Jack and Barb Snobble agreed to join the Holdens on the CRMS faculty soon after the founding and arrived in 1955.Barb had graduated from Vassar College and wanted to teach History and Latin. Jack,  a bomber in World War II and handy with explosives, would take students with him for avalanche mitigation detonations. He’d taught previously at Fountain Valley School and then worked  as a geographer for Central Intelligence. He was also captain of the Dartmouth ski team and an accomplished rider–skills that come in handy at CRMS. The Snobbles served as pillars of the school’s community until leaving not long after the Holdens in 1969.

Obituary – from Glenwood Post

Well known local educator and outdoorsman John “Jack” Snobble of Carbondale died on September 11, 1996 after battling cancer. He was 74.

​S​nobble was a geology, geography, and outdoor education professor and taught at Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale and Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs. He ​had lived in Carbondale since 1955.​

He also was a published author, and had interests in horses, conservation, photography, skiing and mountaineering. He was a Pioneer member of the Colorado Rocky Mountain ski instructors Association and Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association.

He also flew 35 combat missions over Central Europe while in the Air Force, and retired as a lieutenant colonel after also serving in the Air Force Reserves.

Adele Hause, of Colorado Rocky Mountain School, said that Snobble arrived at CRMS just after the private school’s founding, and played an instrumental role in its early years in development. He served as an assistant Headmaster in addition to his teaching duties. He continued with CRMS until spring 1969.

Hause remembers Snobble as “a pioneer in many respects.” As one example, “He was a backcountry skier before there were backcountry skis.” She recalls Snobble as having been involved in early explorations of the Southwest. “Some of those trails that are in Canyonlands were first scouted by Jack with his students.”

Hause said Snobble would take youths to a swampy area near his house to conduct outdoor studies. She said he also was quite involved with the establishment of the outdoors program at CMC.

CRMS and CMC benefited greatly from Snobble’s efforts, Hause said. “He had lots of dreams and Visions for both schools.”

Stella Olsen of Glenwood Springs remembers Snobble as being good friends with her late husband, Frank. Both had taught at CMC, shared a love for the outdoors, love to ride horses together and led the effort to locate and mark the Ute Trail in the Flat Tops. A sign at the start of the trail depicts Snobble helping Olsen getting his foot into a stirrup.

Bill Kight, an archaeologist for the Forest Service, remembers Snobble’s volunteer work with the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to make projects such as the Ute Trail work happen. He said Snobble was particularly interested in trying to preserve the Red Cliffs above Carbondale. “I’d almost call him a local naturalist, he knew so much about the area,” Kight said.

Among other writings, Snobble published and extensive paper on the geology of Glenwood Canyon. “People like that are very rare,” said Kight. He added that while snuggle did a lot for the community, he also was a “very private man” who enjoyed spending time with his family.

– Dennis Webb, Glenwood Post, 9/11/1996

John Kinsey Snobble
1922-1996
by Cori Snobble (his daughter)

John ‘Jack’ Kinsey Snobble was born on June 2, 1922, in South Haven, Michigan to Ernest Snobble and Edith Blake. He was the youngest of three children. He was a B-17 pilot flying out of England during WWiI. He returned to Dartmouth College after the war and graduated in 1946. He was captain of the winning ski team that year.​ He married Barbara Frances Morris on March 27, 1947 in Aspen, Colo. while chaperoning Fountain Valley boys on a ski trip. He spent 1949-1951 in Europe as a military advisor and ski racing. He was an avid outdoorsman including skiing, climbing and riding horses.​ During his career at Colo. Rocky Mt. School and Colo. Mt. College he taught geology, geography and outdoor education. He led many exploratory hiking trips through Canyonlands, Utah. He was always a teacher. Jack and Barbara had four daughters. He died on September 11, 1996, in Grand Junction, Colorado, at the age of 74.