My book project, The Arc of Skiing Jackson Hole, 45 years behind the lens with Wade McKoy is going well. I’m currently writing my memories of ski life and ski-photography work during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, confirming some of the facts with others, and pulling together magazine articles from Powder and the Jackson Hole Skier that dovetail with the book’s theme. I recently got a great writing lesson from local author, the late John Byrne Cooke, when I re-typeset his 1990s JH Skier article on Bill Briggs. Clear, concise, complete. I’m still digging through the slide files, too, finding some old favorites and some beauties that heretofore had gotten away.
I’ve pushed back my Kickstarter campaign. It will happen once the book is finished and I honestly don’t know how long that will take. I’m also considering splitting it into two volumes: 20th Century, the film era; 21st Century, the film era transitions to the digital era.
The relatively new world of self-publishing through crowd sourcing has many moving parts. I’ve studied the landscape and it all appears to work incredibly well. I’ve got the printing and fulfillment vendors lined up and ready to go.
Of the document itself, 140 pages are well in hand, so I’m feeling confident. It’s been an enjoyable meander, not a straight-line walk, for three years and counting.
The 9X12 inch, 332-page coffee table book will feature photos selected from tens of thousands of images focusing on iconic skiers in Jackson Hole. Spanning five decades, hundreds of these photographs were published in ski and snowboard magazines across the U.S. and around the world during my 45-year career.
The cover shows Tommy Moe skiing Once Is Enough couloir in 2008 during a TGR filming session. Moe won an Olympic Gold Medal in men’s downhill and a Silver Medal in super G at the 1994 winter games in Lillehammer, Norway. He soon moved to Wilson, Wyoming, and joined the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort as a ski ambassador. Later, with Jackson native Mike Overcast, Moe started Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, an Alaskan heli-skiing and fishing service.
Stay tuned for updates, free downloads, and sneak peeks of the book, and please follow @wademckoy on Instagram and Facebook. Wish me luck with this crowd-sourced project and thank you for your consideration in helping me create a lasting art work and a visual history of our sport.