Terry Lee Brattain

1941 - 2025

Terry Lee Brattain, a cherished member of the Teton valley Community for many years passed away on his Ranch in Wisdom Montana on February 21, 2025. He was surrounded by family and friends and the love of his Life, Alice Vallette. Terry was a Airforce Veteran from the Vietnam War, a longtime Forest Service employee spending many years in the Teton Backcountry, one of the original Ski Patrollers at Grand Targhee Resort during its infancy and a long time Ski Instructor at Grand Targhee Resort working under Gene Palmer as well as a short stint as Ski Instructor at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for a period of time. However, his true passion was Teton Valley, the Caribou Targhee National Forest, Grand Targhee, his Mules and his Teton Valley Tree Farm in which he started many years ago. Terry was a true Arborist nurturing his 'children' as he called them from seedlings to full maturity. He and Alice spent many hours nurturing his trees until 2004 when they sold the Tree Farm to move to their ranch in Wisdom. Retirement was action filled for Terry and Alice as they spent numerous hours in the Bitterroots on their mules, countless powder days at Lost Trail Mountain and quality time with friends and family in the wonderful Bitterroot Valley. Friends and Family gathered March 30, 2025, on the Mountain at Lost Trail for a Celebration of Life to say farewell, share stories, and memorialize his favorite ski run. He is forever immortalized at Lost Trail.

Friends and Family will once again gather at Grand Targhee Resort this Friday June 27th, what would have been his 84th birthday for a Celebration of Life at 12:30 on the Plaza to ride the Chair to the Summit to remember Terry and his infectious personality and to leave a lasting memory for the Mountain he called home for so many years. Brattain's Couloir, appropriately named after him on the Northside of the Mountain, will forever be remembered for "Old Tinker", as those close to him called him. Our deepest condolences and sympathies go out to Alice and Molly, his beloved dog, and family and friends during this time of change. May they find comfort in the memories of a life well-lived and the love that surrounds them. Ski in Peace Terry, you will always be with us on the Slopes and in the Backcountry.



In memory of Terry, we are asking that you plant a Tree so that he may forever be with us.