The Life of a Sled Dog
If you’ve lived here long enough, you might be familiar with the house on the hill where Highway 191 intersects Granite Creek. You might have heard barking as you wind the corner on your way to Granite Hot Springs or, if you’re lucky, seen dog sledding teams flying up the road on a snowy winter
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Hunting with Photos
Mark Gocke’s spring ritual is to sit at the water’s edge with a camera, awaiting the song of the loon as they return to nest in Jackson Hole. The waiting game he plays each May paid off one year. “This loon started calling to another loon and then a wolf started howling back to the
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The Woodland Language
The obvious irony of Jackson is the solitude of nature that’s disrupted by the bustle of humans. The bark of a dog, the splash of a kid jumping into String Lake, and a park ranger’s tale, all interrupt nature’s native noise. Sound is an often-overlooked aspect of Teton County because the visuals tend to overwhelm
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Water Song
At first blush, it’s easy to think that hawk-like vision is the most critical sense when casting a fly to a wary trout. To some extent, it’s true; watching the play of shadows and the patterns of a current can lend signs to an attentive angler. But turning your attention to auditory clues can take
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River Music
Though he has been guiding for Barker-Ewing Float Trips for 13 years, Grant Bishop is still the “youngster” on the oars. When he started working on the Snake River at age 18, he was following in the footsteps of his father and uncle. His dad rowed for High Adventure Whitewater and his uncle owned High
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Wood on Water
One of AJ DeRosa’s earliest memories of boating is the sound. AJ, owner of Jackson Hole Vintage Adventures (JHVA), recalls being lulled to sleep as a kid by the sound of water lapping against his uncle’s flat-bottomed boat. Since then, AJ has floated in many kinds of boats — plastic canoes, rubber rafts, fiberglass dories,
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Filming for Climate Change
Every winter, Jackson Hole film production companies brave subzero conditions to capture breathtaking footage showcasing extreme adventures on jagged, snow-covered peaks. Many talented local film producers also use their cinematic skills to shine a light on important conservation issues—such as climate change. Teton Gravity Research (TGR), founded by brothers Steve and Todd Jones, is synonymous
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Big Mountain Shredder
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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Bringing Passion to Life
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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Mountain Maven
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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Adapting to Get Outside
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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Angling for Trout
One day local fishing guide Boots Allen parked his boat to go fish a side channel of the South Fork of the Snake River. While he and his client were away, the dam was shut off for a couple hours and they returned to find their boat 15 feet away from the river, essentially on
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Cast Your Fly Where the River Runs
EACH YEAR LIKE CLOCKWORK A REMARKABLE TRANSFORMATION OVERCOMES JACKSON HOLE. AS BRISK SPRING DAYS GIVE WAY TO THE STIRRINGS OF SUMMER, THE LAST SNOWY VESTIGES OF WINTER GRADUALLY DISAPPEAR. AS THOUGH RELEASING THEIR GRIP, THE VALLEY’S SNOWFIELDS SLOWLY RECEDE, BREATHING FRESH LIFE INTO THE SURROUNDING RIVERS AND LAKES. This perennial scene whispers something of a
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Riding the Wave
For Ali Kalenak, there were two major turning points in her life. The first happened in may 2013 when her twin sister suddenly passed away in Charleston, South Carolina. Ali was living in Jackson at the time, completing her second nursing degree at the university of Wyoming, and living with her then-boyfriend and their two
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Sliding on Ice
The first time Trinity St John saw broomball was also the first time she played. Her boyfriend’s team needed more women, so St John agreed to give it a go and joined the Blood Shots for a game. That was about 15 years ago, and St John has been playing ever since—sometimes on multiple teams
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Snow Biker
Every Thanksgiving, David Hunger would hang up his bike. By that time, winter conditions had arrived in Jackson, and the roads were covered in snow and ice. Hunger, the owner of Teton Mountain Bike Tours, tried studded snow tires on his mountain bike. The tires worked okay, but they weren’t the perfect solution for the
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Always Adventuring
Mark and Janelle Smiley agree on their most athletically challenging day: 15,700 vertical feet and 47 miles in a raging storm. “Total whiteout conditions,” Mark says. The two were in the midst of skiing across the entire Alps Mountain Range, a feat they achieved in 36 days—faster than the previous record of 41 days. “We
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The Legacy Continues
THE EARLY DAYS When former Olympian Karen Eaton started skiing with The Jackson Hole Ski Club in the mid-1950s, Jackson’s population was just 2,000 and only one paved road ran through town. A single chairlift climbed the right side of Snow King Mountain, which was the club’s training ground, until Eaton was a teenager and
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Artistic Wild Man
Born in a small Alaskan fishing village called Aleknagik, with a population of just 219, Derek Collins learned a lot about the outdoors from a young age. Growing up, Collins and his family would travel to Bristol Bay via boat to harvest fish. He spent his summers setting up dryinig racks to hang salmon and
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Get Wild
Jackson is a wild place. Why not head out and see for yourself? Outdoor adventures abound in this mountain town, so get outside and explore. Be sure to take appropriate precautions for recreating outdoors and have all the skill, knowledge, and equipment necessary for a safe trip. Also, be aware of potential dangers, including rapidly
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