Pioneer, Innovator & Inspiration
Local legend Bill Briggs forever changed the course of American skiing when he made the first ski descent of the iconic Grand Teton in 1971. Regarded by most as the single crystallizing moment in North American big mountain skiing, the descent earned him the moniker “Father of Extreme Skiing.” Briggs also recorded first descents on the South Teton, Middle Teton, Mt. Moran, Mt. Owen, and the Bugaboos, completed the first high ski traverse in the Canadian Rockies, and is credited with the first modern ski descent of Mt. Rainier. He directed ski schools at Sugarloaf, Maine and Suicide 6, Vermont, before acquiring the Great American Ski School at Snow King Mountain in 1967. It was at the Great American Ski School that Briggs introduced his revolutionary “Certainty Training Method,” an instructional method that is still held in high esteem by some of Jackson Hole’s best instructors and guides. Since retiring from radical skiing in 1974, Briggs has published several books on his instructional methods and a large part of his life still involves writing about teaching. Inducted into the Intermountain Hall of Fame in 2003 and the US National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2008, Bill Briggs is a rare combination of climbing guide, formidable mountain skier, inventive instructor, and country-western bandleader.
