JACKSON, Wyo. — A few weeks ago, Buckrail asked readers to send in photos of times past in Jackson Hole. The idea came about after we received a photo from the Snow King Summit lift in 1958. The chair has since been replaced with a gondola and the old chairs are now public art around town.
While things might feel like they are constantly changing in the valley, Buckrail thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane, through the lens of folks who call or have called this valley home.
Robin Hape sent in a collection of photos from his time growing up in Jackson Hole.
Hape said his family lived in Moose while his dad, Frank, worked for the Park Service in Grand Teton from 1955 to 1966 and Yellowstone before retiring in 1988. Hape’s mother, Darlene, worked at the Post Office in Kelly. Hape now lives in Bozeman, Montana, but said he has spent his entire life living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Another reader, Cindy Ferrell, sent in a photo of herself and her sister on the Summit Chair in June 1965, the summer her family moved to Jackson. By then, the one-seater chair had been replaced with the two-seater. The lift was replaced again in 1981.
Diana Dillard sent in this photo of her mother and a friend on the Summit Chair on June 29, 1960. Dillard’s mom worked as a hotel maid that summer and was allegedly chased by a bear while hitchhiking. The women are also sporting Cal Poly sweaters.
