Augusta (Gus) & Carsten
Carsten: River Guide, Kayak Instructor & Ski Coach
Gus: Ski Instructor, JHMR; Direct Support Professional, CES; Ramp Agent, United Ground Express at the airport; (Previous) Trip Leader, Wilderness Adventures
Carsten and Augusta (Gus) have served this community for the last 18 and 16 years, respectively. Carsten initially came to Jackson in 1997 for a mission trip, building the Foundation Church on Indian Trails with his family. As soon as he turned 21, he moved out west. Augusta came to Jackson from Boston 16 years ago to be a ski bum, securing a job with JMHR teaching the little kids.
Gus and Carsten met each other as ski instructors in 2007 and were in the same friend group for 10 years before they started dating. Carsten proposed to Gus in Bali with “stand by me” playing live on Monkey Forest Boulevard in Ubud. They were in Indonesia on a Habitat for Humanity global village trip.
Carsten works as a river guide in the summers for Jackson Hole Anglers, Jackson Hole Vintage Adventures, and Rendezvous River Sports as a Kayak Instructor, switching in the winter to be a Supervisor at JMHR 3 & 4 year old Ski School. Gus does a little bit of everything, non-profit work, works at the airport, and in the winter coaches at JMHR, a 6-year-old locals group, adults Steep and Deep camps, and does private lessons.
“It’s a very tight knit community. People truly care about each other and want what’s best for each other. You can see it in the sheer number of nonprofits we have in town and how everybody rallies around a problem. I love having my social hour when I’m at the grocery store. - Gus
We also like how we have our Jackson family cause most of our friends are also from a long way away and we don’t have our families around as much and we’re tight. It’s nice to see our friends have kids, and get to know those kids, and teach those kids skiing, kayaking, or whatever. It’s a close community that is full of people but is still small. - Carsten”
They love their Jackson people and the playground that is our backyard. Gus loves bagging Teton peaks and Carsten loves to bike ride with their dog, Georgie. Both are motorcycle enthusiasts, Gus recently participating in the Jackalope Ride which benefits the Special Olympics, and they also love scuba diving. Carsten loves to cook, which brings him joy and Gus is an artist, creating all sorts of cool creations. When they’re not off adventuring, they love to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and Team Rubicon, a veteran led humanitarian disaster response organization. Gus also finds time to serve on the Womentum and Habitat for Humanity board.
Carsten and Gus have seen it all when it comes to housing in Jackson. Gus lived for several years in the Doll house or the “ladies lounge” as it was called. This home was a 3 bedroom, 1 bath house that six people lived in. It was quite the happening spot for fun, local women to rotate in and out. Right after they started dating, Carsten was forced to move in with Gus as the place he was living in, the roof caved in, which was the demise of his lease as he asked the landlord to fix the roof because it was “raining” in the living room. If you asked for things to be fixed, that was how you lost your lease.
In 2018, they got on the Community Housing Trust list, and moved into Redmond Street Rentals for a time and had the chance at a home, which they moved into in 2019. Gus moved 14 times before she got into a CHT home.
“After getting a CHT home, it was nice to have the sense of stability knowing we didn’t have to move around. I was able to get my guitars that I had back in Alabama, and we were able to get a dog. Having a dog was renter suicide. The sense of weightlessness, not having housing anxiety and be able to drop roots in the community we love so much.”
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