Wender·Vista
Gros Ventre Slide overlook
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileWyoming
east of Jackson Hole, above Lower Slide Lake

Gros Ventre Slide overlook

— the scar a mountain left when it came down in three minutes.

Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
a note from the studio

The overlook above the Gros Ventre Slide, east of Jackson Hole, looking across at the gouged south flank of Sheep Mountain. On June 23, 1925, an estimated 50 million cubic yards of rock and earth slid off that face, dammed the Gros Ventre River, and made Lower Slide Lake below. Two years later the dam partly failed and washed out the town of Kelly downstream. The scar is still raw a century on, with new aspen reaching only halfway up the slope. From the studio.

from the studio
Gros Ventre Slide overlook
— bring it home

Gros Ventre Slide overlook, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

about Gros Ventre Slide overlook

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
the place

The Gros Ventre Slide sits in the Gros Ventre Range east of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on the south flank of Sheep Mountain at roughly 6,800 feet. The overlook is reached from Gros Ventre Road, a Bridger-Teton National Forest route that leaves Highway 191 near Kelly and follows the river east. A short interpretive trail at the pullout reads the geology of the scar across the valley and looks down on Lower Slide Lake, the impoundment created when the slide blocked the river in 1925.

the year

On the afternoon of June 23, 1925, after weeks of heavy rain and snowmelt, roughly 50 million cubic yards of sandstone and shale broke loose from Sheep Mountain and slid into the Gros Ventre River in about three minutes. The slide built a natural dam 225 feet high and impounded Lower Slide Lake behind it. On May 18, 1927, after spring runoff, part of the dam failed and the released water destroyed the downstream town of Kelly, killing six people. Both events shaped how the US Forest Service has read regional slope stability since.

the visit

The overlook is open seasonally; Gros Ventre Road is generally driveable from May through October and is not maintained for winter passenger-car use after the first heavy snow. The interpretive trail is a short paved loop with benches, a printed geology panel, and a clear sight line across the valley to the slide scar. Cell coverage is intermittent. The Kelly Warm Spring sits a few miles back toward Highway 191, and the Gros Ventre Campground inside Grand Teton National Park is the nearest developed camping at the river's mouth.

where
United States · Teton County, Wyoming
within
Bridger-Teton National Forest
elevation
2,073 m · 6,800 ft
position
43.6266° N · 110.5728° W
the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
11 km W
Kelly
small community
1 km S
Lower Slide Lake
landslide-dam lake
30 km SW
Jackson
town
N
Gros Ventre Slide overlook
Kelly
Lower Slide Lake
Jackson
common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Gros Ventre Slide overlook — and about bringing the piece home.
about the place

It is the scar of a large 1925 landslide on the south flank of Sheep Mountain, east of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The slide moved roughly 50 million cubic yards of rock and dammed the Gros Ventre River to form Lower Slide Lake.

The main slide ran on June 23, 1925, after a wet spring loosened the slope. A partial failure of the natural dam followed on May 18, 1927, releasing a flood that destroyed the downstream town of Kelly and killed six people.

From Highway 191 north of Jackson, turn east at Gros Ventre Junction and follow Gros Ventre Road past Kelly. The signed Gros Ventre Slide Geological Area pullout is on the north side of the road above Lower Slide Lake.

No. The overlook itself sits inside Bridger-Teton National Forest, administered by the US Forest Service. Grand Teton National Park boundary lies just to the west along the lower Gros Ventre River.

Yes. The lake is open to non-motorised and small motorised boats, with launches near Atherton Creek Campground on the north shore. Drowned timber from the 1925 impoundment still stands in places, so paddlers move with care.

The 1925 mass is no longer in active motion, but the slope's geology — a layer of weak shale beneath sandstone, dipping toward the river — remains a textbook example of landslide setting. The Forest Service monitors regional slopes.

about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful piece for longtime valley residents and Teton-county families. The Gros Ventre road is the quieter east side of the valley and the slide is its landmark. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note carries well.

The pale slide scar, dark conifer, and lake greens pair with mountain-modern, lodge, and quiet contemporary rooms. The piece reads as landscape art rather than wildlife or western kitsch, which broadens the rooms it suits.

Yes. Alpine-modern leans on stone, washed timber, and muted greens, and a ceramic tile of a slide scar above a quiet lake fits that palette directly. Reads well alongside linen, blackened steel, and unfinished oak.

A single Large is the simplest fit above a standard sofa or long console. For a wider wall the 4-tile Mural extends the valley across the room, and the 9-tile Mural carries a great room or stair landing.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist moisture and scratching and were chosen for vertical installations in showers, backsplashes, and powder rooms. The Glossy finish is meant for framed wall display.

A microfibre cloth with plain water is enough for routine care. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure beneath a thin finish, so it does not lift with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is original work from a single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, with no licensing in or out. Reid Wender curates the atlas and chooses each place that enters it.

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