Eric Ingebreth Soyland

Eric Ingebreth Soyland, a long-time resident of Teton Valley, passed away on March 19, 2021, at the age of 76.   Born in Preston, Cuba, he pursued his schooling in North America, spending his teenage years in Wilmington, Delaware, and his young adulthood in Hawaii.

Eric moved to Alta, Wyoming, in 1979, after fifteen years in Hawaii, where he had studied oceanography and worked as a pilot and professional diver.  He brought his business skills and experience in aviation to his work at the Driggs airport, where he founded Teton Aviation.

In 1998, he built a new home on a remarkable location north of Felt, continuing his work as a pilot, but spending as much time as possible during the year tending to his property.  In winter months, when the property was largely inaccessible, he traveled in Mexico, where he loved to surf and explore small villages.  In his last decade, he restricted himself to the American Southwest for these winter “roundabouts,” camping on various sites in the vast areas of public land, hiking and playing golf whenever he was near a course.  In these last years, he was always accompanied by a German Shepherd named Free.

Eric’s love for the outdoors, and his deep attachment to the Teton Valley, were expressed in several books, including two containing photographs he had taken himself.  Our Land Our Soul and A Circle of Majesty will be well-known to many Valley residents.  Several books also recounted adventures that he had pursued in extensive travels, undertaken very much in the spirit of his father, Ingebreth Soyland. Eric was an avid conservationist and environmentalist.  Placing his property in a land conservancy was a form of service, in his mind.  But the care he gave to this property was also exhibited throughout his life in innumerable small gestures.  Especially telling and memorable, in this respect, is a photo of Eric walking on a beach in Costa Rica with his dog, a surfboard under one arm, and a bag in the other that served to hold litter he came across.   Eric always cared humbly for the land he traversed.

After his passing, due to Alzheimer’s, he is survived by a niece and nephew.  His nephew and two sons, all of whom share Eric’s middle name, will take over as stewards of his land.