Planet Jackson Hole April 19, 2018 by Planet Jackson Hole

JACKSON HOLEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ALTERNATIVE VOICE | PLANETJH.COM | APRIL 18-24, 2018

Women in outdoor recreation spell it out for an industry where sexism and assault run rampant

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JACKSON HOLE'S ALTERNATIVE VOICE

VOLUME 16 | ISSUE 14 | APRIL 18-24, 2018

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9 COVER STORY ME TOO Women in outdoor recreation spell it out for an industry where sexism and assault run rampant

15 CREATIVE PEAKS

16 LOCAL SYNDROME

THE BUZZ

8 THE BUZZ 2

17 EAT IT!

14 CULTURE KLASH

21 COSMIC CAFE

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BY METEOROLOGIST JIM WOODMENCEY

This time of year, most folks would prefer warm and sunny weather, not snow. April averages only 4 inches of snow for the month. However, there have been a few notable exceptions to that in the past. The snowiest April ever was in 1967, with 24 inches of snow for the month in town. Snowcover is usually gone from town by the third week of April, but back in 1975 we still had 11 inches on the ground on April 18th, the deepest ever, this deep into April.

Average low temperatures this week are in the mid to upper 20’s. We are beyond seeing record lows that get below zero, although, single digit readings are not out of the question. The coldest temperature ever recorded during this week was 4-degrees, above zero. That occurred on April 21st, 1927. In more modern times, we have seen temps as cold as 6-degrees on April 18th, 1975, and as cold as 9-degrees on April 23rd, 2011.

HIGHS

Average high temperatures this week are around 54-degrees. That’s 10 degrees warmer than we had for average highs a month ago, in March. It is also about 20 degrees warmer that we had for average highs in late February. See how far we have come in two months! Record high temperature this week is 78-degrees, established on April 21st, 1994. That is the same date the record low this week was established, 67 years earlier.

NORMAL HIGH 54 NORMAL LOW 26 RECORD HIGH IN 1994 78 RECORD LOW IN 1927 4

THIS MONTH AVERAGE PRECIPITATION: 1.14 inches RECORD PRECIPITATION: 2.66 inches (1963) AVERAGE SNOWFALL: .4 inches RECORD SNOWFALL: 22 inches (1967)

Jim has been forecasting the weather here for more than 20 years. You can find more Jackson Hole Weather information at www.mountainweather.com

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THIS WEEK

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JH ALMANAC LOWS

APRIL 18-24 2018

4 THE NEW WEST

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4 | APRIL 18, 2018

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THE NEW WEST

President Lyndon Johnson signs the Wilderness Act of 1964 in the White House Rose Garden.

Reclaim Your Conservation Mettle How often are we asking tough questions about the future of a movement? BY TODD WILKINSON |

as the mainstream wildlands conservation movement gone soft, lost its edge, forgotten the hard-earned lessons of the past? Are some groups interested only in fundraising? Do others use the guise of “consensus” because they are conflict-averse and avoid saying things contributors don’t want to hear? Do they rationalize positions based upon what they believe to be “political expedience” instead of creating citizen groundswells that change political trajectories and make stronger cases for wildland protection? These were questions raised often by Stewart Brandborg who passed away this week at the age of 93. If you don’t know of “Brandy,” he served as executive director of The Wilderness Society at perhaps the most pivotal moment in the organization’s history, when The Wilderness Act of 1964 was signed into law and the looming question became, “what’s next?” Until the end, Brandborg never lost the fire in his belly, nor the conviction that brave acts of conservation aren’t achieved by those who stake out middling positions. He was openly critical of groups he perceived were willing to compromise away dwindling wild landscapes being swarmed by more human activity. During his tenure, Brandborg helped make the case for creation of 70 wilderness areas in 31 states. He once told me, “We don’t have enough wildlands left

to squander or bargain away. We forget that what’s left is all there is.” I’ll never forget a night at Brandborg’s house during the 1990s following an event in the Bitterroot Valley that brought together aging champions of the American wilderness movement. It included Brandborg (son of a federal forester), the late John Craighead, Michael Frome, the legendary David Brower and Dale Burk. Afterward, I stayed at the Brandborgs along with Frome and Brower. We spent the entire night sipping scotch, me listening silently to tales of derring-do, about how dams were stopped from blocking rivers, how redwoods and giant sequoias were spared from industrial forestry, and the fearlessness demonstrated by those who made wilderness protection a law of the land. No one understood the fight better than Brandborg, who ensured that the language of the Wilderness Act remained in the law after its primary author, the leader of the Wilderness Society, Howard Zahniser, died just months before it reached a vote. Brandborg spoke about how conservationists today don’t want to hear his advisements that advocates must never settle for what the Forest Service, politicians and resource extractionists arbitrarily decide is doable; you push to protect as much wilderness-caliber lands as possible because you will not have a second chance.

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Frome agreed. A college professor and journalist, he noted how conservation organizations tried to blackball him when he called them out for losing their spines. Brower, one of the true green lions of the modern age, said one doesn’t protect land to be popular. Conservation, he explained, involves advancing ideas that are ahead of their time, that make the status quo feel uncomfortable in the moment, but that are never regretted years down the line. Wild nature, as we know it today, would not exist had earlier generations of young people not pushed public land managers and elected officials to see the light, he noted. Lately, I’ve had conversations with recreationists who have invoked the Muries, Edward Abbey, Brower and others. They claim those conservationists would abide demolition of the Wilderness Act and the giving away of wilderness study areas so they can have access to everything as outdoor gymnasiums. Jan Murie, son of Adolph and Louise Murie and professor emeritus in biology at the University of Alberta, echoed thoughts expressed by his cousin, the late Martin Murie. He wrote in 2012: “The rationale [of collaboration and consensus] is that a shriveled wilderness bill that leaves out lands of true wilderness quality is better than no bill at all. If we give in to plans like that we can’t help asking if we aren’t selling the whole store.”

When presented with assertions by recreationists who invoked quotes from conservation heroes to undermine conservation, Jan Murie told me: “It is indeed irksome when people with little knowledge of their views present misinterpretations.” Which leads us back to Brandborg. He said there is a pervasive willingness on the part of certain conservation organizations to settle for less. They forget that in the halls of Congress, conflict is a good and necessary thing. He argued that most feel-good consensus exercises, including one recently sponsored by the Custer-Gallatin National Forest, have been failures. “We must resist the fuzzy, fuzzy Neverland of collaboration,” Brandy, who knew better than anyone else, said at a recent wilderness conference in Missoula. “We invite people to deliberate with us, but we must recognize the primary value is the wildness of this land and the preservation of it.” Now return to the top of this column. Do the questions Brandborg raised hold validity? PJH

Todd Wilkinson, founder of Mountain Journal, is also author of Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek about famous Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear 399 featuring 150 photographs by Tom Mangelsen, available only at mangelsen.com/grizzly.

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Two Slides to a Story In less than two years, two avalanches on Teton Pass have impacted motorists and one driver is still grappling with the effects

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waited. She did not immediately notice that Garcia wasn’t wearing any shoes. The snow that poured into his car had ripped them off his feet. Five days later, after authorities grilled suspects who had been skiing in the area, the Teton County Sheriff’s Office determined it did not have enough evidence to charge one of the skiers with reckless endangerment. A fiery debate about recreationist responsibility and whether WYDOT should prohibit backcountry access on Teton Pass ensued in the following weeks. What was largely forgotten in the tense discourse was the story of the motorist swept by the avalanche. Indeed, most people have not heard Garcia’s name until now. But he is still reckoning with the aftermath.

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Though they were 18 months apart, the avalanches had a few things in common. Both deposited snow onto the exact same location on Teton Pass and both involved recreationists in an area prone to avalanches. But that’s the

extent of the similarities. The April 13 avalanche did not result in injury or property damage and the responsible parties immediately identified themselves as Mark Kemper and Brittany Mauer. Kemper did not respond to an email request for comment. The snowboarders triggered an avalanche on a road cut off Twin Slides that partially buried Brian Siegfried’s Dodge pickup truck and shut down the highway for nine hours. Uninjured, Siegfried climbed out of his passenger side window and hours later heavy machinery dislodged his truck from the snow. To Siegfried’s surprise, his vehicle was completely intact. “But I also didn’t come to a crashing stop, I was just driving and then all the sudden, I was stuck,” he told Planet Jackson Hole. Siegfried was on his way to ski the pass that morning. When he arrived at the top to see a clogged, blustery parking lot, he left. “It was too crowded, there were a bunch of WYDOT vehicles; it just wasn’t the place to be,” he said. After he turned around and drove back down Teton Pass towards Wilson,

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snowboarder-triggered avalanche April 13 on Teton Pass that partially buried a vehicle stirred chilling memories within 28-year-old Horacio Garcia. He thought of spinning and rolling across the highway as a white abyss swallowed his Jeep Wrangler, of his bloody fingernails clawing for the steering wheel, the visor, the console—anything to slow him down. Less than two years ago, Garcia was caught in an avalanche in the same place, driving home from his job at Lucky’s Market. On December 15, 2016, Garcia and his vehicle were swept by a 20-foot skier-triggered avalanche off Twin Slides. It precipitated a Search and Rescue mission for potentially buried recreationists and forced an overnight closure of a state highway blanketed in debris. Hundreds of commuters and START Bus passengers found themselves stranded. When his car finally stopped spinning, Garcia dug himself out of his snow-packed vehicle. A motorist near the scene picked him up and drove him down the pass where his family

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Horacio Garcia’s car was destroyed in an avalanche on Teton Pass in December 2016. The responsible skier never came forward.

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6 | APRIL 18, 2018

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tetoncountywy.gov TetonWyo.org The public meeting agendas and minutes for the Board of County Commissioners and Planning Commission can also be found in the Public Notices section of the JH News and Guide.

Siegfried was caught in the slide. “Once I realized there wasn’t any more snow coming, I was able to roll my window down and look uphill, then it became clear what had happened,” he said. He called up to the two snowboarders to confirm they had triggered the slide and that no one else was caught. Avalanche danger was marked “considerable” that day. When the danger is below a “high” rating, it often inflates people’s courage to venture into the backcountry. This may have been the case on April 13. The avalanche that Kemper and Mauer triggered was actually the third skier-caused slide in the same location that morning, said Brian Gorsage, a WYDOT avalanche technician. The investigation into whether the snowboarders should be charged with reckless endangerment—a felony—is ongoing. “If we are to prove intent, that avalanche rating is kind of critical because that is the information they came armed with,” Lieutenant Matt Carr of Teton County Sheriff’s Office said. Alternatively, if it was “high” or “extreme” danger, it would be easier to prove someone consciously disregarded the potential to cause harm. Avalanche danger was “high” the day of Garcia’s accident, Carr pointed out. Whether they are charged, the snowboarders are already facing a certain degree of public backlash. “I spoke to them directly,” Carr said. “They got too low and felt terrible about it. Now they are living it; they are definitely high on some people’s blacklists.” The snowboarders’ proximity to the road would have made it difficult for them to deny responsibility, unlike the skiers involved in Garcia’s accident. Their names did not enter public dialogue. Teton Pass ambassador Jay Pistono, who can be found on the pass most days of the week talking avalanche safety and snow conditions with backcountry users, was stationed at his normal post on Teton Pass when both avalanches occurred. During such emergency scenarios, he helps Search and Rescue look for people who could have been buried, talks to folks on the scene, directs traffic. That meant he found himself involved in the investigation into Garcia’s accident. “I attended a lot of meetings with detectives and the private investigator,” he said. “At one point, I got so frustrated, I had the [suspects] separate and draw a map of what they skied.” The

stories, Pistono said, changed when the group separated. In the Teton County Sheriff’s incident report, former WYDOT avalanche technician Jamie Yount said he was “certain” one of the suspects triggered the avalanche. He and WYDOT’s Gorsage interviewed skiers at the scene. “To the best of my knowledge, what was said at the scene and what was said to investigators didn’t line up,” Gorsage said. Other factors complicated the investigation. According to the incident report, suspects and witnesses noted the presence of skiers who did not come forward and cooperate with authorities. White-out conditions made it difficult for officials to pinpoint the folks involved. The report concluded that up to seven skiers were near the avalanche’s trigger point that day. That officials did not have enough evidence to charge one of the skiers is problematic for Garcia. The damage to his car, which Detective Dave Hodges noted, “will most likely be assessed as a total loss” was not covered under Garcia’s Geico insurance policy. “They said that they couldn’t help me because the avalanche was a natural disaster, and act of God,” Garcia said. Since he could not afford to purchase a new car, Garcia and his brother Ven went to work. They spent six months pouring hours of labor and thousands of dollars into repairs. Today, the car is still missing parts—it’s not all that pretty but it delivers Garcia from Victor to Jackson for work five days per week. Each time he makes the journey, Garcia said he is reminded of the day he was slid off the road. It’s a step forward, though. For months after the accident, he was panic-stricken driving the pass. The trauma Garcia reports is not only emotional. Eighteen months after the accident, he complains of a sore back. He did a couple weeks of physical therapy until it became too expensive. Now he sporadically uses the steam room at the Rec Center to relax his muscles and alleviate some of the pain and stiffness. But, he said, “I can’t really afford going all the time.” His back pain has limited his activities—he has not snowboarded since the accident.

Contemplating Privilege Pistono hopes these incidents will force people to examine their “responsibility and entitlement” on Teton Pass. He said half of the decisions people make about what to ski on the pass “are based on luck.”

“I have probably seen people on Glory or Twin slides dig [avalanche] pits maybe a dozen times. And I have been up there skiing since 1978.” This year he installed signage and fencing near areas that pose a risk, like the road cut near Twin Slides where the snowboarders found themselves. But apparently, that’s not enough. The next step, Pistono said, is closing off the north side of Teton Pass to recreationists. That area contains massive amounts of backcountry terrain, including runs like Glory and Twin Slides, which Pistono likes to remind people to avoid. But it also provides access to seemingly safer runs—First, Second and Third Turn and Coal Creek. A few people, he said, have ruined it for everyone else. Bystanders are largely at fault too, he said. “Ninetyfive percent of people are not willing to speak up when they see someone skiing something dangerous. People need to be invested enough in that place to talk to other people about skiing the road cuts.” He repeated the words of WYDOT foreman Bruce Daigle: Maybe it will take a fatality for people to change their ways. Some say limiting access is a drastic measure. Pistono, for one, did suggest the notion of snow sheds following the 2016 avalanche. He noted they are used extensively in Europe, South America and states like Colorado. But the sheds are costly. The latest estimate to install them on the pass was $40 to $50 million dollars and not all taxpayers think they are worth the cost. Until a magical fund for snow sheds materializes, Pistono said people must think twice before skiing the pass. “When you are skiing on a run above a road, you better make damn sure you are 100 percent positive that thing is not going to slide.” After Teton Pass reopened following Friday’s avalanche, Garcia found himself in his maroon Wrangler driving up the highway. He knew what had just happened and it made him shudder behind the wheel. “I was seriously just bracing myself… like just a little bit.” Garcia tries to block the memories when he drives the pass, but “it always comes back,” he said. While recreationists chase fresh lines of powder and push the limits, Garcia’s unavoidable commute is a daily reminder of his trauma. “Every time I drive, like any time I see a little bit of snow coming down, I wonder if it’s going to come down on me again.” PJH

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Bystanders can take simple steps to keep the injured alive until appropriate medical care is available. Here are three actions that you can take to help save a life:

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THE BUZZ 2

A Housing Crisis By Any Other Name Town and county duke it out over affordable homeowners’ right to rent rooms BY SHANNON SOLLITT |

“I

think it’s OK to beat a dead horse. This is really important to our community.” That was Teton County Commissioner Chair Mark Newcomb’s response to accusations that the discussion about new housing rules and regulations had dragged on too long. Specifically, town councilors and county commissioners struggled to agree on whether to allow affordable homeowners to rent spare bedrooms in times of need. Current regulations don’t allow it except under “exigent circumstances.” At a special joint information meeting last Wednesday night, the town and the county boards spent almost two hours debating whether to change the rule. In the end, both boards agreed to expand the definition of “exigent circumstances” rather than change the rule completely. The decision means that homeowners who have a bedroom to spare still have to apply through the town for permission to rent it. Now, town and county staff will have to come up with a definition that is fair to both homeowners and desperate tenants. It’s simply about giving homeowners the option to rent, Mayor Pete Muldoon said. “We talk about exigent circumstances of the owner, but what about the exigent circumstances of those who don’t have units?” The divide was more linguistic than it was ideological—county commissioners and town councilors alike agreed that housing as many people as possible is consistent with their goals. But town councilors, in particular Muldoon, Jim Stanford and Don Frank, wanted to be more liberal in who might be allowed

to rent. Frank called it “unconscionable” to leave open bedrooms “underutilized when we have people sleeping in cars.” Still, councilors posited two hypothetical scenarios that highlighted a key difference in how this rule would benefit community members. In Frank’s scenario, a working couple lives in a two-bedroom unit and has a kid go off to college. Suddenly, they have to handle paying for a college education, Frank said. But if they could rent their kid’s bedroom out for the nine months of the year it’s unoccupied, it could “make a heck of a difference” in the family’s expenses. It would also provide a bed to someone who might not otherwise have one. Stanford posed a slightly different scenario—a less likely one, he said, and mostly meant as a joke. He called it the “You, me and Dupree,” a reference to a movie about a newlywed couple who invites a friend to crash at their house. A person loses their housing, and a friend offers their spare bedroom. The former scenario would likely qualify as an “exigent circumstance” under current definitions. Electeds, especially Muldoon, want to account for both. The displaced person is the more desperate one, Muldoon said, and their circumstances are “exigent,” too. But a majority of commissioners worried about the implications of allowing such a program under any circumstance. For one, there could be financial repercussions—it would be more work for staff, and might even require hiring additional staff, Newcomb said. Such a program also runs the risk of people buying into affordable housing

@ShannonSollitt

for the purpose of making money, Newcomb worried. “There’s a lot of subsidy going into these units,” Newcomb said. “We have to reconcile that there’s a huge demand for these units, and enhancing the ability to profit is only gonna increase the demand more.” Stanford referred back to his “You, Me and Dupree” scenario. It’s already hard to buy a home, even an affordable one—he’s done it, he knows. The last thing a new homeowner wants is someone crashing in their basement. “You work half your life to be able to own a roof over your head,” he said. “I worked really hard to get deed-restricted housing. It would have to be a really pressing situation.” “The whole point of buying a house is to get out of all the roommate scenarios you’ve endured through the years,” Stanford later told Planet Jackson Hole. And, he added, he’s been through it all. In the end, Muldoon, Stanford and Frank were convinced that the current system would be good enough with an expanded definition of “exigent circumstances.” “In my mind, the conversation starts with the owner of a unit who needs extra income, and rents to someone in need,” Frank said. “The more I’ve listened, the greater my education. I can live with that compromise.” Commissioner Greg Epstein held firmly to his support. “Land isn’t getting any cheaper,” he said. “We should maximize everything we have.” Still, he was outvoted three-to-one in the county with Commissioner Smokey Rhea absent. The town voted unanimously in favor of keeping the current “no rentals” rule

but expanding the definition of “exigent circumstances.” “This is about helping a friend, helping somebody in need,” Stanford said. “There should be a way to do that, and I think the housing department is going to be careful in crafting language to allow exactly that.” But here’s the other catch: This is all likely to be even more difficult under new housing regulations. A big goal of the new housing rules is to optimize space, and minimize vacant rooms. The new rules set new minimum occupancy standards—a couple is no longer eligible for a two-bedroom unit unless they have a kid or a dependent (who they can claim on federal tax returns). So, Frank’s hypothetical “kid goes off to college” scenario might still apply down the road, but otherwise new deed-restricted homeowners aren’t likely to have a spare bedroom to rent anytime soon. That’s hardly ideal for family planning, Epstein pointed out. But on the other hand, it gives people who already have kids a higher chance of being drawn for a home that fits their family. “The best way to get those families in units is not to enable two people in a two-bedroom home that’s not having a baby,” Macker said. The ordinance to add these new rules to the town’s housing municipal code passed on first reading, and has two readings to go before it becomes law. The Board of County Commissioners voted to send the ordinance into 45-day public comment period before final approval. PJH

By Shannon Sollitt

She had been hired at an Alaskan heli-ski guiding company in its very first year of business—one of the first such companies of its time. Then, less than two weeks into her eight-week tenure, the same pilot that dropped her off for the best ride of her life raped her. sexual misconduct. Watts noticed, and recognized herself in those stories. “It makes you feel like you’re not so alone,” she said. And indeed, she isn’t. Planet Jackson Hole contacted six local women ranging in age from their early 20s to 50s about their experiences working in the outdoor industry, and each had a #MeToo story to share. Three of them, who happened to be on the younger end of the age spectrum, wished to remain anonymous. Their experiences ranged from harassment to rape. An experienced mountain biker reported she was told she would have a “hard time keeping up” on a steeper section of the trail. Another woman recalled a man told her “clench your ass” while she was climbing, then immediately told another woman to “fucking smile more.”

APRIL 18, 2018 | 9

That was in 2001. Since then, Watts has told two people what happened. Who could she tell? At the time, she worked with mostly men. She feared they wouldn’t have believed her, or would have sent her home—a dispatcher is far more disposable than a pilot, she said. Then she got home to Jackson and actively repressed the memory. Many of the the men she worked with in Alaska were her friends in Jackson. The shame she silently carried would follow her home, too. “I had so much shame around it for so long,” Watts said. “I didn’t want to bring people down, so I just kept my mouth shut.” But then a hashtag started trending on social media and the internet-at-large. #MeToo flooded news feeds as women shared stories of assault, harassment and

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

he first time a helicopter dropped Christie Watts off at the top of a snow-covered Alaskan peak, she just “stood there and cried” before dropping in. “I was so happy to be there, it was the biggest dream of mine,” Watts said. “Heli-boarding in Alaska is the absolute pinnacle of what you could be doing. I was just this girl that taught herself how to snowboard from Michigan, and here I am on this giant fucking mountain about to have the best ride of my life.”

@ShannonSollitt

Women in outdoor recreation spell it out for an industry where sexism and assault run rampant

There was a time when, while traveling for a film, a married man hit on pro-snowboarder Julie Zell in her hotel room. From the mountains to the water, Bridget Crocker, a former river guide, experienced so much harassment and assault she could “fill a book” (and, in fact, the travel writer just completed one). #MeToo stories have indeed permeated almost every industry, from media to politics to education. The outdoor industry meanwhile, which Crocker says many acknowledge as a “well-spring of camaraderie and freedom,” is not only prone to such stories—it is rampant with them. There’s a sense of “lawlessness,” as Crocker describes it, that allows for bad behavior, to say the least. Zell calls it a “cool-dude” culture. The outdoors have long been regarded as masculine spaces by industry professionals and social scientists alike. While gendered participation in outdoor recreation is nearly even, gendered media representation is still heavily skewed. In the ski film industry, for example, only 14 percent of athletes in major ski films are women. Even vocally “progressive” outdoor publications Bridget like Outside Magazine, which regularly publishes articles highlighting diversity in outdoor recreation (Crocker’s story also appears in the Outside Online article “Hostile Environment”), struggle to bridge the gender gap — 32 percent of Outside’s staff was female in 2016, and 89 percent of the images it published were of men. Locally, 19 of Exum’s 89 listed guides are women, three of Barker Ewing’s 14 raft guides are women, and six of Dave Hansen’s 20 guides are women. It’s a chicken-and-egg situation, Zell said. When she was trying to “make it” as a freeride athlete back in the 90s, she said she was constantly overlooked. Potential sponsors would tell her she wasn’t recognizable enough, that people wouldn’t recognize a sponsor’s brand on her uniform. “OK, so market me in your advertising, then people will know I ride for you,” she’d rebut. It seldom worked. If there were no women in outdoor sports marketing, how could women be expected to make it in the outdoor sports world? “Not good enough—that was the message I was sent inadvertently for a long time,” Zell said. On film expeditions, she said she was often the only female in the crew. “There was only room for one girl. There could be 30 ripping men, but only one or two girls, and God forbid we could show up in the same film,” Zell said. It made it hard for the people with

“Did they just suddenly lose interest, or did nobody take an interest in them?” Zell asked. She suspects the latter. In 2016, the U.S. Department of the Interior released an “Investigative Report of Misconduct at the Grand Canyon River District” that completely ripped the curtain open to the “long-term pattern of sexual harassment and hostile work environment” specifically in the river guiding world, the one Crocker calls home. “In addition to the 13 original complaints we identified 22 individuals who reported experiencing or witnessing sexual harassment and hostile-work environment while working in the River District,” the report reads. Crocker, meanwhile, is a living testament to the behavior detailed in the Department of Interior’s report. In her years guiding on the Snake River, the Salmon, in the Grand Canyon, the Kern and Tuolumne rivers in California, and world-class rivers around the world, she was frequently the only female on the crew. She experienced harassment and assault more times than she could keep track of—a Crocker man who demanded a kiss from her to prove she wasn’t a “butch dyke feminist,” a man who stood over her while influence—money—to take her seriously. And it made she peed and asked, “are your nipples it hard for her to take herself seriously. If she wasn’t an pink or brown? I know you’re a B cup, but what color athlete in the eyes of some of the men she rode with, are your nipples?” what was she? “Perhaps one of the worst situations I endured Zell recalled a trip she took with 11 men once. She was during a seven-day exploratory on the incredibly was the only woman. One of the remote Omo River in Ethiopia “I came to the real- while it was in extreme flood men introduced her to his family, his wife and kids, so she figured stages,” Crocker recalled. She ization that going he was a safe person to share a was the only woman, and was room with. So when she found him downstream was the “harassed mercilessly,” not only sitting at the edge of her bed in fastest way out of by fellow crew mates, but also his underwear hitting on her, she by clients. One client was “parthe canyon. It would ticularly bad.” He stalked her, didn’t quite know how to respond. “I gave the classic, ‘I’m really followed her into her tent. It take days to hack tired, I’m going to sleep,’” became too much. my way out with And Zell said things don’t look It was so bad she actually that different today than they did tried to leave halfway through a machete to a dirt 20 years ago. At her 13-year-old the trip—but there was nowhere road, and then up to to go. “I came to the realization son’s freeride competition recently, she met a teenage boy with a sticka week waiting for a that going downstream was the er plastered on his skis of faceless fastest way out of the canyon. It vehicle to pass.” woman—”no face, just boobs and would take days to hack my way short shorts and a midriff.” out with a machete to a dirt road, “I don’t want my son to grow up and think that’s and then up to a week waiting for a vehicle to pass,” cool or sexy,” she said. “But that’s their environment. she said. It just keeps breeding itself.” Watts, in contrast, only has one experience with And Zell still sees far fewer girls out skiing than sexual assault she can recall in her lifetime. But it has she’d like. haunted her for almost 20 years. DAVID CLIFFORD

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Going on the Record

A Time Before

Get Me Off This Mountain

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APRIL 18, 2018 | 11

As rugged as the physical environment in Alaska was, Watts had heard rumors that the people were rough, too. “I’d been told stories,” she said. “You go into Valdez, you have to be really careful. It’s really rough, you have to keep your wits about you.” And she did. Watts said she was careful never to drink too much, to keep constant eyes on her drink. Her efforts weren’t enough. When the pilot contracted to fly that winter invited Watts to go into town with her, she jumped on the opportunity. “I was like, yes, get me off this mountain.” The top of Thompson Pass was miles away from any form of civilization, and Watts was already stir-crazy and hungry for human interaction. Still, she was careful going into it. “I told him from the get-go, you’re taking me home after this.” He agreed. Watts only remembers having two drinks. Then darkness. “The next thing I know, I wake up in this guy’s hotel room, naked from the waist down. He’s on top of me having sex with me.” Be it an effect of possible date rape drugs, or shock, Watts Christie Watts couldn’t move. She was paralyzed. She remembers that she could only open her eyes, and as soon as he her career, too. “I remember rowing one of my first noticed, he told her, “oh yeah, you wanted this. You rapids and the thrill of it made me laugh. I felt such were begging for this.” pure joy.” She signed up for guide school in Jackson Watts thinks that drugs were involved in her rape, the following spring. and were responsible for her paralysis. But even But Crocker’s Jackson without them, “freezing” is a comupbringing came at a price. mon response for survivors of sexual The top of She described her high school and trauma of any kind. experience as “very much a Thompson Pass was assault “Freezing is actually a common rape culture.” She was sexuresponse to a threat that we see in miles away from ally assaulted in high school “by a fellow student who came any form of civiliza- mammals, in fact, not just humans,” Dr. Martin Antony, a psychology to school the next day bragtion, and Watts was professor at Ryerson University and ging about what he’d done,” of The Anti-Anxiety Workbook, and then labeled her a slut. She already stir-crazy author told VICE News. A 2017 study pubsays a family friend molested her around the same time, and hungry for human lished in the Nordic Federation of of Obstetrics and Gynecology and when she was 17, an older, interaction. Still, she Societies identified the response as “tonic college-aged man working in was careful going immobility.” Seventy percent of the Jackson for the summer raped women assessed in the study reporther. into it. ed “significant tonic immobility” and She learned to assume such 48 percent reported “extreme tonic behavior was normal, and what she experienced on the river was “really no different mobility” during the assault. The body might freeze, but for Watts, her mind than my high school experience. Honestly, I thought was still active. The only thing she could think in that that sort of behavior was to be expected.” moment was “Oh my god, I can’t tell anyone. What the fuck am I going to do?”

Watts begins her story from the very beginning, as a young girl growing up in Michigan. She taught herself to snowboard when she was 15, and was completely addicted to it. She became one of the state’s first certified snowboard instructors. She almost didn’t graduate high school because of a particularly deep winter. Then she tried the whole “real job” thing—moved to the city, worked in advertising. She was living in Seattle and teaching snowboarding at night and on weekends. Her boyfriend at the time, who she called a “trust-funder,” asked her why she didn’t just snowboard fulltime. It’s what made her happy, he said. “It had never occurred to me that I could make a living snowboarding,” Watts said. But the seed had been planted. She started asking whoever she could where they thought the best place was to make a living in the mountains. “Jackson” is what the told her. “Great,” Watts said. “Where’s that?” “Wyoming.” “Great, where’s that?” “I pretty much moved here sight unseen,” she said. “I moved to try and go for it.” It worked. She was already a certified snowboard instructor, so she got a job right away. (This was, of course, before the recession of 2008 and before the valley’s housing crisis exploded.) After a few years in Jackson, she set her sights on Alaska. Heli-skiing was the ultimate goal, and Alaska was the mecca. She was hired at a company (she did not want to name it) during its first season of operations as a dispatcher—but it was a stepping stone, she said. She just needed to get her foot in the door. Alaska was as rough and rugged as she imagined it to be—maybe even more so. She slept in a sleeping bag, on a mattress right above her office. There was a gap in her window, and she used to wake up in the mornings next to a pile of snow. There was no running water, no electricity, and she often had to trudge to the outhouse in snowshoes—oh, and the outhouse door didn’t close all the way. But none of that could dampen her spirits. She was just thrilled to be there. “In some ways, it was absolutely the best experience of my life.” Crocker, meanwhile, grew up in Jackson to guide parents. The river coursed through her veins, was woven into her DNA. “I forged a special connection with the river at an early age,” she said. It was on her first trip down the Grand Canyon when she was 19 that she decided the river would be

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Then came the self-doubt—did she invite this? Watt’s defense mechanisms were similar, especial- my life,” Crocker said. She was raised on their banks, Had she somehow asked for it? “I’m going through ly with the man who raped her. She fashioned a narra- and sought refuge in the Snake during a “troubled this emotional checklist, like what I’m going to do tive in which she actually wanted to be with him. But childhood.” “I have always felt that guiding rivers was my about this, how it’s gonna be she still avoided him as much as she after—while I’m being raped. possible could in the middle-of-no- calling and purpose, and I was in no way going to “Guides and outfit- where Alaska. She made friends with be chased away from what I considered my birthIt was so horrible.” ters are outside-the- engineers and other people who lived right. Like the river, I simply adapted to the obstacles The only way out, she decided, was to just let it happen. “I town,” and got off the mountain around me.” box nonconformists “in Crocker now writes about her experiences and just closed my eyes and started as often as she could. She would use who eschew rules crying … but I had to suck it up those outings to let him believe she just completed a book about her life on the river that and make it seem like I wanted and regulations. That was seeing other people. Her “reputa- will include her horror stories. She also has kids, and this.” That was the most contion” plummeted, she said. “I got this started teaching them about consent from an early lawlessness is what fusing part for her in the years horrific reputation of like, oh yeah, age. She’s careful not to force her kids to give people, following the assault. there’s Christie, she’s fucking every- no matter their familiarity, hugs or kisses that the kids attracts a lot of For the rest of the season, body back in Alaska.” But what she don’t initiate. people to the river, was really doing was hiding, and a She is teaching them that they are in charge of the man who raped her went around telling people they and, in many cases, it’s bad reputation was easier than com- themselves, their bodies and who touches them or talks about them. She said she is also teaching them were a “thing.” That they were ing forward with her story. a license to behave hooking up. And she did go out The outdoors are regarded as wild the importance of asking and getting consent from with him again. “I had to ratioand untamed territories, and often someone before touching, hugging or kissing them badly.” nalize that I was OK with it, the humans who inhabit them try to and the importance of saying “no,” and respecing that I’d made it happen. That mirror the landscapes so that the cul- “no” as an answer. “When my kids were toddlers, I avoided saying was the only way I could cope with it, that’s the part I ture, too, becomes lawless. “Guides and outfitters are beat myself up over.” outside-the-box nonconformists who eschew rules things like ‘you’re OK’ if they fell down and cried. I But she didn’t tell anyone what she knew to be and regulations,” Crocker said. “That lawlessness is don’t tell them how they feel or how they should feel.” Her kids are a big reason Crocker opened up about true—that she had been raped. “I still have five more what attracts a lot of people to the river, and, in many her story—”so my kids won’t have to endure what i weeks here,” she thought. “I don’t want to say any- cases, it’s a license to behave badly.” thing because I don’t want to go home. I don’t want The idea of “freedom” that the outdoors provide, did to be on the river or to do what they love in the my whole experience to be over.” Crocker said, has for too long meant “freedom from outdoors.” She’s already seen a dramatic shift since She knew the consequences were too high for having to follow society’s rules.” Sexual violence she first told her story two years go. “I’m very hopeful that things will be much differher to come forward, and historically, she was right. thrives in that space. But “if we can shift our definiAccording to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National tion of freedom to include respect and diversity, we’ll ent when my kids are old enough to pursue a guiding career if that’s what they want,” Crocker said. “By Network, in 994 of every 1,000 instances of rape, the maintain the soul of the industry.” breaking the silence and staying focused on forging perpetrator will walk free. Only 310 cases will be solutions, we are creating the shift.” reported to the police, and only 57 of those reports Not Going Anywhere For Watts, most people reading these words, even will lead to an arrest. For Watts, going to the police After her assault, Watts said she spent a good 24 was not a viable option. She knew she couldn’t have hours crying on her bed, wondering whether she those she’s close to, will be learning about her story told her boss, either. The risk was too high, and the should go home, call it quits. But leaving, she said, for the first time. But she says she’s tired of hiding incentive too low. would have been even worse. It would have let him behind shame. She wants other women who may have experienced something similar to know they’re Crocker quickly learned the same. She did report win. one instance of harassment to her boss once—the “Fuck that, not letting that guy ruin my experi- not alone. “They don’t have to hide in the shadows because guy that asked about her nipples. Her boss only acted ence,” Watts remembers thinking. The rest of her because his wife spoker in Crocker’s defense. But her weeks there were excruciating, yes, but they were also this happened, don’t have to suffer in silence anymore,” she said. life only got harder. Harassment got worse—men rewarding. She got 60 heli runs in She’s even moved to the point called her things like “bitch,” “dyke.” And some of the that year. “Most people are lucky “I have always felt where she’s grateful for what she’s perpetrators were her bosses. to get 10,” she said. She was one been through. It’s taken years of “When your boss is coming onto you, and retali- of the very first female guides. that guiding rivers life-coaching to get to this point, ation for saying ‘no’ is a very real thing, it’s a tricky By the end of the season, she was was my calling and but now she’s a life coach, too. She tightrope to walk,” Crocker said. “You can’t report your tail guiding—she was the only boss to your boss. There’s no avenue for recourse.” purpose, and I was in has a lot of clients who have experisnowboarder qualified enough. assault, like she has, and she Like Watts, Crocker learned to swallow her shame And the mountains were where no way going to be enced can draw from her own experiences and build defenses. If she acted like “one of the guys,” should felt like herself again. chased away from and really, truly empathize with she could fly more under the radar. “This defense “I’m happy I stuck it out, shape-shifted from laughing off sexually explicit happy I didn’t run away,” Watts what I considered my them. “Who knows if I would be doing jokes and comments about myself, other women said. birthright. Like the this work otherwise?” she said. “I guides and clients, to walking a tightrope when it Crocker responds to whether really get strength from this whole came to sexual advances with trip leaders, guides and her experiences ever made her river, I simply adapt- ‘Me Too’ movement; I’m not a viccompany owners.” consider quitting with, “hell no.” ed to the obstacles tim. I was never a victim. It hapA simple “no” wasn’t enough. So she learned to The river is her home, her “birthpened to me, and I could have meltcushion those “nos” with excuses and flattery—”I right,” she said—she wasn’t around me.” ed—but I didn’t. It doesn’t define have a boyfriend, but if I didn’t you’d be at the top of about to be scared away from it. me.” PJH my list.” She also learned to play “protégé” to older “My relationship with rivers male guides—safer than playing “girlfriend,” she said, is one of the strongest and most important ones in because it gave her the protection of a senior guide.

April 16-24, 2018

TUESDAY, APRIL 17

n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 12 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, n Tech Time 1 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n App Time - Computer Lab 3 p.m. Teton County Library, n After school at the library 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, Free, n Open Gym - Adult Volleyball 6:30 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, n Best of Jackson Hole Party 7 p.m. Lotus Organic Restaurant, $15 n Bluegrass Tuesdays with One Ton Pig 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

THURSDAY, APRIL 19

n Toddler Gym 10 a.m. Teton Recreation Center, n All Ages Story Time 11 a.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Fun Friday - Youth Auditorium 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, n Film Friday Victor 3:30 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Game Night 4 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, n FREE Public Stargazing 7:30 p.m. Center for the Arts, n Ashley Wineland 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

SATURDAY, APRIL 21

n Library Saturdays - Youth Auditorium 10:15 a.m. Teton County Library, n App Time - Computer Lab 11 a.m. Teton County Library,

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SUNDAY, APRIL 22

n Open Gym - Adult Volleyball 4 p.m. Teton Recreation Center,

MONDAY, APRIL 23

WINDSHIELD

n Maker 3 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Movie Monday - Youth Auditorium 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, n Movie Monday 3:30 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Movie Monday-Driggs 3:30 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 6:30 p.m. Teton Recreation Center,

TUESDAY, APRIL 24

n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 12 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, n Tech Time 1 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Read to Rover, Driggs 3 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n App Time - Computer Lab 3 p.m. Teton County Library, n After school at the library 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, Free, n Film Screening: “Angst: Raising Awareness Around Anxiety” 5:30 p.m. National Museum of Wildlife Art, Free, n Open Gym - Adult Volleyball 6:30 p.m. Teton Rec Center, n Bluegrass Tuesdays with One Ton Pig 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

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n Third Thursday Book Sale 9:30 a.m. Teton County Library, n Storytime - Youth Auditorium 10:30 a.m. Teton County Library, n Story Time, Victor 10:30 a.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 12 p.m. Teton Recreation Center,

FRIDAY, APRIL 20

n The People’s Market, A Winter Farmers Market 2 p.m. Teton County Fairgrounds Building, Free, 206-715-9039 n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, n Ashley Wineland 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

n Toddler Gym 10 a.m. Teton Recreation Center, n Baby Time - Youth Auditorium 10:05 a.m. Teton County Library, n VITA 2018 Free Tax Prep 3 p.m. Teton County Library, n After School at the Library 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, Free, n Teton Valley Chamber of Commerce Board Meeting 5 p.m. Chamber Office, n Great Reads for Girls Victor 6 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 6:30 p.m. Teton Recreation Center,

n Talk on Transcendental Meditation 12 p.m. TM Center, Free, 3076904511 n After School at the Library 3:30 p.m. Teton County Library, Free, n Open Build 5:30 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Friends and Family Mental Health Support Group 6 p.m. Eagle Classroom of St. John’s Medical Center, Free, 307-733-2046 n Poetry Hootenanny Driggs 6 p.m. Valley of the Tetons Library, n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30 p.m. Teton Recreation Center, n App Time - Computer Lab 7 p.m. Teton County Library, n Talk on Transcendental Meditation 7 p.m. TM Center, Free, 3076904511 n Derrik and the Dynamos 7:30 p.m. Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18

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14 | APRIL 18, 2018

SARGENT SCHUTT

CULTURE KLASH

Community Voices In KHOL’s tenth year, a small town has found its sound BY ERIKA DAHLBY |

eely Herron knew nothing about starting a radio show. But she loved opera and talking about it with her friend Pat Wright. They began attending The Met: Live in HD program at the Center for the Arts where they watched scores of famous operas. In the process, Herron learned from Wright, a history buff with a knack for opera. Conversations between the pair were enlightening, funny and interesting. “We joked for a long time it would make a good radio show,” Herron said. One day last summer, Herron took this notion to the airwaves. She walked into KHOL, filled out some paperwork and walked away with “Opera for Everyone” airing Sundays. The show is set up like a race to the finish, Herron said. She and Wright weave their entertaining and educational banter between arias.

From Pavarotti to Garcia When KHOL founder Jim Tallichet first awakened KHOL’s airwaves with the Grateful Dead’s “New Speedway Boogie” 10 years ago, it ushered in a new era for Jackson. The first record to spin on KHOL was a reflection of the jam-band loving nature of the town. As the station grew and the variety of music and people expanded, the station’s programming sparked community conversations, captured the musical diversity of the town and impacted people’s lives for the better. For Herron, her radio show has allowed her to expand her creative reach and learn a new skill: radio production and editing.

“Opera for Everyone” even turned into a podcast. It’s something she said she never could have done in a big city, but KHOL made the process approachable. “Anybody can have a show, literally, as long as you do the training and show up consistently, you can have a radio show,” Herron said. “I’m a 40-something not hip lady with an opera show.” With only three staffers, the station is indeed fueled by volunteers like Herron. Community Affairs Director Brennan Hussey started out as a volunteer in 2014. Also a newbie to the radio scene, she said she received support from veteran volunteers. Still, her first few shows, she said, had some mistakes. She recalled a listener calling in to say she was playing two tracks at once. After she smoothed out the mechanics, KHOL helped Hussey, who studied journalism in college, to sharpen one of her passions. “It opened the door of journalism I hadn’t thought about yet,” she said. “It ended up being a pretty good fit for me.”

Inimitable Sounds Each DJ has license to create whatever show they want, albeit with a few guidelines, said station manager Zach Zimmerman. The station receives 15 to 20 new albums a week, which are ushered in over the airwaves alongside the volunteer DJ programming. But the most important part is that the station doesn’t sound like any other station. It’s a reflection of the community.

@erika_dahlby

“We want people to be able to play whatever they want,” he said. Sometimes that’s opera, other times it’s metal, jazz or blues. “That’s the beauty of diversity and the free format that we have.” The free format means the station isn’t required or pushed to play music spit out from an algorithm or songs that sell more advertising. There’s a human element to the music, he said. “We reflect a huge swath of the community,” he said. “Everyone from ski bums to doctors and lawyers.” Robert Emerson has been hooked on the blues since the late-60s when his older brother returned home from college. It’s only natural that after retirement he put his extensive record collection in Driggs to good use on “Blues with a Feelin’.” “It gets to come out and have some value,” he said. “Being able to express it and find that other people enjoy it too is gratifying.” Emerson prepares for his weekly show by combing through his extensive record collection. Sometimes he tracks down interviews with blues artists traveling through town. In a short decade, the community radio station has become an essential part of the Jackson Hole community. Without it, the airwaves would sound a bit more quiet and a lot more country, Zimmerman joked. Hussey said the impact of the community radio station goes beyond the sound it produces. “It’s a pretty significant resource for other organizations to share their voice

and message,” she said. It is an outlet for nonprofits, businesses and organizations to reach the community. “There might be a few more lost dogs, too,” she said, referencing the multiple pups each week that listeners call in about. But it’s also a wealth of knowledge, built by the community it serves. Hussey interviews almost a dozen local orgs and people a week to talk about current events, upcoming entertainment and regular community banter. “It’s really important, especially in smaller communities,” she said, where the lack of TV news means one less media source. In Jackson Hole, people depend on radio and print outlets to get the news. The radio has a special intimacy. You get to hear someone’s voice, speaking directly to you and get to know them. It’s so immediate and personal. “We just have more access to a wider range of the human experience,” Herron said. “It isn’t just what is being chosen for mass media. Anyone can do it and I think that’s amazing.” PJH

KHOL is hosting a record and CD sale Saturday at the Center for the Arts. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., purchase CDs for 25 cents and records for $2. The KHOL Sessions, Live in Studio will also be available for purchase. The record contains 13 tracks and five digital bonus songs, all recorded in the KHOL studio. The curated vinyl is included in a $5 per month membership renewal or new membership. Beer from Roadhouse Brewing will be available for donation. Bring your own cup.

This Week at The Wort THURSDAY, APRIL 19 DERRIK AND THE DYNAMOS FRI & SAT, APRIL 20 & 21 ASHLEY WINELAND TUESDAY, APRIL 24 BLUEGRASS TUESDAY WITH ONE TON PIG Full music schedule at worthotel.com 50 N. Glenwood St. • 307-732-3939

Eyeing Change Teton Artlab’s artist-in-residence shifts space and time @Kelsey_Dayton

Miller’s work is often a response to the natural world. He’s interested in the awe nature inspires, as well as ideas, such as national parks. The idea of transformation also informs much of his work. “Part of coming up here is it’s so exciting to get to explore the epic power of land and nature, but also see its enormous vulnerability in terms of climate change,” he said. He brought with him a bunch of rope he wants to experiment with and use to augment other materials. Rope is a way to draw in space—it’s also handy, he said. He hopes to create at least one smaller site-responsive sculpture while in Jackson. “Over the course of this residency, I intend to make installations and interventions in nature that intermingle the man-made with the organic, creating moments of contemplation and temporary monuments or impromptu sanctuaries,” he said. The scenes he wants to recreate operate as performance and ritual he hopes to capture in photographs. His time so far in the valley has offered some interesting kernels. Miller has always loved moths—there’s the transformation element, but also the way they are drawn to light. He recently learned that in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, grizzly bears can eat thousands of moths. “I don’t know that I’m going to make work about that,” he said, “but learning that is all part of drawing interest and empathy and makes me think about how we are interacting with nature.” PJH

Black & White Gala

Celebrating 15 years of Riot Act, Inc. Saturday, April 28 7-11 p.m. at Elks Lodge

•Live Band - Swingin’ Bridge• •Costume Fashion show showcasing costumes from past Riot Act shows•

•Silent Auction• •Produce a Play Tree• •Photo Booth• •Appetizers included• Wear Black & White!

Tickets $20 in advance at www.riotactinc.org or $25 at the door

APRIL 18, 2018 | 15

A phone call with a friend inspired the idea for his first installation. He created what looked like the interior space of a house with found objects like furniture, but also organic materials and his own artwork. Each wall represented a season, so walking around the room gave the sense of completing a full year. He called the mixed media project “Tomorrow is Spring,” and while he liked the completed installation, it was most significant in turning him toward a path of large-format work. “I knew I could go so much farther,” he said. “It was a really important door opening.” In 2012, he met an important art curator in New Mexico who asked him to show his work in a large warehouse space, which he filled with tumbleweeds he hung so they looked like they were swirling through the room alongside photographs. The installation represented spring in New Mexico. It was an important moment in his career, though one of his major breakthroughs came several years later. After his sister died, Miller thought about the funeral he’d liked to have given her. He knew he’d want there to be light. It inspired “Winter’s Well,” an installation that opened in 2014 on a New Mexico farm. It featured an open oval grave meant to represent a doorway, with a mirror mosaic on the bottom. “That was when the immersive work really started to feel like something I wanted to explore and move forward,” he said.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

he installations Billy Joe Miller creates are meant to offer more than piqued curiosity. “I am interested in a transformative experience,” the New Mexico-based artist said. “I want to create a meaningful experience of place, but the heart of my work is about transformation.” Miller is an interdisciplinary artist working with installation, sculpture and sound. He is also the Teton Artlab’s artist-in-residence this month and will talk about his work at a studio tour at 6 p.m. Monday, April 23 at the Artlab. Miller grew up in San Diego in an intensely religious community. As a child, he loved to paint and draw. “But when I started to later think in terms of installation, it just opened up this whole new world of experiences,” he said. “I forever love drawing and painting, but I’m drawn to immersive spaces.” Growing up in a strict religious church was challenging for Miller, but he was struck by the way people created sacred space and rituals. His past influences his work today as he creates powerful, contemplative spaces. “I’m also interested in creating space that has a direct connection to the land or the places that it is in,” he said. Miller moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2006. Four years later, Miller had shown his photography and paintings in shows, but hadn’t yet discovered his passion for large scale installation. He’d fallen in love with found objects— items he collected on the street, or hunted for in thrift stores.

BY KELSEY DAYTON |

CREATIVE PEAKS

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

16 | APRIL 18, 2018

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The Jackson Hole Hijack, Part 3

RYAN STOLP

LOCAL SYNDROME

The subtle art of defining a crisis without a solution

conclude this trilogy of housing columns from a guest bedroom in my parents’ basement in Hoback. I am one of few residents of Jackson who are lucky enough to have their parents live in the county. My family moved here from Upstate New York in 1994 when I was seven years old. Back then, my parents could have never predicted the future housing crisis they were setting me up to experience. Normally, the word “crisis” is used to describe an event of immediate difficulty and danger, a period that harshly pushes the limits of those who must endure it. When pitted against other crises in the world, our crisis—a situation where a couple thousand people in a small pocket of the least populated state in America can’t find a place to live under $1,000 a month— seems to pale in comparison. That’s not to say it’s a flippant situation for struggling families and workers, but in some respect it seems like it shouldn’t be so damn difficult to solve. Sure, with every discussion of the housing crisis comes ideas for housing solutions, but when are we going to reach that solution? Will our town ever take this idea of crisis seriously, or is the solution so impossible that it becomes easier to dismiss it than solve it? For this final column, I spoke with Sophie (not her real name), who describes her position as someone who tries “to enable housing opportunities for people who are employed in Teton County.” Sophie is a born-and-bred local who built her home and raised her children in the valley. “We built back in 1989, and it was much more affordable. I think when we finished building, we had a $90,000 mortgage on it. Yeah, I’ve had some good timing in my life,” she said. We sat in her office in downtown Jackson surrounded by paperwork and bookshelves of three-ring binders. Because I was recording the interview,

BY ANDREW MUNZ |

@AndrewMunz

Sophie was somewhat guarded. Her outlook on her work is less than optimistic, and probably not the kind of perspective those who need housing want to hear. Jackson is generally considered a safe place to raise a family and live a quiet life, but the housing difficulties create a culture of instability, and ultimately the area foments people’s fears of the future. “The housing crisis affects everyone. It affects our social services, it affects the kids. My sons would love to move back home, but there’s just no way they could afford it anymore,” Sophie said. Sophie works directly with housing hopefuls and developers, and has her finger on the pulse of every possible solution on the table. But even with all her experience in the field, she’s not confident there’s a way out of the hole we’ve dug ourselves in. “There’s no silver bullet. We can’t solve it completely,” she said. “We need funding to build the housing, and we need land to build it on. We’re going to have to build in places where some people don’t want housing. And we need the political willingness to build that housing. Because the big question is, where the heck would we put 2,800 houses? Where do we even start?” She said the number of egos and the amount of greed present in Jackson stifle progress. Special interests and lobbyist organizations like Save Historic Jackson Hole, she said, are part of the problem. “It’s a very interesting name,” she said about the nonprofit that advocates preserving Jackson’s historic character. “I don’t know what exactly they’re saving. But the truth is that they have the money for ads. They can afford to be the loudest voice in the room.” A big problem, Sophie said, is that the people who truly need housing in Jackson can’t afford to have an equally prominent voice in the discussion. Her comment reflected Cleo’s perspective on the same subject from part 2 of this series.

“They’re working all the time. They don’t have time to come to public meetings or give their public comment. We have to find a way to get those people involved or on board,” she said. “But the other side is relying on the fact that they don’t.” Sophie also believes that the more affluent members of the community should be equally invested, especially if they own property. She acknowledged that property owners must pay a fee to mitigate the impacts their developments place on the community and in lieu of providing housing. But she also mentioned how important it is for second homeowners to invest in their second communities. “[Second home owners] have a pretty big impact on our community. Because even though they’re not there full-time, there are people taking care of their homes, people who manicure their lawns, people who shovel snow and get the property ready for when the owners want to pop in or out. They are generating employees and workforce that probably need housing. Services are very important to them, but they don’t really pay attention. Because really, who is it that’s serving you coffee at Starbucks? Where do those people live? I think it’s easy for those people to go through life not even thinking about it.” Unless there is a massive shift in land availability or an economic crash that suddenly puts a large number of properties on the market, there may be no end to this crisis. People will continue to buy expensive properties; workers will continue to come to Jackson in search of a new lifestyle. When I asked Sophie if she had any advice for someone who’s just rolled into town, she smiled and took a thoughtful pause. “Welcome to Jackson,” she said. “I hope you’re one of the ones who gets to stay.” PJH

EAT IT!

HATCH

t’s the most wonderful time of the year, at least for wallet-conscious foodies. And like any special in life, it’s all about timing. Those who are not jet setting to the Caribbean, drinking margaritas under the sun or traveling to Thailand shall be rewarded with two-forones, unique new menus and decently priced food. Imagine $10 pizzas at Trio, happy hour all night at Thai Me Up and $3 chicken tinga tacos at Hatch. Yes, the deals are abundant, but each year as the off-season shrinks, some restaurants are opting to close or roll back the specials. So you must plan ahead. Think of it like happy hour—some are better than others. Are food and drinks both included? Is it specific to a time or date? Could you get this deal any other time of year? And, like a coupon queen, do you have an old gift card? To maximize the specials there are a few different things to keep in mind: timing, value, trying new things, mixing and matching and closures.

Taco Tuesdays at Hatch.

Savvy Off-Season Dining BY ERIKA DAHLBY |

ELY U Q I N U PEAN EURO

F O H ‘ E TH

AT TH

AT THE

307.733.3242

www.mangymoose.com

FAMILY FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT PIZZAS, PASTAS & MORE HOUSEMADE BREAD & DESSERTS FRESH, LOCALLY SOURCED OFFERINGS TAKE OUT AVAILABLE Dining room and bar open nightly at 5:00pm (307) 733-2460 • 2560 Moose Wilson Road • Wilson, WY

A Jackson Hole favorite since 1965

APRIL 18, 2018 | 17

R DINNEAGE I H LUNCTETON VILL I T S IN FA BREAKE ALPENHOF

@erika_dahlby

Reservations at (307) 733-4913 3295 Village Drive • Teton Village, WY

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

Strategic eating during the valley’s increasingly short shoulder season

Timing doesn’t necessarily mean the actual time of the special, it’s about when it is in relation to the rest of the specials. Imagine mapping the specials on a giant calendar. If you were to write them out, there would be overlaps, gaps and closures. It’s like a puzzle with each piece holding a secret key. For example, Gather had a two-for-one special that ended April 9. Meanwhile, Trio’s two-for-ones began April 11. For lunch, try Bin 22 for “two-for-$2,” buy one plate, get another for $2. It’s a great option when one must wine and dine herself midday. Fine Dining Restaurant Group’s specials run through May 13 and benefit local nonprofits. Find the two-for $2 deal at The Kitchen, Rendezvous Bistro and Osteria when it reopens on April 26.

Mangy Moose Restaurant, with locally sourced, seasonally FRESH FOOD at reasonable prices, is a always a FUN PLACE to go with family or friends for a unique dining experience. The personable staff will make you feel RIGHT AT HOME and the funky western decor will keep you entertained throughout your entire visit.

Time Waits For No One

LOCAL & DOMESTIC STEAKS SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK @ 5:30 TILL 10 JHCOWBOYSTEAKHOUSE.COM 307-733-4790

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

18 | APRIL 18, 2018

CASSINA BROWN XXXXX

THAI ME UP XXXXX

Thai Me Up happy hour happens all night.

For dinner, try two-for-ones at the Blue Lion, Trio, Hatch, Local, Silver Dollar Bar and Grill. Other restaurants opt for a percentage discount: locals can enjoy 20 percent off food and wine at Calico until May. In town, Healthy Being has membership and friend discounts (cleanse with a friend and save 20 percent or do an intro into health pack for $100) through May 31.

Value Anywhere with a two-for-one (or twofor-$2) special is indeed a good deal. But drinks are what make or break a decent priced bill. If they allow it, (some places make you choose) dine during an already existing happy hour and get the two-for one special. Hatch’s off-season happy hour menu is one of the best in town with food and small bites like $5 nachos. Margaritas and palomas are discounted and on Tuesdays you can get three tacos for $3. Throw in Hatch’s twofor-one entrees and you’ve got a whole new menu to explore. And if you’re looking for the best value, pair similarly priced dishes. It seems

like common sense—don’t pair the $40 entree with an $18 risotto. But sometimes we forget: Either stay small or really go big, not both. And remember, dear diner, always tip on the original amount.

Mix it Up Allow local specials to send you around town and visit different places in one night. Enjoy a drink special before your two-for-one. Roadhouse Brewing Company’s taproom is serving $4 beers all off-season. Make it stop one, then move along for food. Thai Me Up’s all night happy hour is a good deal, with cheap appetizers and price-reduced burgers and curry. The rotating $3 beer, which has been around all winter, is now joined with a higher IBU discounted $5 beer. Calico’s 20 percent off food and wine is great, and you can take home any unfinished wine in the bottle. Also remember, things are better with friends. Most eateries won’t allow one person to enjoy the two-for-one deal, and why should they? Bring a friend, co-worker or stranger to take advantage.

Trio’s market fish with edamame puree.

Get Adventurous Most of all, the off-season specials are great for exploring different places. Think of the eateries you reserve for special occasions or when family is visiting— here’s looking at you Blue Lion—now you can go there on a ski bum salary. It’s the perfect chance to scope out a new regular spot, and the slow season gives you more time to interact with the staff and ask them what the regular season specials are. Most restaurants have also transitioned to new menus for spring. Trio rolled out a new menu when it reopened with new pizza like prosciutto di parma and arugula and entrees like the shrimp garganelli and braised pork short rib. Though Figs doesn’t have any off-season specials, it debuted a new cocktail menu in early April. Try the Kansas City shuffle, with cinnamon syrup, habanero bitters, St. Germain, lemon juice and vodka, and a rotating Old Fashioned each week. Hand Fire Pizza has unveiled weekly pizza specials like a lamb merguez and pesto and sun-dried tomatoes.

Beware of Closures

There’s nothing more disappointing than getting your hopes up for an amazing, well-priced dinner only to find a dark, vacant eatery. Some places are closed for longer stints, like Snake River Grill through May 9 and Bar Enoteca through April 26. Streetfood at the Stagecoach takes a mini respite from April 23 to 30. Old Yellowstone Garage in Teton Village is closed and the Four Seasons’ Westbank Grill are also closed until mid-May. Others limit hours through the week. The Kitchen is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Phoenix and the Dragon is closed on weekends and Roadhouse Brewing Co. taproom is closed Sunday and Monday. Hand Fire Pizza stopped serving lunch on the weekends, but will bring it back in May. Remember closures mean the places that are open will have longer waitlists and require reservations further in advance. So get out there and get eating— before you know it summer will be here and you’ll have to pay full price again. PJH

THE LOCALS

FAVORITE PIZZA 2012-2016 •••••••••

$5 Shot & Tall Boy

LUNCH

SPECIAL Slice, salad & soda

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

TV Sports Packages and 7 Screens

Under the Pink Garter Theatre (307) 734-PINK • www.pinkygs.com

SNAKE RIVER BREWERY & RESTAURANT

Featuring dining destinations from breweries to bakeries, and continental fare to foreign flavor, this is a sampling of our dining critic’s local favorites.

ASIAN

TETON THAI Serving the world’s most exciting cuisine. Teton Thai offers a splendid array of flavors: sweet, hot, sour, salt and bitter. All balanced and blended perfectly, satisfying the most discriminating palate. Open daily. Located at 7432 Granite Loop Road in Teton Village, (307) 733-0022 and in Driggs, (208) 787-8424, tetonthai.com.

THAI ME UP Home of Melvin Brewing Co. Freshly remodeled offering modern Thai cuisine in a relaxed setting. New tap system with 20 craft beers. New $8 wine list and extensive bottled beer menu. View our tap list at thaijh.com/brews. Open daily for dinner at 5 p.m. Located downtown at 75 East Pearl Street, (307) 733-0005, melvinbrewing.com.

CONTINENTAL Serving authentic Swiss cuisine, the Alpenhof features European style breakfast entrées and alpine lunch fare. Dine in the Bistro for a casual meal or join us in the Alpenrose dining room for a relaxed dinner experience. Breakfast 7:30 a.m.-10 a.m. Coffee & pastry 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Aprés 3 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Dinner 6 p.m.-9 p.m. For reservations at the Bistro or Alpenrose, call (307) 733-3242.

THE BLUE LION A Jackson Hole favorite for 39 years. Join us in the charming atmosphere of a historic home. Serving fresh fish, elk, poultry, steaks, and vegetarian entrées. Ask a local about our rack of lamb. Live acoustic guitar music most nights. Open nightly at 5:30 p.m. Reservations recommended, walk-ins welcome. 160 N. Millward, (307) 733-3912, bluelionrestaurant.com Local, a modern American steakhouse and bar, is located on Jackson’s historic town square. Our menu features both classic and specialty cuts of locally-ranched meats and wild game alongside fresh seafood, shellfish, houseground burgers, and seasonally-inspired food. We offer an extensive wine list and an abundance of locally-sourced products. Offering a casual

Serving organic, freshly-made world cuisine while catering to all eating styles. Endless organic and natural meat, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices. Offering super smoothies, fresh extracted juices, espresso and tea. Full bar and houseinfused botanical spirits. Serving breakfast, lunch & dinner starting at 8am daily. Located at 140 N. Cache, (307) 734-0882, theorganiclotus.com.

MANGY MOOSE Mangy Moose Restaurant, with locally sourced, seasonally fresh food at reasonable prices, is a always a fun place to go with family or friends for a unique dining experience. The personable staff will make you feel right at home and the funky western decor will keep you entertained throughout your entire visit. Teton Village, (307) 733-4913, mangymoose.com.

MOE’S BBQ Opened in Jackson Hole by Tom Fay and David Fogg, Moe’s Original Bar B Que features a Southern Soul Food Revival through its awardwinning Alabama-style pulled pork, ribs, wings, turkey and chicken smoked over hardwood served with two unique sauces in addition to Catfish and a Shrimp Moe-Boy sandwich. A daily rotation of traditional Southern sides and tasty desserts are served fresh daily. Moe’s BBQ stays open late and features a menu for any budget. While the setting is family-friendly, a full premium bar offers a lively scene with HDTVs for sports fans, music, shuffle board and other games upstairs. Large party takeout orders and full service catering with delivery is also available.

VIRGINIAN SALOON

Come down to the historic Virginian Saloon and check out our grill menu! Everything from 1/2 pound burgers to wings at a great price! The grill is open in the Saloon from 4 p.m.-10p.m. daily. Located at 750 West Broadway, (307) 739-9891.

CALICO

A Jackson Hole favorite since 1965, the Calico continues to be one of the most popular restaurants in the Valley. The Calico offers the right combination of really good food, (much of which is grown in our own gardens in the summer), friendly staff; a reasonably priced menu and a large selection of wine. Our bar scene is eclectic with a welcoming vibe. Open nightly at 5 p.m. Located at 2560 Moose Wilson Rd., (307) 733-2460.

MEXICAN

EL ABUELITO

Serving authentic Mexican cuisine and appetizers in a unique Mexican atmosphere. Home of the original Jumbo Margarita. Featuring a full bar with a large selection of authentic Mexican beers. Lunch served weekdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nightly dinner specials. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Located at 385 W. Broadway, (307) 733-1207.

PIZZA

DOMINO’S PIZZA

Hot and delicious delivered to your door. Handtossed, deep dish, crunchy thin, Brooklyn style and artisan pizzas; bread bowl pastas, and oven baked sandwiches; chicken wings, cheesy breads and desserts. Delivery. 520 S. Hwy. 89 in Kmart Plaza, (307) 733-0330.

HALF OFF BLAST OFF! JOIN LOCAL MERCHANTS IN PLANET JACKSON HOLE’S ADVERTISING TRADE PROGRAM,

PINKY G’S

The locals favorite! Voted Best Pizza in Jackson Hole 2012-2016. Seek out this hidden gem under the Pink Garter Theatre for NY pizza by the slice, salads, strombolis, calzones and many appetizers to choose from. Try the $7 ‘Triple S’ lunch special. Happy hours 10 p.m. - 12 a.m. Sun.- Thu. Text PINK to 71441 for discounts. Delivery and take-out. Open daily 11a.m. - 2 a.m. Located at 50 W. Broadway, (307) 734-PINK.

Medium Pizza (1 topping) Stuffed Cheesy Bread

$ 13 99

for an extra $5.99/each

(307) 733-0330 520 S. Hwy. 89 • Jackson, WY

Local is a modern American steakhouse and bar located on Jackson’s historic town square. Serving locally raised beef and, regional game, fresh seafood and seasonally inspired food, Local offers the perfect setting for lunch, drinks or dinner.

Lunch 11:30am Monday-Saturday Dinner 5:30pm Nightly

HAPPY HOUR Daily 4-6:00pm

307.201.1717 | LOCALJH.COM ON THE TOWN SQUARE

APRIL 18, 2018 | 19

Large Specialty Pizza ADD: Wings (8 pc)

HALFOFFJH.COM

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

LOCAL

LOTUS ORGANIC RESTAURANT

ITALIAN

ALPENHOF

and vibrant bar atmosphere with 12 beers on tap as well as a relaxed dining room, Local is the perfect spot to grab a burger for lunch or to have drinks and dinner with friends. Lunch Mon-Sat 11:30am. Dinner Nightly 5:30pm. 55 North Cache, (307) 201-1717, localjh.com.

America’s most award-winning microbrewery is serving lunch and dinner. Take in the atmosphere while enjoying wood-fired pizzas, pastas, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts. $9 lunch menu. Happy hour runs from 4 - 6 p.m., including tasty hot wings. The freshest beer in the valley, right from the source! Free WiFi. Open 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. Loacted at 265 S. Millward. (307) 739-2337, snakeriverbrewing. com.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

20 | APRIL 18, 2018

EARLY RISER? Planet Jackson Hole is looking for a Wednesday morning delivery driver to start immediately.

SUDOKU

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9. No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

CONTACT PETE@PLANETJH.COM | (801) 413-0936

L.A.TIMES “NUMBER ONE FAN” By VICTOR BAROCAS

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2018

ACROSS 1 6 11 15 19 20

Jennifer Saunders Britcom Supporting structure When tripled, “and so on” Scandinavian language PowerPoint unit Greek goddesses of the seasons 21 K.C. Royal, e.g. 22 Snapchat co-founder Spiegel 23 Neighbor of Montenegro 25 Gaiety 27 Fleeced female 28 Put up 29 Goalkeeper’s success 30 Mournful melody 31 Fleece-seeking vessel 34 Knew unfavorable things about 37 Cabinetmaker’s cylinder 41 Obama : Bo :: FDR : __ 42 Pre-riot state 43 Put the blame on 45 Bamm-Bamm’s mom 47 Like Chichén Itzá pyramids 48 Harp constellation 49 Brought in 51 “Don’t Bring Me Down” rock gp. 54 Comparison phrase 56 In the “Other” column 60 Knuckler’s lack 63 T or F, maybe 65 Astronomer Hale 66 Japanese comics 67 Solving a problem boldly 73 Favorite’s surprise 74 Learning method 75 Knee-injury initials 76 Uncle __ 77 Tony Gwynn, notably 82 Sailor’s saint 84 U.N. worker protection gp. 85 Normand of silents 86 Part of Q.E.D.

88 Port near Sapporo 92 Holy, to Henriette 94 Ill-advised 96 “A Fish Called Wanda” actor 99 Important pipe 101 German state named for a river, with “the” 102 Complaint about monotony 106 Audible alert 107 Greek marketplace 108 Plot measure 109 “Swell!” 112 Caraway-flavored bread 115 Exam for intellectual property lawyers 117 Narcissistic trait exhibited perfectly by this puzzle’s eight other longest answers 120 Medical suffix 121 Actress Fanning 122 Eatery freebies 123 Command to attack 124 Japanese PCs 125 Useless, battery-wise 126 Beginning 127 Imitation

15 With a touch of sweetness 16 Opposed 17 Tropical fruits 18 What manslaughter lacks 24 Composer Telemann 26 Words of denial 29 Mo.’s largest airport 32 Did some home maintenance 33 Narrow valleys 35 Pops 36 Surpass 37 Mil. award 38 Plant also called a New Zealand yam 39 Wuyi Mountains tea 40 It breaks in the morning 44 Play about Capote 45 Actress Vaccaro 46 Mind reader? 49 Anaheim baseball cap feature 50 Name dropped by TASS in 2014 51 Paperless periodical 52 Subpar car 53 “Waiting for Lefty” playwright 55 Earth tone 57 Not free-range DOWN 58 Fled on foot 1 1975 Wimbledon champ 59 Item gifted with a 2 Botched fountain pen 3 “Ask me anything” 60 “Pardon me, Giulia” 4 Carpentry tool 61 Post-larval 5 Wax maker 62 “__ problem” 6 “__: Ragnarok”: 2017 superhe- 64 Dance floor flasher ro film 68 “Lord, is __?”: 7 Meander Matthew 8 Robert of “Vega$” 69 What optimists 9 Resident of America’s highest don’t give up capital 70 List-ending abbr. 10 Coral __ 71 Summer brew 11 Piano brand 72 Every one of 12 Advil alternative 78 Roast host 13 Reduction of legal constraints, 79 Needlefish briefly 80 Controlling 14 Part of ETA: Abbr. 81 RN workplaces

83 87 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96

“S.W.A.T.” star Shemar Crunch targets Not for free Toon canine Grand Forks sch. One looking ahead City near Lake Nasser Hamm of soccer Neighbor of Cameroon “Cat’s in the Cradle” singer Harry 97 Papal representative 98 Designed to light a fire? 99 Damaged 100 Iron __ 103 Triangular building feature 104 City including the former site of a Seminole War fort 105 Glowing signs 110 Entr’__ 111 Evaluate 113 Flemish river 114 One of 11 for Julia Louis-Dreyfus 116 Texas senator Cruz 117 Moody rock genre 118 PreCheck org. 119 Swindle, in slang

COSMIC CAFE

An Earth Day Imperative Humanity has been shirking its responsibilities, but it is not too late BY CAROL MANN

The Living Earth

Watch and Contemplate The award-winning documentaries Cowspiracy, What the Health and Food, Inc. are must-see films. Each unpacks the inhumane practices of large scale animal agriculture and the toxic load this takes on the Earth’s resources. (On the other side of the spectrum, local, humane-practicing, organic livestock farms should be praised and supported.) The films also documents scientific evidence supporting a most powerful intervention we can all do to significantly rebalance the environment and increase our chances of survival.

Drum Roll

On a Personal Note The alarming state of our planet’s health, humanity’s precarious state, and the need to be true to my moral compass have inspired me to adopt a plant-based diet. When people ask, “And what do you do for protein?” I am happy to share what I have learned about the amazing amount of protein in plants. Check the quick reference guide at theholykale.com. Earth Day is in a few days and with it comes a reminder to consider how you can stand by the Earth and support our fellow human beings. Perhaps you too might be inspired to experiment with altering your diet as a powerful investment in our future. And now I will leave you with wisdom from a Native American chief who fully connected the dots between Earth, its creatures and humanity: “Humankind has not woven the web of life,” Chief Seattle said. “We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” PJH

Carol Mann is a longtime Jackson resident, radio personality, former Grand Targhee Resort owner, author, and clairvoyant. Got a Cosmic Question? Email carol@yourcosmiccafe.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT SALES@PLANETJH.COM

APRIL 18, 2018 | 21

The research and films highlight an interesting notion. Perhaps the most impactful change people can make right now is to eat a plant-based diet. According to scientists interviewed in the films, “In one day, one person who eats a plant-based diet saves more than 1,000 gallons of water, 30 square feet of forest, 45 pounds of grain, the equivalent of 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, and the life of one animal.” Other scientific papers point to mass livestock production as the single largest contributor to greenhouse

gases, more than all transportation sectors. Additionally, the research points out that methane production from domestic animals is one of the largest contributors to the warming climate. There are simple facts, too, like the staggering amount of land and extra gallons of water it takes to produce a hamburger versus a veggie burger.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

Noted scientists Carl Sagan and James E. Lovelock co-authored a paper in the 1970s that outlined evidence that the Earth is a conscious, intelligent living being. A parallel may be drawn to the human body. After all, the Earth is comprised of trillions of cells which interact together and communicate to maintain life-supporting integrity and internal balance. All the billions of life forms on the planet (including humans) interact as a matrix of “cells” supporting the living being, Earth. When there is a toxic imbalance in our physical body, the cells automatically organize to heal the attack and restore well-being. The body is designed to heal itself—it will shiver, vomit, spike a fever, whatever it takes to get rid of the poison. The same is true of the Earth. Everything in nature, of which we are an integral part, maintains homeostasis for the living planet. Earth also shivers, heats up, readjusts itself and vomits to remove internal and external toxins. I know you get the point and though painful, the handwriting is on the wall.

Indeed, humanity’s dishonoring and abusive actions against our Earth may mean that the planet must get rid of us for its survival.

“I

speak as a planetary physician whose patient, the living Earth, complains of fever; I see the Earth’s declining health as our most important concern, our very lives depend upon a healthy Earth.” – James E. Lovelock, scientist and prolific author

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

22 | APRIL 18, 2018

WELLNESS COMMUNITY

Your one-stop resource for access to Jackson Hole’s premier health and wellness providers. DEEP TISSUE • SPORTS MASSAGE • THAI MASSAGE MYOFASCIAL RELEASE CUPPING Professional and Individualized Treatments • Sports/Ortho Rehab • Neck and Back Rehab • Dizziness • Jaw Pain • Incontinence Training • Pelvic Pain Rehab 2 Jackson Locations • 1090 S Hwy 89 and Legacy Lodge of JH • 3000 W Big Trail Rd 307-733-5577 Alpine Location • 46 Iron Horse Rd 307-654-5577 No physician referral required.

www.fourpinespt.com

To join Planet Jackson Hole’s Wellness Community as an advertiser, contact 307-732-0299 or sales@planetjh.com

Oliver Tripp, NCTM MASSAGE THERAPIST NATIONALLY CERTIFIED

253-381-2838

180 N Center St, Unit 8 abhyasamassage.com

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19) In the early history of the automobile, electric engines were more popular and common than gasoline-powered engines. They were less noisy, dirty, smelly, and difficult to operate. It’s too bad that thereafter the technology for gasoline cars developed at a faster rate than the technology for electric cars. By the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, the petroleum-suckers were in ascendance. They have remained so ever since, playing a significant role in our world’s ongoing environmental degradation. Moral of the story: Sometimes the original idea or the early model or the first try is better. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you should consider applying this hypothesis to your current state of affairs. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) The Chesapeake Bay is a fertile estuary that teems with life. It’s 200 miles long and holds 18 trillion gallons of water. More than 150 streams and rivers course into its drainage basin. And yet it’s relatively shallow. If you’re six feet tall, you could wade through over a thousand square miles of its mix of fresh and salt water without getting your hat wet. I see this place as an apt metaphor for your life in the coming weeks: an expanse of flowing fecundity that is vast but not so deep that you’ll get overwhelmed.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Strong softness is one of your specialties. So are empathetic rigor, creative responsiveness, and daring acts of nurturing. Now is a perfect time to summon and express all of these qualities with extra flair. If you do, your influence will exceed its normal quotas. Your ability to heal and inspire your favorite people will be at a peak. So I hereby invite you to explore the frontiers of aggressive receptivity. Wield your courage and power with a fierce vulnerability. Be tenderly sensitive as an antidote to any headstrong lovelessness you encounter.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Capricorn rock musician Lemmy Kilmister bragged that he swigged a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey every day from 1975 to 2013. While I admire his dedication to inducing altered states of consciousness, I can’t recommend such a strategy for you. But I will love it if you undertake a more disciplined crusade to escape numbing routines and irrelevant habits in the next four weeks. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will have a special knack for this practical art.

Food and drinks, music and a silent auction benefitting Animal Adoption Center, all from the valley’s best. Plus, sweet and boozy prizes for the first 75 winners through the door!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Germany was one of the big losers of World War I, which ended in 1919. By accepting the terms of the Versailles Treaty, it agreed to pay reparations equivalent to 96,000 tons of gold. Not until 2010, decades after the war, did Germany finally settle its bill and fulfill its obligation. I’m sure your own big, long-running debt is nowhere near as big or as long-running as that one, Aquarius. But you will nonetheless have reason to be ecstatic when you finally discharge it. And according to my reading of the astrological omens, that could and should happen sometime soon. (P.S. The “debt” could be emotional or spiritual rather than financial.) PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) “I would rather have a drop of luck than a barrel of brains,” said the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes. Fortunately, that’s not a choice you will have to face in the coming weeks, Pisces. According to my reading of the cosmic signs, your brain will be working with even greater efficiency and ingenuity than it usually does. Meanwhile, a stronger-than-expected flow of luck will be swirling around in your vicinity. One of your main tasks will be to harness your enhanced intelligence to take shrewd advantage of the good fortune.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Singer-songwriter Roy Orbison achieved great success in the 1960s, charting 22 songs on the Billboard Top 40. But his career declined after that. Years later, in 1986, filmGo to RealAstrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes. Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.

Wednesday, April 18 7-10 p.m. at Lotus Cafe get your tickets at bestof jh.com

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) I beg you to take a break sometime soon. Give yourself permission to indulge in a vacation or recess or sabbatical. Wander away on a leave of absence. Explore the mysteries of a siesta blended with a fiesta. If you don’t grant yourself this favor, I may be forced to bark “Chill out, dammit!” at you until you do. Please don’t misunderstand my intention here. The rest of us appreciate the way you’ve been attending to the complicated details that are too exacting for us. But we can also see that if you don’t ease up, there will soon be diminishing returns. It’s time to return to your studies of relaxing freedom.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) In 1824, two British explorers climbed a mountain in southwestern Australia. They were hoping to get a sweeping view of Port Phillip Bay, on which the present-day city of Melbourne is located. But when they reached the top, their view was largely obstructed by trees. Out of perverse spite, they decided to call the peak Mount Disappointment, a name it retains to this day. I suspect you may soon have your own personal version of an adventure that falls short of your expectations. I hope—and also predict—that your experience won’t demoralize you, but will rather mobilize you to attempt a new experiment that ultimately surpasses your original expectations.

Party with the Best of Jackson Hole!

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) In 1973, Pink Floyd released the album The Dark Side of the Moon. Since then, it has been on various Billboard charts for over 1,700 weeks, and has sold more than 45 million copies. Judging from the astrological aspects coming to bear on you, Leo, I suspect you could create or produce a beautiful thing with a similar staying power in the next five months. What vitalizing influence would you like to have in your life for at least the next 30 years?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) You’ve been to the Land of No Return and back more than anyone. But soon you’ll be visiting a remote enclave in this realm that you’re not very familiar with. I call it the Mother Lode of Sexy Truth. It’s where tender explorers go when they must transform outworn aspects of their approach to partnership and togetherness. On the eve of your quest, shall we conduct an inventory of your capacity to outgrow your habitual assumptions about relationships? No, let’s not. That sounds too stiff and formal. Instead, I’ll simply ask you to strip away any falseness that interferes with vivacious and catalytic intimacy.

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20) You’ll soon arrive at a pressure-packed turning point. You’ll stand poised at a pivotal twist of fate where you must trust your intuition to reveal the differences between smart risks and careless gambles. Are you willing to let your half-naked emotions show? Will you have the courage to be brazenly loyal to your deepest values? I won’t wish you luck, because how the story evolves will be fueled solely by your determination, not by accident or happenstance. You will know you’re in a good position to solve the Big Riddles if they feel both scary and fun.

maker David Lynch asked him for the right to use his tune “In Dreams” for the movie Blue Velvet. Orbison denied the request, but Lynch incorporated the tune anyway. Surprise! Blue Velvet was nominated for an Academy Award and played a big role in reviving Orbison’s fame. Later the singer came to appreciate not only the career boost, but also Lynch’s unusual aesthetic, testifying that the film gave his song an “otherworldly quality that added a whole new dimension.” Now let’s meditate on how this story might serve as a parable for your life. Was there an opportunity that you once turned down but will benefit from anyway? Or is there a current opportunity that maybe you shouldn’t turn down, even if it seems odd?

Come celebrate everything that makes Jackson Hole so good, it’s...

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