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Bill Briggs is the director of the Great American Ski School at Snow King Mountain in Jackson, Wyoming in the United States. Briggs, born in Maine, is notable as the first to ski the Grand Teton on June 15, 1971 and as a result is said to be the father of extreme skiing in North America.
His route required a free-hanging rappel down a 165-foot (50 m) cliff face, which he completed with his skis on. He has also made first descents of other mountains in the Teton Range, including Middle Teton, South Teton, Mount Moran, and Mount Owen. He was the recipient of the 2003 Utah Ski archives Historical Achievement Award for his contributions to skiing.
In 2008, Bill Briggs was inducted into the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, with his citation reading in part:
Bill Briggs is regarded as the father of big mountain skiing in the United States. He was able to imagine and believe it possible to ski in places where no one else had skied before. His first ski descent of Wyoming’s Grand Teton on June 15, 1971 is regarded by most as the single crystallizing moment in American big mountain skiing. He also completed the first high ski traverse in the Canadian Rockies and the first modern ski descent of Mount Rainier.
Briggs is a founding member of the Stagecoach Band, which has played country and bluegrass music every Sunday since 1969 at the Stagecoach Bar in Wilson, Wyoming. He also founded and presides over the Hootenanny, an open mic music event that happens every Monday in Moose, Wyoming. He plays banjo, auto-harp and six and twelve-string guitars. Briggs sings traditional and contemporary folk songs, specializing in mountain yodels.
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