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Q&A: Madison Webb Stanko // By Helen Olsson Madison Webb Stanko spent her childhood summers living in a fire tower in Idaho’s Payette National Forest. (Her mom worked for the forest service.) “The tower had windows on all sides, and during storms we’d be sitting there surrounded by lightning. It was scary but incredible,” she says. “That experience fundamentally instilled in me a love of wild places, nature, and wildlife.” In high school, she took AP studio art, using photography as her medium. “The teacher didn’t know what to do with me; everyone else was doing painting or sculpture,” she says.…

Profile: Glenn Owings Offering kids dozens of opportunities through Teton County 4-H. // By Samantha Simma “People always value connection, and that authentic connection is the hallmark [of 4-H],” says Glenn Owings, who was the Teton County 4-H/Youth Development Extension educator for five years. Owings says he loved being involved in Teton County 4-H because he got to observe 4-H participants develop into young adults that are articulate and confident, among other life skills. (This past November, Owings took a position elsewhere in the University of Wyoming Extension, which administers the state’s 4-H clubs.) “They know who they are, they…

As Told By: Leslie Steen // By Jasmine Hall Like many who are swept off their feet by Jackson Hole, Leslie Steen moved to the Tetons in 2007 thinking she would take a year off after graduate school to ski for the winter. She’s still here nearly 18 years later, protecting the wild rivers and streams of northwest Wyoming. “I was trying to decide if I was going to move to Jackson or Missoula. I came out over spring break, and the Alpinist Film Festival was happening at the time,” she says. “That was so fun. I met some of…

Cruising in Style  on Jenny Lake Locals and visitors alike love the shuttles and scenic cruises on this lake in GTNP. // By Jim Mahaffie  It’s a little before 7 a.m. on a crystal-clear summer morning in Grand Teton National Park. A few dozen hikers and some tourists are already gathered on a wooden boat dock on the eastern shore of Jenny Lake, the second largest and most well-known of the six glacial lakes at the eastern base of the Tetons. The small crowd is there to be ferried two miles across the lake in a motorboat, from its developed…

Get High Planning a scenic chair ride? Here’s what to wear and pack for a ride that can drop you off into very different weather than what you had when you started at the bottom. // By dina mishev //Photography by bradly J. boner In winter, the Backcountry Highliner PrimaLoft Air-Perm Fleece Hoodie is a mid-layer. In summer, it’s the perfect thing to slip on over a t-shirt when the temperature quickly drops from 75 to 55. $99, available at backcountry.com If there’s real rain in the forecast and you can’t reschedule, pack Norrøna’s Senja Gore-Tex jacket, the Norwegian family-owned…

Sam Singer Meet the founder and executive director of Wyoming Stargazing. // By Bevin Wallace Sam Singer, a driving force behind the new Snow King Observatory & Planetarium (see page 162) and the town of Jackson’s bid for dark sky certification, ascribes his interest in astronomy to “twists of fate.” First, when he was 10 years old, his family moved from California to a tiny town in Nevada. “For the first time in my life, I had this amazing night sky above my head,” he says. “It was just desert for 30 miles out our front door, and my dad…

The Snake River This river has multiple personalities asit winds through Jackson Hole. // By samantha simma// Photography by bradly j. boner The source of the Snake River is in the wildlands of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—at about 8,200 feet on Two Ocean Plateau in the Teton Wilderness of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. From this remote area, the mighty river—the largest tributary of the Columbia River—flows into Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway, and then back into the BTNF before leaving Jackson Hole at the town of Alpine, Wyoming. It enters the valley at…

Wind Jackets We tested these so you don’t have to. // By Dina Mishev BLACK DIAMOND DISTANCE WIND SHELL  What is it One of the lightest and most packable hooded wind jackets available, it is made from a see-through single-layer nylon material and weighs as much as (about 4 ounces) and compresses to about the size of a deck of cards. Strengths Small details that make a big difference: a draft-flap behind the front zipper; an elastic hem on the hood lets you pull the hood on and off without unzipping. Weaknesses We didn’t find that it was as wildly hydrophobic as was…

Community Eats At Slow Food in the Tetons, Scott Steen aims to bring Jackson Hole together over fresh and fair food. // By Samantha Simma It’s a Wednesday afternoon in Jackson Hole, and the Center for the Arts lawn is bustling with marketgoers. At the Slow Food in the Tetons’ weekly People’s Market, you’re likely to spot Scott Steen, executive director of the local chapter of Slow Food USA, in one of two places. “I love visiting with the farmers. Sometimes they’re too busy to have a long conversation,” he says. “But checking in and having a conversation—that’s one of…