The Teton Climbers Coalition is an organization that strives to represent the climbing community in Jackson Hole.
Christian Beckwith, founder of the Teton Climbers Coalition, started the organization in March of 2020. In 2019, a ballot measure approved money for the expansion of the recreation center in Jackson Hole, and a part of that expansion included a climbing gym. The addition of the climbing gym, Beckwith assumed, would preclude a private market climbing gym in Jackson Hole.
“In order to do that, we needed to have some way of representing the community’s perspective and interests as an organization,” Beckwith said.
The coalition has been working on building a climbing gym and they are excited about it.
The Tetons are the epicenter of climbing, and the coalition promotes community among Teton climbers, Beckwith said. Recently, they have been focusing on: replacement of suspect hardware on the bolted routes on the crags, advocacy for Bighorn Sheep, and involving the community.
One way they plan to involve the community is through AlpinFilm, a film festival modeled after the Alpinist Film Festival which took place from 2004 to 2008.
“With Alpinfilm, what we’re trying to do is recreate that community gathering and that community celebration of what we all love to do here in the Tetons, by pulling in films from all over the world that celebrate our collective love for the mountains,” Beckwith said.
AlpinFilm will hold a panel discussion about women in the Tetons, along with featuring films about the world's best climbers pushing their limits, a sherpa family cleaning Mount Everest to restore the holiness of the mountain and calm the gods and expeditions taken by climbers around the world.
Alpinfilm will take place on Jan. 13 and 14. The festival can be viewed in person or virtually. Tickets are available at: https://tetonclimbers.com/alpinfilm/purchase-passes/.