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Bircher Barns Form meets function in these Gothic-style barns. // By Maggie Theodora    // Photography by BRADLY J. BONER “They are just perfectly functional and elegant,” says John Carney, a principle architect at Prospect Studio, of the barns built by John Wesley Bircher in Wilson almost a century ago. The T.A. Moulton Barn on Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park is undeniably the most famous and photographed barn in Jackson Hole, if not the U.S., but, considering the barns only (and not their backdrop), Bircher’s barns, done in a Gothic style with soaring, gabled roofs, are more aesthetic.…

Snowshoeing Here is the essential gear to make your snowshoeing adventure a success. // by Dina Mishev To keep your top half happy, pair Eddie Bauer’s High Route Grid Fleece 1/2-Zip with Voormi’s Access NXT vest beneath whatever mid- and outer layers the day’s temperatures and weather call for. The High Route offers maximum warmth without bulk, and the Access NXT features 4-way stretch-woven wool, a water-repellent finish, and mesh side panels for breathability. High Route, $99; available at Eddie Bauer (55 S. Cache St., Jackson);Access NXT, $149; available at voormi.com POC’s Devour Glacial sunglasses are made for mountain bikers, but…

Gloves Keep your hands comfortable whatever you’re doing. // by Maggie Theodora NATHAN REFLECTIVE CONVERTIBLE GLOVE/MITT Basics: Technically these lightweight gloves are for running, for which they are perfect, but the thermal mitt shield that can be easily deployed over the glove fingers makes them more versatile.  Pros: Made from a thermal stretch fabric with a weather-resistant finish, these roll up to about the size of a small avocado (but are less than half the weight) and feature a nose-wipe chamois thumb most other gloves in this category don’t have. Hi-vis reflective graphics can help keep you safe if you’re out at…

Breezy Johnson Look for this local ski racer at the Beijing Olympics.  // As told by breezy johnson Last winter, Victor-based speed skier Breezy Johnson, who grew up ski racing with the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club (JHSSC), had what can only be called an epic World Cup season. She placed third in four consecutive World Cup downhill races—at Val d’Isère (two races), St. Anton, and Crans-Montana. Johnson was only the fourth American woman to do this (the other three are Lindsey Vonn, Julia Mancuso, and Picabo Street, who all happen to also be Olympic gold medalists). Johnson, who turns…

Tim McLaurin Dancing daily on the Town Square for smiles. // By Melissa Thomasma If you drove past Jackson’s Town Square sometime during the past year, there’s a good chance you saw Tim McLaurin. Brandishing a sign that says, “Honk if My Dance Moves Make Your Day” McLaurin, who has Down syndrome, stationed himself on the southwest corner of the square, the busiest (and the one on which the town’s webcam is focused) on March 31, 2020 and started dancing. “That’s my favorite corner to dance because it’s the corner with the most people and cars,” he says. Wearing black Bose…

Nancy Leon When a downhill skiing injury sends you in a different direction. // By lila Edythe After tearing her ACL five turns from the bottom of the ABC Chutes in Granite Canyon just outside the boundary of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Nancy Leon got even deeper into skiing. Fifty-eight at the time, Leon was a lifelong downhill skier who had dabbled in Nordic skiing. Post-ACL tear, Nordic skiing was a cruical part of her recovery. “My ACL was hanging on by a thread, and the doctor said I didn’t have to get it repaired. He recommended physical therapy instead,”…

Howdy Stranger // By Samantha Simma “HOWDY STRANGER YONDER IS JACKSON HOLE, THE LAST OF THE OLD WEST.” Signs bearing this have welcomed people to Jackson Hole since the mid-1930s. Local artist Grant “Tiny” Hagen partnered with local furniture craftsman Lester Lee to paint and carve three of these signs. (Lee modeled the signs’ cowboy silhouette on Harry Clissold, who was a Jackson town councilman and then Jackson’s mayor from 1934 to 1965.) To welcome people entering the valley from the west, a sign was erected at the top of Teton Pass. Travelers from the east found a sign on…

Travis Rice // By Lila Edythe Travis Rice learned to ski about the time he learned to walk. His dad was on the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol. “I remember late afternoons at the ski patrol shacks up on the mountain and going down at the end of the day with the patrol doing their sweep,” says Rice, who is now 39. But he eventually traded skis for a snowboard, and he has spent the decades since transforming that sport. Rice burst onto the professional scene as an unknown 18-year-old. That year at Snowboarder magazine’s Superpark contest at California’s Mammoth Mountain,…

Snow King’s Exhibition Run This ski run towers over downtown Jackson.  // By Maggie Theodora Photo by Bradly J. Boner The origins of the name of Snow King’s black diamond Exhibition run have been lost to history, but it’s easy to guess that it got its name because the people who ski down it are on full exhibition to anyone riding the lift up to the summit. The ski run exactly follows the path of the lift towers. This year, thanks to a new Summit Gondola, Exhibition-watching is easier than ever. Here are some of the things to look for…

Read These // By jim mahaffie COLLECTED READINGSThe Grand Teton Reader  Edited by Robert W. Righter  The editor, a former professor of history at the University of Wyoming, chose 35 contributors covering geology, historic characters, settlement, and the park’s politically charged founding. Writers include naturalists, environmentalists, and diarists, with stories of mountain climbs, fishing and hunting, Native American legends, and more.  LOCAL SATIREI Can Ski Forever:A Modern-Day Jackson Hole Epic  By Andrew Munz In this collection of satirical skits, songs, and scenes from his popular shows in Jackson, local writer and actor Andrew Munz documents life in our ski town.…

Frank Durbian The new(ish) manager of the National Elk Refuge appreciates working in one of the world’s most intact ecosystems and marvels at all of the species that call the 24,700-acre refuge home. There are more than 230 of them! // By Lila Edythe When he started as the manager of the National Elk Refuge in July 2020, Frank Durbian was new to Jackson Hole and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and was thrilled to be here. A lifelong Midwesterner—he’s a native of Kansas and most recently spent nine years working at wildlife refuges in North Dakota—Durbian says, “I was drawn to this job for…