By Eugene Buchanan
<span style="color: #a1a1a1;">Twenty-five years ago, two brothers, Todd and Steve Jones had the vision to create action sports movies. Now, 25 years later, they’ve accomplished that with their adventure lifestyle media company, Teton Gravity Research (TGR) and have branched out into retail, hotels and a new TGR TV platform to work symbiotically with their original concept.
Headquartered in Wilson, WY with employees across five states, TGR has consolidated and equalized its line of revenue. Since the pandemic began, it has opened a retail location in Bozeman, MT and Killington, VT, has entered the second year of its partnership in the TGR Continuum Hotel at the base of the Jackson Hole resort and opened a drive-in theatre to show its latest mountain bike film. In August the company also launched the TGR TV platform, a free, live-streaming channel with membership levels.
“When we started in 1995 we always thought we’d build a brand that was bigger than just making ski movies,” said Todd. “That’s why we didn’t name the company Teton Productions. We wanted a brand that people could relate to and meant something to people. Our tagline, ‘Live the dream,’ helps inspire people and evokes an emotion. This all stems from that.”
Retail
At first, TGR played its retail cards close to home where it has a large following. Its first retail store opened in Jackson Hole’s Town Square, the second in Teton Village, and this year TGR will open two stores — one in Bozeman, MT and one in Killington, VT. TGR also has plans to open a store on Main Street in Breckenridge, CO and later this year one in downtown Burlington, VT.
“Retail has definitely been on our radar for a while,” said Jones. “And since production has slowed down during the pandemic, we’ve been able to put a lot of effort into that space.”
The stores sell TGR branded apparel, optics and supplies which, according to the brand, has “grown tenfold in the past four years from 5 percent of total revenue in 2016 to 36 percent in 2020”. Several locations carry Jones Snowboards, a company founded by Todd and Steve Jones’ brother Jeremy.
“Having a depth of line is what’s allowed us to do to this,” Todd said. “For a while, we were hanging in with hats and T-shirts, then we got to the point of volume and said, ‘We should do water bottles.’ Then we said the same thing about optics. We had the ability to do it, so we did. None of this is easy, but we have a great consumer reach which makes it work.”
For the optics category, branded under the tagline “See the world through our lens,” Zeiss makes the lenses, the frames are manufactured in Italy and the google frames are made in China. At this time, TGR has no plans to sell optics from other brands.
“We’re not going after Johnny Collinson,” Todd said — an accomplished mountaineer and considered to be one of the world’s best big-
Helping to spearhead its retail operations is Brian Francis, TGR’s head of merchandising. He admits that doing so “isn’t quite as easy as floating a fat ski through Jackson’s powder”.
“It certainly hasn’t been without its challenges. We were set to open the Bozeman store in March before COVID hit, and the pandemic took everything to a screeching halt. We ended up opening on July 1 right when Bozeman was coming out of lockdown. But the response has been incredibly positive, and the Bozeman community has definitely embraced us. The store has performed above our expectations,” he said.
Francis credits that to several factors. “Montana has always been a large part of TGR’s DNA. Todd and Steve both went to school there, and our tour team has always focused on events and premieres there. There’s a deep-rooted love for Montana, and that translates to the community and the customers,” he said.
Another key factor, he added, is that TGR focuses on the overall experience as much as the product. “The theater, staff, imagery, and product all speak to the TGR culture. Even if you don’t buy a sticker, you’re welcome to sit in our state-of-the-art theater and watch a film. We want to make sure that even if you have no idea who we are, that you’ll walk out knowing all about us and hopefully become a fan of the brand,” he added.
He also acknowledges the staff at TGR’s first out-of-state store. “We hired a great manager who was born and raised in Bozeman and can speak to the town, the mountains, the trails, and the brand,” he continued. “He’s built a staff of hardcore TGR community members who are students at Montana State. The staff loves and understands TGR and our passion for the outdoors.”
The same holds true for its Killington, VT store where Todd and Steve grew up skiing. “Vermont, as a whole, is a huge market for us and will be a focus of ours as we continue to grow the brand,” Francis said, adding they’re already looking at expanding for this year’s season. “We’re also keeping a close eye on Colorado as that’s another major market for TGR while we continue to grow our retail footprint.”
The bottom line is brand first then brick & mortar. “Our brand lends itself to retail,” he said. “We create products that people can relate to and collaborating with local artists and athletes helps drive that story. Other than our optics collection, we’re focused on lifestyle collections that are casual and relatable, leaving the technical outerwear and hardgoods to our partners. Our whole TGR product mix is performing well and is continuing to evolve. Every season we’re introducing new product lines that we see as a natural progression of the brand. The experiential elements are translating into a solid retail experience.”
The Continuum Hotel
While TGR has upped its retail presence, it’s also ventured into the realm of the hotel business. Last year it partnered to open a TGR-themed lodge located steps from the Jackson Hole tram.
Named the Continuum after one of its films, TGR’s hotel offers slope-side lodging with TGR’s street cred — athletes and film premieres where guests can mingle with personalities and watch ski and snowboarding films before hitting the slopes.
“We’ve wanted to do an experiential-type hotel like this for years, a place where people can be a part of our whole vibe,” said Todd. “We always wanted to have a place where people can come stay, hang out with athletes, see films — and all at the base of one of the best ski resorts in the country.”
So far, it’s been all lights, camera and action. Last year, the hotel hosted a sold-out premiere of its film “Fire on the Mountain’ with a Grateful Dead cover band, the debut of Jeremy Jones’ “Winterland” and other scheduled events that hotel guests wouldn’t normally find by staying at another hotel property.
Following CDC and local health guidelines with enhanced cleaning and distancing protocols, this year the hotel is planning a similar line-up — serving as the host hotel for signature events such as the King & Queens competition and Natural Selection. It’s also planning weeks where guests can ski and film with TGR athletes, signup for film workshops and seminars and take part in TGR’s WhiSKI Whiskey Series. It’s all part of a plan to allow guests to saunter from the slope to après-ski often with athletes and the Jones brothers, including Todd Jones’ 13-year-old son Kai, a skiing prodigy and fan favorite.
The hotel sits at the location of the old Inn at Jackson, where TGR got its start. Purchased in 2017 by Molokai Hospitality LLC, the company renovated the rooms, added a heated pool and 40-person hot tub, and built a vibrant, Millennial-friendly bar and lounge with a band platform and movie screen above the bar minutes from the base of the Jackson tram.
“The Continuum was inspired by TGR’s love of life,” said Molokai principal David Gibson. “It lets us offer a perfect blend of comfort and functionality while allowing guests to live out their dreams. It breaks people’s conception of a traditional lodging experience.”
TGR TV
On August 10, TGR went live with its streaming service, offering live content and access to all of the films and clips in its library — skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and more. It’s also offering different access tiers, including a free service and a paid annual subscription. Subscribers who pay for the service receive discounts on TGR branded products from partners including Mammut and J Skis, perks at their events (once they’re back on), discounts at the Continuum Hotel, and more.
“We’ve always been at the forefront of the digital world,” Todd said, adding they launched their first website in 1996 and hired a social media manager before Twitter existed. “It comes from being a small, nimble media company. Every time a new space evolves we jump in, whether it’s been YouTube, Instagram or the “18 Days of Content” we did for Ikon.”
It hasn’t been easy, Todd added, but it’s been a natural progression especially for a production company that’s always had difficulty getting into bigger networks. “It’s been on our radar for a long time, but was a big beast to put together,” he said. “Once COVID hit we saw Netflix blowing up and had some time on our hands to get our whole library into this space. So, we buckled down and had a big team building the platform we needed.”
The Premium membership level, he added, “unlocks the vault of the entire 45-film library” and it’s continuing to add perks for members including working on a deal with Gravity House to offer lodging discounts at Vail and Breckenridge. “It’s like Amazon Prime,” he said. “We’re creating an environment where members get a lot more than they thought they would.”
The TV category is in its infancy, he said, “but cranking and growing rapidly with a lot of monthly and annual memberships.” And the free streaming service offers a lot of options as well; in September alone, TGR released six new short films on the portal, including Jeremy’s “Purple Mountain.” TGR is also working on getting linear feeds with networks Vewd and Pluto to carry its brand-centric channel.
The TV portal also gives TGR the ability to introduce fans to its other offerings — all in keeping with spreading the TGR stoke. “Our brand is integrated throughout everything we do,” he said. “People can watch movies, order merchandise online and even book a stay at the hotel. It’s all fitting together pretty well.”
Photos courtesy TGR
