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COURTESY PHOTO // By Maggie Theodora Rocky Vertone didn’t even know where Jackson Hole was, but he knew he needed to head there after he graduated from the Art Institute of Philadelphia in 1991. “This was before the internet, and my buddy had a little Jackson Hole Ski Resort catalog,” he says. “I saw 4,139 vertical feet and a picture of the tram and was like, ‘Oh man, let’s go there.’” That October, Vertone, a native of New Jersey, packed up his Dodge Daytona and made the drive west. Somewhere in Kansas, his fifth gear blew out. “I drove from…

Set yourself up for a successful hike with this gear. // by Dina Mishev Black Diamond’s Distance Carbon FLZ Trekking/Running Poles are stiff, adjustable, durable, collapsible, and lightweight. $189.95; available at Teton Mountaineering (170 N. Cache St.) Stio’s Divide Tee(the women’s version is the Divide Shift Shirt) is made from DriRelease fabric, which simultaneously wicks, dries, breathes, and cools without added chemicals. Seams don’t rub when you’re carrying a daypack. $59; available at Stio Mountain Studio(10 E. Broadway Ave.) The Meridien LL sunglasses from Dragon Alliance work as well on the hiking trail as they look good at the brewpub. The…

PETE LAWTON GREW up ski racing and training on Snow King Mountain. Fast-forward thirtyish years and Lawton is CEO of the Bank of Jackson Hole and skis the King during his lunch hour. “I always have skis in my car,” says Lawton, whose father, a high school principal, was one of the initial investors in Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. After pulling into the parking lot at the base of the Town Hill, he’ll put his ski jacket and pants over his work outfit, which is almost always a suit. “I’ll eat a sack lunch on the chairlift,” he says. Lawton,…

A short, scenic snowshoe or Nordic ski brings you to the Murie Ranch, a historic crucible of the conservation movement. By Lila Edythe NOT TO BE too woo-woo or anything, but I always feel the Murie Ranch—where Margaret Thomas “Mardy” Murie, often called the “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement,” lived for more than fifty years—before I see it. The ranch has a peacefulness and tranquility that is palpable. “There is a definite magic about the place,” says Dan McILhenny, who has lived in one of the ranch’s rustic cabins for six summers as a volunteer docent. “My wife and I feel it,…

Two hundred years after John Colter was the first white man to see Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, two friends retrace his route, find it’s still full of adventure, and make a movie about it.  By Dina Mishev. /. Images from Colter: A legacy of Adventure ONE OF THE early scouting trips that inspired Wilsonites Sawyer Thomas and Riis Wilbrecht to tackle the adventure that became the twenty-eight-minute film Colter: A Legacy of Adventure was a seven-day winter ski-camping trip in the Beartooth Mountains. “We managed to completely destroy ourselves on it,” Wilbrecht says. Rather than back off though, the pair doubled…

Fuel your Jackson Hole adventures with these locally made snacks. By Melissa Thomasma  //  Photography by bradly j. boner WE DON’T REALLY do humdrum in Jackson Hole. Our mountains are extraordinary, as is the snow that covers them. Accordingly, our adventures are extraordinary too, which means that when we’re out in the wild, boring snacks simply won’t do. Meet some of the local companies making snacks as exciting as the adventures—from snowmobile rides to hunting for untouched backcountry powder to snowshoeing along the base of the Tetons—they’re meant to fuel. PERSEPHONE BAKERYYour throwback after-school favorite is all grown up. The…

Make the most of a trip to Grand Targhee. By Molly Absolon GRAND TARGHEE RESORT is not only on the opposite side of the Tetons from Jackson, but also Jackson’s opposite in terms of vibe. Instead of the fancy boutiques, upscale hotels, and spas found in Teton Village, Targhee’s base area is rustic and a little dated. Targhee is a family-friendly step back in time where the lift lines are short and the snow is deep. (The resort averages more than 500 inches of snow a year.) The skiing and snowboarding at the ’Ghee are great, but far from the…

Don’t think that skiing all day means you can’t dance all night. By Samantha Simma MANY NIGHT CAPS in Jackson Hole cater to your sense of sound, with a range of genres presented by local musicians. Whether you’d like to twirl around the Silver Dollar’s downtown dance floor to bluegrass or dance to DJ tunes in Wilson, you can easily find a beat for your feet to follow. And while one of the Jackson music scene’s largest venues recently closed its curtain (RIP Pink Garter Theatre), this nighttime pastime will not go quietly. Times listed below are for when there…

American Life in 2024 By Tim Sandlin  //  illustrations by birgitta sif AS FATE WOULD have it, my PaPaw’s seventieth birthday and the end of our forty-eighth month in isolation fell on the same day. To celebrate, my son, Chub, who is stuck in an employee dorm at Old Faithful, set up a Zoom party for the family. Four years into this plague and I still haven’t figured out Zoom. I can join meetings but can’t organize one. So the three generations—PaPaw and MeMaw from their place in Moose; me (Peter Pym) and my wife, Delores, from our house in…

Noppadol Paothong’s photography exhibit at the National Museum of Wildlife Art highlights the importance of greater sage-grouse to Western culture and conservation.  By maggie theodora  //  Photography by Noppadol Paothong WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER NOPPADOL Paothong spent eleven years working on his first book, Save the Last Dance. It features images of seven species of North American grassland grouse. His second book, Sage Grouse: Icon of the West—which focuses on a single species of grouse, the greater sage-grouse—took five years and is the backbone of an exhibit of the same name hanging at the National Museum of Wildlife Art through May 3.…

A look back at the beginnings of Jackson Hole’s original thrift store on the event of its fiftieth anniversary, coming up in 2022. By Whitney Royster SOME OF MY best purchases include Patagonia jackets for my kids, soccer cleats, coolers, and frying pans. We’ve gotten puzzles and games, then donated them back again for other people to use. The best kid toys were from the lower shelves, including an adding machine (Sure! Punch every button!) and several plastic spatulas that were worth far more than their fifty-cent price tag for the several days of beatings they eventually took.  This is my love affair…