Open Letter to the Teton Rock Gym Board of Directors
The purpose of this letter is to request that the Teton Rock Gym Board of Directors appoint local representation to the Board. The Board currently consists of a single Teton Valley resident and two directors who live and work in California and have no apparent connection to Teton Valley.
On May 19, 2026 the Driggs City Council voted to terminate Teton Rock Gym's lease and gave notice for the organization to vacate the premises in 30 days (by June 20). We believe that there is a path forward with the City of Driggs, but only if there is substantive governance reform within TRG's leadership, a recommitment to the organization's mission, and an overhaul of the gym's operating policies and procedures.
This letter and the associated community signatures will be delivered to the TRG Board of Directors.
To the Board of Directors,
We are writing as members of the Teton Valley community who care about climbing and care about this gym space. Among us are climbers, parents, donors, volunteers, former members, current members, partner organizations, and neighbors. We do not all share the same experience of the past year, but we share the same hope: that this valley have a climbing facility worthy of the community that built it.
This community is the reason the facility exists. It was built through countless volunteer hours, significant philanthropic contributions, a long-standing public subsidy from the City of Driggs through the Recreation Center designation, and years of memberships. It is, in every meaningful sense, a community resource.
We recognize that the Driggs City Council has voted to terminate the current lease, with that termination taking effect on June 20, 2026. We understand the seriousness of that decision and the conduct that led to it. We also recognize that this moment, while difficult, is not necessarily the end of climbing in this space. There may still be a path forward, but only with substantive change.
We ask the Board of Directors to appoint seven local board members drawn from the Teton Valley community, to provide the accountability, oversight, and local connection that the organization currently lacks. A new board of directors, grounded in this community, is the most credible signal the organization could send that it is willing to change in a meaningful way.
The organization's current board composition has failed to preserve the gym, and the same configuration is unlikely to produce a different outcome by June 20. A genuine reset, beginning with local board leadership, is the most realistic path to demonstrating to the City, to donors, to partner organizations, and to the broader community that the gym can be stewarded well going forward.
Our goal in writing is simple. We want to find a path that preserves a climbing gym in Teton Valley. We hope the Board will take this moment seriously and act with the urgency it requires.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned