Very few custom ski and snowboard shops truly hand-build a board that s completely tailored to the customer. Mikey Franco, who owns Franco Snowshapes, is an exception.
A grant-funded postsecondary education program at Teton High gives students an opportunity to discover what careers spark their passion, how to pursue those careers through college, trade school, apprenticeship, or
In 1990 Mikey Franco was a first-year snowboard instructor at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. His 1995 summer was spent guiding the whitewater section of the Snake River. In 2002 he managed catering events for Fine Dining Restaurant Group. In the years between you might have also found Mikey selling T-shirts, making chocolate or serving a porterhouse.
âHaving tons of jobs was just as important then as it is now,â he said.
Iâd imagine everyone reading this knows a contemporary version of this Mikey Franco, if not several: some young person sweating it out to enjoy the recreation opportunities afforded by wide-open spaces and daunting mountain ranges. But that person might not be here long, or may have moved away.
Highpoint Cider, Victor, Idahoâs newest (and only) craft cidery, draws inspiration from some lofty sources.
âCarl Sagan, I think in one of his last interviews, had a quote that was something to the effect of, âScience isnât a body of knowledge, itâs a way of thinking,ââ said Andrew Perez, one half of the sibling team at Highpoint.
Perez and his brother, Alex, have applied the noted astronomerâs philosophy to developing their line of ciders. They grew up on an apple orchard in New Hampshire, doing kid stuff â riding dirt bikes, chucking rotten apples at each other and making the occasional batch of nonalcoholic cider with a hand press. As adults they enjoyed the craft cider that was popular in New England, but when Alex, tired of his corporate job, moved west to Jackson, he noticed a dearth of cideries.