The skiing in Sun Valley has been influential on many people and brands over the years, including Jake Moe, who was working as a Sun Valley ski patroller in 1968 when he came up with the idea for Powder magazine. At just 20 years old, Jake Moe lived like so many ski bums still do in Sun Valley: balancing his love of riding fresh pow with working an assortment of jobs, from dishwasher, waiter, and cook to roof shoveler, cannery worker, and painter. In 1972, the first issue of Powder came out, and Jake continued producing the magazine from Sun Valley until 1975, when he opened the magazine’s office in Boulder. Over the years, Jake has been in and out of Sun Valley, but it was when he finally retired seven years ago that he and his wife, Susan, decided to leave Seattle and come back to the town where they met 50 years ago (Susan worked for Sun Valley back in the ’70s as well). Now living in Warm Springs, Jake maintains a busy life for someone who’s “retired”: coaching tennis three days a week, volunteering, mountain biking, golfing, fly fishing, hiking, catching summer concerts, traveling in his van, consulting occasionally for Powder, and writing for Sun Valley Magazine. We caught up with Jake Moe to see how he spends the perfect June day in Sun Valley.
How does your morning start?
Jake: I just love starting the day off by coaching tennis—I do that in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I go through several hours of coaching. That gets everybody fired up and me fired up. With the Sun Valley courts looking at Baldy, you have this great juxtaposition of a world-class ski mountain and tennis resort, and those are my two favorite sports.
Where does your morning go from there?
Jake: After that, it’s time for coffee: I’m an extra-hot latte guy. I love all the coffee places. Each one has a different personality. Consequently, I see different people at different ones. This is really important and I don’t know if this is common in terms of people stating this, but when you live in Ketchum/Sun Valley, you have to be flexible, because at every stop along the way, whether it’s tennis, coffee, golf, cycling, or post office, you’re gonna run into your best friends and that means you have to be flexible to spend the 10, 15, 20 minutes to catch up. My wife allocates one hour for me just to get three things at the grocery store because she knows I’ll run into several people and we’ll talk. And that’s the fun part of living in a small town. I think we should celebrate that and not be disappointed you’re delayed.
What about breakfast?
Jake: Then I’d go home and have a late breakfast or early lunch. For breakfast, I’m big on waffles, blueberries, ice cream, and pure maple syrup. I try to include menu selections that are not only fun to eat but kind of celebration mode. If I’ve had a really great morning with a lot of dynamic tennis students that are making progress; I’ll celebrate. I approach it that way.
What’s the afternoon looking like?
Jake: Then I’d take a rest, because coaching tennis takes a lot of hustle, and I do get up early. I’m a big 20-minute power nap person—have been my whole life. Once I wake up, then I’ve got the choice to either play golf on the White Clouds course or go for a bike ride on the Harriman Trail or out Warm Springs past the hot springs. If the conditions are great, maybe fly fishing out Warm Springs.
And what’s your evening like?
Jake: My wife and I probably go to at least 40 live concerts each summer, so we’d have a concert at night. We do huge dinners at the concert, that’s a part of it. It’s like having a table with a view, with unbelievable music. It’s always salad, BBQ chicken, or we buy something out. Part of the activity is to have a bottle of wine and a meal at a concert.
How does your evening wind down?
Jake: I’d end with a snapshot of local news in Twin Falls: see what’s going on in the region, check the weather.
For more information, click here