The Valley Signal

Health & Safety

Fatal Crash Closes Teton Pass, Cutting Teton Valley's Route to Jackson

Two men died in a Teton Pass crash Tuesday when a brake-failed asphalt truck ran past the WY-22 arrestor and struck several vehicles near Wilson.

By Valley Signal Staff ·

WILSON — A fatal Teton Pass crash closed the road in both directions for most of Tuesday afternoon and evening, cutting Teton Valley's main route to Jackson. Two people died, and four were injured in a multi-vehicle collision near milepost 6.8 on the Wyoming side of the pass, before noon on July 7.

Teton County, Wyoming, Coroner Brent Blue confirmed the two deaths. The Wyoming Highway Patrol identified the men killed as Nicholas Besobrasow, 66, of Tetonia, and David Page, 57, of Mammoth Lakes, California. Besobrasow was driving a Ford F-150, and Page a Subaru Outback. Jackson Hole Fire/EMS took the four injured by ambulance to St. John's Health in Jackson.

The two were Wyoming's 59th and 60th traffic deaths of 2026, up from 46 by this point last year, the patrol said.

According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, a dump truck hauling asphalt lost control coming down the pass, striking a motorcycle, two pickup trucks, and a Subaru, then clipping another vehicle before going airborne and landing on its passenger side in the eastbound lane, spilling asphalt across the road. The patrol's preliminary investigation found brake failure caused the crash, which remained under investigation, with any citations or charges pending.

The motorcyclist survived the crash with road rash and an ankle injury, according to an unconfirmed report. The Valley Signal has not verified the account.

The truck came to rest more than half a mile past the pass's runaway-vehicle arrestor, which sits at milepost 7.4 to catch trucks that lose their brakes on the descent into Wilson. WYDOT's 2018 study of the grade concluded one arrestor was not enough and identified a second site near milepost 5.8, closer to Wilson. It has not been built. WY-22 carries a 60,000-pound weight limit at all times. Investigators have not said whether the truck was within that limit.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation closed WY-22 between Wilson and the Idaho state line at 12:05 p.m. and initially estimated a 7 to 9 p.m. reopening. By 8:51 p.m., the agency had pushed that back to a one- to three-hour window. WYDOT reopened the pass at about 11:21 p.m., some 11 hours after the crash.

With the pass closed, residents who had driven to Jackson for work faced a long detour home, south through Alpine and Swan Valley, where ITD scrub-seal work had U.S. 26 down to one lane.

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