Local Slant
Mark Newcomb’s life was easy to predict. Born during a massive blizzard, son of a Jackson Hole Ski Patroller, pioneer in avalanche forecasting, and snow scientist, Newcomb was skiing by age 3.
As a child, Mark Newcomb mowed lawns each summer to pay for his season ski pass. It was worth it. By 26, he had scored a place on the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol and started knocking off first ski descents in the Grand Tetons, on slopes once thought to be unskiable. More descents would follow, along with daring climbs and important work in avalanche prevention and mountain safety. Now in his 40s, Newcomb is one of America’s greatest mountaineers.
But you’d never guess any of that from a conversation with the soft-spoken man. He recalls past adventures—like biking across China or scaling a 5,000-foot rock-and-ice wall in Pakistan—like he’s reminiscing about a fun but not extraordinary softball game. “The way Jackson Hole shapes you is that you start out thinking on a scale that other people think is really big, but to you it’s just normal,” he says, “When you start looking around, the big-big stuff isn’t quite as big.” Some of his first descents—like the Unsch Couloir on Shishapangma (26,289 feet) and Sepu Kangri (22,821 feet), both in Tibet—have been pretty big indeed.
Plenty has changed in Jackson Hole since Newcomb mowed lawns, except for the mountains. “The Tetons have everything from terrain that is accessible to the most challenging stuff in the lower 48,” Newcomb claims, “It’s pretty mind-blowing.”
