Jackson Hole: Where Athletes Roam

Jackson Hole: home of old-world grit and grind. Few places produce, lure, and boast a higher density of athletes—pros and non-pros alike— than the Tetons. As a local and global community, we prize these folks not merely for what they achieve publicly and personally, but for how they elevate those around them. Like the mountains we inhabit, our athletes are living purveyors of stoke, inspiring us to see what’s possible when you apply yourself to the dream. Regardless of whether you were born here or came and never left, there is something to this place that awakens, attracts, and encourages the best in us all. This valley gets into you, and there is nothing else.

Yet, there so many other mountain towns with similar qualities. What is it about this vortex that magnifies the athletic prowess of so many?

Maybe it’s the caliber of competition, an instincttriggering landscape, or access to a wider range of possibilities. Maybe the beauty lies in our inability to name it. You’ll just have to spend some time here and see what she makes of you. Most Jackson Hole athletes will tell you it’s not necessarily about the accolades or boxes checked, but rather the journey, lifestyle, and relationships built along the way. From the prehistoric vision quests of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes to pioneers and fur trappers manifesting west, folks have journeyed to the Tetons to discover and test themselves for millennia. If you’re here long enough, life in this valley will distill you to your purest form.

The following list of noteworthy Jackson Hole athletes is short but mighty, and a reflection of the deep pool of athletic stock in the Tetons.

Photo: Steven Earl Photography

Jaelin Kauf: Olympic Freestyle Moguls Skier

At just 22 years old, US Ski Team freestyle moguls skier and Olympian Jaelin Kauf possesses a level of sustained discipline and drive most folks won’t ever comprehend or muster. Born in Alta, Wyoming, to two pro moguls skiers, Jaelin’s path to professional skiing was as ingrained in her as her genetic makeup. Before her career took off, Jaelin planned to pursue an architecture degree, but that all changed with her breakout 2016 World Cup performance. That immediately landed her on the US Ski Team followed by a Rookie of the Year award from the Federation of International Skiing, demonstrating that her hunger, work ethic, and dominance are very much her own.

Since her breakout, she has won Bronze and Silver medals in dual moguls at the FIS World

Championships. She competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and finished 7th, and then she finished 1st in three of the five World Cup stops. Now her sights are set on ranking number one in the world and on competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Jaelin dreams big and works even harder. If her second year in a row ranked as the number two skier in the world indicates anything, it’s that her goal to be ranked first is well within reach. When she’s not following a jam-packed training regimen and competition schedule, she’s feeding her creative impulses with graphic design, travel, and surfing. And if you think this gal’s prowess is in just one area, wait until you see her surf.

Photo: Scott Serfas

Travis Rice: Professional Snowboarder

Travis Rice won Gold this year for Best Athlete in Jackson Hole (pg. 120). At this point, if his name is unfamiliar to you, one has to ask, “Where have you been?” Few riders have done more for contemporary snowboarding culture than Travis. Born and bred in Jackson, you’d be hard-pressed to find a ski town where he isn’t a household name. Reigning snowboard powerhouse and hometown hero, with a career spanning twenty years, Travis proves that a wunderkind’s prime isn’t confined to his youth. He is at the center of bar-raising snowboarding films like That’s It, That’s All, The Art of Flight, and The Fourth Phase. He is firmly cemented as one of snowboarding’s greatest talents, elevated by his blend of fast, burly, and bold riding that defies all gravity and logic.

If his exhaustive list of career achievements and most recent ‘18/19 winter season demonstrate

anything, it’s this: the man is insatiable. From throwing down a mental line in Hakuba, Japan, and winning as a wildcard in his first-ever Free Ride World Tour, to capturing the crown at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Kings and Queens of Corbet’s competition, and taking off to Alaska to devour viral-worthy monster pillow lines — there are few arenas Travis doesn’t dominate.

It’s worth noting his drive is not just snowbound. These days you’re just as likely to find Travis out on the water, surfing or sailing. In 2018, he sailed his catamaran Falcor from Tahiti to Oahu with big wave surfer Ian Walsh, collecting water quality samples for research along the way. A master of time management and carrying ambition in spades, Travis Rice is the ultimate dream-chaser and dream-generator.

Photo: Jared Spieker

Cam FitzPatrick: Professional Snowboarder

Cam FitzPatrick is a Jackson-bred grom (young shredder) turned professional young gun who took full advantage of his surroundings and made a career out of playing in his backyard. Under the wings of legendary local riders like Travis Rice, Bryan Iguchi, Willie McMillon, and his dad Mike FitzPatrick—a JHMR Ski Patroller for 30+ years—Cam found his own flight. Such early guidance ingrained in Cam a strong and nuanced understanding for managing risk and safety in the mountains. After years on the competitive park and slopestyle circuit in Park City, Utah, Cam returned to Jackson to pursue filming and reconnected with his snowboarding roots. His respect for and knowledge of the mountains allows him to send it as big in the backcountry as he does inbounds.

In 2016, his dedication, work ethic, and persistence landed him a breakout part in Red Bull’s The Fourth Phase alongside his mentor Travis Rice and other snowboarding heroes. Whether you spot him on screen or in person out on the hill, he’ll likely be in the midst of a good time, riding alongside friends like local Jackson Hole shredders Mikey Marohn, Rich Goodwin, and Rob Kingwill. As of this ‘18/19 winter season, the group began releasing short films under the handle “This_Is_Us_In”, giving Cam a platform to share his unique riding style and honor the mountains that raised him. A true hustler, when Cam isn’t pushing it in the winter, he’s making the most of summertime by slinging signature cocktails at parties and events out of his renovated horse trailer called Bar-SIP-Bar.

Jimmy Chin: Mountaineer Filmmaker

From eating ramen cups out of his van to working the Oscar circuit, Jimmy Chin proves there is no ceiling on what a former van-living dirtbag can accomplish. A veteran North Face Team athlete and National Geographic Explorer, when Jimmy isn’t traveling the world he calls Jackson home. Despite his now widespread fame and global acclaim for films like Meru and, more recently, Free Solo (which won him an Academy Award), Jimmy is as humble as they come. He maintains a level of fitness and skill comparable to, and often beyond that of, the athletes he shoots—all while carrying the additional weight of camera equipment. There is a reason Jimmy is one of the most highly regarded athletes among his peers.

A true multi-talent with a keen eye, you’ve likely been stopped in your tracks by one of Jimmy’s

stunning photographs. His most recent feat includes an expedition down to Queen Maude Land in Antarctica with The North Face alongside climbers Conrad Anker, Anna Pfaff, Alex Honnold, Savannah Cummins, and Cedar Wright. There he and Conrad put up a new 4,000-foot big wall climbing route on Ulvetanna, a peak also known as The Wolf’s Fang. They climbed under extreme conditions that would give even the most seasoned astronaut vertigo.

Time, he will tell you, is his most valuable asset, and whenever he has a few days to spare, you’ll find him right back in the Tetons ascending or descending his favorite lines. If his mountains of accomplishments don’t leave you breathless then his friendly laid-back demeanor will leave you feeling like you just met the rarest of human forces.

Photo: Stephen Shelesky

Janelle Smiley: Alpinist & Life Coach

Janelle Smiley is one athlete whose life embodies a pure love for mountain landscapes and being in them. Smiley was born in Colorado, and has been a local Jackson ski mountaineer and holistic coach for many years now. This Arc’teryx Mountain Endurance Athlete’s life is a culmination of every dedicated choice she’s made to be closer to the mountains. From crafting a career as a professional guide and athlete to marrying a partner who loves to climb and be in the elements as much as she does, Janelle knows her proximity to wild spaces makes her whole, inspiring her to go beyond her perceived limits to achieve the extraordinary. In 2018, she was a part of an elite group of alpinists

that competed in the Red Bull Der Lange Weg Race. The goal was to complete one of the world’s most grueling traverses in record-breaking time. Her team covered 1,000 miles over the Alps from Vienna, Austria, to Nice, France, and won by completing the challenge in an astonishing 36 days—beating a record that had stood since 1971.

Lately, this new mom is mindfully mining new ways to be of service to the Jackson Hole community by providing novel holistic coaching experiences that blend self-discovery and empowerment through guided mountaineering trips.

- Emilé Newman