Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine - Issue Fifteen - Winter 2019/2020

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Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 02

t h e m-216 ™ is ava i la ble in bl ack /gray, m ultic a m ® Al pi ne, m ult i ca m ® b l ack , r ed/g ray an d w hit e /g ray

Issue Number Fifteen 07 EDITOR’S NOTE

Change Is The Constant

Rider: Red Gerard

Evolving and adapting to the peaks and valleys of life’s terrain

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wheeze as I trudge up Mt. Glory step by step. My first bootpack of this young season is the quintessential Teton classic.

I should be in the Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine office by now. It’s our deadline day, and everything needs to be wrapped up so what you’re holding in your hands actually makes it to print. I should be editing, but instead I’m hiking my outof-shape office-ass up the hill to get some actual riding in amid all the writing.

I shudder as a cold breeze whips across my face, and stop to pull up my hood. The bluebird day is quickly fading to grey and a collective mob of pregnant clouds is wafting in from the west. I realize in this instant everything is continually changing—for which I am grateful.

Curiously, I find myself at the helm of this publication, a local ‘zine with big dreams rooted in the passion that has anchored my whole life: snowboarding.

I’m not a Jackson local, nor do I purport to be. I did live here once as a young buck and worked a short but memorable stint at Teton Gravity Research. It was there I

WORDS: HEATHER HENDRICKS PHOTO: AARON BLATT

met Olaus Linn, the publisher and creative director that runs this ship. He pinged me a few months ago with the alluring offer to jump on board as Editor. Though my residency in the Tetons was brief, it spawned a lifelong relationship with this corner of the world, and a career built upon snow media, so here we are.

Throughout this issue, we aimed to weave features, photos, and interviews together that highlight the current state of snowboarding in Jackson Hole, while also exploring its changing climate, demographics, economy, and the effects those things have on our lives.

Rachel Reich writes about the access problems we’re facing on Teton Pass, and Robyn Vincent interviews TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie to get his thoughts on capitalism for the greater good. Gavin Gibson tells of his harrowing return to himself following a horrific, life-altering brain injury, and the community shares their thoughts in a heartfelt tribute to the late Jake Burton, the godfather that blazed the path for us all. Holding it all together are gorgeous and inspiring images curated by our new Photo Editor Ben Gavelda.

Issue Fifteen of JHSM is filled with articles that will hopefully make you think and feel, but admittedly, we struggled to find and elevate female-forward features this year. As proud as we are of the stories you’re about to read, we also recognize that distinct lack, and it goes against our traditionally strong efforts towards equality in these pages. Snowboarding is for everyone and we believe that representation of women and minorities in media is crucially important to the sport. On a positive note, there are a good number of female contributors and riders featured throughout. We strive to get better with every issue, and we will work hard to prioritize ladies in the years to come.

Despite life and its ever-evolving nature, snowboarding is the one constant we can always count upon.

Welcome to JHSM Issue Fifteen and #LongLiveSnowboarding.

HH Heather Hendricks is one of the only people to ever get go let go from TGR for being too rowdy... something about a hot tub. @heatherhendrickshh

SLAYER SERIES ONLY AVAILABLE AT WORLD BOARDS w o r l db o a r d s . c o m Winter Hours 9am - 7pm , Closed on Sunday

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Located on 7th & Main • 601 West Main Street

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POWDER SLAYER R. Tommy Snyder P. Kevin Nolan

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 10

The Crew WINTER 2019 - 2020

EDITOR

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Heather Hendricks editor@jhsnowboarder.com

Lauren Chase Smith laurenchasecreative.com

PHOTO EDITOR

CFO / CHEESEMONGER

Ben Gavelda photos@jhsnowboarder.com

Jenelle Linn

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Olaus Linn olaus@sharpeyedeer.com ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Deidre Norman sales@jhsnowboarder.com ADVERTISING SALES

Jon Grinney jon.grinney@jhsnowboarder.com DESIGNER / PHOTOGRAPHER

Ryan Dee ryandeecreative.com

BIG THANKS

Lauren’s Mom Mary Pat Walker Ben Linn PUBLISHER

Sharp Eye Deer sharpeyedeer.com ON THE WEB

jhsnowboarder.com BACK ISSUES/ MERCH

jhsnowboarder.com/shop MAILING ADDRESS

3875 W Linn Ranch Rd Wilson, WY 83014

CONTRIBUTORS

Darcy Bacha Jonathan Desabris Ben Gavelda Gavin Gibson Aaron Hallenbeck Heather Hendricks Rob Kingwill Aaron Lebowitz Katie Lozancich Rachel Reich Robyn Vincent BOARD MEMBERS

Halina Boyd Mark Carter Mikey Franco Bryan Iguchi Rob Kingwill Jeff Moran Lance Pitman Julie Zell

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Darcy Bacha Aaron Blatt James Cassimus Scott Davidson Ryan Dee Erich Roepke Ben Gavelda Dean “Blotto” Gray Matt Hines Amy Jimmerson Katie Lozancich Fred Marmsater Ming Poon Erich Roepke Keegan Rice Jared Spieker Rylander West COVER ART

Marinna Elinski ILLUSTRATION

Claire Adell

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Contents ISSUE FIFTEEN

EDITOR’S NOTE - 05

Heather Hendricks NATURAL NEON - 12

Katie Lozancich SHAPING DREAMS - 19

Aaron Lebowitz RATED RADICAL - 24

Rob Kingwill

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME - 31

Robyn Vincent IF HE ONLY KNEW - 33

Ben Gavelda THE FRINGE - 38

Ben Gavelda STOMPING GROUND - 45

Darcy Bacha

THE GALLERY - 51

JOURNEY BACK TO GOOD - 92

Select Photography

Gavin Gibson

HOT PASS - 66

THE MIGRATION - 102

Rachel Reich

Ben Gavelda

INTO THE WILDERNESS - 74

RIDE ON JAKE - 106

Jonathan Desabris

Heather Hendricks

TOMORROW’S COURAGE TODAY - 87

DROPPING NEXT - 110

Robyn Vincent

Aaron Hallenbeck

ON THE COVER

© 2019 Sharp Eye Deer LLC All Rights Reserved

THIS PAGE

Bryan Iguchi blasting off.

Photo: Darcy Bacha

“Pachamamas Plight” 11” x 14” Acrylic Marinna Elinski

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COVER ARTIST

Natural Neon

Marinna Elinski interprets the natural world through color and creation WORDS & PHOTOS: KATIE LOZANCICH

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here’s a small cluster of yurts hidden out of sight in Kelly, Wyoming. When I arrive at the little village of canvas, I’m greeted by artist, Marinna Elinski. She leads me through the snow over a small wooden bridge to the yurt that she calls home. At the entrance, she excitedly points towards the Tetons. They’re engulfed in a sea of clouds, but on a bright day, the Grand is visible right from her doorstep.

Inside, natural light floods the small circular dwelling from the dome skylight above us.

Right next to the door is a table covered with a half-finished piece and a tin of acrylic paints. This tiny home doubles as her studio and she explains how it’s the perfect place to make art. There’s no wifi or cell service, which keeps Elinski focused on the intricate details that define her artwork. It’s a breath of fresh air compared to working in New York City where she went to school.

Originally from western New York, Elinski studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts. The hustle and bustle wasn’t for her, so she ran away to the West. Snowboarding served as her compass, and it led her to Mt. Hood, and then to the Tetons. “Nature is the largest inspiration for my work, which

is why being in this yurt is amazing,” she explains. “I’m fully immersed in it.”

Just the other day, she was greeted by a moose and its calf outside her doorstep.

These experiences get translated by her paintbrush. Moose, bison, wolves, and other critters dance across the canvas in various neon tones.

One of the most striking aspects of Elinski’s style is her color palette. It’s so bright that it makes her subjects seem like they might just jump right out of the composition. “I like the play of the neon with the dark. At some point, I might move away from it, but when you go out in nature there are these intense colors,” she argues. Whether it’s in wildflowers or a sunrise over the mountains, Elinski aims to celebrate the rich color that exists outside. She didn’t hold back for the magazine’s cover this year— in fact, she turned up the throttle. “Originally there was much less going on, but Olaus of JHSM said to ‘go nuts.’ I never get told that, so I was thrilled,” she says with a laugh.

But there’s more to this piece than its vibrancy: the cover also tells an important story of change. A warming climate melts

the snow in the mountains and as it trickles down, it creates chaos. Animals flee from their homes, and we’re left trying to pick up the pieces, but it only seeps through our hands. “It’s sad to see what’s happening, but hopefully these big mistakes will push us as humans to make the changes that need to happen,” she explains. This message aligns with the overall theme of this year’s issue, which explores the changes that will affect our lives and the places we love.

Elinski is passionate about creating and wants to do more than paintings. She would also like to design t-shirts, enamel pins, and paint murals. From the beautiful body of work that is displayed all throughout her home, I can tell she’s got a lot of big ideas just waiting to come to life.

KL

Katie Lozancich totes her camera to many far off destinations and recently returned from a shoot in India. @_katielo

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REVOLUTION

VISUAL

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EXPERIENCE

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Experience a Visual Revolution

We set out on a journey to pioneer a new perspective.

BirdsEye Vision™ featuring ChromaPop™ lens technology increases your field of view by 25%.

INTRODUCING 4D MAG™

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ONEILL.COM - R: MELISSA RIITANO / P: REN ROB

HIGH ALTITUDE SURFING

VENTURE BEYOND SNOWBOARDING LIMITED BATCH QUIVER AVAILABLE ONLY AT

ELEVATEDSURFCRAFT.COM

DROP INTO OUR PHILOSURFY

@ELEVATEDSURFCRAFT

Issue Number Fifteen 21 Aaron Lebowitz riding the Powfish, designed in collaboration with Trew Gear.

Photo: Elevated SurfCraft

Shaping Dreams Aaron Lebowitz of Elevated SurfCraft turned night terrors into daydreams WORDS: AARON LEBOWITZ PHOTOS: RYLANDER WEST & ELEVATED SURFCRAFT

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“The imagination is an unconfined space where design can flourish.”

Keegan Rice riding the 4’10 Goldfish in Japan.

Photo: Rylander West

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shaper’s ethos is imbued with a certain lineage. A form of cultural heritage passed down from one generation to another, through direct communication or collective consciousness.

It all began in a dream when I was about ten years old. A recent transplant from the beaches of Malibu to the mountains of Montana, snowy slopes replaced oceans.

When I settled in and closed my eyes at night, crashing waves became sounds of cascading creeks. The visuals and feelings of the environments overlapped. Massive waves reeled across the bowls, open faces, and gullies, setting forth an awesome, yet terrifying degree of nature’s raw power.

Aaron Lebowitz experimenting in the workshop with new shapes and colors.

Photo: Elevated SurfCraft

Suddenly, as if I had been plunged into the Pacific, I would half-wake, drenched in a saline sweat. The dream world would persist upon my waking-life reality.

The psychological specialist called it night terrors. I now consider it as a sort of divination. A prophetic vision devoid of time or space, that planted seeds of inspiration, that took root and continue to grow throughout this life.

I continue to have those types of dreams, albeit less frequent and much less intense.

They do sometimes slip in like a rising tide and wash over all of what used to be and lay a fresh pallet across the sand. Rather than

fear and fight the uncontrollable, I have learned to lean in and participate lucidly, by hitching a ride on nature’s momentum. As a vision quest of sorts, or a quest to express one’s vision.

Many shapes are derived from this place. In the dream there is a snowy slope pulsating and developing continuously as a wave of a certain pitch and speed. I move along with it at a harmonious rate. The adaptive attunement happens through style and approach, along with the board underfoot.

The flick of a thought shaves and sculpts the vessel to appropriate maneuverability, to best fit the pocket. The imagination is an unconfined space where design can flourish.

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Facing Page: Ambassista Shawna Paoli with the 4’6 Minni Driver.

Photo: Elevated SurfCraft Left: Aaron Lebowitz with the 5’10 Redtail Hawk in Japan.

Photo: Elevated SurfCraft

These dreams now occupy both my sleeping and waking life. Venturing to create a physical manifestation, in the workshop and on the mountain, through fine-tuning and comprehension of hydrodynamics of physics—all while avoiding the hubris of recreating the wheel.

Here-in lives the ancestral veneration of previous generations which continue to ring true. In our recent history of fifty years of snow sliding, designs from Dimitrije Milovich (Winterstick) to Tom Sims (Sims), Regis Rolland (Apocalypse), Serge Dupraz (Hot Snowboards) Taro Tamai (Gentemstick), and Shinzo Tanu (Moss), all sought the experience of surfing on snow.

Now we are at the culmination of multimillennia of plant and animal evolution and biomimicry.

Yet the expanse to explore into the future is endless. It is said that there is nothing new under the sun, just innovative combinations for alternative applications of creation.

“Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of men of old, seek what they sought.” - Basho Zen Poet

AL Aaron Lebowitz is the brains behind the PhiloSurfy of Elevated SurfCraft. @Elevatedsurfcraft

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Ladies and gents, pick your posion.

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Rated Radical

The best boards and designs selected by invited riders who actually give a shit WORDS: ROB KINGWILL PHOTO: RYAN DEE

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even years ago, I had the crazy idea of running a powder board test in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We have the best mountain on earth for testing snowboards, and access to local riders who are on the mountain nearly a hundred days a year who could test the boards and really put them through their paces.

Instead of relying on some office intern at a magazine at the beach in California to tell us what boards are the best of the best, we would do it ourselves. What started as the JH PowWow has evolved to become the ShaperSummit, and it is still going strong.

The ShaperSummit is built to be a snowboard test at its core. It’s invite-only so that we can keep things tight and really focus on finding the best boards decided by the riders and shapers themselves. The format is open so that the riders can seek out the boards that have the potential to truly fit them and the way they ride.

Featuring over twenty brands and hundreds of boards to choose from, we wind up with over four-hundred test results. We share these with the designers and shapers of

the boards so that they can improve their shapes and collectively elevate and evolve snowboard design.

Our testing crew is unique. We invite the shapers themselves to come test boards in a format where riding boards from their competition is encouraged, and feedback is welcomed in the spirit of design progress and inspiring each other. We invite die-hard locals that could give a shit about what company had the best marketing, or who rides for them, or who paid the most for the back cover of a magazine. Together, we ride every board that looks inspiring as hard as possible over the course of three days to find the best of the best, whether it is built by a big brand, or handbuilt by one guy in a garage. Those that rise to the top are Rated Radical by the testers, and some of them are featured in the following pages.

Beyond the test, the ShaperSummit is designed to be a community gathering for true snowboarders—those that love the sport and the lifestyle more than anything.

The invite list is comprised of industry vets, pro riders, snowboard shapers, and in

some cases straight-up snowboard bums.

We host events in the evenings that are open to the public, including one night of short presentations by a few select snowboarding legends called SHREDTalks.

The speakers share their stories of the history of snowboarding or the cutting edge of snowboard design. We have also teamed up with Jackson Hole Mountain Resort this year to open up the demo to the public on the weekend following for DemoFest, so that everyone can be a part of the ShaperSummit vibe March 7-8.

In an age where it seems like snowboarding has lost its center, where the magazines are dying and the contests seem to have a hangover from drinking just a few too many energy drinks, I hope that the ShaperSummit can continue to bring riders together for the pure love of snowboarding, and make the sport stronger because of it.

RK Rob Kingwill is a snowboarder-artistentrepreneur and the owner/designer of @avalon7 @robkingwill

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Men’s Rated Radical READ THE REST AT SHAPERSUMMIT.COM

Nitro Mountain X Grif

Arbor Bryan Iguchi Pro Camber

Weston Japow

TEST ER: OL AU S LIN N

T EST ER: K N UT CART ER

TESTER : I AN H AN EY

SI ZE: 16 3

SI ZE: 1 5 9

SIZE: 159

“My quest for years has been to find my One True Board: the snowboard that rides flawlessly top-to-bottom at Jackson Hole in all conditions. Enter the 163 Mountain X Grif from Nitro. I had two incredible runs with the Grif on a highly variable day and it crushed everything. The super long sidecut, traditional camber, and directional profile with a relatively wide waist made for super smooth carving and a ton of pop. If anyone from Nitro is reading this: will you send me one of these?”

“An everyday quiver-killer, I could ride this board all the time and be so stoked. It held an edge on hardpack and floats in pow. It charged through bumps and was easy to turn. It felt really stable at high speed and I loved its skate-influenced pop. It’s really playful and easy to move around but very stable, as it floated well. I like that it’s a twin, so you can still ride switch and have stability in the nose.”

“Nimble and easy to maneuver but still floats really well. I really enjoyed this board, as it’s super fun and easy to ride in a variety of conditions, and also in the firm steeps. I felt like it was capable at speed and also in the chunked-up chop. This is a dope board for variable snow conditions, and when you’re not positive what you want to ride, or what the day will throw you. It handles everything super well.”

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Men’s Rated Radical READ THE REST AT SHAPERSUMMIT.COM

Never Summer West Bound

Elevated SurfCraft Log

Franco Snowshapes Silver Surfer

TEST E R : M I CAH H AWTHO RN

T EST ER : TAN N ER SCH AEFER

TESTER : CH AN CE COO K E

SI ZE: 1 65

SI ZE: 5’ 10

SIZE: 16 3

“Very easy to step onto and rip. The flex is incredible with muscle. The new carbonglass mix makes this my favorite Never Summer to date. Truly a thing of beauty, it rode awesomely throughout all terrain inbounds, and seemed like it would be great wherever you take it. The directional shape is floaty and fantastic.”

“The epitome of innovation, this takes pow surfing one step further. The amount of volume allows you to ride lower angle terrain in deep pow with ease and minimal effort. This shape could inspire a new style of snowboarding for the low angle pow surfer. It allows you to navigate terrain in a whole new way by surfing traverse lines out into the fresh. You’ll feel confident when dropping into flats where others don’t dare to venture. Aaron [Lebowitz] has done it again with this one. Yahoo.”

“The form and function of this board hits on all cylinders! It’s not a daily-driver, but who the hell wants predictability all the time? Damp AF, gobbles up the bumpy shit, and powers through the powder. The material choices and the fabrication are over -the-top badass! It’s as if form and function had a love child. This board makes me happy on multiple levels. A wonder in many ways, this deck delivers.”

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Women’s Rated Radical READ THE REST AT SHAPERSUMMIT.COM

MtnLocal Oceanic

Winterstick Tantra

Pallas Epiphany

TEST ER: ST EPH N I TS C H

T EST ER: SH AWN A PAOLI

TESTER : R OBYN VI N CEN T

SI ZE: 152

SI ZE: 1 46

SIZE: 151

“This board is solid, stout and shreds.

Carves smooth, hard, and low, giving excellent stability on groomers and eurostyle carving. Floats in pow like a butterfly, with quick handling through tighter turns.

While it’s not a very poppy and snappy board, it handles airtime well. Landing was a bit challenging though and I washed out on almost every landing. It was somewhere in the middle of just right and too stiff.

Overall, stoked on this ride!”

I got on this board and was instantly smitten. This thing rips: Pow. Hardpack.

Mank. The shape and taper is perfect. The nose shape is on point. Width is perfect for my size feet. She’s a fast b- and that’s very important to me. I was super stoked, especially party lapping with friends while testing. I jumped off something bigger than usual to flat, and somehow stuck it!

This board left a lasting impression. Tantra earned daily driver status in my book.

“What’s not to like about this board? It handles variable conditions, from light powder to heavy chundery snow and groomers, with the greatest of ease. This board has the right amount of flex and stability. It plows through powder, handles speed well, and has playful pop. The shape of this board makes it effortless to maneuver through everything from tight trees to powdery moguls.”

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Women’s Rated Radical READ THE REST AT SHAPERSUMMIT.COM

Weston Riva

Elevated SurfCraft Minni Driver

Nitro Squash

TEST E R : SH AN N ON C L AY

T EST ER : L AUR EN CH ASE SMI T H

TESTER : ASH LEY H EI G

SI ZE: 152

SI ZE: 4’6

SIZE: 158

“You know when you feel right at home?

That’s how this deck makes you feel. It’s got the perfect amount of stiffness with just the right amount of play and the right length. A thing of beauty, it has a good mix of stability and playfulness. Love this board, I’d like one. I also appreciate how it gives back to the babe community.”

“This board hands-down elevated my riding style and amplified my potential. The shape and size of the Minni Driver makes surfy, wide turns intuitive. This board floats with ease and carves with purpose. Crafted specifically with someone of my stature and ability in mind, the Minni Driver is now my #1 daily driver. Surf ’s up, baby.”

“Great stiffness, super responsive, this extra long deck is powerful for a female, but overall a sick ride. Great directional board, it’s responsive in pow and groomers while is stable, but still nimble. I was surprised at how well it maneuvered in and out and turns for being so dang beefy!”

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If You Build It, They Will Come Grand Targhee’s ode to laybacks and smooth style WORDS: ROBYN VINCENT PHOTO: MATT HINES

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he Teton Surf Classic at Grand Targhee Resort encapsulates snowboarding’s surf roots and its religion of rebellion. The second annual surf-style event went down in April with nearly 150 snowboarders in attendance. The course was shaped for spring slush slashing and surf-style tricks. Grand Targhee’s park and pipe crew spent thirty hours hand-shaping the course with gaps, a quarter pipe, jumps, lips, and more.

What was notable about the cadre of competitors—beyond the countless hand-plants and stylish methods—was its

diversity. “The vibe at the Surf Classic is like being out with all your friends goofing around, progressing, and trying new things because you’re getting stoked on watching everyone,” said Iris Lazzareschi, who won the women’s pro division.

Iconic Jackson Hole riders like Rob Kingwill, Lance Pitman, Mikey Marohn, and Adam Dowell were among those that crushed the course, but Teton Valley rider, Cody Lee took home the coveted Shaka Trophy this time in the men’s pro division.

“The Teton Surf Classic creates an opportunity for the incredibly talented park

crew, mountain ops, marketing, and events managers to work together and showcase their creativity and wind down the season in a uniquely Targhee way,” said Dustin Fletcher, who has played a huge role in getting the contest started.

The message is bold: if you build it, we will come, we will slash, we will conquer.

RV Robyn Vincent is a multimedia journalist that has traveled far and wide. @thenomadicheart

Photo: Ryan Dee

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Issue Number Fifteen 35

If He Only Knew Smashing life at Lost Trail the way Aaron Robinson would WORDS & PHOTOS: BEN GAVELDA

The crew gazes down the Smash Life course.

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mortar thumps and lights the foggy night with a glimmer of orange. The biting cold cuts deep and winds purr as bottle rockets pop in the distance. Inside the Lost Trail Lodge the surf rock sounds of The Skurfs band wail into its storied walls. We’re way out on the Montana-Idaho border, deep in the Bitterroot mountains, and we’re lost to the sea of time, frozen in a forest of rimeencrusted trees.

The band, the scene, the gathering: it’s all in remembrance of one impactful soul named Aaron “ARob” Robinson. The Whitefish, Montana native took to life the way he took to the pursuit of snowboarding—with spontaneity, grace, power and prowess.

ARob’s riding and infectious personality spread beyond the confines of the treasure state as he grew into a professional riding role. From Whitefish Mountain, to Tahoe, Jackson Hole, Alaska, and beyond, ARob made an imprint through riding style and stoke. Tragically, Aaron passed away from a head injury while riding in Chile in 2011. The event shook the snowboarding community and all those he touched. Yet to this day ARob lives on in many mediums.

From his passing rose the ARob Plant a Seed Project and the Smash Life Banked Slalom, run by his mother, Pam Robinson, and his good friend Shane Stalling.

“He always dreamed of a way to help kids afford to snowboard and to get more kids into snowboarding,” says Stalling. “After

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine

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Mike Scarfi tucks through a berm at Lost Trail.

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 38

Competitor Calvin Patterson whips through the course.

his passing I was working at Big Sky and thought we could do a banked slalom to raise money for it. Jeremiah Favara of the Big Sky Terrain Park was a big part of that first one.” That was eight years ago and Smash Life is going strong with events held at Big Sky, Alpental, Lost Trail, and Great Divide. “Lost Trail is very mom’n’pop and it’s where Aaron, Jeff Hawe, and I rode a lot. It has more of a home-style cooking sort of feel, which I think Aaron would be psyched on. He wasn’t a big ski area person anyway. If he was a ski area he would be a mom’n’pop one.”

Through the banked slalom events and other fundraising efforts, tens of thousands of dollars have been raised to get impoverished kids on snowboards around the Whitefish area in the past eight years.

It’s a beautiful project of generosity and hope. Pam calls these kids her “seeds.” In

each seed a little bit of Aaron’s dream and stoke lives on.

Back at Lost Trail the sun cuts through low hanging clouds and lights up the banks.

Recollection of Aaron comes in other ways, like the pale blue, tattered onepiece suit worn by friend Spencer Moon who’s sipping beers on the sidelines. The outerwear is tattered, littered with dozens of tickets from Smash Life Banked Slaloms, and it was the last outerwear Spencer wore while riding with Aaron.

Meanwhile friends from all over the west are running the bermed course. It’s relaxed, yet there are rivalries and side bets: one involving a Smirnoff Ice to be consumed through a boot, another involving a substantial amount of facial hair. The beers, laughs, and smiles flow. There’s even a bit of pow stocked away in the woods to

chase in between runs. The rope tow and double chairs spin slow, letting your mind breath and eyes swallow the expanse of the Bitterroot Range.

There are few places left where a lift ticket costs forty-two bucks. Where the powder stays more than twenty-four hours after a storm. Where snow sculptures and trinkets decorate the lift shack grounds. Where you don’t have to cut through attitude, parking, and lift lines to ride. There are even fewer areas where you can rock the lodge down with a live band alongside the owner, staff, and all your friends past midnight, then wake up and ride with them all day long.

Here, and for now, you can, and we’re damn sure Aaron would be happy about that. BG Ben Gavelda may be the oldest guy on staff at JHSM, but still goes the hardest. @bengavelda

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An illustration dedicated to ARob on Kyle Miller’s board.

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The Fringe Surveying Jackson Hole’s outer edge WORDS & PHOTOS: BEN GAVELDA

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hy push through pitch black mornings, pain, long drives, and gambles of time? For some it’s the search for unique moments, the hunt for obscure areas. If weather, riding, place, and time find equilibrium it forms a rarity that’s not quickly forgotten.

The area’s icons have led them to obscure locations over many years of filming.

During this stint, the crew pushed out into storms of wind and white fury only to retreat. Returning days later they were greeted with bluebird conditions and fresh wolf tracks.

The images here were put on hold last season, but they were too good to let waste away on a hard drive. In March of 2018, alchemy was alive during the Melodrama movie crew’s stay in the Tetons. The group was comprised of riders Bode Merrill, Pat Moore, Garrett “Worm” Warnick, Chris Grenier, and Johnny Brady, along with filmers Joe Carter and Jon Stark. Merrill and Moore are no strangers to the folds of the Tetons and its surrounding ranges.

The wild we witnessed over two short weeks was not of the animal kind. Instead it was an extraordinary caliber of riding. Bode and Worm landed nearly everything they tried, a true testament to their talents. Other moments proved equally indelible: Grenier’s enthusiasm for all involved, Moore and Brady’s stoic ways. During a film and photo project, riding is often the biggest challenge, for there is so little of it that actually happens. We’re simply at the mercy of the

weather. You can’t ride if you can’t see, and you can’t ride if there’s no snow. But when it all clicks and a trick is perfectly executed or a line is laced, it’s a phenomenal act to witness. The pages ahead present those scarce and sacred moments in clicks of 1/1000 of a second.

01 Chris Grenier spent almost a whole season at his newly finished cabin deemed “The Freedom Frontier,” complete with rope tow, concrete skate park bike jumps, and more.

A bleak winter in Utah meant this was some of the first powder Grenier rode, and we nearly lost him in it.

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This step down is hard not to pass up and forms differently every season. Yet it’s also totally blind and a bit nerve-wracking as one falls from the ledge. Too fast and it’s a massive drop to flat, too slow and you risk slipping the edge. Here Bode Merrill brings a backside five off over the face.

Early bird gets the worm. Before this hike here we spied fresh wolf tracks in the valley below. Rather than cutting trail towards home or heading out to hunt like our furry, four-legged friend, Pat Moore breaks trail to a step down shortly after dawn.

This one-footed backside seven Japan from Merrill pushed the bar again, spinning and stomping with style while pinning it through some narrow trees at the bottom.

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05 Worm is my spirit animal. Not sure who came up with that, but I’m a believer. There are even some T-shirts in honor of Garret “Worm” Warnick with this message.

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06

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07

This jump was a last-minute addition that proved beautiful. It was late in the day and we were pretty spent from breaking trail, exploring, and riding other features. The day’s fading light and snow were too good to pass up. We quickly built a jump then filmer Joe Carter and I hastily shuttled Pat Moore and Bode Merrill to the top as the sun faded. Here Merrill explores the lonesome Wyoming airspace as the sun goes down.

07 In the off-season Johnny Brady is a wildland firefighter. He was even in the area during the Roosevelt fire two summers ago.

In the middle of this filming trip, however, he had to rally down to Salt Lake to take care of some firefighting paperwork. He was soon back taking care of business on huge kickers with the crew.

08 Pat Moore has seen a vast amount of terrain around the Tetons over the years while filming with legends like Travis Rice, Bjorn Leines, and Bryan Iguchi. Yet terrain always changes with storms and seasons. Here Moore spins a cab five over the spines of a familiar drop in the crisp morning.

BG 08

Ben Gavelda is a part-time storyteller and full-time mountain man. @bengavelda

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Stomping Grounds Glimpse the Jackson Hole backcountry through photographer Darcy Bacha’s lens WORDS & PHOTOS: DARCY BACHA

Blake Paul, Curtis Ciszek, and Mark Carter head out in search of powder.

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S

hooting snowboarding photos for me is all about the search for new terrain to document. Usually this chase leads me deep into interior British Columbia, Alaska, or somewhere exotic like Kazakhstan. But this hunt for new far-off places can sometimes blind you, and closer destinations get overlooked. I never thought I would feel the same sense of awe while driving through and exploring the vast terrain around Jackson Hole that I got from foreign destinations. I was wrong.

This past winter, I got the royal treatment of having Bryan Iguchi, Mark Carter, Blake Paul, and Curtis Ciszek show me the secrets this land has to offer.

Going out with such a legendary and local crew that lives and breathes Jackson certainly has its advantages.

insanely cold conditions created snow instability, yet ultimately made two-week old powder feel as if it just fallen.

Avalanche conditions in the Wyoming backcountry can be notoriously variable.

Iguchi and Carter’s ability to scan the terrain and pick out no-go zones, along with their general terrain choice, was a privilege to see in action.

We only explored one drainage in the area. Knowing what I know now, I’d say the search has only just begun. I’m already scheming future trips to come back to this stunning part of the country and I’m eager to explore its incredibly vast terrain.

At times it almost felt like we were playing “the floor is lava” game, picking the safest options without getting burned. Most of the mornings we went out, it was minustwenty degrees Fahrenheit so lava might not be the most accurate comparison. These

DB

Darcy Bacha is a man of many talents, and one hell of a fly fisher. @bacha.photo

Issue Number Fifteen 49 “Christened in the Wyoming backcountry, Blake is an undeniable creative force of nature in possession of one of the most recognizable styles in the game.�

- Mark Carter

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C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

“Our session on this wind lip was hilarious.

We built it quick and planned to hit it a few times then move on. On the first hit, Curt overshot the whole thing and landed on his back. I drifted too far, caught my nose and tomahawked. After some adjustments we got some tricks and it turned out alright. Curtis always brings light-hearted mellow vibes to trips, and makes us laugh all day.� - Blake Paul

LIVE THE

ENDLESS WINTER

LIKE A JACKSON HOLE LOCAL

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PHOTO: WADE DUNSTAN | RIDERS: BRYAN IGUCHI & MARK CARTER

RIDE VALLE NEVADO, CHILE, JUNE — SEPTEMBER 2020

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Jake Burton Carpenter in Wrightwood, California circa 1981. Photo: James Cassimus / Courtesy of Burton

The Gallery Mind-bending photos for your viewing pleasure PHOTOS: KEEGAN RICE, FRED MARMSATER, SCOTT DAVIDSON, AMY JIMMERSON, AARON BLATT, DARCY BACHA & JARED SPIEKER

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Photo: Keegan Rice Rider: Cam FitzPatrick Location: Jackson Hole Backcountry

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Photo: Fred Marmsater Rider: Iris Lazzareschi Location: Jackson Hole Backcountry

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Photo: Scott Davidson Rider: Tommy Snyder Location: Gros Ventre, Wyoming

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Photo: Fred Marmsater Rider: Halina Boyd Location: Jackson Hole Backcountry

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Photo: Amy Jimmerson Rider: Camila Brown Location: Jackson Hole Backcountry

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Photo: Aaron Blatt Rider: Red Gerard Location: Jackson Hole Backcountry

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Photo: Darcy Bacha Rider: Mark Carter Location: Jackson Hole Backcountry

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Photo: Jared Spieker Rider: Aaron Hallenbeck Location: Jackson Hole Backcountry

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Hot Pass

Backcountry access on Teton Pass is under threat, and we’re the ones to blame WORDS: RACHEL REICH PHOTOS: RYAN DEE & BEN GAVELDA

T

Teton Pass is both a blessing and a curse.

Leaving the town of Wilson and driving the winding seven miles to the parking lot at the top is a daily ritual for many avid backcountry enthusiasts. On dark mornings after a storm—just as the sun crests the horizon—we shoulder our packs, pull up our Buffs, and begin the stairmaster of the Mount Glory bootpack to greet the day.

Arguably one of the best bang-for-yourbuck backcountry experiences in Jackson

Hole, Glory laps have provided some of my best days on snow, and I’m sure many others would say the same. Unfortunately, the ease of access that makes them so rewarding also leads to misuse and a widening issue with the other users of Teton Pass.

If you’ve lived in Jackson for even part of a winter season, the problem should be alltoo familiar: backcountry users flock to the mecca of Teton Pass and in their lust for

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Photo: Ryan Dee

perfect pow turns they make bad choices and set off avalanches. Those avalanches often run down well-known paths and end up on the highway blocking traffic, closing the road, and sometimes burying vehicles, as in one terrifying instance last winter. It brings up questions of accountability and responsibility within our community, pitting the rights of skiers and snowboarders to use public lands against the safety of commuters, highway workers, and first responders.

According to a study released this year

by Teton Backountry Alliance, 11,709 people entered the Teton Pass backcountry between November 21, 2018 and January 13, 2019. That’s an average of 217 people each day making their way up the mountain, parking their vehicles, and heading out into avalanche terrain. With updates to ski and snowboard gear, safety gear, and the popularity of earning your turns, the amount of people getting into backcountry skiing

and riding has grown more rapidly than any other segment of the ski industry.

Teton Pass does have a guardian. Slightly weathered, with a beckoning grin, Jay Pistono is the un-badged law up on Teton Pass. The sole paid regulator, his mission is to help to keep things running smoothly among the myriad groups that utilize the area. As the official ‘Teton Pass Ambassador’ since 2005, Jay notches over a hundred days a year and

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Photo: Ryan Dee

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Photo: Ryan Dee

sometimes as many as three hundred Glory Bowl hikes in just one season.

Jay first came to Jackson by way of Teton Pass back in the seventies. With eleven bucks in his pocket he hitched a ride over the hill and has been around the area ever since. For nearly five decades, from the rowdy seventies and eighties to the present day, Jay has seen this evolve.

Teton Pass has been touted as a backcountry destination for decades in magazines and ski films. The lure of easy access to fantastic turns attracts locals and visitors alike, including some who are educated in avalanche safety and respectful of other users, and some who are unaware of the delicate balance granting them access to that terrain.

Where does the accountability actually lie? How do we enforce a safety code in an area that’s inherently wild? As the number of skier and snowboarder-triggered slides burying cars and cutting off the lifeblood of Jackson Hole has grown, these questions have become central to the debate.

PARKING

The “Pass Problem� seemingly begins and ends with the access to parking. As the popularity and notoriety of riding Teton Pass increases, parking has become the hot issue.

Jay reminds users every year to park smart and close together in order to maximize the amount of cars that can fit at the top of the Pass. However, in the heart of the winter season with the snowbanks closing in, there are often lines of cars waiting for

a spot, especially on the biggest snow days.

Although there is an understood etiquette (similar to a surf lineup) for getting a space, backcountry skiers and boarders may end up waiting up to an hour for a parking spot to get the goods.

This affects and disrupts the everyday traffic of people trying to commute from one side to the other. A line of stopped cars on top of the Pass limits space for commuters looking to pull off and let faster vehicles pass, or those dealing with overheated engines or traction problems. Cars pulling in and out of this lot on days with low visibility create the opportunity for accidents. As much as we, skiers and riders, appreciate this parking lot, how many of us have stopped to consider that this was never what it was intended for?

According to the Wyoming Department of

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Transportation (WYDOT) employee that our photographer Ryan Dee rode along with to document this article, that pullout was designed to be a safe area for cars and trucks to pull off the road, not a parking lot for forest access. They keep it plowed and allow folks to park there as a courtesy.

AVALANCHES

No one goes out intending to set off an avalanche, but whether through ignorance or bad luck, avalanches do happen. Glory Bowl and Twin Slides are well known and highly active slide paths. Regardless of the avalanche control measures that WYDOT have in place on Mount Glory, slides still frequently occur. These two paths are the main culprits when it comes to producing slides that impact the road. They are also the two easiest runs to access from the Glory bootpack, which runs up the ridge just to the skier’s right of Twin Slides, and both are tantalizingly fun on days when they are safe enough to ride.

With that in mind, the Teton Backcountry Alliance put out a survey asking users what they suggest for managing risk versus reward in the area. Most of their survey respondents favored temporarily closing Glory Bowl and Twin Slides, particularly after major storms make the features ripe for avalanches.

Bridger-Teton National Forest Resource Manager Linda Merigliano put it best: “The vast majority of people want to do the right thing. But it only takes one person to ruin it for everybody.”

USER BEHAVIOR

The risk of natural avalanches and road closures is compounded by backcountry user behavior. More than once last season I encountered people who had little to no

Photo: Ryan Dee

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avalanche gear or experience, and absolutely no idea where they were going. They had just heard that the Pass was “where it’s at” and had come up to check it out.

Is it our responsibility to address and educate those we come across in this situation? We all know certain days and certain places on the Pass can be precarious.

Avalanche Bowl holds that name for good reason: it’s perfectly poised to slide given the right conditions. Even the skin track up to Edelweiss has a touchy convexity that likes to pop when loaded correctly. Add in the even riskier areas off of Glory, and we have a large problem.

As a community we can vow to not touch the two primary slide paths that menace the highway when avalanche danger is considerable or higher, but what about the backcountry user who doesn’t know better?

How do we hedge against their poor choices?

Some advocate for doling out permits via a lottery system or an avalanche-education certification process, and restricting access to ensure safety. Others think it is possible to be independent stewards and lead by example, creating a self-policing system.

No matter what, each season we creep closer and closer to a showdown with the agencies and departments that manage the area. As scary avalanche incidents continue to mount, what are we willing to do to keep Teton Pass from getting hot-passed?

RR

Rachel Reich lived and worked amongst the Tetons for six years and recently made the move to the beach for work. She’s still a local to us. @theracheden

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Jay Pistono’s

Teton Pass Etiquette Do: FOLLOW WYDOT RULES

Work with the enforcement agencies–when WYDOT tells you what to do, you do it.

They are doing us a favor.

CARPOOL WITH OTHERS

Riding with others saves precious parking spots. Please also park close to other cars so more can fit.

PROPERLY CARE FOR YOUR PET

From keeping your dog hydrated to picking up after their mid-Glory hike deuce, please take care of your pet in all regards.

SHRED RESPONSIBLY

Ski and ride with respect and humility.

Think about the safety of others below you.

GOOD VIBES ONLY

Spread good vibes and spirits only. Leave your ego at home and enjoy.

Don’t: NO SNOW ON THE ROAD

Do not, under any circumstances, put any snow in the road, whether via an avalanche or just standing on the roadbank.

See you out there. - JP

Rider: Iris Lazzareschi Photo: Ben Gavelda

FEBRUARY 6 - 9 2020 LEARN MORE jacksonhole.arcteryxacademy.com

GRAND

MIDDLE TETON

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Into The

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Wilderness Jeremy Jones, Travis Rice, and Byran Iguchi on a foot-powered mission deep into the Wyoming wild WORDS: JONATHAN DESABRIS PHOTOS: MING POON

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I

f you had told me ten years ago that I would go on a ten-day splitboard mission through one of the most remote regions of the continental United States with Bryan Iguchi, Jeremy Jones, and Travis Rice, I would have laughed and called it fiction.

But on a dark morning last winter I was on the precipice of doing exactly that: a great adventure into the wilderness with some of the biggest heros in snowboarding.

Growing up, I spent more time playing hockey than anything else. It was my religion, and the rundown, sweat-smelling rinks of New England were my church, a bastion where I could lose myself in the game. I had dreams of grandeur, and I thought the Boston Bruins, NHL, and Stanley Cup were my future.

Not surprisingly, in hindsight, the scouts never came calling and my hockey career was eventually relegated to late night beer leagues with fellow washed-up skaters. I attended college in Vermont and became close with a group of friends who followed a religion I was unfamiliar with. They baptized me in the cult of winter and I was given a crash course on how to travel safely in the mountains, ski and snowboard film history, and the art of chasing a deep storm.

I fell in love with everything about it.

This passion for snow led me to Jackson Hole and an unpaid internship with Teton Gravity Research. A serendipitous five years later and there I was prepping for the trip of a lifetime outside of TGR’s office in Wilson. My late start in the snow world

The scene of a grand adventure.

Rider: Jeremy Jones

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“Solitude in the wilderness is a great teacher, the land is powerfully humbling.�

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Guch, Jones, Rice. Can you name a better trio?

had led to a deep insecurity about my ski touring (confession: I am a skier) and career.

Because I wasn’t raised in the shadow of some great mountain range, I have always felt less deserving of these experiences.

TH E D R E A M T E A M

Bryan arrived at the TGR headquarters first that morning and he had a wide shining grin exploding from his gray speckled beard.

This trip was his vision, his brainchild. He had spent over twenty years dancing with the wilderness border on Togwotee Pass.

This land has been an integral part of his journey as a snowboarder. One of the first things he told me was “Togwotee means

from here you can go anywhere.” This idea felt truer than ever that morning.

It was Bryan and a handful of other Jackson Hole snowboarders that first explored the area around Togwotee Pass on snowboards in the late nineties, building jumps and riding lines that would help define a new era of the sport. “I moved from California to Jackson, Wyoming in 1995,” Byran revealed about his Jackson beginnings. “Towards the end of my first winter, I rented a snowmobile on Togwotee and rode up to the wilderness boundary.

I’ll never forget the view… it seemed infinite, inaccessible, raw and wild. I was overwhelmed with the excitement of

discovery as I left the snowmobile behind and began to explore the area with my splitboard and found a deeper connection to the land.”

Jeremy Jones arrived next, having driven twelve hours through the night from Lake Tahoe to meet us at 4 am. We had originally planned on doing the trip later in April, but a surprise week-long high pressure system had moved in and the group had to reassess their play. Jones has ridden countless first descents around the world, pioneering the foot-powered splitboard movement. Rumor has it that Jeremy would walk forever if need be in order to ride a line that inspires him. We

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Imagine the depth of these fireside chats...

were going to put this theory to the test.

WHERE AR E WE GOING?

Travis Rice pulled into parking lot next and the trio was complete. Not surprisingly, Travis of Art of Flight and The Fourth Phase fame, was fresh off a heli trip in Alaska.

The Teton Wilderness is an area that covers about 585,238 acres of wild land. First established in 1934, the land was designated as protected natural wilderness with the passage of the landmark Wilderness Act of 1964. It lies just south of Yellowstone National Park and just east of Grand Teton National Park. This wilderness is bisected by the Continental Divide, the hydrological split of the U.S. that determines which rivers flow into the Pacific or Atlantic oceans. From our departure point, you could just make out the tip of the iconic Grand Teton in the distance, the inspiration for so many adventurers in Jackson and beyond.

The three old friends embraced and then Bryan produced a map and reviewed the plan for the day. We would drive to Togwotee Pass, get bumped out to the wilderness boundary line via snowmobile, then set off with what we hoped was enough food, camera batteries, and supplies for some type of adventure. Truthfully, we didn’t know exactly what we were getting into, but the unknown has an allure.

This area is considered to be one of the most remote places in the lower 48 contiguous states, as it is at least twentyfive miles from any developed road. Our plan was this: to venture through the Teton Wilderness on foot along the Continental Divide and capture the journey between three old friends.

SET TING OFF

What started as an early day soon turned late, and it was afternoon by the time we actually got everything loaded into our sleds and started the journey. We were nine in total: three athletes, three cinematographers, one photographer, the film’s director, and a

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 82 The undeniable arc of the one and only Guch.

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camp cook. Later in the trip a guide hiked in for the second half.

My job as content cinematographer pinned me as responsible for capturing the interactions between the three subjects.

It’s a job where you hope to blend into the background, allowing Bryan, Jeremy, and Travis to interact as if no one was watching.

On our first day, we walked through into the night and set up camp in the dark, with only light from our headlamps. Travis and Bryan brought a small pyramid tent to share between them. “Is this the first time we’ve shared a tent?” Travis asked his longtime mentor, surprised that in all their years of shared adventures that had never happened before.

The following day, we continued along the Continental Divide. The vastness of the land swallowed us whole. It became quickly apparent that our original goals would have to change because of the size of the area. It was my first time pulling a sled with all my belongings through the snow, and sometimes it felt like it was trying to pull me back to the trailhead... especially trying to keep pace with this trio as they reminisced amicably about old friends and past trips as they flew over the snow.

As the day continued, a small feeling of panic started to creep in as everyone

scanned for some type of ridable terrain.

We were traveling across the top of a broad plateau and all three riders saw lines in the distance that they might like to ride, but the scale of the zone made it difficult to judge how long and dangerous they could be.

Regardless of this initial nervous energy, the excitement and stoke stayed high, and there was still over a week in front of us filled with the promise of discovery.

SO LI TUD E

Within the first couple days of a trip like this, people start to lose touch with the routines of a “normal” life and become committed to a unified goal. You have no choice but to rely on those around you and embrace the solitude of the environment.

Bryan remarked one morning, “Solitude in the wilderness is a great teacher, the land is powerfully humbling, yet fair, generous, and kind.” Jeremy added, “Life is stripped down to food, shelter, and all things snow.”

As we continued deeper into the wilderness, my mental barriers and insecurities started to weaken. Walking through the vast landscape for ten hours a day with people who love the mountains with the same passion, makes everyone seem more alike than different. When you break it down, Jeremy’s journey isn’t different than what I have experienced. While hiking we talked about both growing up on the east coast

and playing hockey with our brothers. He grew up surfing the waves of Cape Cod, then snowboarding the hills of Vermont and the mountains of Wyoming, and, finally, some of the most remote mountain ranges in the world. It could be argued that no one’s life has been more affected by the art of the turn than Jeremy. His adventures to the ends of the Earth have been welldocumented, but now he wants to explore more of his hometown ranges. This trip was an extension of that goal.

On the morning of the third day, we decided to drop into the drainage that we camped in the night before in search of ridable terrain. There was an instant sense of relief throughout the group as we were now looking up at large natural halfpipes all stacked next to each other, almost as if nature built one for all three of them. The trio hiked and rode these lines. The smile on Bryan’s face, his dream now realized, was worth the effort and long days up to that point. “This vast area inspires a sense of freedom that’s rare to find in this day and age,’’ he remarked.

After that line, Jeremy headed upvalley with a cinematographer to scope a potential new zone. I hung back with Travis and Bryan. It was midday, with the sun completely overhead. Travis took off his base layers to let them dry and the two shared a small snack and some water.

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Bryan recounted a story from one of their first days in the mountains together. They had built a kicker on Togwotee Pass with another group of snowboarders. Still in high school, Travis was already sending it bigger than any other rider. That night was also his prom and he was coordinating the limo ride at the trailhead. “This kid has the life!”

Bryan remembered thinking at the time, as they both laughed over the memory.

Laughing along with them, I never imagined Travis as a kid who went to prom, doing things everyone does at that age. The son of a ski patroller, Travis was born in Jackson Hole with love for the mountains sequenced into his DNA. Throughout his career, Travis has shown an appetite for continually redefining the edge of what can be done on a snowboard. Yet despite everything he has accomplished, Travis is a incredibly humble guy who still looks up to and seeks guidance from Bryan and Jeremy.

Bryan Iguchi was born in Moorpark, a sprawling suburb northwest of Los Angeles.

He was raised in the surf and skate scene of LA. As a teenager, he was introduced to the nascent sport of snowboarding when his mom signed him up for a ski trip to Bear Mountain. Bryan took to the fledgling sport immediately and quickly turned pro.

He became famous for using his skate and surf inspiration from Southern California.

His creative butters, shifties, and spins lit up the first-ever terrain parks at Bear Mountain and inspired a generation of boarders. Eventually Bryan felt unsatisfied

with the California lifestyle and longed for larger mountains and a new adventure.

This ultimately brought him to the wild, unexplored ranges of Jackson Hole.

As we scouted lines that afternoon, Bryan talked about his early days surfing in Los Angeles. He still gravitates towards riding terrain inspired by the ocean. We eventually found an ideal location flanked by frozen waves on either side of a valley.

U NLI KELY FR IEND S

After a day of riding our first real lines of the trip, the mood was euphoric. Bryan built a fire and the group started drying out liners and gloves for the next day. Jeremy, Bryan, and Travis talked about how unlikely it was that the three of them were together on this journey and how serendipitous the relationship was between them. After the trip Jeremy shared a journal entry with me.

Guch, the most unlikely, born in the suburbs of LA, first touched snow at 15. Superstar by 21.

An ascent I had a front seat for. 26 spit out of the fire, landing in Jackson. The 1st JH Pro. Sponsors didn’t see it. Injuries led to cooking by 30 but always riding. The spotlight finding him again when he was 35 but now it’s all about his turns.

Rice is more obvious. Born on the best mountain in the world. Exploded on the scene at 16. I really had a front seat seeing as we had the same sponsor. A fired-up kid ready to break barriers every day.

Myself Cape Cod born. I showed up to my first race with no expectations and won. Won for two years straight until I turned pro at 16. Just good enough to feed myself and see the world. A passport to the world’s greatest ranges, but my true love has always been freeriding. Hit my stride by 25 and haven’t stopped.

WE ALL D ESER VE MOUN TA IN S

I climbed into my sleeping bag that night, the vapor of my breath hanging above like the thoughts running through my head.

I felt a mixture of shame and relief for somehow thinking that I didn’t deserve to be on this trip because of my childhood.

My assumptions were that these guys had easy paths to the mountains, that their journey was laid out for them like a smooth highway. I couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

The common connection between all of us is our love for the mountains and respect for these wild places. It is this passion that makes us—all of us—deserving of these experiences. We have all taken different paths, some more traditional than others, but each of us has made our own sacrifices along the way. I turned over in my sleeping bag, exhausted after three days of walking and hiking, but eager for more.

JD

Jonathan Desabris may be a skier, but we’re okay with that. @JonDesabris

Issue Number Fifteen We all start somewhere, but where will we end up?

Rider: Travis Rice

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Best Asian Cuisine

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Tomorrow’s Courage Today TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie is a conscious capitalist with a love for Jackson Hole powder WORDS: ROBYN VINCENT PHOTOS: COURTESY OF BLAKE MYCOSKIE

T

he story of TOMS is the story of how one person can affect demonstrable change in his own backyard and beyond.

Founder Blake Mycoskie has created a blueprint for business where people and the planet are prioritized alongside profit.

For every pair of TOMS Shoes purchased, the Jackson resident gives a pair away. His “one-for-one” model has changed what it means to run a business in an age of extreme wealth and poverty. But Mycoskie is always evolving. TOMS is now also teaching folks “how to fish.” The company is carving sustainable paths for people in poverty and creating jobs in developing countries. Mycoskie also doesn’t shy away from difficult issues in his own backyard.

That means standing up for contentious causes he believes in and pouring time and massive amounts of money into those efforts. Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine sat down with Mycoskie to discuss what it means to be a conscious capitalist and

why he is willing to take a stand and risk alienating his customers in a deeply polarizing time.

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine:

What inspired you to launch TOMS? Blake Mycoskie: It was 13 years ago. I was traveling in South America and saw many kids without shoes. At the same time, I stumbled upon this traditional shoe that the polo players wore on this farm near Buenos Aires. One morning I had this idea: these shoes are really great and I have never seen anything like this in the United States. My friends would like these. I wonder if I could sell these so I could give shoes to the many kids that I see here that don’t have them.

So I started, not even a business, just this little project called “The Shoes for Tomorrow Project.” And that’s where the name TOMS came from. It was

Tomorrow’s Shoes but that was just too long for the tags. So we shortened it to TOMS. We called it TOMS Shoes for a Better Tomorrow. I made a couple hundred pairs with a buddy I met playing polo. That was the beginning. I had no idea, of course, what would happen after that. We just gave away our one hundred millionth pair of shoes. So it’s been a crazy journey.

JHSM: That defining moment traveling in Argentina set the tone for the type of global company TOMS has become. Beyond that experience, how has traveling informed the way you live and work?

Mycoskie: Well, it’s really affected me in so many ways. I do not see myself as an American or a Texan, where I grew up, or now a Wyoming resident, as much as an earthling and a human. You know, truly a resident of the world. And I think that’s because I traveled so much and met so

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Blake makes the most of his limited freetime by seeking out adventures in his backyard.

many amazing people and experienced so many amazing cultures that I feel just how undeniably connected we all are.

One of the great blessings of travel and my experience with TOMS is to see just how beautifully people live with the simplest means. Many of the communities where we work in around the world have very little material wealth, but incredible relational wealth, and spirit. So it has helped me look at my own life and my relationships with my employees, my family, and friends and really try to help people in our country right here, in our own backyard, live in a way where they’re flourishing the same way I see in the smiles of people in Rwanda or Guatemala or Cambodia. And that’s been a big part of what is affecting a lot of the work that I’m doing now, is to try to help more and more people with their mental health and to have ways to be doing positive practices and habits so that we can be in a state of flourishing, like I see so often in places with very few resources.

JHSM: There’s a lot of thought and research that goes into the TOMS philanthropic work. And your strategy is evolving. You invented the “one-for-one” model, donating a pair of shoes for every shoe purchased.

And it’s a model that has been exalted worldwide. But now you’re more closely studying how your business can improve lives beyond the one-for-one.

Mycoskie: One of the big things in the last six or seven years was really trying to figure out how we could use our supply chain to help create jobs in the countries that we work in. So today about 40% of our giving

is in places like India, Ethiopia, Kenya. In the places where we are giving, we’re also now creating jobs. And that’s a big part of the mission of TOMS as we go on this broader journey of using our business to improve lives.

The other thing that we have done is really engaged in activism here in the United States on issues that we think matter to our customers and to ourselves. Last year, we made the largest corporate donation in the history of the United States to helping prevent and end the gun violence epidemic that we have here in the U.S. And we got

750,000 Americans to send postcards to their congressperson urging them to pass universal background checks.

Ultimately, universal background checks was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. And now we are working hard along with many other amazing organizations to have the Senate take it up as well.

Ultimately, we’re trying to use TOMS as a method for activism and as a symbol for just giving a shit. When you wear a pair of TOMS, you’re really saying, I care and I am

Issue Number Fifteen 91

Blake’s predilection for the side country and backcountry has led him to many snowy locations.

in. And they might lose some people, but they’ll be much deeper with those who follow them and support them.

JHSM: There is a growing movement of people who point to capitalism as the root of so many problems. It’s been traced back to America’s slave-owning past and the ways in which this country still systematically oppresses people today. So as a conscious capitalist, how do you want to see capitalism evolve?

Mycoskie: Well, I think it has to evolve and it is evolving with companies like TOMS and many others, Patagonia being a great example as well. Patagonia is one we looked up to a lot when it comes to not just looking at profits, but looking at people and the planet too. I think a company can really focus on the three Ps in that regard.

When doing that, we can use capitalism as a force for good and hopefully create a new model that more and more entrepreneurs will follow.

using my life and my resources to support a company that wants to make a difference in the world.

JHSM: We live in a deeply polarizing time when it comes to our political climate. But you’re not afraid to take TOMS into that realm. That’s a bold move – a lot of business owners, entertainers, people who are trying to appeal to a broad segment of the population are hesitant to do that.

Mycoskie: Yeah, very much so. I found that after the work that we did on the gun violence stuff. I thought a lot of CEOs

and even celebrities would join me very quickly. That ended up not being the case.

And so that was very hard. You know, I can understand because people are often scared about alienating or polarizing part of their community or their customers. But at the same time, we have to stand up for what we really believe in. And that’s the most authentic expression of ourselves as people and as businesses. So it’s a hard thing. But I do believe more and more influential people and businesses are realizing that their customers are their fans, that they won’t have that relationship to them unless they are truly standing for what they believe

JHSM: You built TOMS around socially conscious themes, around doing good in the world. From that model, what could people in Jackson learn? In other words, what responsibility does Jackson, a hub of extreme wealth and privilege, have to address issues of inequality and poverty?

Mycoskie: Well, I think the first thing is looking just within our own community at the economic divide that exists, that is more and more pronounced every day in Jackson Hole. We need to make sure that we are doing what we can. Those who have wealth need to make the lives of those who

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The Mycoskie family can occassionally be spotted shoeless...

do not have it so good as meaningful and as equitable as possible. And there’s some amazing organizations in Jackson. I just got introduced to One22 and I was very impressed with not just the work they’re doing to help the Latino community, but all of those who are having financial struggles. So really, thinking locally is super important. And then the second thing is a lot of people in Jackson don’t just have wealth, they also have influence. And I’ve found in my own philanthropy and what I do even outside of TOMS that lending your name to something and engaging your creativity is as important as your resources when it comes to positive change. I think that’s something that you can do from anywhere in the world.

JHSM: Jackson Hole’s long-term survival hinges on the vitality of the environment.

That’s why some say this area should be at the forefront of tough conversations about climate change. How would you like to see businesses help solve this problem? What

responsibility do they have?

Mycoskie: Well, I think the first response is doing something that we’re working on heavily at TOMS right now: just doing less harm. Patagonia talks about this in a really beautiful way—anything that we create, that is consumed, is creating some harm to our planet. We have to be realistic about that. And at the same time, we have to try to constantly be innovating so that less and less harm is done based on the materials that we use, the way that we source materials, the way that we transport things.

It just goes on and on. So I think businesses have one of the greatest opportunities to work with their supply chains and their operations in a way that just creates less degradation to our environment. And to the point about capitalism and the challenges it has created in the world, there’s no doubt.

But I also believe that being a conscious capitalist and really thinking about how businesses can also lead the way for individuals and communities to focus on things that can help address this problem is

really important too. that we solved the world’s problems, tell me about the first time you snowboarded in Jackson Hole.

JHSM: Now

Mycoskie: (Laughs) Yes! It was several years ago. And like many people who come to Jackson, discovering how to easily access the side country was just such an incredible delight. I’ve done a little bit of backcountry splitboarding in Mt. Baker and some other places, but had not been able to access terrain like that so easily, like you can off the Tram. It’s such a special place. And I’m so grateful now to call it home. The first time I went out, I had an amazing day of powder and good friends and guides. It was the beginning of my love affair with the mountain and this community.

RV Robyn Vincent is the former editor @JHSnowboarder and has a propensity to let ‘er buck. @thenomadicheart

WE

SNOW!

So, we work to make it accessible to everyBODY

At TAS we get snow riders with disabilities out on the slopes by: • providing adaptive equipment to Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee • training ski and snowboard instructors to be ready for all abilities lessons • awarding scholarships to local adaptive riders in need of financial support!

Big thanks to all of the riders who volunteer and donate to TAS every winter! We couldn’t do it without you!

Veterans Snowboard Camp ‘19 Photo: Frankie Paradise | @f.paradise_photography

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 94

Issue Number Fifteen

Jour ney

Back Good to How snowboarding helped Gavin Gibson come back to life WORDS: GAVIN GIBSON ILLUSTRATIONS: CLAIRE ADELL

EDITOR’S NOTE: I met Gavin Gibson back in 2012 on a press trip to Chile. Gavin, much like myself, was a snow media junkie who loved all the perks and travel of the pros, with less responsiblity and talent needed. Gavin was a badass skier, but chose the path of media to utilize his degree in creative writing, and pursue a career slightly more stable than one built on fickle sponsors. Months later, we worked at TGR together and had a damn good time ‘creating content’.

Then, on November 27, 2016, Gavin was severely injured. A speeding F-150 truck barreled into his beater car, inevitably smashing Gavin. Throughout the next pages, you’ll get a glimpse into Gavin’s mind and how his brain now processes life with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

He opens up about struggles and successes, and how snowboarding has helped him re-enter the world, and get back to good. We’re presenting his words the way he wrote them. Drop into his mind. - HH

“Everything is going just like it should be.”

A grin appears on my face as I merge with traffic. The eye, guiding everything but my steering, opens suddenly. The grin happens just after a smile, in response to the look of straight fear in the eyes of the pedestrian I wordlessly comfort while simultaneously skating off the sidewalk and merging with traffic just like I used to do on my bike.

The smile, a very cheesy one, was just there to say that “everything is going just like it should be.”

I learned last summer that people don’t know how to handle situations until I do.

My neuropsychologist tells me there’s a reason babies evolved to smile quickly.

Learning to recognize that other people’s experience with me might only begin the moments they first see me, and how I potentially physically appear to an onlooker has been one thing, the following struggle

to transform myself to be mostly pleasant, has been the greatest struggle of my life.

Nobody understands me when I speak—the inevitably prolix circumlocution glazes thicker than Krispy Kreme—but if I smile like I mean it, even for just a moment, everybody relaxes. I smile because there’s a tight squeeze ahead, but if I roll my weight onto my front foot, easing my toes just a little and transfer quickly to the heel of my next, I’ll make this turn, and the pedestrian won’t miss a step. Smooth. Right onto the street and into the bike lane.

On a bike, it would have been a normal move. I would have been ‘normal’ at one point in my life, but at this point I’m easing out of an unplanned direct connection between my car and an F-150, which dented my driver’s side door in two-andhalf feet, left my pelvis and lower spine and ribs crushed, and my head with a category IV rancho Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

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I spent the next few days in a coma, the next few weeks in the hospital, and the next couple months on a fentanyl patch. Nobody knew what to do with me, and the only person that would stand up to me when I was trying to hitchhike home from the hospital in my wheelchair was my nowwife, Claire.

when I let my sudden, inexplicable anxiety get the best of me.

That’s just biking, I told myself. We’d been through similar struggles when we were kids, only I thought I knew more now. I’ve never lived in a city where I’ve been too scared to ride bikes, but for the first time I understood the appeal. Maybe Justin was just too evolved to city life, and since bike rides have always required

Because the world is funny, and because I wasn’t ready to be called a hipster yet, that’s exactly what I got to do. I’d rank head injuries right next to apartment bathroom ayahuasca encampments in terms of likelihood of walking away. Somehow, I managed to miss the razor blades… and the Clorox. And the Drain-O and the cough medicine bottles.

The first thing any child will admit is that they’re ‘grown-up’ enough, just like some drunks will say they are ‘okay’ to drive.

Losing our freedoms after we have them is terrifying. For most of us, growing up is a series of checklists. Graduate elementary, middle, and high school. Get a job. If you have kids, it’s even more adult, because things depend on you. Don’t be a burden on society. We do these things

“Eve rything is goin g e like it hou ld b .” s just

Biking used to be my life. It was that thing I could rely on when I didn’t have anything else. My way of exploring the world I thought—at least in the snowless months. But then I went on what was supposed to be a casual bike tour with my high school biking friend, Justin, and it nearly ended our friendship in moments

some sort of suck, I went home and started skateboarding instead. Biking is just too much stress.

If that seems like a sudden switch, it’s important to rewind a year from that point and look at myself.

My journal reads: Seeing the world through the eyes of a six-year-old, while remembering most of the twenty-nine years before, would be a great hipster day-camp campaign promise.

so that we can have freedoms, mostly in the form of personal transportation and expenses. Break any of those rules, and being an adult never becomes an option in the eyes of all participating.

The summer before turning 30, a PA’s note declaring I was fit for work less than four months after partially severing my corpus callosum and damaging my frontal lobe in a twisting fashion, was all of the evidence I needed to be ‘good as new.’

Sure, there were red flags—I’d have total meltdowns every time I tried to park my car, by making complete laps around a block instead of trying to negotiate a 3-point turn using a driveway. The thought of blocking the road for even a second was too much to handle, but hey, parking in town sucks.

When I did try and ride a bike on

Issue Number Fifteen the BMX track at slow speeds, none of the feelings matched my vision. On a skateboard, I could still have fun riding slow enough to adapt to the world around me. So, that second summer, I committed to skateboarding.

Growing up I never learned how to push the right way. It took miles alone on a bike path to master the rhythm. Then to remember that I had to twist my feet a little bit. And then to be able to reposition them without stopping. But every foot uphill, there was one down, and in Marquette, Michigan there are miles of downhill bike paths through the quiet woods.

One day I wandered into a skatepark and bravery led to the magic of a front side turn all of twenty-four inches up on a quarter pipe. My racing heart released a smile. I hadn’t felt g-forces like that in, well, I couldn’t remember. Kick turning on a quarter pipe meant I could kick turn in the driveway. I started leaving the bike path and skating through the quiet neighborhood streets during the day. If a car came, or I got going too fast, I learned to just cut back into a driveway and suspend my speed sideways for a second.

I felt like such a rebel. Skateboarding the streets knowing that I could fall at any moment. Making turns made my body move in a way that stretched me on the inside. Loose and limber, I started to stress a little less. But only a little.

People don’t want to see a grown man skateboarding awkwardly. If you look at it from the perspective of somebody who doesn’t understand that in this country we’re free to do what we want— skateboards are fucking dangerous and super unnecessary.

Make no mistake, skateboards are dangerous and unnecessary, but so is writing. At the time I could only equate thoughts to sporadic feelings, and writing down my feelings only made people upset. I had access to the vocabulary of a man with a degree in creative writing, and none of the meaning. My brain treated every situation

individually, not ever factoring the lead up or fall out.

Entering any situation without some level of protection is just asking for trouble.

In life, our experiences become our armor.

At this point in life, I’ve got armor on, but randomly. I don’t know who or what to attack and so I flail, just as I did when I started skateboarding.

Slowly, cars became chances to think creatively while rolling in a whole new way. At less than 10 MPH through the neighborhood, I stopped worrying about how people will handle me, and start handling them.

The frowns of concerned passers-by start to turn up just because I’m becoming less of a liability.

Runs without mistakes are the highlight of skating. This takes timing. Sometimes it’s just the skater, and in the neighborhoods of Marquette during the day, it can be the occasional car. At first I stepped off my board everytime I saw a car, or a light. But after a couple of months, I learned that if I use the environment around the street, I can get out of the way without stopping.

My legs fall asleep every afternoon.

My back aches, and I’m still not really coordinated, but I feel a general sense of contentment, despite the difficulties. I even discovered surf-skate trucks, and all of the sudden I can pump for speed without taking my feet off my board. I skate every day for almost six months, from cruising

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Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 98

down the bike path to time spent in the skate park. Then winter comes way quicker than anybody was ready for. A summer of skateboard confidence and neuromuscular control is magnified on the surf-style snowboards I’ve been making for a couple of years.

Two years after my accident, my insurance case manager recommended that I get a functional capacity evaluation after I complain of my legs falling asleep, my awful temper, and a heightened level of anxiety.

Other than my mother and girlfriend, anybody close to me thinks I’m just being a loser. I don’t know how to talk about anything else to the friends I’ve made in other places. After a professional career spent dodging student loan collections, nobody even has my phone number.

My functional capacity evaluation rules that I have some abdominal weakness and should go to physical therapy. My doctor recommends the first MRI of my lower back. It’s the first time I smile at a Dr’s office, not on opiate medication in two years.

Finally. Something.

Doctor’s appointments.

Spread out all over the state. I keep trying and failing to make snow surf boards in the days between appointments. The MRI reveals damage to my sacrum, l5, and l4, as well as the disks between and above. A vision test reveals that I’ve been compensating for double vision. There’s a blind spot I was tested for, but never told about (maybe the optometrist who passed my eye test with my hooded puffy covering my head so that the fentanyl withdrawals were bearable didn’t wanna talk that much...) and there are bones sticking out of my body where they shouldn’t be.

I’m deep into questioning just what I’m trying to do when a text box shows up

“It’s the firs t time I smile at a Dr’s o ffice,

Issue Number Fifteen

not on opiate medicatio n in tw o y ears .”

on my phone. “I like what you’ve done with…” 99 It’s a compliment on one of my earliest boards from a snowboard designer who spends his winters based out of a bus riding white waves of snow through the mountains. He cuts me a deal on my first snowboard, one designed to be ridden like a surfboard. He’s done the work to make boards that not only have similar lines to surfboards, but really ride snow slopes as if surfing a wave. His diagrams of different waves of carving and fall-line riding open my eyes. The ability to execute surf-like moves at speed awaken my senses in a way I once took for granted.

Sucking at snowboarding is rewarding because for everything that might make you fall over, there are ten options that you have the skills to do instead. It’s no different than skiing in that sense, but the damage done to the muscles connecting my pelvis to my femur is too much to compensate for, and my back won’t enjoy the repeated rattling of skiing anything but groomers quickly.

Riding the snow like a wave forces you to work with the terrain instead of absorbing. I find myself riding green runs on sunny days by myself at incredibly slow speeds while I try to make tighter and tighter turns in places most people just skip.

Two years away from a chairlift makes me savor every second.

It takes me all winter to start surfing my snowboard well. It’s impossible to ride with anybody, because I don’t have the control I used to, and I’m still a beginner. So mobbing at super high speeds with friends who have spent the last decade riding isn’t really an option.

Winter is long. I can’t keep up the way I used to. I spent my entire career skiing, wondering why anybody would want to snowboard, when the consequences were so tangible. From the pain of getting on—and off—the chairlift, to the dreaded buckle-andunbuckle every time the ground goes flat. Was

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 100

all that even worth it? Instead I made some new friends.

It’s hard to do because I still have the mentality of a child when I get to ride.

Mastering the basics pushes my senses to their max. Slowly, over the course of a winter, I go from excitement over each lap without a fall, to sniping lines through grass and rocks on closing day. It’s not like skiing used to be, but the warm spring sun and the soft snow are still the same—I’ve just learned a new dance. Of all my forced re-interpretations of the world, it’s the snowboard that challenges my re-developing belief system the most.

I bubble out every detail about myself that I can. I haven’t really talked to very many people in the last couple of years, so with an audience, I unload my day-to-day.

I make mistakes constantly. I can’t attach names to faces, to experiences. I have nearly 30 years of misplaced memories all bouncing around underneath the new ones.

I often times don’t understand the context of my past experiences, or the context of the current ones anybody around me is going through. Some people like to watch unicyclists, some people would rather live their lives. My conversations stem from associations I make from my own mind

around the same time that the Freeride World Tour of skiing and snowboarding are going off. Every year a chosen handful of individuals get to travel the world riding some of the most unique and challenging mountain faces on earth. It shows exactly why the two sports exist side-by-side From the surfing-inspired uphill-lines performed by skiers, to the massive airs sent by experienced veterans on snowboards, it’s easy to see how there really is no correct way to enjoy the snow.

The way our capitalist society works, we’re forced to disagree with what we don’t understand. There IS a correct way. Failing

Skateboards don’t fully engage my love of the woods the way snowboards do. In my experience snowboarders go most of the places that skiers do, and the ones they don’t are just because they just don’t want to. I never understood the “just not wanting to” part before now.

Taking a wrong turn in the woods on a snowboard for even a few yards can lead to serious sweating and posthole hiking through the snow—something that almost never happens on skis that can be used to side step uphill. Consequences.

“It’s like I’m riding a unicycle at all times, impressive when it’s right, and very obvious when I’ve gone off course,” I tell my friend Josh about my head injury. I haven’t seen him in a couple of years and so

with nobody else having any idea of what I’m doing.

Strapping back into my snowboard soaked in sweat, I only care about getting the next turn without sending myself more rapidly toward the center of the earth than I need to. Carving down a snow covered face gives me a chance to go my own way down the hill. At first, I question why I ever even skied. I’m having too much fun. But then I switch boards. Inspired by the idea that different surfboards are for different waves, I try out a new one. The new board is shorter than the first, and it’s got a swallowtail shape that scares me for its potential lack of versatility.

I’m hooked on the first run. The same slope has all sorts of new ways down it. It’s

grades are handed out to those that don’t pass tests. If you can’t fix it, it’s YOUR fault.

Who needs revisionist history when we can just talk about how the present should be?

I shouldn’t be skateboarding down the street. Gavin three years ago would have called Gavin today, ‘a dipshit’. Gavin three years ago only knew how to live as Gavin from 0-29. But I’m over that shit now.

My grin doesn’t fade until I’m walking my skateboard back up the hill. Normally I’d just push back up, but I’m too busy smiling at a walking pace.

’ “It’s like I m riding a unicycle at al l times , impressive when it’s right, and very obvious when I’ve go ne off c o urs e .”

GG Gaving Gibson now makes pow surfers at home in Michigan. Find them here: SyrupTree.com @gdotnator

Issue Number Fifteen 101

Information about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) WO RDS: HAYDE N HILK E , D PT, FOU N D ER OF WAT ER SH ED JACKSON

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 01 Just because someone looks okay on the outside does not mean they are alright on the inside. Concussions will produce signs and symptoms such as balance issues, headache/migraine, blurred or impaired vision, dizziness, elevated heart rate, profuse sweating, anxiety/mood changes, memory problems, and/or cervical spine issues.

02 No two concussions are the same.

Assessment and management is unique to each individual.

“Patients do not have the subjective language to express the what and the how they are feeling following brain injury.”

Jessica Schwartz, DPT

04 “When it comes to youth sports, it is best to take a multi-sport approach instead of only playing one sport. Early specialization is not a good idea for young

03 Regulation of daily, healthy activities is important to recovery from a concussion or mild TBI, including proper sleep, daily exercise, adequate hydration, and eating right and regularly.

kids going into sports at a competitive level.”

American Development Model, Brian Hainline 05 A concussion is a transient injury, which typically resolves in 7-10 days.

However, there can be post-concussive symptoms, which remain following the resolution of a concussion.

06 Signs and symptoms following concussions are treatable. There are resources and support groups available, to help manage recovery.

LOCAL RESOURCES

ST JOHN’S MEDICAL CENTER & URGENT CARE

LOVE YOUR BRAIN

WATERSHED JACKSON

(307) 739.7463 tetonhospital.org

@loveyourbrain loveyourbrain.org

@WatershedJackson watershedjackson.org

The first stop for the expertise brain injury demands. St John’s Hospital hosts a monthly support group for those affected

by TBI which is facilitated by Oliver Gross, LCSW and Chris Smithwick, MA, CCC-SLP. 4th Tuesday of every month from 4-5pm in the Wellness Flex Room (Schedule subject to change).

The mission of Love Your Brain (LYB) is to improve the quality of life of people affected by TBI through programs that build community and foster resilience.

From education to action, events, and beyond, LYB is a leading the charge. A specialized yoga program will be available at Teton Yoga Shala starting 2020.

A local nonprofit founded by Hayden Hilke, MSR, DPT. Watershed seeks to educate the greater Jackson community about TBI and spinal cord injury and how they affect this community of athletes.

They raise funds for accessibility, research and awareness with the aim of promoting a return to an active lifestyle.

TETON YOGA SHALA Balance All Aspects of You PHYSICAL M E N TA L EMOTIONAL ENERGETIC Mention this ad for a one time drop-in for $12 Yoga in Aspens Located off Teton Village Rd. www.tetonyoga.com

Top 3 reasons to never buy or sell real estate with

MARYBETH HANSEN 1

THERE IS PROBABLY HORSE POOP ON HER BOOTS.

2

SHE WILL SOMETIMES SHOW UP IN A TRUCK.

3

HER HAIR IS BIGGER THAN YOURS.

CALL ME TODAY

307.413.0231

110 E. Broadway | Jackson, Wyoming marybeth.hansen@jhsir.com J H S I R.CO M

#M A K E A L I F E F O RYO U R S E L F

Jocelyn Emery Realtor & proud mom of two JH Snowboard kids.

307.690.7138 jocelyn.emery@jhsir.com

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 104

Murph and his infectious grin.

Photo: Erich Roepke

Issue Number Fifteen 105

The Migration

Nate Murphy’s evolution from dirtbag to snowboard mountaineer WORDS: BEN GAVELDA PHOTOS: ERICH ROEPKE & FRED MARMSATER

I

t’s hard to say where I first encountered Murph. I’d heard tales of him from friends in California, Montana, Washington, even read a mention of him in a TransWorld Snowboarding story years ago. At some point I found myself camped out at his place in Victor, Idaho and in the years since, we’ve had many memorable days in the mountains. The snowboarding community is small enough that one person’s impact can travel far.

Nathaniel “Murph” Murphy is one of those characters that’s been around, and he leaves a lasting impression wherever he goes.

His snowboarding spirit has taken him across the west and to the distant slopes of Turkey, Bolivia, Alaska, and Norway.

From dirtbag to Exum Guide, this is a look at how Murph has grown into an integral role in the snowboarding community in the Tetons and beyond.

Skateboarding introduced Murph to snowboarding. In Oregon, where he grew up, he rode at Mt. Hood, Timberline, and Mt. Bachelor. Later on he found himself in Montana, living in Big Sky and Bozeman.

Murph used to “patrol” at the Yellowstone Club in the good old days, when patrol mostly rode pow at the nearly vacant wealthy reserve. There were trips to Cooke City, too. “Our friend Benjie was running the High Country Hotel in Cooke and he convinced me to stay one weekend,” Murph

says. “He said if I helped out with the place he’d give me a free cabin. I ended up staying for the winter.” In line with all of this Murph began spending more time around the Tetons, linking up with Alex Yoder, Bryan Iguchi, and Blake Paul. “I was here more and more and just gravitated to the place. It seemed like a progression.”

How does one go from being a drifting snowboarder to a profession of ferrying people around the mountains? Spending summers as a fly fishing guide, which is Murph’s other gig, can help, but there’s no set path. “I was never trying to be a guide,” Murph says. “It happened back in the day informally through Lucas Debari, ARob,

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 106

When the options are endless...

Photo: Fred Marmsater

Yoder, and Blake. I had worked for NOLS a bunch of years doing winter camping and splitboarding trips. That was based out of Driggs, Idaho. The riders knew I was doing that stuff and could handle it, so they began inviting me on trips.” There was one trip in particular that kicked it into gear. “I just fell into the whole Exum thing on a TGR camp trip around Moran. A couple buddies and I got hired to porter stuff and stage it.

The owner of Exum was one of the guides.

At the end of the trip they asked myself and another buddy if we wanted to work for them the next season.”

Once on board with Exum, Murph began expanding his training and skill set through consistent guide work. As word spread, so did opportunities to link up with some of snowboarding’s best: he went to Turkey with Yoder and Nick Russell, Cooke

City with the Burton crew, Bolivia with Danny Davis, Denali with a slew of pros, Yellowstone for Roadless, and Norway by private boat. “These trips are always kind of last minute,” he says. “I’m usually not into them at first because I know how much work they’re going to be and all these question marks with logistics. Bolivia was ridiculous, we were hitchhiking to get places.” But the riding can pan out. “The spines we got to ride in Bolivia on the very last day were pretty insane. The trip in Lofoten with Ivan, the local tug boat captain, ski guide, and hotel manager was awesome. He drove us around on his boat to different fjords and we would skin up whatever looked good. It was such a sick style of splitboarding.”

All of this travel and time in the mountains has evolved his approach. The job of a

guide comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility. “You have to think creatively every time you’re out,” Murph says. “You have to have contingency plans because more often than not, the day isn’t going how you planned.” There’s a balance of amusement, reservation, and peoples’ lives in this career. “You’re totally responsible for the decision-making. You bail a lot. When you’re guiding, if you don’t bail a lot, then something is not right. You have to be comfortable turning around and hopefully your clients are okay with it. I’ve turned around within 200 feet from the top of Mount Moran three times with clients.

In the end, people just want an adventure and a good time. You really don’t have to succeed everyday, but you gotta try.” BG Ben Gavelda wishes he was more of a dirtbag than a construction guy. @bengavelda

Issue Number Fifteen 107

It’s good to have a guide that knows the ropes.

Photo: Fred Marmsater

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 108

Ride On, Jake Without him, we wouldn’t be us

A

pioneer, rebel, and icon, Jake Burton Carpenter, the legendary founder of Burton Snowboards, meant so much to many and truly carved a path for all of us. We’ve gathered personal vignettes, memories, and testimonials about Jake and his immense impact on snowboarding and beyond.

“Thanks for everything you did and all of the people you supported, both directly and indirectly! I’m grateful to be a snowboarder and you played such a major role in helping blaze a trail that allows me to live the life I will never take for granted. Cheers to you, fine sir... I know you’re in a more comfortable place now. My heart goes out to the global family you leave behind. No doubt, see you in the forest this winter!”

- T R AVI S R IC E

“Thanks for your bright light Jake. Your vision and determination for snowboarding has created so much joy in the world. Thank you for leading the way. Your legacy will live on forever.” - R O B K INGWI LL “We all die, but not all of us make as big of an impact as this man. A part of snowboarding’s soul has left us, but lives on in all the turns we make and all the future shredders out there. Spread the love like Jake, and may the ones we’ve lost shred on!”

- H AN A BE A M A N

CURATED BY: HEATHER HENDRICKS PHOTO: DEAN “BLOT TO” GRAY / COURTESY OF BURTON

“Almost every major decision in my life and every person I know can be directly linked to snowboarding… or as we first called it: ‘Burton boarding.’ Without Jake Burton Carpenter’s vision and hard work, I wouldn’t be where I am, doing what I do, with the community that I have and loving every second of it. ” - JEFF M OR AN “Thank you Jake Burton for bringing so many of us pure JOY in the mountains.

True visionary and pioneer. RESPECT.” - RO B I N VAN GYN

“I just had a dream two nights ago that I was hanging with Jake… I’m at a loss for words right now, but his impact and influence on my life has been profound to say the least, and I feel extremely grateful to have known him. In my dream we were on a boat trip surfing somewhere in the tropics, a place of surreal beauty and peace. Next we were jet setting and making plans to ride together back home in Jackson. It was kinda crazy, but seemed so real. He was smiling and full of stoke, just the way I will always remember him... living the dream. With infinite love and respect, Guch.”

- B RYA N IGUC HI “Jake was, and still is in my opinion, an anomaly. How does one person alter the courses of so many lives? My life literally

revolves around the thing Jake championed.

Not only did he bring us snowboarding, he brought me, and I know my brother feels this way as well, a way of living one’s life to the absolute fullest. Having the most fun, and taking care of the people around you.

Thanks for showing us how to live, Jake.

Love you.” - C R AIG MC MO R R IS “From the moment I met Jake, he always greeted me with a hug and made me feel like family. He was genuine and welcoming, and the way he developed a community with snowboarding is beyond inspiring. He and Donna have made a huge impact on my life and so many others. Forever grateful!”

- KIMMY FASANI

“Jake, you were an inspiration to all, and made a large impact on me. You helped to carve a path through this crazy life that has allowed me to be where I am today. Your generosity, creativity, and approach towards life are a few small pieces I will carry with me forever. I truly believe wherever you are now, you are enjoying it to the fullest. Rest well my friend. I will forever ride with Jake.”

- KEVIN PEAR C E

#R I D EON JAKE JAKE BURTON CARPE N TE R 4 . 29.54 - 1 1. 20.19

Issue Number Fifteen 109

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Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine 112

Dropping Next

The newest up-and-coming local legend in town: Jake Johnson

J

ake Johnson spends a lot of time on his board. When there’s snow on the ground, Jake will be out there. Whether that means riding powder off the tram, or hiking a DIY rail park in someone’s back yard, he’s out there. Jake joined the Jackson Hole Ski Club Freeride Program when he was just seven years old. Now a junior in high school, Jake has been with the program longer than any other current athlete.

Jake’s dedication to snowboarding and skateboarding runs deep. His dad Nathan is an accomplished and still absolutely nasty skateboarder, and his mother Claire has deep roots in snowboarding culture and business. It’s no surprise that Jake has that

WORDS: AARON HALLENBECK PHOTO: RYAN DEE

same passion, and embodies these sports in everything he does. He is incredibly talented and oozes style in everything from his turns to the most technical tricks. Jake is one of those kids whose first attempt at something new looks like he has been doing it his whole life. It’s fair to be jealous of that.

For years, Jake focused his passion in snowboarding towards competing in slopestyle. That meant long and hard days in the terrain park, picking himself up after slams and perfecting his tricks on jumps and rails. He qualified for the USASA national championships in 2018, and landed himself in the top 25 in the most difficult

age group in competitive snowboarding: the Breaker Boys. Since then, Jake has been focused on taking his talents in the terrain park and applying them to the natural terrain Jackson is known for. He loves filming, and wants to follow his friend and role model, Blake Paul’s path of styleinfused backcountry riding (he’s sometimes even known as Jake “The Blake” Johnson).

I wouldn’t be surprised to find a photo of Jake tweaking a grab on a magazine front cover in the next ten years. Cheers, Jake!

AH Aaron Hallenbeck is a coach for the freeride program, and spends his free time bonking around the Tetons @aaronhallenbeck

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Photo: Ryan Dee