JACKSON: The Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum’s winter oral history program series, Jackson Hole Stories: Voices of the Valley, continues with “Skiing the Grand,” stories and skiing perspectives by Bill Briggs and Christian Beckwith. The program is Thursday, February 9, 7:00 pm at the Pink Garter Theater. Speakers commemorate and celebrate ski mountaineering’s most coveted descent, the Grand Teton.
Bill Briggs made ski mountaineering history on June 15, 1971 when he became the first person to ski down the Grand Teton. He has many other first descents to his credit, including Mount Moran in 1968 with other skiers and the first high traverse in Canada’s Rocky Mountains in 1959. He had become a certified ski instructor in 1955 and moved to Jackson Hole in 1958, working as an Exum Guide.
Briggs began the Great American Ski School at Snow King in 1966. He was inducted into the Skier Hall of Fame in Park City, Utah in 2008. Following his other passion—music—Briggs co-founded the Stagecoach Band in 1969 and still plays every Sunday night at the “Coach” in Wilson. He’s a famous Jackson Hole personality who has done much to define the character of the valley’s ski and music communities.
Christian Beckwith has been skiing for about forty years and has long been a fan of Briggs. Shortly after he moved to Jackson in 1994 he named his first magazine, “The Mountain Yodel” after Briggs. Beckwith is the former editor of The American Alpine Journal, the founding editor of Alpinist Magazine, the founder of The Alpinist Film Festival, and the coordinator of the Teton Boulder Project. He’s the entrepreneur of Outerlocal, social media website for adventure athletes.
Last year, on the fortieth anniversary of Briggs’ epic ski descent of the Grand, Beckwith repeated his feat. “He has been my inspiration for years, and it was rad to ski his line and realize how far ahead of his time he was,” said Beckwith. “It doesn’t matter how strong you are, or how good a skier. Bill’s route is awesome, and it always will be.”
Beckwith will focus on how skiing the iconic peak has evolved in the forty years since Bill first skied it. “Equipment, information, and advancing proficiencies have all made skiing it more accessible to the average skier,” said Beckwith. “But you still can’t fall, and skiing the Grand will always be what a friend calls ‘skiing on the moon’”.
Purchase $10 advance tickets at Teton Mountaineering or at the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum’s museum store. $15 at the door. Current history museum members are admitted free but should not come to the program late. Pizza and beer will be available during the program.
Special sponsors for “Skiing the Grand” program include Exum, Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, Marmot, Outdoor Research, Outerlocal, and Teton Mountaineering. Sponsors for the series include McDonalds, Old Wilson Schoolhouse, Teton Heritage Builders, and Wells Fargo. The series is funded in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole.
The programs continue on February 16: Dail Barbour and Rob Cheek, longtime residents who share colorful stories of the 1970s. The final installment is a rescheduled program on March 8 with Jay and Tracey Petervary, endurance cyclists. These two programs are held on Thursday evenings from 7:00-8:30 p.m., at the Old Wilson Schoolhouse in Wilson. Families are welcome.
Admission is $5 for non-members.
Please contact Karen Reinhart, Curator of Education and Outreach, at 733-2414 or 406-224-1534 for more information.