Southeastern Wyoming is not known for its steep and deep terrain. However, protruding from the prairie is a lone peak called Elk Mountain, the original home of Ranyon D’Arge. Snow piles up in drifts here from the frequent 70 mile per hour winds that batter the region. Avalanches are a common occurrence, and access is
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Fifteen years ago, Hyunnam Kim Degman sat at a bus stop near downtown Jackson, waiting for her new employers to pick her up and take her to Dornan’s, where she would live and work for the summer. Degman grew up in South Korea, and she had always dreamed of visiting Yellowstone. At the bus stop
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If you have seen the red moose in Teton Village, you’re familiar with the bold art of local muralist and illustrator Haley Badenhop. Colorful pieces like the grandiose blue moose mural near the town square, the vibrantly painted piano at the Center for the Arts, and eye-catching murals at Bin 22, Orange Theory, and Solitude
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Jackson Hole is notorious for its expansive and untamed backcountry ski access. Professional skier Sam Schwartz feels most at home here, preferring the foreboding cliff bands and tight couloirs that make Jackson an emblematic testing ground of his sport. Schwartz, who is a sponsored athlete for K2 Skis and local apparel company Stio, attributes his
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Skiing up to Surprise Lake in Grand Teton National Park to check a weather station is just another day in the office for Lisa Van Sciver, who is an instrumental part of the local avalanche forecasting team. While her job title on paper says “meteorologist technician,” her position is more colloquially known as “snow ranger.”
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Gov Carrigan knows a good ski when he sees one. Carrigan, who is the visionary behind Caldera House’s Mudroom and Nomad ski shops, has spent his entire life immersed in ski culture. He spent his earliest days carving around on snow in the Catskill mountains, where the town hill functioned as his babysitter. In college,
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At 19, Morgan McGlashon became the youngest female to climb and ski the Grand Teton. She first learned to ski at the age of 2, and then took up ski racing, which transitioned into big mountain competitions during college. Now 24, McGlashon is a formidable mountain athlete focused on ski mountaineering. “I’ve skied the Grand
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What would winter in Jackson Hole be without snow? While it’s unlikely snow will disappear from the area anytime soon, climate change is impacting our region along with the rest of the world. According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data and the U.S. Government’s climate.gov website, “Nine out of 10 of the warmest years
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Brian Guido, a ski coach for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Adaptive Steep and Deep Camp, and Dennis Walburn, an adaptive skier, remember the mid-February 2019 camp well. Close to 80 inches of snow fell that week. “It was right on the edge of my ability,” Walburn says. “It all turned out okay. Well… except for
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In February 2017, a strong winter storm blew down 17 steel utility poles along Teton Village Road, shutting down Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Teton Village for days as crews worked to restore electricity. Workers came from all around to help get the lights back on, first with a temporary fix, and then later burying
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Kate Koons made her share of backcountry mistakes when she first moved to Jackson in 2002. She recalls an early trip to ski Glory Bowl on Teton Pass—the same day she bought her avalanche transceiver. “I didn’t know about the whole ‘ski one at a time’ thing,” she says. “So I followed right behind my
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Anytime there is a cold snap, Scotty Craighead grabs his camera and heads to the dike along the Snake River. While most photographers look up to capture Jackson’s famous mountains and scenery, Craighead points his lens down, focusing on the ice forming, cracking, and melting on the water. In 2013, on a walk along the
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Sparks fly as Alexandra Paliwoda works to transform steel into the intricate petals of a flower in her Driggs, Idaho, blacksmith shop. Her creations are functional and artistic, and range from wine racks made of artfully arranged horseshoes, to a hand-forged firefly coat hook, to the custom-designed handrail at the Royal Wolf. Paliwoda started her
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The Jackson Hole Ski Patrol Memorial Scholarship Fund provides college scholarships to “students whose spirit and love of mountain adventure honors the memory of ski patrollers no longer with us,” according to its mission statement. Melissa Malm, who was the first female ski patroller hired at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in 1978, and Chris Peck,
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Craft beer and cold weather are made for each other. This winter, grab an afternoon pint at your favorite local brewpub and watch snow blanket the valley through frosty windows, or pick up a “crowler” after shredding at one of the local resorts. Sample these local brews to find out which seasonal craft beer will
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Cultivate Café embraces opposites. Its old west-style interior, complete with original wood, elk antlers on the wall, and saloon-style doors, seems to contradict the menu’s plentiful vegan options like non-dairy jalapeño “cheese” and fried jackfruit. Owners and siblings Sky and Savanna Garnick laugh when satisfied vegan and meat-eating customers alike point out this intriguing contradiction.
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Sixty-five avalanche paths have the potential to impact Jackson and the four highways leading into town. Brenden Cronin is one of just two Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) avalanche technicians charged with monitoring and mitigating the potential slides that could block Jackson’s roads. In the winter, Cronin checks weather models and forecasts and, along with
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If we’ve ever met on the slopes, or you’ve read my past winter Publisher’s Notes, you know I’m addicted to snow. Ever since my dad took me to Berchtesgaden, Germany, in 1971 for a family ski trip, I’ve been hooked. From living in Boulder and skiing the mountains of Colorado as a teenager, to making
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Ten-year-old Maleah McCune loves being outside and playing with her friends, whether they’re biking, paddleboarding, skiing, or playing hockey. Since she has trouble using some muscles due to her muscular dystrophy, she uses specialized adaptive equipment to enjoy the outdoors. While some kids learn how to ride bikes first with a tricycle and then training
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Jackson Game Warden Kyle Lash spends his time responding to all sorts of different calls. One frigid winter morning, he freed a fawn deer trapped in a white picket fence, bringing the deer inside to help it warm up and recover. Other days, he’s enforcing the law. All that he does is to protect wildlife,
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Lisa McGee looked out across the landscape on a recent summer trip she took with her son, Dylan, on the Wyoming Range National Recreation Trail, a 75-mile trail that runs along the spine of the mountains. If things had gone differently, she realized, they could have been hiking through an oil and gas field instead
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