Few photographers have had an impact on the history of a ski area like Wade McKoy has had on Jackson Hole.
McKoy moved to Jackson, WY in the winter of 1974, a 23-year-old from the deep south who’d just learned to ski on a European motorcycle trip that passed through Zermatt, Switzerland. He arrived in the Tetons young and hungry, eager to ski as much as he could, always with a camera in hand.
Wade Mckoy on Gallatin Peak, MT. Photo: Tom Turiano
McKoy became one of the first photographers to document the emerging big mountain ski scene in Jackson, alongside the likes of Bob Woodall and Greg Stump. From Pepi Stiegler’s creation of the Jackson Hole Ski School to the 1968 marathon ski record (25 trams, 103,475 feet, eight hours), the Grand National Powder 8s and the historical opening of the JHMR backcountry gates in the winter of 1999-2000—if you can think it, McKoy was probably there.
Fifty years later, McKoy has released “The Arc of Skiing Jackson Hole,” a front-row seat to the evolution of skiing in the Tetons. The coffee table book is a blend of then and now, weaving together the rich history of skiing in the Tetons with legends like Stiegler, Doug Coombs and Benny Wilson, alongside modern day boundary pushers like Teton Brown, Caite Zeliff and Andrew Whiteford.
Benny Wilson styling a drop in Rock Springs Canyon, WY in the 1980s.
McKoy documents life and loss, including the devoted team on the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol and Teton County Search and Rescue, and the evolution of backcountry and telemark skiing on Teton Pass and Grand Teton National Park.
“The Arc of Skiing Jackson Hole, 45 years behind the lens” is delightfully heavy to hold, almost 400 pages filled with the rich history of this place that I, too, fell in love with in my 20s. I moved to the Tetons about 10 years ago, propelled by many of the same desires as McKoy—ski as much as possible and learn from those who came here before me. There’s no doubt that some of his images were the first I’d ever seen of the range that I would soon endeavor to make my home.
The delight McKoy has for the Tetons and those who choose to slide down its snowy hills has clearly never wavered, and “The Arc of Skiing Jackson Hole” is visual proof. His images have inspired generations of ski bums who have felt that same pull of this jagged little range in western Wyoming, and surely will for years to come.
“The Arc of Skiing Jackson Hole, 45 years behind the lens” is now available in Jackson, WY at Hungry Jack’s, Wilson Book Gallery, Stio, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort shops, Teton Mountaineering, Valley Bookstore, History Jackson Hole and Wild Cargo. You can also order it online.
