Despite a public mea culpa, well-known mountain guide Stephen Koch was fired from Exum Mountain Guides for illegally snowmobiling across Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. As with the pair who were arrested after eating endangered iguana and posting pictures on Facebook, Koch’s crime probably would have gone unnoticed had he not posted video of the sledding on YouTube.

“Stephen has been fired from Exum,” President Jack Turner told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. “We expect our guides to comply with all our operating instructions. They are to comply with regulations. He didn’t.”

The video appears on www.stephenkoch.com with a brief description of a backcountry climb and snowboard descent of Mt. Moran’s Skillet Glacier. It’s approximately six miles across the lake, and skiing it adds hours to an already long and taxing day. Snowmobiling on the lake is legal for ice fishing, and skiers venturing deep into the Tetons have been known to get their fishing licenses and gear and spend a little time, um, skiing in between angling sessions.

Koch was contrite in a guest editorial in the News & Guide. “For my selfishness, I must apologize first to the National Park Service, to my family and also to my friends, my clients and former associates at Exum Mountain Guides, my coworkers at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, my colleagues at Art Hazen Real Estate, to the Grand Teton Climbing Rangers, and to the climbing, skiing, and snowboarding communities in general,” he wrote.

“As a mountain guide, and a longtime member of the Jackson community, I know well that observance of the regulations governing the use of public lands is important to preserve the qualities that make Jackson Hole so extraordinary.”

Koch faces two federal violations—using the snowmobile and towing skiers. Towing the skiers is considered a minor offense punishable by a $75 fine that can be paid through the mail. Using the sled requires an appearance in court.

Around Jackson, Koch was criticized not for breaking the law, which is widely condemned for allowing ’bile access for fishing but not skiing, but for posting the sledding on the internet.

“Perhaps my recent transgression will result in some good,” Koch wrote, “by initiating a dialogue that leads to a more equitable policy that better serves all the interested groups while maintaining and protecting the park’s resources and goals.”

Koch is one of the world’s best-known guides and snowboard mountaineers. He was an Exum guide for 18 years.

Tagged as: mountaineering, skiing