At Teton Valley

Ranch Camp kids sit tall in the saddle, and walk a little taller, too. The camp, which was founded in the 1930s for boys and girls ages 11–16, is based on the core values of resilience, self-confidence, teamwork, and stewardship—and campers learn all of these things while making life-long friends and gaining experience in the wilderness. “I remember every single backpacking trip I went on at Teton Valley Ranch Camp,” says Holly Hancock von Guilleaume. “Even though it’s been almost 40 years since I was a camper, I remember it all like it was yesterday. It was fun and, although I didn’t realize it at the time, I was learning so many important life lessons, and making friends for life.” The learning of life lessons and forging of friendships is no accident. “TVRC is loosely founded on the cowboy way of life–working hard, determination, grit, challenges, and then success,” says Jim Ligori, Camp Director and a former camper himself. “If you get knocked down, you get back up. Climbing a mountain is hard, but when you get to the top, it is worth the effort.” Today’s TVRC campers climb the same mountains and explore the same wilderness areas on foot and horseback as did its first campers almost nine decades ago. The earliest TVRC campers climbed the Grand Teton and backpacked in the Tetons when Grand Teton National Park was still in its infancy. “We were backpacking and horsepacking in the Gros Ventre Wilderness before it was even a wilderness area,” Ligori says. Holly Hancock von Guilleaume was named after Holly Lake in Grand Teton National Park which her parents visited while working as staff at TVRC in the 1950s and 1960s. She visited the same lake in the 1980s. Two of her three kids, all of whom have been TVRC campers, have hiked to Holly Lake, too, and the third will join the family tradition this summer. “The unchanging wilderness that our campers explore crosses generations of past, current, and future campers and families,” Ligori says. While adventures in the wilderness are a defining part of TVRC, campers can also enjoy arts and crafts, archery, riflery, fly fishing, and lapidary, among other activities. Here, kids sign up for what they want to do and get to take ownership of their time. The only “technology” at camp are flashlights, so campers leave other electronic devices at home. Scott Kuhnle, a second-generation TVRC camper and now on seasonal leadership staff at the camp, says that this is one of the best things about TVRC. “If you put away your phone and other things that distract you from being present and being intentional, your experience of life becomes quite a bit more impactful, memorable, and intense, in a good way,” he says. Being present opens campers to the full TVRC experience. Nine members of the Proops family, including Tamah Proops’s three kids and several nieces and nephews, have come to TVRC. “Camp has been a very different experience for each of them, but I’ve seen them all blossom there. You can say ‘good-bye’ to a kid who’s already confident and then four weeks later, be presented with a different kid and it’s amazing,” she says. “They’re filthy and dusty and they throw their arms around you and can’t wait to show you all the stuff they’ve done and learned. As a parent, I like to see my kids experience independence and feel like they can try new things and it’s not so scary. Teton Valley Ranch Camp is magic.”