton Springs Resort, the Headwaters Grille offers outstanding fresh fare in a casual and spectacular resort and club setting. Guests enjoy an intimate dining experience in a warm and friendly atmosphere complete with a roaring fire or seating that affords incredible mountain views. Full bar service also available Thursday through Saturday from 5pm to 9pm. NFL Sundays during the season from 11am to 8pm with special Football Menu and drink specials. Teton Springs is also the optimum place to host business meetings and banquets, or to say “I Do!” THE ROYAL WOLF 63 Depot St., Driggs, ID 83422 (from the stoplight, go one block north and turn left) 208-354-8365 Open seven days a week, serving lunch and dinner 11am–late www.theroyalwolf.com Since 1997 locals and visitors alike have enjoyed discovering this off-Main Street establishment offering a diverse menu of sandwiches, burgers, salads, appetizers, and entrées—all served in a casual, smoke-free pub-style environment.

Complementing our menu is a full bar serving all of your favorite beverages, including cocktails, wine, and an ever-changing selection of regional microbrews on draft. Please visit our website to view the full menu. The Royal Wolf also features outdoor dining on our spacious deck during the summer, daily food and beer specials, Wi-Fi, and billiards.

Stop by to meet old friends and make new ones.

Snow sagas and fish tales told nightly.

Teton Valley Magazine

TONY ’S PIZZA & PASTA 364 N. Main St., Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-8829 Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, 11am–11pm, www.tonysbrickovenpizza.com Tony’s Pizza & Pasta is one of the best-known and best-liked restaurants in Teton Valley. We use 100 percent fresh products for our hand-tossed pizza and Italian entrees, and we bake all of our items in an Italian brick oven. Try our exciting grill items, such as burgers, steak, and salmon. You can choose from more than forty different draft beers while you watch your favorite ski movie or sports event. Come in and enjoy our vaulted-ceilinged, log-cabin ski lodge/Italian restaurant. We deliver to Teton Valley!

VICTOR EMPORIUM 45 N. Main St., Victor, ID 83455 208-787-2221 Open seven days a week For more than sixty years the Victor Emporium Old Fashioned Soda Fountain has served milk shakes, including the World Famous Huckleberry Shake.

Gourmet coffee and espresso also served daily. The Emporium is also a great place to pick up those unusual Christmas or Valentine’s Day gifts. Where the locals meet before and after skiing!! (p. 57) VICTOR VALLEY MARKET 5 S. Main St, Victor, ID 83455 208-787-2230 Open daily 7am–9pm Victor Valley Market is a quick-trip grocery and gourmet deli with value and quality you can trust. The market is still the place for fresh seafood and choice meats, delicious house-made takeout, and a unique grocery selection including beer and wine—all with a fun community vibe. Grab sandwiches made with locally baked breads, fresh salads, house-made soups, and more. Every day, every grocery need … we’ve got you covered. At the main intersection in Victor. (p. 44) WARBIRDS CAFÉ/TETON AVIATION CENTER 253 Warbird Lane, Driggs, ID 83422 Located at the Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport, one mile north of downtown Driggs 208-354-2550, Serving lunch and dinner; evening reservations recommended Enjoy delicious food seasoned with spectacular views of the Tetons at Warbirds Café. A full bar and thoughtful wine list complement our contemporary American menu, which is enhanced by daily specials and occasional live music. Our windowbanked dining room parallels the taxiway, where an impressive array of private planes arrive and depart throughout the day. You can turn your meal into an adventure with a scenic airplane or glider ride; or, if you prefer to stay grounded, a visit to our free display of restored vintage warplanes. Drive or fly in today. (p. 8) WILDLIFE BREWING & PIZZA 145 S. Main St., Victor, ID 83455 208-787-2623 Open 4–10pm daily; Lunch Thurs–Sat beginning at 12 noon Teton Valley’s award-winning brewpub, microbrewery, and locals’ favorite pizzeria. Take out or dine in, in our beautiful pub. Choose from our famous specialty pizzas or build your own. Great appetizers and locally made desserts, with eight fresh beers on tap made right here at “the source.” Pool, darts, and plenty of room, with family dining in a bright, friendly space. Open mic night Wednesdays at 6pm. Rated Best Pizza in the Rockies by our customers! Come see why “It’s the Locals’ Place with Big Taste.” Specials nightly. Look at wildlifebrewing.com and Facebook for specials and events.

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lo d g i n g g u i d e GRAND TARGHEE RESORT 800-TARGHEE (827-4433) www.grandtarghee.com After a day of skiing, it’s time to relax with the family in a variety of western-style slopeside accommodations. All lodging is located just steps away from an array of shopping, dining, and activities. For those who desire a more intimate family retreat, consider Grand Targhee Resort’s Vacation Rental lodging opportunities in Teton Valley, perfectly situated between Driggs and the resort. Call 800-TARGHEE to book your stay. (back cover) GRAND VALLEY LODGING PROPERTY MANAGEMENT PO Box 191, 158 N. First Street E., Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-8890 or toll-free 800-746-5518 mail@grandvalleylodging.com www.grandvalleylodging.com Grand Valley Lodging is the premier property management company in Teton Valley, renting properties since 1992. We offer great rates on vacation homes, cabins, and condominiums throughout Teton Valley, as well as managing and renting long-term homes and apartments. Our beautifully equipped vacation rentals can be found thirty miles west of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Our location on the quiet west side of the Teton Mountain Range offers exquisite views and access to Grand Targhee Resort and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, as well as to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. This central location gives you the opportunity to enjoy a variety of Idaho and Wyoming outdoor activities. (p. 6) LINN CANYON RANCH 1300 East 6000 South, Victor, ID 83455 208-787-LINN (5466) www.linncanyonranch.com Our lodging offers the best of luxurious accommodations against the backdrop of an Idaho winter wonderland. Sleep peacefully in our recently completed timber-framed cabin, nestled against the foothills of the Tetons and complete with a plush queen-size bed and views of the valley. Enjoy the quiet of the ranch as you drift off to sleep in your mountain sanctuary. Join us for a sleigh ride during your stay, followed by a sumptuous winter dinner at the lodge.

We are also happy to help you reserve off-site adventures, such as snowmobile tours or cross-country and downhill skiing. (p.15)

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TETON SPRINGS LODGE & SPA 10 Warm Creek Ln., Victor, ID 83455 208-787-7888 or toll-free 877-787-8757 fax 208-787-7889 guestservices@tetonspringslodge.com www.tetonspringslodge.com Situated in the heart of Victor, and operating year ‘round, Teton Springs Lodge & Spa offers fifty-one casually elegant guest rooms and suites. Three, four, and five bedroom luxury mountain log cabins nestled on the border of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest are also available, and offer a unique retreat and spacious upscale living. The resort’s Stillwaters Spa & Salon provides a full range of spa and salon services, including massage therapies, body treatments, facials, skin care, and hair and nail treatments. Winter adventures include ski and snowcat packages with Grand Targhee Resort, and snowmobile trips in the Big Hole Mountains. Back at the lodge, follow the tracks of a winter hare on snowshoes or enjoy a leisurely cross-country ski on the resort’s groomed trails. Meeting and banquet services available. Additional activities nearby include day trips to Jackson Hole and Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

TETON VALLEY CABINS 34 E. Ski Hill Rd., Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-8153 or toll free 866-687-1522 stay@tetonvalleycabins.com www.tetonvalleycabins.com Nestled amongst mature cottonwoods, Teton Valley Cabins welcomes you for your special getaway, vacation home base, or family or group reunion. Quaint charm, rustic cabins, and affordable rates await you at Teton Valley Cabins, just one mile from Driggs, with its restaurants and shops. Enjoy our grounds with the Jacuzzi, or explore Teton Valley from here.

We are centrally located, with Grand Targhee Resort up the road, and snowshoeing and cross-country skiing opportunities within a few minutes’ drive.

Various room types are available. Our rooms are equipped with microwave, fridge, satellite TV, and Wi-Fi. (p. 44) TETON VALLEY REALTY MANAGEMENT 253 S. Main St., Driggs, ID 83422 208-354-3431 mail@tvrmanagement.com www.vacationrentalstetonvalley.com We hope you will allow us to find that perfect home or condominium to make your vacation a memorable and extra-special one. All of our homes are nicely furnished, meticulously maintained, and fully equipped to accommodate your group at a fraction of what you would pay for a few hotel rooms. All homes come complete with linens, kitchen necessities, cable or satellite TV service, soaps, and paper products; some have high-speed Internet service.

Basically, you receive all the conveniences of “home” away from home. (p.17)

Teton Valley Magazine

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c h u r c h d i r e c t o ry CALVARY CHAPEL TETON VALLEY 53 Depot St., Driggs, ID 83422, 208-354-WORD (9673) www.ccteton.org Visitors welcome. Our motto is to simply teach the Bible simply—and thus, our pattern of study is verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, right through the Bible. Sunday service starts at 10am, and typically consists of worship, teaching, and fellowship. Dress is nice casual and the service usually lasts about an hour. Children’s church and a nursery room are provided. Wednesday Bible study starts at 7pm and lasts about an hour; dress is casual. One block north of the stoplight in Driggs, turn left (west) on Depot Street (opposite Wallace St. and the gas station); the church will be on your right.

LDS DRIGGS IDAHO STAKE The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints— Teton Valley Wards Ward Contact Person Phone Driggs I Roy Moulton 354-8211 Driggs II Gordon Woolley 354-8806 Driggs III Max Woolstenhulme 354-2379

Times 1pm 9am 11am

Tetonia I Tetonia II

Brent Robson Ronald Berry

456-2871 456-2362

11am 9am

Victor I Victor II Victor III

Lynn Bagley Val Kunz Stan Marshall

787-2211 787-2026 787-3678

1pm 9am 11am

TETON VALLEY BIBLE CHURCH 265 N. 2nd E., Driggs, ID 83422, 208-354-8523 tvbc@silverstar.com Sunday School starts at 9am; Morning Worship at 10:30am, with Pastor Jim Otto teaching. Youth group meets Tuesday nights 6:30 to 8pm (seventh through twelfth grades). AWANA meets Wednesday nights during the school year at 6:20pm. Monthly men’s breakfast meetings, weekly Bible studies, and ladies’ ministry meetings. Call church for dates and times. (p. 61) THE SUMMIT FOURSQUARE CHURCH 2301 N. Hwy. 33 (old Bergmeyer Furniture showroom) Driggs, ID 83422, 208-354-8822 www.thesummitlife.com Sunday Worship starts at 10am. Because of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, The Summit is Loving God, Loving People. We are real people with real stories of God’s love and forgiveness, learning to love others as we: Gather to worship offering our lives, Grow in our ability to love others, and Go serve all creation as God directs. Please join us for a Sunday and see all that we have to offer. Childcare and nursery offered every Sunday.

ST. FRANCIS OF THE TETONS EPISCOPAL CHURCH Ski Hill Rd., Alta, WY 83414, 307-353-8100 Sunday worship includes Sunday School for children at 10am. St. Francis of the Tetons Episcopal Church welcomes worshippers of all walks of faith. In the shadow of the Tetons, this historic church offers an opportunity to experience God’s presence and join in fellowship, spiritual renewal, and service to others.

p u b l i c sc h o o l s

Teton High School—grades 9–12 (208-3542952): As a four-year high school, THS strives to recognize the uniqueness of the individual in preparing the student for a lifetime of learning.

THS provides a safe and academically focused learning environment, where students are challenged for career and college readiness.

Basin High School—grades 9–12 (208-3548280): Basin High School is an alternative option for students who meet the state criteria for enrollment. Students obtain credits through a state-approved, independent study format, with assistance from certified staff.

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Teton Valley Magazine

Teton Middle School—grades 6–8 (208354-2971): Teton Middle School is dedicated to providing a quality education through which students will grow in academic achievement, respect for themselves and others, self-discipline, integrity, honesty, and responsibility.

Teton Elementary Schools—grades K–3 at Victor (208-354-2245), Driggs (208-354-2335), and Tetonia (208-456-2288); Rendezvous Upper Elementary (208-354-8280) grades 4–5 in Driggs: The mission of the elementary schools of Teton School District 401 is to be integral in the partnership between school, home, and community, in nurturing and encouraging all children to become productive citizens and lifelong learners.

PHOTOS: TOP, LUKAS BOONE; BOTTOM, ISTOCK.COM/SELIMAKSAN

TETON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT 401 District Office: 208-354-2207 www.tsd401.org (p. 20) Teton School District 401 strives to provide a safe and exceptional learning environment where career and college readiness are the academic cornerstones of a relevant and progressive education. The three focuses for students in all schools are Respect, Responsible, and Ready.

It wouldn’t be the wild west if it wasn’t filled with adventure.

We have a lot to celebrate in this beautiful valley. With amazing landscapes and wildlife, a colorful western legacy, art and culinary, and an unmatched playground for outdoor enthusiasts.

We invite you to join us for one of these many Jackson Hole celebrations. Adventure is just a road trip away.

InternAtIonAl PedIgree® StAge StoP Sled dog rAce (IPSSSdr) January 25, 2013

WInterFeSt

February 15 - 24, 2013

elkFeSt

May 18 - 19, 2013

old WeSt dAyS May 24 - 27, 2013

FAll ArtS FeStIvAl September 5 - 15, 2013

JAckSon Hole deStInAtIon WellneSS

Featuring the Jackson Hole Marathon September 23 - 29, 2013

112 Center Street • PO Box 550 • Jackson, WY 83001 • (307) 733-3316 • www.jacksonholechamber.com

Teton Valley Magazine

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exposure

photo by Lukas Boone

A calm winter’s day on the Teton River.

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Teton Valley Magazine

CONTEMPORARY LIVING :: A very dramatic home by award winning architect Richard Keating, located at the base of the Tetons in Alta, WY. Very secluded within 74+ acres of rolling meadows with 360° views. The residence consists of over 3,700 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, plus a separate 1,000 sq. ft. guest house of complementary design. High-end finish work throughout, as well as extensive use of Bulthop cabinetry and Gaggenau appliances, add to your enjoyment of this comfortable home. In addition, there is a large attached 3-car garage, plus a separate stand-alone garage/shop. $3,750,000. #0147895.

QUIET AND PRIVATE :: Nestled in a grove of aspens above the valley floor within the highly desirable Sorensen Creek, this craftsman 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 3,500 sq. ft. home enjoys quiet privacy on a large lot of 6+ acres. Professionally landscaping, with tons of wildflowers, adds to the home’s rustic charm. A large heated 3-car garage with extra workshop space. $849,000. #4293497.

YOU COULD OWN THIS VIEW :: Only rarely does one have an opportunity to purchase the absolute crown jewel of a beautiful recreational area. Now is just such a time to claim this special 140+ acre parcel as your own. Nestled in the small valley of Alta, Wyoming, directly below the towering Teton Range, it is nearly surrounded by the Targhee National Forest. The Grand Targhee Ski Resort, world class fishing, hiking, biking, and many other recreational opportunities are all a very short drive away. In addition to incredible, one-of-a-kind views, the property also enjoys the tranquility of meadows, streams, and trees offering a unique privacy available nowhere else in the valley. Currently utilized as agricultural with an annual hay harvest, it has been separately platted into four parcels in excess of 35 acres each for ease of future residential plans. #4248352.

TETON VALLEY MAGAZINE

Winter 2008-09

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Winter 2008-09

TETON VALLEY MAGAZINE