March 11 - 24, 2022 Volume 13 // Issue #5
Standing with Ukraine
Notícías Montaña connects community through information Splitboard event highlights women riders Bringing diversity to the slopes Deco & The Dusters: Irish roots take the stage for St. Patrick’s Day
TABLE OF CONTENTS
March 11 - 24, 2022 Volume 13, Issue No. 5
OPINION ................................................................... 4 LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS .................................................8 LOCAL.......................................................................10 REGIONAL ...............................................................15 ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS...............................17
BUSINESS ................................................................33 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ......................................36 HEALTH....................................................................38 DINING .....................................................................39 FUN...........................................................................43
Owned and published in Big Sky, Montana
PUBLISHER Eric Ladd | eric@theoutlawpartners.com
6
Standing with Ukraine
12
Notícías Montaña connects community through information
EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VP MEDIA Joseph T. O’Connor | joe@theoutlawpartners.com MANAGING EDITOR Bella Butler | bella@theoutlawpartners.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Gabrielle Gasser | gabrielle@theoutlawpartners.com
After spending a summer reporting on the Latino community in Big Sky, Samantha Suazo knew one thing: Spanish speakers in Big Sky were in need of a reliable source of information. Suazo, 19, founded Notícías Montaña to connect the Hispanic population with information and with the broader community.
DIGITAL PRODUCER Tucker Harris | tucker@theoutlawpartners.com
CREATIVE ART DIRECTOR Marisa Opheim | marisa@theoutlawpartners.com SENIOR DESIGNER Trista Hillman | trista@theoutlawpartners.com
17
Splitboard event highlights women riders
20
Bringing diversity to the slopes
36
Deco & The Dusters: Irish roots take the stage for St. Patrick’s Day
GRAPHIC DESIGNER ME Brown | maryelizabeth@theoutlawpartners.com
SALES AND OPERATIONS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Megan Paulson | megan@theoutlawpartners.com CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Treston Wold | treston@theoutlawpartners.com VP OF SALES EJ Daws | ej@theoutlawpartners.com VP OF EVENTS Ennion Williams | ennion@theoutlawpartners.com VP OF MARKETING Blythe Beaubien | blythe@theoutlawpartners.com MEDIA AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Ersin Ozer | ersin@theoutlawpartners.com MARKETING COORDINATOR Sophia Breyfogle | sophia@theoutlawpartners.com VIDEO DIRECTOR, CINEMATOGRAPHER Seth Dahl | seth@theoutlawpartners.com CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIST Mira Brody | mira@theoutlawpartners.com SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Sara Sipe | sara@theoutlawpartners.com
Through an interview with Bogdan Kelichavyi, mayor of Kopychyntsi, Ukraine, EBS Editor-in-Chief Joseph T. O’Connor found human stories to connect Big Sky to a town in hardship. “Don’t watch, just act,” Kelichavyi pleaded during the interview.
On the icy slopes of Beehive Basin on March 5, more than a dozen women traversed switchbacks on splitboards, sun reflecting off the glitter on their cheeks. These 15 women were part of a month-old organization providing a chance for splitboarders of all abilities to spend time together in the backcountry in a safe learning environment.
Local nonprofit Women of Winter seeks to empower women and girls to get outside. This month, 12 skiers and snowboarders did just that when they completed PSIA-AASI Level 1 courses at Big Sky Resort to become ski and snowboard instructors.
Steeped in true Irish tradition, Deco & The Dusters will take the Tips Up stage on March 17 for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Vocalist and guitarist Declan Banko, with a strong Irish heritage, formed the band in 2014.
Opening Shot
Local renter Payton Lowery fills out her ticket for the monthly American Legion Post #99 rent assistance drawing on Tuesday, March 8. The legion has placed a can at the Big Sky Community Food Bank where customers and friends can enter the drawing to win $1,000 in rent subsidy. Read more on page 8. PHOTO BY TUCKER HARRIS
ACCOUNTING MANAGER Taylor Erickson | taylor@theoutlawpartners.com PROJECT MANAGER Eli Kretzmann | eli@theoutlawpartners.com COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Meg Koenig | mk@theoutlawpartners.com EVENTS COORDINATOR, RETAIL MANAGER Connor Clemens | connor@theoutlawpartners.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER, LOCAL SALES Patrick Mahoney | patrick@theoutlawpartners.com COPYWRITER Patrick Straub
CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Kaley Burns, Eric Dietrich, Dan Egan, Jacob W. Frank, Alanah Griffith, Adrien Sanchez Gonzalez, Courtney McNiff , Scott Mechura, Mark Squillace, Jon Tester, Cy Whitling , Todd Wilkinson, Emily Stifler Wolfe, Ross Woodhall and Dave Zinn
ON THE COVER: We stand by Ukraine. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE GASSER AND COMPOSITE BY ME BROWN
EDITORIAL POLICIES EDITORIAL POLICY Outlaw Partners, LLC is the sole owner of Explore Big Sky. EBS reserves the right to edit all submitted material. Printed material reflects the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of Outlaw Partners or its editors. EBS will not publish anything discriminatory or in bad taste. EBS welcomes obituaries written by family members or from funeral homes. To place an obituary, please submit 500 words or less to media@theoutlawpartners.com.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the editor allow EBS readers to express views and share how they would like to effect change. These are not Thank You notes. Letters should be 250 words or less, respectful, ethical, accurate, and proofread for grammar and content. We reserve the right to edit letters and will not publish individual grievances about specific businesses or letters that are abusive, malicious or potentially libelous. Include: full name, address, phone number and title. Submit to media@outlaw.partners.
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ADVERTISING DEADLINE For the March 25, 2022 issue: March 16, 2022 CORRECTIONS Please report errors to media@outlaw.partners. OUTLAW PARTNERS & EXPLORE BIG SKY P.O. Box 160250, Big Sky, MT 59716 (406) 995-2055 • media@outlaw.partners © 2022 Explore Big Sky unauthorized reproduction prohibited
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4 March 11 - 24, 2022
OPINION
Explore Big Sky
ILLUSTRATION BY CY WHITLING
O p - E d : Support for
Ukraine and democracy must be bipartisan BY JON TESTER EBS CONTRIBUTOR
As I watched Russian troops march across the Ukrainian border in an unprovoked war that immediately made the world less safe for our kids and grandkids, I thought about the words of a World War I veteran from Great Falls named Mike Mansfield, spoken in the days after Hitler invaded Poland in 1939: “Democracy—as we know it, understand it, and love it—is today facing a challenge to its continuance. This challenge must be met, met by all who believe fundamentally in the process and [who] love the freedom and the responsibilities of democracy.” What Mansfield meant is that democracy is fragile. In human history, democracies are the exception, not the rule. If we don’t defend them—if we don’t stand up for our principles of freedom, liberty and self-determination in the face of threats from dictators like Vladimir Putin—then democracy will fail. In the decades after Hitler was defeated, Mansfield became the longest serving Senate majority leader and one of the most distinguished Montanans in American history. And for nearly 80 years—many of them under Mansfield’s stewardship—the United States proudly answered the challenge from thugs like Putin. Not long ago, Montanans could count on their elected officials to come together, put country before politics and defend our nation’s core values. Supporting freedom and democracy was not a political issue when Sen. Mansfield served in the Senate. It wasn’t about left or right or Democratic or Republican—it was about America, and our role in the world. I am deeply troubled that is no longer the case, and that some politicians cower behind partisan politics and criticize our own president before they even think to rise in support of our allies. It is Congress’s job to provide accountability and oversight over the administration’s decision-making, but there is no place for naked partisanship. That doesn’t help us beat Putin—it undermines America’s leadership and makes our enemies like Russia and China stronger.
Let me be clear: There should be no reluctance to condemn Vladimir Putin as an enemy of America and of freedom around the world. There should be no indifference to an unprovoked war that jeopardizes millions of innocent lives. And there should be no hesitation in putting partisan politics aside and standing with the people of Ukraine who are fighting for a peaceful future for their children and grandchildren. I support President Biden’s unequivocal stance that we will not put American troops on the ground in Ukraine, and I believe we must remain focused on things that matter to Montanans and all Americans—like lowering the cost of gas and prescription drugs—at the same time we support our democratic partner, Ukraine. I’ve urged the president to focus on increasing development of our own natural resources like oil, gas, wind and solar, to make ourselves less dependent on foreign nations like Russia. Congress also has a role to play in defending democracy, and in the coming days we must finalize more support for our European allies. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, I have been working closely with Republicans and Democrats to craft a military and humanitarian package that supports Ukraine and strengthens the NATO alliance. My legislation will provide weapons and humanitarian aid to our friends and allies, and it will demonstrate the United States’ commitment to a free Europe and a sovereign Ukraine. I also worked with a group of Republicans and Democrats, including President Biden, to block all Russian oil and gas imports to the United States, further weakening Putin’s regime and increasing America’s energy independence. I urge my colleagues to stand with me and the people of Ukraine by passing these bills when they come up for a vote. It’s critical we put partisanship aside and defend the right of all sovereign nations to determine their future without interference from authoritarian regimes. America will always stand up to bullies who attack democracy, and I will continue to work with all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are serious about defending our core values at home and abroad, just as Sen. Mansfield did. Jon Tester is a third-generation Montana farmer from Big Sandy and is Montana’s Senior U.S. Senator.
BETTER TOGETHER A biweekly District bulletin
Project Spotlights Project: Fire Department Operations Sponsor: Big Sky Fire Department The Big Sky Fire Department (BSFD) continues to improve services to the Big Sky community while the demand for emergency and nonemergency services continues to grow. 2021 was the busiest year in the history of the department for emergency calls, inspections, and community outreach. In 2021, BSFD responded to 1187 emergency calls, reviewed 136 land use permits, 53 pre-construction safety reviews, 42 residential sprinkler inspections, 34 sprinkler plan reviews, 12 Liquor license inspections, and 10 commercial inspections. Additionally, BSFD has committed to staffing station 2 during the ski season for the past 5 years and on October 1, 2021 began staffing station 2 full time, which has had an immediate impact on lowering response times and improving emergency service delivery for our community. Learn more @ BigSkyFire.org
Project: RiverView Apartments on Lone Mountain Trail Sponsor: Big Sky Community Housing Trust Big Sky Community Housing Trust (BSCHT) is working in partnership with Lone Mountain Land Company and Blue Line Development to produce nearly 100 units of dedicated workforce housing. BSCHT was awarded $6.4M of Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit funds for the RiverView Apartment Project after a lengthy and competitive application process. The RiverView Project will continue a comprehensive, multi-year community effort to address Big Sky’s housing shortage. A portion of the project will be funded and controlled by BSCHT and other units will be funded and controlled by Lone Mountain Land Co., and the entire project will support local workers. Collaborative efforts such as this are what will help Big Sky meets the challenge of housing for our workers. The RiverView Project’s scheduled occupancy for residents is Summer 2023. Learn more @ BigSkyHousingTrust.com
Project: Emergency Food & Social Services Sponsor: Big Sky Community Food Bank Winter 2021-2022 has been unusually busy at the Big Sky Community Food Bank (BSCFB); service numbers are about 5% higher than average, as well as an increased number of customers who are in unstable or temporary housing. BSCFB continues to provide free food and social services 4 days per week, and are able to do food delivery for customers on an as-needed basis. A voucher program for groceries, gas, and bus fare is also available. The Food Bank has recently renovated to include a computer lab/print center, expanded coat room, fix-it center, and laundry in order to better support the needs of our community. Additional services include assistance on a number of federal, state, and local benefit applications including Medicaid/Medicare, SNAP, unemployment insurance, Energy Assistance, and VITA. BSCFB actively partners with a number of other Big Sky nonprofits to support emergency housing for victims of violence, Limited English speaking households, behavioral health and wellness, service navigation, and sustainability/waste reduction in Big Sky. Learn more @ BigSkyFoodBank.org All Meetings are open to the public and public comment is highly encouraged. Share comments by: • Emailing Info@ResortTax.org prior to meetings. • Attending Board meetings and making public comment in person or through Zoom. • Comments on the Facebook WILL NOT be accepted as public comment.
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OPINION
6 March 11 - 24, 2022
Editorial:
Explore Big Sky
In Ukraine, a human story
I was prepping for an interview when I heard the first explosion. Big Sky Resort ski patrol was performing avalanche control, detonating explosive charges on the hill. The blasts shook me. Three days earlier, Russia had invaded Ukraine. I thought of the chaos and terror of war. What if these explosions were Caliber cruise missiles raining down on my own town of Big Sky?
and our safety and our people. Actually, today we got news that one of the doctors who lived like 10 kilometers away from us and we knew him because he was head of the hospital, he died today actually trying to save people.
The interview was with Bogdan Kelichavyi, the 30-year-old mayor of Kopychyntsi in western Ukraine.
B.K.: He was in Kyiv. The building fell on him and that’s how he died.
EBS: Where was he?
EBS: I’m sorry to hear that. Certainly, Kyiv is seeing its share of the Russian attack right now but in your town in Kopychyntsi, you aren’t seeing specific attacks, but you are receiving air raid warnings.
In 2020, Ukraine allocated $4.3 billion to its military, about one-tenth of the amount Russia spent. Ukraine, with approximately 200,000 military personnel to Russia’s 900,000, is supremely outmanned. And they’re putting up a hell of a fight. Kelichavyi has already sent 60 of his townspeople to the front lines.
B.K.: Yeah, it’s a small town, so that’s why people are considering this a safer place, more or less. But we have air alarms like two [or] three, sometimes four times a day. Sometimes [they’re] at night. And until now we’ve been lucky but there were bombardings 100 kilometers from here, so this is like 60 miles.
It’s tragic watching the events unfold in the wake of Russia’s invasion, an unprecedented act of war against a sovereign nation. Many Americans are wondering: being so far from the conflict, what can we do to help? Where should we direct our efforts?
EBS: What are you most surprised about in terms of the resolve of the Ukrainian people?
Here at EBS, we asked ourselves the same questions. As a newspaper, we share information. This is, in fact, our responsibility. But how? We don’t have reporters on the ground in Ukraine and the conflict is being well covered by journalists around the globe. How can we tell a human story? Two days after the invasion began, I received a text message from my former editor, Emily Stifler Wolfe. She connected me with Brit Fontenot, who, through his work as Bozeman’s economic development director, had connected with Bogdan in Ukraine three years ago.
B.K.: The unity. Every day, every minute I see a person coming to my city hall or texting me and asking, “Can I help you with something? Can I help this community with something? Please register me for the self-defense unit.” Everybody is now so involved, and I’ve never imagined this kind of unity in this local society.
Mayor Bogdan Kelichavyi and his wife Mariya in his office at Kopychyntsi City Hall in
EBS: You play soccer. You’ve recently started a basketball league. Paint us a picture. What’s the town of Kopychyntsi like?
western Ukraine. PHOTO COURTESY OF BOGDAN KELICHAVYI After speaking with Bogdan and his wife B.K.: It’s a small town. I was born here Mariya, I realized there exists a human factor because it has a hospital and my parents are that we as a newspaper could tap into. Who doctors. It’s a very safe town. When you’re lives in their town? What is a typical Sunday in Kopychyntsi? Since the invasion, small, it’s your playground and all the strangers are actually watching you to help you are people still working? Going to school? How often do air raid sirens echo across because they’re like neighbors. My town is very sport oriented, and it’s a bit religious like the town square? any small town.
What I heard in the Kelichavyis’ voices was somewhere between stunned fear and heroic resolve.
“We will fight for our country,” Mariya told me. “You can take away our flag but we’re the same people; we’re no different from you.” And that’s the message Bogdan, Mariya and their fellow countrymen are desperate to share. With approximately 6,500 citizens, Kopychyntsi is about twice the size of Big Sky, Montana. Its residents hunt and spend time outdoors and it’s close to the mountains. They are no different than us. And they need help: money for medicine, blankets, food, beds for refugees pouring in from Kyiv, training. Fontenot has set up a relief account at First Security Bank in Bozeman. Checks can be made out to “Brit Fontenot – Ukrainian Relief Fund.” Money will go directly to assist the people of Kopychyntsi. Here’s an excerpt from our interview. Visit explorebigsky.com for the full conversation. – Joseph T. O’Connor Editor-in-Chief This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. --Explore Big Sky: Bogdan, you’re nine hours ahead [of Montana time and it’s 12:30 a.m. in Kopychyntsi]. This was the time you suggested: later in the evening. Why is that? Bogdan Kelichavyi: It’s less intense because during the day we are organizing a lot of processes … and it’s [takes] a lot of attention and a lot of concentration. In the evening our defense unit is watching the town so it’s much easier to talk and to be focused on one thing. EBS: I imagine you have not been able to sleep much. B.K.: Oh yeah. Even if you get the chance to sleep, there’s sirens and the air [raid] alarm … You simply cannot sleep long. There are so many things that you’re worried about. EBS: All things considered, what is your greatest concern right now? B.K.: One of the biggest concerns is we had to put on hold many things in terms of developing the town, but [on the other] hand … we should be concerned for our lives
So, the typical Sunday for my neighbors would look like they would go to church in the morning. And then after church, all the men go to play soccer. Those who cannot play, they prepare potatoes, some meat, maybe they have a little fish. So by the time we finish playing, we’ll have a little picnic. There is a forest around and we like bicycles. EBS: That sounds similar in some ways to small-town Montana. You mentioned there are a number of hunters there as well. B.K.: Yeah. We have hundreds and actually now I see the value of them because at least they have some weapons. We rely on hunters very much and try to split our units so there will be at least one or two or three hunters in any group of 10 because we don’t have any military veterans. EBS: You were telling me about Molotov cocktails. Could you talk a little about that? B.K.: We are preparing [for war] in different ways and one of the ways is [that] we know Molotov cocktails [are] very effective for fighting tanks. And it was interesting because nobody had done research about it earlier. So, we have to Google it basically. Some people started preparing a lot of them. EBS: What do you want to tell the world right now? B.K.: I would like to say that we are the same people. We have similar values. This shouldn’t be happening and the whole world should do their best to stop this war. People in free countries and democracy countries, this is not what they deserve. They just want to live their peaceful lives and we have similar healthy hobbies, similar dreams and similar future plans. EBS: Our thoughts are with you, Bogdan. We’re here and I think us being able to get the word out and be able to speak to you is a great privilege. B.K.: And thanks for those words. Don’t watch, just act. Going into the streets, join demonstrations. If you really believe in us, show your position to everybody, to your governments. We need your support. We rely on you, we will surprise you. We want to be your partners, your friends, and in case you [are in] need, we’ll be there for you as well. EBS: Thank you for your time. Stay safe.
LOCAL
7 March 11 - 24, 2022
Explore Big Sky
JOIN US THIS SUMMER FOR
Big Sky’s Biggest Week WED. JULY 13 – SUN. JULY 16 Big Sky Art Auction
FRIDAY, JULY 15
Big Sky Community Rodeo Street Dance, Town Center Avenue
TUESDAY, JULY 19 Big Sky Bingo Night
Big Sky Community Day / Mutton Bustin’
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20
Big Sky PBR Golf Tournament at Black Bull Golf Course
THURSDAY, JULY 21
Big Sky PBR Basecamp Vendor Village Open PBR Bull Riding Night 1
FRIDAY, JULY 22
Big Sky PBR Basecamp Vendor Village Open PBR Bull Riding Night 2 Live Music Following Bull Riding - TBD
SATURDAY, JULY 23
Big Sky PBR Basecamp Vendor Village Open PBR Bull Riding Night 3 Live Music Following Bull Riding, Hayes Carll
VISIT BIGSKYPBR.COM FOR TICKETS & INFORMATION BIG SKY EVENTS ARENA, BIG SKY, MONTANA
8 March 11 - 24, 2022
LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
Explore Big Sky
Housing trust announces new executive director
Amy Hunter steps up as new library director
EBS STAFF
FRIENDS OF THE BIG SKY COMMUNITY LIBRARY
BIG SKY – Big Sky Community Housing Trust announced the introduction of their new executive director, David O’Connor, on Monday, March 7. O’Connor, a longtime Big Sky resident and a previous owner of Bucks T-4 Lodge, has been involved in local housing strategies for decades, according to the housing trust’s press release.
BIG SKY – The Friends of the Big Sky Community Library are pleased to announce the promotion of librarian Amy Hunter to the role of library director of the Big Sky Community Library. Hunter has worked in the Big Sky library for over six years. She has also program managed Big Brothers Big Sisters at Big Sky School District and previously managed a nonprofit in Idaho.
O’Connor will replace the current executive director, Laura Seyfang. Seyfang has been with the housing trust from the start in 2018. She has led the organization through its formation and helped initiate programs like MeadowView Condominiums, RiverView Apartments, Rent Local and the new Good Deeds Program. Laura will be remaining in Big Sky and plans to stay active in the community. “While proud of the progress the Housing Trust has made in this critical area, I am excited and confident to have David come in and take over leadership of the organization,” Seyfang said in the release. “He brings great passion and insight to address this challenging problem.” Seyfang and O’Connor will be working together over the next months to ensure a seamless transition for the Housing Trust.
Winter Ball event to raise money for housing EBS STAFF BIG SKY – A chance to dust off black-tie apparel and support a community cause, local realtors will host a party at the end of the month to raise funds for local workforce housing efforts. What originally began as a way to appease community-expressed desires for a night to dress up and dance in Big Sky became a fundraiser for the Big Sky Community Housing Trust. Allen Potts and Matt Zaremba with Big Sky Real Estate Co. recently announced the Winter Ball, a black-tie-optional event on March 26 at 8 p.m. “It’s been an idea that we’ve tossed around for years and wanted to throw a fun party where the girls could wear cocktail dresses and guys could come in suits and ties or tuxes and listen to some music,” Zaremba said. Sponsored by Zaremba and Potts as well as 406 Agave and Big Sky Real Estate Co., the event will feature a performance by DJ Scooter from Las Vegas/San Diego and an open bar. Proceeds from tickets, which are $200 each, will be donated to the housing trust. “I just think that the business that we’re in here, we have a responsibility more than anyone else in town to give back,” Zaremba, a sales associate with Big Sky Real Estate Co., said. “…And I think right now this is the biggest thing on everyone’s mind is workforce housing.” Zaremba said those looking to contribute but not attend can sponsor another community member’s ticket. Zaremba said the goal is to raise $15,000 for the housing trust.
“The library board was very pleased to have excellent local candidates for this role and are happy to promote a longtime employee with deep knowledge of our community and our library,” Kris Corzine, Friends of the Library board chair said. “I love what the community library provides to everyone in Big Sky—a sense of community; equal access to learning, new worlds and ideas; and opportunities to grow," Hunter said. "What the library provides is vital for our community as we grow and I am excited to continue to be a part of it." The library is looking for candidates to fill the role of community librarian and will release a job requisition shortly. If interested, please send an email inquiry to librarian@ bigskylibrary.com.
Yellowstone roads close for 2022 spring plowing EBS STAFF MAMMOTH, Wyo. – On March 6, roads in Yellowstone National Park began to close to over-snow travel for spring plowing. All over-snow travel will end for the season on March 15 at 9 p.m., according to a March 7 National Park Service press release. Weather-permitting, some park roads will reopen for automobile travel April 15 at 8 a.m. Road closure dates (gate close at 9 p.m.): • March 6: Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris • March 8: Norris to Madison, Norris to Canyon Village • March 13: Canyon Village to Fishing Bridge • March 15: all remaining groomed roads The Mammoth Campground, Yellowstone General Store, Post Office, Medical Clinic, and self-serve fuel pumps stay open all year. The road from the park’s North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, through Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction to Cooke City, Montana, is open to automobiles all year, weather-permitting. At Tower Junction, self-serve fuel pumps are available all year. NPS advises visitors driving to and in the park during the spring to have flexible travel plans and prepare for changing weather conditions. Temporary travel restrictions or closures can occur at any time. Visit nps.gov/yell for more details.
To learn more about the event, visit eventbrite.com/e/big-sky-winter-ball-2022tickets-275823033117?aff=ebdssbdestsearch or email matt@bigsky.com.
American Legion Post #99 offers rent subsidy with monthly drawing EBS STAFF BIG SKY – American Legion Post #99 wants to help address housing affordability issues in Big Sky. To do so, the Big Sky post has placed a can at the Big Sky Community Food Bank for customers and friends to enter into a drawing to win $1,000 in rent subsidy. To enter, participants must prove their Big Sky residency and add their name and phone
number to a ticket. Drawings will be held every three months, with the first one taking place on March 31. “The housing crisis is a big problem in Big Sky right now, so this is an awesome opportunity for local workers to catch a break,” said Big Sky local renter Payton Lowery. “A big thank you to the American Legion and hopefully this inspires other businesses as well.” Locals can enter once per month. The $1,000 check will be written directly to the landlord on the winner’s behalf.
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10 March 11 - 24, 2022
LOCAL
Explore Big Sky
Housing trust launches deed restriction program BY BELLA BUTLER BIG SKY – While national headlines point to low inventory as one of the major drivers of a widespread housing crisis, community leaders say that isn’t entirely the case for Big Sky. The units are there, it’s just a matter of who they’re available to. A new housing trust program aims to change that. As homeowners in the area continue to transform local workforce housing into lucrative short-term rentals, the Big Sky Community Housing Trust will launch the Good Deeds program which will pay homeowners for permanent deed restrictions to curb the loss of inventory. “We have sections or parts of the community that are more appropriate for the local workforce than they really are for vacation rentals,” said Laura Seyfang, executive director of the housing trust. “And we have many parts of the community that are way better suited to be vacation rentals and not places for workers. So, we really just need to kind of rebalance things.” The Good Deeds program is modeled after the city of Vail’s InDeed program, which launched in 2017. Since then, Vail’s model has spent $11 million to purchase 162 deed restrictions and house 362 local workers.
Seyfang. Good Deeds will complement the Rent Local program by giving participants an opportunity to test the waters with Rent Local then transition to a permanent deed restriction. “Ultimately if a person is committed to this concept of creating workforce housing, we can just go for the long haul and get the permanent deed restriction,” she said. The housing trust hopes the Good Deed program will also address locals’ inability to purchase homes in Big Sky. According to housing trust data, 95 percent of recent home sales have been to nonresident buyers. Seyfang says one of the challenges keeping locals from homeownership opportunities is the cost of a down payment on increasingly expensive homes.
Between 2014 and 2017, short-term rental units in Big Sky jumped from 14 to 855, according to AirDNA data obtained by the housing trust.
The value of each deed restriction will depend on the property’s compatibility for local workforce housing, Seyfang said, pointing to factors like location and number of workers it can house. Since the housing markets in Vail and Big Sky are similar, she says deeds will likely cost around what they have in Vail—10-15 percent of the appraised home value. Like real estate values, comparables will be a big part of how the deed restriction’s value is assessed, Seyfang said, but until the housing trust is able to further establish the program, it will look to Vail’s model to help determine starting value. Between 2014 and 2017, short-term rental units in Big Sky jumped from 14 to 855, according to AirDNA data obtained by the housing trust. The housing trust launched a program last August to chip away at this challenge by offering cash incentives to landlords for renting to local workers long term. Since August, Rent Local has awarded funds to 48 properties, which are currently housing 99 local workers, according to
In Big Sky, the median cost of a single-family home in 2021 was over $2.5 million, according to a PureWest Christie’s International Real Estate market report, and the median cost of a condo was $822,000.
“What we’re ideally looking to do is not only stop the exodus of units into the vacation market in our target areas, but we also have been struggling for a while to figure out how can we get down payment assistance money to local buyers in a market rate housing climate.” Seyfang said. “…One of the things we love about this new program is if it’s the buyer that agrees to the deed restriction, they will get the cash that can then be used as their down payment assistance, which is the number one thing that prevents local people from buying.” A committee of housing trust board members and additional community members will evaluate each application for the Good Deeds program. Seyfang said housing trust general funds will kick off the program, which already has one applicant, but the organization will seek additional funding from sources including resort tax, individual donations and philanthropic gifts. “It’s not the solution, it’s one of the solutions,” Seyfang said. “But we think it’s a really necessary part for protecting the exodus of units.” EBS will continue to report on the developing Good Deed program as well as other housing challenges and solutions in the Big Sky community. To share your story, contact Managing Editor Bella Butler at bella@theoutlawpartners.com.
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12 March 11 - 24, 2022
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The bridge that unites us
Notícías Montaña brings trusted news to Spanish speakers in Big Sky, establishes equitable access to community BY BELLA BUTLER
“I have again and again learned about three crucial factors which impact the Latino experience: the power of connection, the lack of information, and the challenge of communication,” Suazo wrote in the announcement. “My conclusion from my reporting: A local information system for Spanish speakers could be the most impactful way to help Latinos succeed.”
BIG SKY – Since learning her first word of English, Samantha Suazo has been serving the Spanish speakers in Big Sky by connecting them with information. Seven years after learning those first words, she’s built a trusted news source she hopes can be the foundation for more connection, not only to information, but to community. Proportionately, Big Sky’s Hispanic population exceeds that of both Madison and Gallatin counties as well as the state, yet Suazo learned through individuals’ stories that this population was underserved in Big Sky when it came to communication. Suazo launched Notícías Montaña, or Mountain News, in 2020 to provide the Latino community in Big Sky and the greater Gallatin County with news, connect them with resources and tell their stories. Suazo, now 19 and a senior at Lone Peak High School, moved with her parents from Honduras to the U.S. in 2014, first to New York and eventually to Big Sky. As a 12-year-old, it was the first time she was surrounded by people who didn’t speak her native tongue. “Once I arrived here, it became my goal to learn to speak English because my parents didn’t know how to speak English,” she said. “Somehow we had to get around town and I was the only one in school. So, it was kind of my responsibility to become that connection for my family to the outside world.”
Today, Suazo estimates that Notícías Montaña reaches 2,000 readers, delivering news written in Spanish on community resources, events and individuals. By providing Spanish readers access to the same news English readers have, Suazo believes that Notícías Montaña is uniting all parts of Big Sky through common news that impacts everyone.
“
I think that specifically here in Big Sky, this is one of the things as a community we’re trying to establish [is] that everybody is part of the community, we’re all welcome here, and Notícías Montaña has also served as the bridge to unite both of us together.
”
–Samantha Suazo, founder of Notícías Montaña
Renata Garrett, who is originally from Mexico City but has lived in Big Sky now for five years, is one of Notícías Montaña’s loyal readers. “[For] a lot of the communities, it’s the way they know what’s happening here,” Garrett said. “All the programs, the great advice, the great news. So yeah, it’s important for the Spanishspeaking community.” Garrett currently works at the Big Sky School District as a liaison between the school and parents who don’t speak English. Recently, Garrett vpartnered with Suazo to translate the school’s newsletter to Spanish and publish it in Notícías Montaña.
As she learned English, Suazo quickly became a resource for other Spanish speakers in Big Sky, translating in court rooms, at the school and the hospital, among other places, not out of obligation but out of service.
This addition has looped Spanish-speaking families, Garrett said, into important dates and events at the school they may otherwise have been unaware of.
“Everywhere I went I would also serve a bigger community … get around and really try to get through the needs that they have,” she said. “Once I started speaking the first word of English and started using it … it became kind of like a growing community around me that needed more help.”
In addition to creating Notícías Montaña, Suazo also started a Spanish club at the high school as well as an initiative called GLAM, or Great Leaders Achieving More, which collects clothing donations on an annual basis to send back to Honduras.
In 2020, Suazo took an internship at the Lone Peak Lookout through the Big Sky Youth Corps. Over the course of a summer, she was charged with identifying an underrepresented community within Big Sky to report on. For two months, Suazo told stories for and about Big Sky’s Hispanic community, reporting on everything from immigration experiences to profiles to translation resources.
This spring, Suazo will graduate from LPHS vand plans to continue her studies in college but is undecided where. She and the Notícías Montaña’s editor, local Barbara Rowley, are currently working on what the future of Notícías Montaña will look like, but Suazo hopes she’s built a solid foundation with the work she’s started. More so, she hopes she’s inspired the Spanish-speaking community in Big Sky.
In connecting with these sources during the reporting process, she began asking people where they got their information. Their response: they didn’t know. “From that, I realized, wow, there’s a lack of information and that’s a real problem,” she said. In November 2020, Suazo published a story in the Lookout announcing the creation of Notícías Montaña.
“I think that specifically here in Big Sky,” she said, “this is one of the things as a community we’re trying to establish [is] that everybody is part of the community, we’re all welcome here, and Notícías Montaña has also served as the bridge to unite both of us together.”
Samantha Suazo, the founder of Notícías Montaña, poses for a photo. PHOTO BY ADRIEN SANCHEZ GONZALEZ
“People have seen that … anything is possible if you really put your mind to it,” she said,” [and that] has served as an example for other Latinos, other Spanish speakers who have arrived here in the community, to do the same.”
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14 March 11 - 24, 2022
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Lone Mountain Land Company to provide space for nonprofits to occupy former American Bank ground floor YELLOWSTONE CLUB COMMUNITY FOUNDATION BIG SKY – The Yellowstone Club Community Foundation recently finalized a lease agreement that will build capacity within our local not-for-profit sector by providing much needed office space for several Big Sky nonprofit organizations in the community. Lone Mountain Land Company leased the 3,000-square-foot ground floor of its former American Bank building at 1700 Lone Mountain Trail to YCCF, which, in turn, will outfit the space with furniture and equipment to serve as a co-working Social Impact Hub for local nonprofits. LMLC is funding the buildout of the space and subsidizing 100 percent of the rent for all of the nonprofits. The office space is part of the new RiverView development project that also includes workforce housing. Approximately half of the ground floor will be home to a new program of YCCF; The Big Sky thrift store and the other half will be used as dedicated and shared office space for a handful of our local nonprofit partners, including but not limited to: Gallatin River Task Force; Montana Land Reliance; Sustainability Network Organization; Wellness in Action (formerly Women in Action); Eagle Mount; Gallatin Invasive Species Association; Professional Ski Instructors of America; Morningstar Learning Center; Moonlight Community Foundation; and Spanish Peaks Community Foundation. “Nonprofit organizations have a difficult time finding affordable office space to operate out of in Big Sky, with so little commercial space available,” Ciara Wolfe, vice president of Philanthropy at YCCF said. “We’re thrilled that Lone Mountain Land Company is making this space available, giving the thrift store and others a place to call home as they work to fulfill their mission and enhance opportunities in the community. This shared working space not only frees up funding for these groups to focus on direct program services, but also creates an environment of collaboration and innovation by bringing the groups together under one roof, therefore we are referring to it as our Social Impact Hub.” “We’re thankful YCCF has taken the lead on this initiative and we are happy to support these local nonprofits,” Matt Kidd, managing director of LMLC said. “Community
engagement is an integral part of our company’s values – we are constantly looking for other opportunities to help make Big Sky a vibrant and sustainable place to live and work.” LMLC closed on the former American Bank property in late 2020 and is collaborating with the Big Sky Community Housing Trust to develop a new workforce housing complex on the property as part of a comprehensive, multiyear community effort to address Big Sky’s housing shortage. The new RiverView development project will offer affordable rental units exclusively for local workers. The development will include 100 rental units, with one-, two- and threebedroom apartments, as well as shared living suites. Since closing on the property, LMLC has allowed the Big Sky Community Housing Trust to use the ground floor of the former American Bank building for its office and the Big Sky Resort Area District to use the building’s drive-thru as a community COVID test distribution and collection site, both rent-free. Buildout of the new office space is expected to begin soon, with nonprofit organizations moving in this summer. About Yellowstone Club Community Foundation Yellowstone Club Community Foundation founded in 2010 connects our members and community through programs that promote philanthropy, volunteerism, and capacity building for local organizations that are addressing the area’s greatest needs. For more information, visit yellowstoneclubfoundation.org About Lone Mountain Land Company Lone Mountain Land Company was formed in 2014 by CrossHarbor Capital Partners to manage the planning, entitlement, building, marketing, operations and the sale of premier real estate in and around Big Sky, Montana. Today, LMLC is focused on the world-class hospitality, residential, and ski and golf clubs of Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, Moonlight Basin, and additional projects worldwide. For more information, visit lonemountainland.com.
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15 March 11 - 24, 2022
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Tax data says California and Washington were the top origin states for new Montana residents in 2020 Data culled from state tax filings provides hard-number look at how pandemic-era migration is bringing new residents to Montana BY ERIC DIETRICH
The study indicates new arrivals in 2020 had significantly higher incomes on average than existing Montana residents: about $110,000 for new arrivals versus about $82,000 for current residents.
MONTANA FREE PRESS
HELENA – California, Washington and Colorado are the top states of origin for people who moved to Montana in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to tax filing data presented to a legislative interim committee this week. The study, produced by the Legislative Fiscal Division in an effort to understand how migration patterns will affect the state’s long-term tax revenues, provides some of the first-available hard data on pandemic-era migration trends. Widespread anecdotal evidence already indicates that the pandemic and a subsequent shift toward remote work has brought waves of new arrivals to Montana, bolstering local economies and driving up housing prices across the state. The fiscal analyst who prepared the study, Sam Schaefer, also used the tax form data to identify where in the state new taxpayers are moving and compare the incomes of new and existing Montanans. In total, partial-year residents moving into Montana filed 18,077 state tax forms, compared to 11,416 forms filed by residents who left the state over the course of the year — a net gain of 6,661 filers. Because many taxpayers file on behalf of other people in their household, that figure is probably lower than the total number of people who moved into Montana in 2020. Citing non-tax-filing data, the report says Montana’s population grew by 1.1 percent overall in 2020 and is thought to have accelerated to “extremely strong” 1.6 percent population growth in 2021. The tax data study’s key takeaways include the following: MOST NEW MONTANANS ARE COMING FROM THE WEST COAST AND COLORADO Of Montana’s new tax filers in 2020, the greatest share, about 2,500, came from California. Washington and Colorado were also major states of origin, followed by Oregon and other states in the western U.S. Montanans who moved out of state were most likely to head to Washington, followed by Idaho and Arizona.
In contrast, the median income for new arrivals, $42,557, was lower than the median for current residents, a statistical quirk that indicates the average figures may be skewed upward GRAPHIC COURTESY OF MONTANA LEGISLATIVE FISCAL DIVISION by high earners. The study says the top 10 percent of new residents had an average income of about $599,000—nearly double the average income reported by the equivalent slice of Montana’s highest income earners. The median income for existing Montana residents in 2020 was about $50,000. Those figures represent federal adjusted gross income, which includes capital gains and business income in addition to wages, and is sometimes adjusted downward to account for things like retirement contributions or student loan interest. THERE’S LITTLE EVIDENCE THAT NEW ARRIVALS ARE PAYING A ‘SCENERY TAX’ Montana’s wages, which are comparatively low by national standards, have long been discussed as a sort of “scenery tax” that residents pay in exchange for the pleasure of living amid world-class landscapes. The tax study, however, indicates that may be a thing of the past for new arrivals. Montana taxpayers who arrived in 2019 and stayed in the state through 2020 typically didn’t see their annual income decrease, the study notes. Instead they saw it increase—by 5 percent for working-age residents, who earned almost $74,000 on average in 2020. “They came here and got similar-paying jobs or they brought their jobs with them. It wasn’t a scenario where they took a 10 percent pay cut to live in Montana,” Schaefer said.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTHWEST MONTANA ARE SEEING THE MOST IN-MIGRATION ON A PERCENTAGE BASIS Montana’s urban centers— GRAPH COURTESY OF MONTANA LEGISLATIVE FISCAL DIVISION counties encompassing Bozeman, Kalispell, Missoula, Billings and Helena—saw the most in-migration in terms of absolute numbers in 2020. On a percentage basis, however, the picture is slightly different. Gallatin County, including Bozeman, ranked highest in the state with 5.2 percent growth in tax filings in 2020. Behind it were Madison County, including Ennis and the Yellowstone Club (4.8 percent growth), and Flathead County, which includes Kalispell and Whitefish (4.5 percent growth).
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF MONTANA LEGISLATIVE FISCAL DIVISION
While Montana’s pandemic-era migration trends continued into 2021, similar tax data for last year isn’t currently available because many residents haven’t yet filed their 2021 taxes. Schaefer said this week that he expects 2021 data to be available in late fall. The full Legislative Fiscal Division study is available at leg.mt.gov/content/publications/ fiscal/2023-Interim/March-2022/mara-march-2022.pdf GRAPHIC COURTESY OF MONTANA LEGISLATIVE FISCAL DIVISION
Several rural counties in northwest Montana saw high growth rates as well: Sanders (4.4 percent), Lincoln (4.3 percent) and Mineral (4.3 percent). Those northwest Montana counties also stood out as the top-ranked counties in the state for growth specific to taxpayers over the age of 65. AT LEAST SOME NEW ARRIVALS ARE HIGH EARNERS The amount of wealth flowing into Montana with new arrivals has been a particular point of concern in discussions about pandemic migration, particularly among residents worried about income inequality and new arrivals outbidding existing residents for limited housing supplies.
This story is published by Montana Free Press as part of the Long Streets Project, which explores Montana’s economy with in-depth reporting. This work is supported in part by a grant from the Greater Montana Foundation, which encourages communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. Discuss MTFP’s Long Streets work with Lead Reporter Eric Dietrich at edietrich@montanafreepress.org. Eric Dietrich is a journalist and data designer and the founder of the Long Streets economic reporting project. His reporting focuses broadly on Montana’s governance and economic opportunity, with particular focus on the state budget and tax policy. He also contributes data reporting across the MTFP newsroom. Before joining the MTFP staff in 2019, he worked for the Great Falls Tribune, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, and Solutions Journalism Network and also earned an engineering degree from Montana State University. Contact Eric at edietrich@ montanafreepress.org, (406) 465-3386 ext. 2, and follow him on Twitter.
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17 March 11 - 24, 202
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SECTION 2: ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS Bringing diversity to the slopes pg. 20
Governor’s killing of collared Yellowstone wolf and cougar are matters of public interest pg. 31
The Way I Ski It: The Snowcat Operator pg. 24
The riders who participated in the women's splitboard ride day on March 5 pose at the top of a slope in Beehive Basin before descending. PHOTO BY COURTNEY MCNIFF
Splitboard event creates ‘safe, open environment’ for women riders BY BELLA BUTLER
Earlier at the trailhead, carloads of women spilled out into a pile of gear and glitter. While some were well-rehearsed at rigging up a splitboard, others eyed their climbing skins and detachable bindings with trepidation.
BIG SKY – It may not often be graceful, but splitboarding is beautiful for its rhythm. Without trying, the back-and-forth movement of climbing skins on snow falls into harmony with the breeze, the birds, the creek, the song of the backcountry.
Yvonne Leung from Bozeman scanned the group nervously, looking for a place to start with her demo set-up. Madeline Thunder, an experienced splitboarder from Big Sky, noticed Leung’s confusion and extended a helping hand.
Today, our song is loud. Fourteen women glide behind me on Beehive Basin Trail, huffing breaths finding the rhythm of the splitboard. We’ve painted our faces with glitter, and a radiant March sun bounces off the sparkles on our cheeks and onto the crusty snow. This area hasn’t seen a decent storm in weeks, and a melt-freeze cycle has created less-than-variable conditions. But today isn’t about getting the best turns. It’s about cultivating community. About a month after launching, Bozeman-based organization Sisters in Split organized this women’s ride day for March 5, its first in-person opportunity to effectuate its mission to “empower women through sisterhood and safe travel through the mountains via splitboard,” according to its founder, Mati Tressler.
“Bring your stuff over here,” Thunder beckoned. Thunder gave Leung one end of the folded skin and the women laughed as they muscled the glue apart.
Lily Kerlin learns how to transition her splitboard from climbing to descending mode. PHOTO BY COURTNEY MCNIFF
A report published by Outdoor Foundation in 2021 found that women’s participation in outdoor recreation continues to trail behind men.
The ride day was part of the sixth annual Bozeman Splitfest, a multiday event and fundraiser for the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. Splitfest presents the broader Bozeman community with gear demos, clinics and raffles.
“Despite significant industry efforts to address gender disparities,” the report reads, “for the last eight years females have represented just 46 percent of outdoor participants, even though 51 percent of Americans were female.” In 2020, the figure grew slightly to 48 percent.
This year, Pallas Snowboards, a women’s splitboard manufacturer based in Salt Lake City, offered demos, allowing more women without current access to splitboarding gear to participate in the ride day. The Montana State University chapter of Backcountry Squatters, a nonprofit that works to create networks of college-aged women interested in outdoor recreation, also supported the ride day by rallying participants from its community. Becca Ritter, co-owner of Bozeman-based splitboard binding company Spark R&D, also attended the ride day and helped riders get acquainted with the features of Spark gear.
Soon, everyone was buckled into their boards and ready to step onto the trail. The variability in the group revealed itself during introductions. Women of all ages and abilities had turned out, some looking for mentorship, some looking for new partners, all seeking connection.
While such splitboard-specific stats are hard to come by, a comparable gender gap is apparent. At the trailhead, I joked with Thunder about feeling surprised to learn of other women splitboarders, like one of the last surviving members of a dwindling species finding its herd.
Riders practice kick turns on switch backs up a meadow in Beehive Basin. PHOTO BY COURTNEY MCNIFF
Many of the ride-day participants said one barrier to splitboarding was the intense environment they had previously experienced recreating in maledominated groups.
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Leading the climb, Thunder reached a felled pine tree crossing our path. In a choppy series of skillful movements, she hoisted herself over the obstacle and into the meadow. Next in line, I turned around to face the group, worry flooding my system. Splitboarding, even when performed by the most experienced riders, can be awkward. When your board is split down the middle, the center cut creates only a partial edge, making it more difficult to cut into the side of a slope. Not to mention you have riders used to mounting a single plank fumbling with their legs apart. For the riders behind me braving their first day on this gear, I worried this challenging maneuver would be overwhelming. “Maybe it’s better they get a full taste of splitboarding now,” Thunder said from the meadow, the hint of a smile softening the nervous look in her eye. Without instruction, the women one by one began scaling the obstacle and filling into the meadow. Courtney McNiff, whom Tressler describes as SIS’s “official hype woman” stayed behind to support each rider as they navigated the challenge. Rather than gripes and groans, the only sounds that floated up from the trees were laughter and expressions of gratitude. As each rider triumphed into the meadow, they shot their fists in the air and soaked up the whooping praise from the rest of the group.
Kate Colgan (left) and Sarah Schustler-Johnson from Salt Lake City cruise over the crusty snow. PHOTO BY COURTNEY MCNIFF
“I’ve only been with groups of skiers or my boyfriend who’s super hardcore about touring,” said Emily Heaton, a ride day participant and student at Montana State University. “It’s just such a different energy and vibe, because it’s like, ‘I need to keep up, I need to do what he does,’ kind of thing. And there’s just a little bit more pressure.” Tressler, the founder of SIS, splitboarded for the first time during last year’s Bozeman Splitfest. She was immediately hooked but just as soon realized the sport would be especially tough to get into as a woman. “It seemed hard to find mentorship and find other ladies that were willing to take me out and have it be a more fun environment to learn,” Tressler said. “I just decided that since there’s not resources for lady splitboarders, why not create [them]?”
One of the first-time riders, Katie Olson, said the support she felt from the whole crew overcame what she called the “stigma of sucking.” “It was better than expected and [a] very uniquely safe, open environment for people to put themselves out there,” Olson said. “If everybody had an environment like this, it’d be so easy to try something new.”
That sense of safety and acceptance, many of the women later shared, helped them reflect on what they sought in their backcountry experience. “It’s such a male-dominated industry,” said Sid Garrido, Pallas’ event coordinator and board shaper who joined the ride day, “that they’ve defined the standard of what is fun or what is good.” “And what does ‘send it’ mean,” another rider chimed in. “It’s so rad to see women first step up to fill that space and define what it is for themselves,” Garrido continued.
Tressler launched SIS on Instagram and began building a network of women looking for connection and learning opportunities within the sport. The ride day was SIS’s first time bringing its social media network into physical being.
On the ride down, we enjoyed a few punchy turns and then experimented with the dreaded splitboard out on the flats. Back at the parking lot, the crew was already making plans for the next ride day. To the new riders, I asked: “What’s next?”
A mile or so into the tour, we picked a low-angle slope in an open meadow and began our ascent. To get to the meadow, we crossed a creek and scaled a heavily treed slope.
“I want to go tomorrow,” Olson shouted as everyone nodded their heads. “I want to do this every day.”
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20 March 11 - 24, 2022
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Scholarship recipients, Women of Winter representatives and PSIA examiners gather at the Big Sky Resort base area ahead of their second prep day. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE GASSER
Bringing diversity to the slopes
Local nonprofit hosts BIPOC scholarship in Big Sky BY GABRIELLE GASSER
According to a PSIA-AASI Member Survey Report from 2020, 87 percent of the organization’s membership was Caucasian/ white, and 70 percent of the membership was male. Representation of each of the other races and ethnicities, male and female, was reported at 2 percent or lower.
BIG SKY – The smiles were wide and the excitement was palpable as six women practiced side-slipping down Tippy’s Tumble at Big Sky Resort to better understand one of the five fundamentals of skiing. Though they were prepping for an Alpine Level I exam, these women were still able to have some fun and enjoy each other’s company as they asked questions, swapped stories and learned what it takes to teach a ski lesson. These women were part of a cohort of 12 Black women, Indigenous women and other women of color to receive scholarships from local nonprofit Women of Winter and the Professional Ski Instructors of America and American Association of Snowboard Instructors to obtain their PSIA-AASI Alpine or Snowboard Level I certification at Big Sky Resort this month. Between March 5-8, these six skiers and six riders completed two prep days and two exam days.
Participants practice gliding on one ski as part of a beginner teaching progression. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE GASSER
This year’s recipients were fully equipped with necessary gear, lift tickets and female examiners. “These women are awesome, because they’re all changemakers, they’re all leaders,” Walch said, “and so by giving this opportunity, I think it’s going to be really exciting because they’re going to bring that level of motivation and energy into snow sports.”
The Women of Winter BIPOC PSIAAASI Level 1 Course and Exam Scholarship program started last season as an Alpine Level I scholarship with the help of the PSIA-AASI Northern Rocky Mountain Division. Women of Winter Founder Chris Walch saw a need for a space where women in snow sports could own their education. She named several reasons why this scholarship is important including creating community, providing education and breaking barriers to entry.
On the snow on March 6, the stoke was high as six women and their PSIA alpine instructor, Shelby Rogala, worked through the five fundamentals of skiing. “It’s really nice to learn in this space because I feel like you can really be vulnerable,” said participant Julia Syi. “…You can really just focus on learning; you don’t have to prove yourself or maintain a certain presentation…I think it’s a good space to grow.”
This season, the program awarded a total of 30 scholarships for the Level 1 course and exam completed across four different resorts. “We had that first crew of six women at Big Sky last year, all women of color, and it was really transformational for them,” Walch said. “Almost all of them said that that was the first time they’d ever been in a group of just women of color and having it be where they didn’t have to explain themselves.”
“Hosting the Women of Winter program is a small, but important, piece in increasing inclusivity in snow sports,” wrote Christine Baker, vice president of mountain sports at Big Sky Resort in an email to EBS. “It’s a ripple effect—each participant improves skills and creates connections which they will use going forward to bring (and keep) more BIPOC women into snow sports.”
Participant Stephanie Lampkin practices skiing in a wedge. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE GASSER
Women of Winter was born in the winter of 2018 when Walch, who ski instructs at the Yellowstone Club, stood at her locker talking with two talented women who were carving their own paths through the snow sports industry. She became inspired to put on a talk that featured stories of women who didn’t follow traditional paths and instead paved their own way.
21 March 11 - 24, 202
ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS
Explore Big Sky
From there, her idea bloomed into a nonprofit organization with the mission of empowering women to get outside and follow their own paths. “We realized there was a need in the community, like a hunger in the community, for these stories of women that are really dominating in a sport where they’re not front and center all the time or where they’re not a huge part of the demographic,” Walch said. Now in its fourth year, Women of Winter has expanded to offering three different scholarships and has touched the lives of women across the country. Not only have the scholarship opportunities provided education and the ability for more women of color to enter the snow sports industry, but they have also created lasting bonds and community that recipients value long after clicking out of their skis. All but one of the scholarship recipients from last year returned to Big Sky this year to reunite and meet the new cohort.
Participant Julia Syi wears a wide smile as she listens to Instructor Shelby Rogala. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE GASSER
“We would have never imagined that a group of strangers would be able to come together from all over the country and be able to really form a bond that’s as solid as ours,” said Bree Jameson, a recipient from last year. Hailing from Texas, Jameson, a mother of 11-year-old twins, started her own community initiative called MORE outside. Minorities in Outdoor Recreation and Education seeks to reduce the barriers that prevent women and people of color from accessing the outdoors. She applied to the Women of Winter scholarship to further her mission.
“Our main goal is to make snow sports as welcoming and as inclusive and as equitable as possible,” Walch said. “For me, that really means bringing leaders in that can help with that change because the more of us there are that are pushing for it, the harder it is for us to ignore. And it can’t just be a small crew doing it there needs to be a lot of us really trying to affect change.” During the last chairlift ride before lunch, half of the scholarship class discussed their upcoming exam and everything they’d already learned in the whirlwind prep days. The women agreed that this opportunity will be a game-changer as more women of color are represented in the mountains.
“Being in a learning environment with folks that are teaching you, that understand where you’ve Rogala demonstrates a sideslip. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE GASSER been and where you’re going to go,” said Jameson, “I value all of the knowledge and experience “and then being surrounded by others that come that has come together with women that from all different walks of life, but all still face look like me, that are women that have some of the same obstacles and access barriers to access all of those things was similarities,” said participant Yolanda Carlton. “And our commonality is we’re just so amazing.” all women of color, black, indigenous people of color that want to see more inclusion and diversity on the mountain.” Another scholarship alumna, Alyssa Gonzalez, returned as well and now serves as the diversity, equity and inclusion and communications lead for Women She added that she’ll be able to bring what she’s learned back to her own of Winter. community in Washington D.C. and show her friends and family that they too belong in the mountains. Walch says she hopes the women participating in these scholarships find community and gain a valuable education which they can then share with others.
Six women listen attentively to Rogala as she goes over the fundamentals. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE GASSER
22 March 11 - 24, 2022
ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS
Explore Big Sky
Q&A: “Thirty Years in a White Haze” with Dan Egan BY GABRIELLE GASSER
sailing solo, sailing all up and down the coast of Boston, and Massachusetts. The only thing my mom would tell me on the way out the door was, “Be home for dinner.” And as long as I was home for dinner, everything was good.
BIG SKY – After looking death in the face on Russia’s Mount Elbrus in 1990, extreme skier Dan Egan emerged from a historic blizzard with a new perspective and a new lease on life. Now decades later, Egan’s new book, “Thirty Years in a White Haze,” chronicles his life at the forefront of extreme skiing as well as his personal and family history.
EBS: Do you have any advice for young athletes today looking to follow a similar path? D.E.: Athletes ask me all the time for advice and I always tell them, “What are you doing that’s different from the other ones? You all dress the same. You all ski the same. I can’t tell you apart. I don’t know who’s doing what trick. I can’t even tell you what tricks you’re doing. And so how are you going to do this and be different? And do it in a way that people are interested? What’s the story behind what you’re doing? Why should I care that you can spin five times and grab your tails, tell me why I care.”
Egan, 58, hails from the East Coast and has traveled the world seeking adventure and skiing in places with fraught geopolitical landscapes including the Berlin Wall and the border of Iraq and Turkey. He has appeared in more than a dozen Warren Miller films and was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2016. On March 16, Egan will present his new book at the Big Sky Community Library from 5-7 p.m. He will tell stories, answer questions and sign book copies for attendees.
Instead of just thinking that’s the coolest thing ever, most of the audience is completely bored by it. They don’t know what it is. So, unless you tell me what it is, I’m never going to know. The benefit of our career was the VCR and the VHS tape. Our videos lived in people’s homes for 10 or 15 years. And people watched them when they worked out, they watched them when they went to their ski condo and they watched them when they get psyched for the fall. People still quote to me those movies. But you don’t do that with YouTube, you don’t do that with Instagram. You don’t rewatch it. You might look at it, but then it’s gone. And although the opportunity is there for more exposure, it’s not there for longevity. I think the kids need to figure that out. They need to be able to produce something that somebody is interested in and is going to be emotionally attached to. We did that by going to the Berlin Wall. We did that by going to ski with the Kurds during the Persian Gulf War at the border of Iraq and Turkey. That’s something people could get into. It wasn’t that we were going to ski crazy mountains, we did that too, but we did it under the guise of hey, here’s why we’re here. And I think most of the kids don’t understand that.
Extreme skier Dan Egan has appeared in more than a dozen Warren Miller films and was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2016. He will be presenting his new book “Thirty Years in a White Haze” at the Big Sky Community Library on March 16. PHOTO COURTESY OF DEGAN MEDIA
Ahead of the book-signing event, EBS sat down with Egan to learn more about “Thirty Years in a White Haze.” Below are his answers and anecdotes, a sneak preview of what is to come at the event. Some answers below have been edited for brevity and clarity. Explore Big Sky: What inspired you to write “Thirty Years in a White Haze?” Dan Egan: The Mount Elbrus disaster in Russia where 15 people died, people had always asked me if I would write about that. A lot of disaster stories end with the disaster, but for me, my entire adult life started after that disaster. Everything I’ve done in the last 30-plus years has been based on the experience of being lost in that storm for 32 hours. I had always thought that one day I would write a book from that perspective that really was the beginning of my adult life, not the end of it. EBS: Tell me about the process of writing your book. D.E.: Yeah, I mean, I had started the book, I wrote the outline, and I wrote the chapters down and table of contents and had all that sort of thing going on. And then my co-author Eric Wilbur and I both write for The Boston Globe, and he had approached me back in 2016, if I wanted to do a book and I said, “I’m already doing it,” and then I realized now I could use some help. So, I gotta call him back and once Eric got involved we had deadlines and accountability with one another and that moved the process along. …We wanted to do a story that was as open as possible and for me the ties to family was super important and the roles that growing up in a family with seven kids played. The age differences between John and I, six years, really we’re practically a generation apart, and we’re different people, and that led to sometimes conflict and sometimes not. EBS: Do you have a favorite anecdote or a favorite part of the book? D.E.: Well, I have a few sections that, for me, are pretty cool sections. I think the stuff around growing up in such a big family and what the house was like, the chaotic nature of that house, and how my mom and dad sort of fostered independence and individualism through that. Nothing was ever really standardized. The whole family didn’t have to do one thing. If my brother wanted to go play baseball, he went to play baseball. If I wanted to go sailing, I went sailing. But it wasn’t like they drove us to those things. For me to go sailing in the summer I had to walk a quarter mile to the trolley station, take the trolley to the train, take the train to the bus, walk a mile to the yacht club. I started doing that when I was 7 years old. By the time I was 10 and 12 I was
EBS: What do you hope that readers get out of or take away from your book? D.E.: I hope they see that when you commit to a passion and a lifestyle there’s gives and takes, right, you can’t have it all. So, what are you willing to risk? What are you willing to do? What are you willing to survive, to make it happen? I say that skiing, saved me and almost killed me at the same time. And for me I knew that going in and I was willing to survive it and stick with it all these years. I can give you countless examples of people who chose otherwise for whatever other reasons they wanted to. I think to see it from that point of view that this is something that if you commit to it, passion, and you lock in, wild things can happen. …What people tell me they take away is the connection to family. They take away the commitment to always having to reinvent myself. There hasn’t just been one job. If I didn’t have the video distribution company, I would have probably never had a ski career. EBS: Anything else that you would add or want people to know about your book? D.E.: I think the Mount Elbrus disaster really brings forward some ideas about the bright light and the idea about guardian angels and how that spiritual piece plays a role in our lives if we allow it. When I’m freezing to death in the snow cave and the angels are saying, “follow me,” I interpret that they want me to go to heaven. But in in hindsight, years later, I came to realize they did exactly what they said they would do, they would find my way through the crevasses and snowfields and rescue three people. I have come now to realize that that’s what they were going to do. They were there to lead the way back home. And my mom wanted me home for dinner.
23 March 11 - 24, 202
ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS
Explore Big Sky
Returning to the place of my youth BY DAN EGAN EBS COLUMNIST
What I love about skiing is it returns me to the place of my youth. From the moment I step into my boards and push off toward the lift, my inner child comes alive. “What adventures will I find?” “Who will I see or meet on the slopes?” “What magic will the day bring?” All of these thoughts bombard my mind, my heart starts to pump faster and I become jittery on the ride up like a kid in the back seat of the car. “Are we there yet?” Over the years I’ve had to learn to calm myself down. I refer to the first run as the “morning glide.” It’s simply a run to welcome in the day, feel the chill in the air, and gain a sense of the snow under my skis. It’s a chance to say hello to the day and to my body as I glide down the mountainside. I’m not trying to over glorify the scene, just set the stage for the day. On the first run of the morning, I like to do the following to set up for a day of great skiing. Never overthink the first run. It’s a judgment-free run and it’s not about performance. Regardless of the conditions—firm, soft, powder, groomed—the goal is to just glide. While gliding, make big, long, sweeping turns and resist the urge to carve and accelerate. Just feel the day, find a rhythm, and breathe in the morning air. When it comes to your ski boots, leave them a bit loose to start with. Let your foot work its way into the liner. Keeping the boots slightly loose will also enhance the blood flow to your feet, which will keep them warmer and allow them to be more reactive as the day progresses. The rule of thumb for boots is to buckle them tighter throughout the day, but don’t over tighten them and cut off circulation. Many people crank their boots up tight and then have to unbuckle them between runs. This is counterproductive. If you’re having trouble getting a comfortable fit, see a boot fitter right away.
Dan Egan skis in Engelberg, Switzerland. PHOTO BY ROSS WOODHALL
The main goal on the morning glide is to wake up your senses. Wave your arms, twist your torso, flex your knees deep in the turns and extend way up in the transitions. This is your morning stretch, a meditative flowing yoga as you slide down the slope. Often if I feel stiff or sore in my lower back or maybe my hamstrings are tight, I’ll stop and stretch on the side of the hill, concentrating on the specific areas of the body that are asking for attention. I tend to stop a few more times than normal on the opening run of the day, just to remind myself not to rush and to ensure a good, solid warm-up run. There’s a lot of pressure, especially on the good snow days, to hurry and grab as much of the fresh snow as possible and I fully understand that. However, I typically resist the temptation and often go in the opposite direction of the herd to find my own fresh tracks elsewhere. I select slopes that have good snow but are wide open so my turns can flow, and I have space to focus on my breathing and movement. If you find yourself trying to keep up with the pack, focus even more on breathing and lengthening the turn as this conserves energy and allows you to lose the vertical, which will allow you to keep up. The morning glide for me is my time, my pace, and it creates the dynamic that sets up the entire day. It’s as important to me as the first cup of coffee. Often it feels so good I’ll head right back to the top to do it all over again. And as each run gains momentum throughout the day, I start to rev up performance, increase speed, tighten up the turns, set the edges, and let it rip, always chasing the joy of the day. On the chairlift rides I gaze at the surrounding peaks and let my mind wander, often images of my siblings come into view, or time spent with my dad on the slopes. Yes, from the early morning glide to the late afternoon runs, skiing returns me to the place of my youth and I plan to go back again and again. Extreme skiing pioneer Dan Egan coaches and teaches at Big Sky Resort during the winter. His 2022 steeps camps at Big Sky Resort run Feb. 24-26, March 10-12 and March 17-19. His newest book, “Thirty Years in a White Haze,” was released in March 2021 and is available at White-Haze.com. Visit Dan-Egan.com to preorder “All Terrain Vol. II.”
24 March 11 - 24, 2022
ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS
Explore Big Sky
The Way I Ski It: The Snowcat Operator
After 34 years, Ed Seth is the 'Zen-like father-figure' of Lone Mountain grooming BY EMILY STIFLER WOLFE
Sometimes it snows so hard, Seth turns off all the lights and drives by the contour of the ground and diffused light from the base area.
EBS CONTRIBUTOR
What it Takes: on any given day, it takes approximately 935 people with a wide array of skills and knowledge to make Big Sky Resort run. Together, these individuals form a complex, agile human machine that is constantly adjusting to changing conditions. This series chronicles “what it takes” to operate the resort through the eyes of some of these people.
“I’ve had vertigo more than once, where I couldn’t tell if I was moving forward or backward.” If there’s loose snow on a sidehill, you can get pulled into a gully and have to get winched out. But the most serious deal is clearing the Duck Walk, a snowcat-width road with a precipitous dropoff on one side and the 1,500-foot avalanche paths of Lenin and Marx above it. Only the most experienced operators get that job.
The headlights reflect off the snowy mountainside and falling flakes, bright white against the inky black night. With his right hand, Ed Seth toggles the joystick on the snowcat, lifting the tiller so it floats on the snow, instead of digging in. With his left, he moves the sticks, adjusting his speed and direction with movements so delicate they’re hardly visible. The machine, a 22,000-pound Prinoth Bison, responds to every touch. “I keep the music quiet in here, because I like to hear the cat,” Seth says. “It’s basically talking to you all night long if you’re paying attention. Right now, it’s running 100 percent. The tracks are good. Blades are good. The machine is good. The hydraulics aren’t whining. This thing’s running like a clock.”
“Nine times out of 10, [when I go] clear it in the morning, it’s snowing and flat light, and you can’t see anything,” Seth said. “If you aren’t hugging the inside, you’re probably sticking it out too far.”
Snowcat operator Ed Seth has been grooming since he was 17. PHOTO BY EMILY STIFLER WOLFE
After all these years, Seth knows what to do if you slide off the edge. You accelerate.
“[You don’t] pull back on the sticks, because the tracks will lock up, and then you’re nothing more than a 20,000-pound sled,” Seth said, explaining that with the tracks rolling, you have a chance of keeping control. You can also use the blade or the tiller to steer your way out of trouble, which are extremely advanced tactics.
Seth goes silent, focusing. It’s his third lap on Bighorn, and in front of him, snow is piling into heaps. It’s 6 p.m. in early January, and only the cat drivers and snowmaking team are on the mountain.
While his technical skills and knowledge of grooming this mountain are second to none, Seth’s kind demeanor earn him equal respect.
A small screen gives Seth data points—how hard the engine is working, how deep and fast the cutter bar is churning, and where the comb that lays out the corduroy is in relation to the snow. Seth monitors these out of the corner of his eye, and occasionally glances behind him, but largely, he drives the Bison by feel. After 34 years of driving snowcats on Lone Mountain, it’s almost like an extension of his body.
“Over the years I’ve known Ed, he’s always been there to help people out,” said grooming manager Matt Fregly. “He’s a quiet, behind-the-scenes person who makes a big difference.” Fregly says Seth helps train newer operators, and regularly comes in an hour or two before his shift to wash windshields, grease hydraulics, or change fuel filters on the fleet.
“I’m surprised I made it up that,” Seth says near the top of the steeps, his quiet voice blending into the machine. “All those moguls. It got a little soft.” Seth and other groomers sometimes say their job is to “put the mountain back together.” When they do it well, no one even notices: Skiers show up in the morning and, just like that! There’s fresh corduroy. Perfect for slicing trenches into with your edges. It’s like magic.
Mountain manager Adam West called Seth a “Zen-like father-figure on the crew.” The snow begins to let up later in the evening, as Seth clears the ski patrol shack atop Andesite. He threads the blade between the small log building and a tree, and drags snow off the deck.
Only it’s not. Every night, a team of 18 people groom the mountain, half of them working from 4 p.m. to midnight, and the rest from midnight to 9 or 10 a.m.
As he approaches retirement, Seth says when the time comes, he’d like to keep driving snowcats a couple days a week.
They track-pack the early season snow to set up the base. They lay corduroy on your favorite groomers like Elk Park Ridge or Mr. K. They sculpt the terrain park jumps and chairlift ramps, and winch cats up the Elkhorn headwall. And once they get really good, they clear avalanche debris from the narrow alpine roads like the Duck Walk.
“Why have I been doing this so long?” he asks. “I ask myself that every day. What’s there not to like? Would you rather work in a concrete city? It’s been a good ride. I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been fun.”
“It’s stuff people don’t even notice, and it takes a ton of work and a lot of knowledge and experience,” said Tom Marshall, who oversees all mountain operations at the resort. Originally from Butler, Maryland, Seth learned to telemark at Wisp Resort while attending community college in western Maryland. In 1980, he transferred to Montana State University in Bozeman, packing up his Honda Civic and driving west with a friend before school started.
Emily Stifler Wolfe is a writer and business consultant based in Bozeman, Montana. Find her at emilystiflerwolfe.com. This article originally appeared on Big Sky Resort’s blog: The Way I Ski It on Feb. 1, 2022. For more stories, visit blog.bigskyresort.com.
“I was 21, and I knew I wasn’t going back,” he said. Seth started a 17-year career as a wildland firefighter on the massive fires of 1988 in Yellowstone, and that same year got hired on at Big Sky making snow and grooming. Back then, the mountain had a fleet of LMC 3700 Thiokol cats, which Seth described as “literally a snow tractor—loud, with a small cab.” He managed the grooming department for a decade starting in 1995, and came on year-round in 2005. During that time, he and his wife, Teri, a forest environmental coordinator for the Custer Gallatin National Forest, settled in Gallatin Gateway and raised a daughter, who graduated from nursing school in 2021. This past summer, he and the crew helped Doppelmayer install the new Swift Current 6 chairlift, doing excavation for the towers and chair barn at the top. “Here I am,” Seth says as he heads for another lap down Bighorn. He grins. “There’s worse things in life. I’ve got a great wife and a kid and a roof over my head and a job. I don’t ask for much.” You might think grooming is a mellow job—groomed runs are, after all, usually tamer to ski than ungroomed areas. But on Lone Mountain, you’d be wrong.
Every night snowcats groom the mountain in the pitch blackness readying the terrain for skiers the next morning. PHOTO BY EMILY STIFLER WOLFE
25 March 11 - 24, 202
ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS
Explore Big Sky
Avalanche terrain and digital mapping
Understanding what digital slopes angle maps can (and can’t) tell you BY DAVE ZINN
Then, step back from the danger zone a few degrees to provide yourself a margin for error. For example, if I think a 31-degree slope is dangerous and could kill me, I am not going to ski or ride on a 29-degree slope because whether basing angles from a map or an inclinometer, I am just not that good!
EBS CONTRIBUTOR
Avalanche terrain is defined as any snow-covered slope steeper than 30 degrees or areas immediately below, roughly equivalent to a steep black diamond or double black diamond run at a ski area. Correctly identifying avalanche terrain and understanding what hazards you are exposed to is fundamental to safe backcountry travel in the winter. The proliferation of digital mapping programs such as onX Backcountry and Gaia GPS has made terrain identification easier with slope angle overlays that highlight steep terrain where avalanches are most likely (image 1). Like any tool, you must understand how to use these overlays correctly as well as their limitations. Digital maps calculate slope angles based on the points of a Digital Elevation Model or DEM. In Southwest Montana, the available dataset is generally a 10-meter DEM, meaning that the points of the grid are approximately 33 feet apart, although there are more coarse and fine resolutions. Like contour lines on paper maps, models can gloss over smaller terrain features that matter for avalanches, and there is a level of uncertainty even of consistent slopes. In 2006, William Haneberg calculated that with a 10-meter DEM, the minimum level of uncertainty is 1 to 2 degrees with errors often in the 3-to-4-degree range. Additionally, the models look at dry ground and do not account for changes in slope shape and angle due to snow cover and drifting patterns. If your head is spinning and you are having traumatic flashbacks to geometry classes, simply understand that digital slope angle shading provides a good overview of slope steepness. However, you need to peel your eyes from your phone information, add an affordable slope meter to your kit and measure the slope angles on the ground.
Reporting from an avalanche that caught six people and killed one near Silverton, Colorado in 2019, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center outlined how the group utilized digital tools to plan and execute their route. Their trip plan was to weave their way through alpine terrain sticking to slopes less than 30 degrees, thus avoiding avalanche paths. The group tracked their route with GPS, so investigators know that they were “on or very close to their planned route” (image 2.a).
(image 1) This screenshot of an onX slope shaded map shows slope angle overlays that highlight steep terrain where avalanches are most likely. PHOTO COURTESY OF ONX
However, when the CAIC measured slopes angle at the site of the avalanche, they found the slope angle ranged from 32-34 degrees, within the normal margin of error based on the 10-meter DEM. With slope meter and a 3-meter DEM not available to the group, some of the finer details of slope angles emerge (image 2.b). Should you throw away your phone and maps because they can’t be trusted? Of course not! Paper and digital maps are integral to trip planning and digital slope angle overlays take care of the math for you. With higher resolution models becoming available these tools will continue to get more precise.
(image 2.a and 2.b) a) This is a 10 meter DEM for the National Elevation Dataset with fixed slope shading from Caltopo. b) This is a 3 meter DEM from a LiDar survey on Sept. 26, 2016 with similar color gradations. The brown lines in both panels show elevation in 40 foot intervals. The blue dots show the descent route of the group. (Data courtesy of USGS, Esri, Caltopo, NASA Airborne Observatory, and SnowEx) PHOTO COURTESY OF COLORADO AVALANCHE INFORMATION CENTER
Stick to the basics: Avalanche terrain is any slope steeper than 30 degrees and the runout zones below. Use your tools and your eyes to determine if you are near or on avalanche-prone slopes. Don’t get lost because you are looking at your map. Dave Zinn is an avalanche forecaster for the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. He has been with GNFAC since 2019 and has eleven years of ski patrol experience at Bridger Bowl and the Yellowstone Club.
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28 March 11 - 24, 2022
Explore Big Sky
Stand up for public access BY MARK SQUILLACE WRITERS ON THE RANGE
Eighty-year-old Roger Hill used to go fishing on the Arkansas River in Colorado. But he sometimes had to duck baseball-size rocks thrown at him by landowners who insisted he was trespassing. When he got back to his car, he sometimes found notes threatening him with arrest if he returned. Worse, a fellow fisherman was shot at by a landowner, who got 30 days in jail for the attack. Rather than risking either injury or arrest, Hill sued the landowners, claiming that the bed of the Arkansas River is navigable. If that assumption is true, then Hill can legally stand on the riverbed and fish. But Hill’s fight is not just about his right to fish. It is about pushing back against the creeping tide of wealth-driven privatization that seeks to deny public access to our waterways and other public resources.
to deny his right to fish from the bed of the river, but also to claim that Hill doesn’t have the right to even be in court. At various times, Attorney General Weiser has somewhat astoundingly argued that there are no navigable rivers in Colorado, and that even if there were, the state may deny public access to navigable riverbeds. So much for the Supreme Court’s holding that the State holds title to the bed of navigable streams “in trust for the people, that they may … have the liberty of fishing therein.” In Colorado, opportunities to get outside and explore are celebrated. For that reason, it is alarming that the state’s attorney general seeks to deny public access to Colorado’s navigable waterways. If he were to prevail, Colorado would be alone among the 50 states—including all of its Western neighbors—in denying these rights. Recently, the Colorado Court of Appeals offered Hill a glimmer of hope that Attorney General Weiser can be stopped. The court held that Hill has standing to pursue his claim in state court and made the important finding that if “the relevant segment of the river was navigable at statehood, then the … defendants do not own the riverbed and would have no right to exclude [Hill] from it by threats of physical violence or prosecution for trespass.”
Here’s Hill’s case in a nutshell: When Colorado became a state in 1876, it entered the Union on an “equal footing” with other states. Among other things, the equal footing doctrine gives states title to the beds of all navigable streams within their borders.
Although it seems unlikely, Attorney General Weiser now has an opportunity to switch sides and support public rights in navigable waterways, including Hill’s right to fish while wading the bed of the Arkansas River. Coloradans should expect and demand that he do so.
As the U.S. Supreme Court explained in a case called Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois, “it is a title different in character from that which the state holds in lands intended for sale… It is a title held in trust for the people of the state, that they may enjoy the navigation of the waters, carry on commerce over them, and have liberty of fishing therein, freed from the obstruction or interference of private parties.”
The Colorado Constitution proclaims that “water of every natural stream … within the state of Colorado, is … the property of the public…” When the framers dedicated Colorado’s natural streams to “the use of the people” they surely did not expect that the state’s attorney general would aggressively try to block public use.
History buffs might be interested to know that these public rights in navigable waterways date back at least to the time of the Roman Empire. You might assume that Colorado would join this case on Hill’s side. Instead, the opposite happened. Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, joined the case on the side of the private landowners and has moved aggressively against Hill, seeking not just
Roger Hill’s fight is everyone’s fight. Let’s hope that he prevails. Mark Squillace is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, a nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is the Raphael Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law at the University of Colorado Law School, and he and Alexander Hood are representing Roger Hill, pro bono.
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ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS
31 March 11 - 24, 202
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Governor’s killing of collared Yellowstone wolf and cougar are matters of public interest BY TODD WILKINSON EBS COLUMNIST
By now many people know: at the very end of December 2021, Greg Gianforte shot a mountain lion in the Rock Creek drainage rising above Paradise Valley. While wildlife conservationists condemned the cougar killing, Gianforte defenders claim it’s a nonstory, that he pursued the cat legally with the help of houndsmen and their dogs, which chased the animal to a tree inside the Custer Gallatin National Forest. It was there, with the cat high up in the branches and having nowhere else to go, that Gianforte took aim and fired. Again, it is true that cougar hunting in Montana with dogs is legal. What has left a large number of Montanans and Americans incredulous is that Gianforte’s friends claim he should be treated just like any other citizen, which means having details of his hunts remain anonymous. That might all make sense were Gianforte not the governor of Montana. And the fact that the lion he killed wore a radio collar and was part of an ongoing research project in Yellowstone intended to glean information about the elusive felines as they wander transboundary areas in and out of America’s first national park. The story worthiness is bolstered further by the fact that seven months earlier in 2021 the governor in the same general vicinity shot a wolf that was caught in a trap. That animal too had a radio collar around its neck and was part of a different research project in Yellowstone that is world renowned. Those facts alone would warrant news coverage, but they are even more intriguing since Gianforte, in his role as the most prominent elected state official, has staked out antagonistic positions toward Yellowstone, especially park wolves. What caught my attention with his cougar hunt is that early on Gianforte and his press secretary, Brooke Stroyke, refused to answer simple media questions as rumors swirled. Wanting to get the facts and to see if information provided by a couple of tipsters was accurate, I reached out to Stroyke on Jan. 4 and on three other occasions afterward. She said she would get back to me but didn’t, obviously believing that if she just blew off the media, the story would go away. It didn’t.
herds statewide and were threatening the livestock industry. Along with setting high killing quotas for wolves, the Legislature wrote bills and Gianforte signed them into law that reversed longstanding prohibitions on practices judged by many generations of Montanans of both parties to violate fair-chase principles. Made legal was night hunting using lights to shine animals, using dogs to chase bears, baiting wolves, and snares. Some 19 Yellowstone wolves were killed when they crossed the park’s invisible boundary into Montana, which stands in stark contrast to two park wolves allowed to be killed a year ago. In half a decade there had been just two livestock depredations by wolves, meaning lobos were not a huge threat to ranchers next to the park. Part of the tally involves the fact that the park’s Phantom Lake Pack, which included pups of the year and yearlings, was destroyed. Gianforte has never provided a justification based on facts just as he dodged answering questions with his wolf and cougar kills. The late respected Montana hunter, conservationist, author and employee of the Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks, Jim Posewitz, once said that politicians who hunt need to set the highest standards possible when it comes to transparency, accountability and ethics. Anything less sullies the reputation both of hunting and Montana. When you are an elected public official, you answer to the public. If you are unwilling to do that, then it looks like you are trying to hide something. Not long ago, retired Montana Supreme Court Justice James Nelson penned a piece that condemned rising numbers of politicians brazenly acting in secrecy or behaving in ways that violate the public trust. He didn’t single out Gianforte, but Nelson wrote: “All of these practices frustrate the right to know and the right of speech, expression and the press. All of these deprive We the People of fundamental rights that are constitutionally guaranteed ours to exercise and enjoy and which state actors are constitutionally not permitted to deprive, impair or to legislate away. All of these shenanigans are antithetical to transparent government.” Todd Wilkinson is the founder of Bozeman-based Mountain Journal and a correspondent for National Geographic. He authored the book “Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek,” featuring photography by famed wildlife photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen, about Grizzly Bear 399.
Earlier this month, The Washington Post published an article based on the same information provided by a tipster and Stroyke soon issued a public statement saying the Post reporter had published wrong facts. One of them being an allegation that the cat had been held in a tree for hours before Gianforte arrived to shoot it, which would be legal but is considered highly unethical. Among other criticisms aimed at the governor, who has projected a public image of being a big game hunter, is that shooting a radiocollared wolf caught in a trap isn’t exactly sporting nor does it represent heroic hunting fair chase. And, legal or not, using dogs to pursue cougars, while an accepted practice, does not exactly require much hunting prowess in stalking the animal. Dogs tree the cat and all the hunter has to do is stand below and make a kill shot. 2021 was not only the year that the governor killed a Yellowstone wolf and cougar; it was a year when the Montana Legislature liberalized the hunting of wolves based on the false claims that wolves had severely depleted game
A cougar, part of ongoing research in Yellowstone aimed at learning more about their behavior and how they move in and out of the park. Gov. Greg Gianforte shot a cougar similar to this north of Yellowstone on the Custer Gallatin National Forest. PHOTO COURTESY OF JACOB W. FRANK/NPS
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BUSINESS
33 March 11 - 24, 2022
Explore Big Sky
SECTION 3: BUSINESS , ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, HEALTH DINING AND FUN
Wrap Shack continues to serve up tradition pg. 35
Dead Sky at Tips Up pg. 36
Spicy coconut peanut butter ramen pg. 39
After nearly two decades, Wrap Shack continues to serve up tradition BY TUCKER HARRIS
old menu items can still be bowled or rolled up using the buildyour-own concept.
BIG SKY – The aromas of freshly cooked lime rice and pulled pork waft from the Wrap Shack kitchen in the West Fork Plaza in Big Sky. Bright, beachy décor inside the restaurant is a welcoming escape from the wintery scene outside the door. Through several iterations of ownership, this vibrant pocket of Big Sky has remained steadfast in its tradition of serving casual grab-and-go food.
“The recipes are from the original owners still so some of the traditions we’re trying to hold onto so that way it’s not a huge shock to people coming in,” Adams said. “[The build-your-own option] gives people the freedom to pick exactly what they want,” Hammitt added. It also gives more options for those who may have dietary restrictions with gluten free and vegetarian options available, he said.
In early July of last year, peak season in Big Sky, locals Alison Adams and Shane Hammitt left their manager positions at Bucks T-4 and Beehive Basin Brewery, respectively, to re-open the doors to Wrap Shack after its former owner closed up shop in February 2021. Adams and Hammitt are the restaurant’s fourth owners since it opened in 2004. The Wrap Shack has been a go-to lunch and dinner spot for quick, fresh eats for nearly two decades, but it’s also provided entrepreneurial opportunities for locals since its inception. Adams and Hammitt both have many years under their belt working in the service industry, but this is their first time owning a business in the industry.
Another change to the menu is the option to make your burrito or burrito bowl into a combo meal, dubbed the “Shack Tour,” adding chips, salsa and a fountain drink for an additional $3.
Shane Hammitt and Alison Adams pride themselves on being one of the only lunch and dinner spots in town with casual food that is quick and easy. PHOTO BY TUCKER HARRIS
Hammitt admits that working for himself has been a welcomed change. “It’s a lot more gratifying,” he said as he finished setting up the colorful, stickered chairs for opening. “All the effort that you’re putting in is going towards something that’s your own deal. So you just feel you get a lot more gratification out of it.” The best part for Hammitt is seeing returning customers who not only compliment the food and business but keep coming back for more, he said. Adams and Hammitt are currently the sole full-time employees of Wrap Shack with one part-time employee who works one day per week. To help streamline their work and to cater to more guests’ diet preferences, Adams and Hammitt have updated the old menu, which had a list of specific burrito options, to a build-your-own concept. Adams and Hammitt have maintained the same ingredients from the old menu, they said, assuring fans of Wrap Shack classics like the Smoking Gringo or The Man that
Hammitt and Adams pride themselves on being one of the only lunch and dinner spots in town with casual food that is quick and easy. Acknowledging that there are many casual dining spots in town, Wrap Shack’s efficiency is what stands them apart, they said. “For us, somebody can come in and get out in less than five minutes and have their meal ready for them,” Adams said.
Wrap Shack also offers online ordering. “Somebody leaving the ski hill and is headed to their job or even on their way back to Bozeman can put in an order [online] so that way it’s ready to just come in and grab on their way through the meadow,” Adams said. From the menu, Hammitt recommends the pork or steak burrito. The pesto mayo sauce always pleasantly surprises customers, he said, though mexi ranch and creamy chipotle are the two most popular. “When you get people coming in here two or three times a week to eat your food, it’s like ‘This is awesome,” Hammitt said. “We must be doing something right.” For the winter season, Wrap Shack is open Fridays through Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. for lunch and dinner. After a month-long break for the off-season, Adams and Hammitt hope to be open six days a week this summer if they are able to find an additional employee.
Bright, beachy décor inside the restaurant is a welcoming escape from the wintery scene outside. PHOTO COURTESY OF SHANE HAMMITT
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BUSINESS
35 March 11 - 24, 2022
Explore Big Sky
Making it in Big Sky: Rotary Club of Big Sky BY MIRA BRODY
EBS: How has it grown or changed over the years, particularly to accommodate the area’s growth? R.W.: Our rotary club is constantly changing to accommodate the different BIG SKY – When Ryan Wilson and his wife Erica Perlman moved to Big Sky, challenges facing our community. When we saw that it was difficult for some they knew they wanted to give back to their community, and the Rotary Club families to deal with the overwhelming costs of the holidays, we started the Big of Big Sky seemed like the perfect chance to do so. The club, which has been in Sky Giving Tree. When accidents in the canyon increased due to the traffic, we the local community since 2004, voted Wilson in as president last year and since installed emergency call boxes. Last year we were notified that West Yellowstone then he has been working to expand its reach. public schools had not had a formal school vision screening in over 12 years, so we sent an optometrist and several rotary members to do a full day of screening. Whether you’re driving the canyon and have seen the two bright blue When a few Ophir teachers and counselors brought it to our attention that they emergency call boxes available to those in need, or needed more playground equipment and special watching your kids play on the new playground ed tools in the classroom, we purchased what structures at Ophir School, the Rotary Club of Big Our community is a rapidly changing place and was needed to make sure that our local kids were Sky has touched the lives of every Big Sky resident. our Rotary Club prides itself on seeking out issues in starting school on the right foot. Our club not We spoke with Wilson about the club’s efforts and only initiates its own projects, but also works with the community and doing what we can to how to get involved. One of his favorite rotary other community organizations such as Gallatin help address those issues. events? Wearing a Santa Claus hat and delivering River Task Force, Habitat for Humanity and Big presents to excited kids for the annual Giving Tree. Sky SNO, to help them on their missions. Our –Ryan Wilson, president, Rotary Club of Big Sky. community is a rapidly changing place and our Rotary Club prides itself on seeking out issues in This series is part of a paid partnership with the Big the community and doing what we can to help Sky Chamber of Commerce. The following answers address those issues. have been edited for brevity.
“
Explore Big Sky: I’d like to start with a little background information on you, when and what brought you to Big Sky? Ryan Wilson: After graduating from Purdue University, I moved to Boston and started working with Suffolk Construction, where I still work as a Senior Project Manager. I really enjoyed living in Boston and vacationing to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the vast wildernesses of Maine on the weekends. My wife, Erica Perlman, grew up going to Montana every summer with her family. We visited several times, falling in love with the rivers, mountains and wildlife of the area. So, when Suffolk said they were looking for people to move to Montana to build the Montage, we jumped at the chance to relocate permanently.
”
EBS: How big is your team? R.W.: We currently have 26 active members who each play a key role in the club, as committee chairs or spearheading recurring projects. We welcome all levels of participation depending on member’s individual interest and schedules. Most of our members live in Big Sky year-round but we also have members that live here part-time and stay active with our virtual meetings. EBS: What is the best part about working with the people in the Rotary Club? Is there a specific memory or event that stands out to you? R.W.: One of the major reasons I love our club is how diverse we are. We have many impressive members with varying backgrounds, passions and expertise. The thing that unites all of us is that we want to be active members of our community and do what we can to make Big Sky a better place. One of my favorite events is wearing a Santa Claus hat and delivering presents to excited kids for our annual Giving Tree.
EBS: Tell me about the history of the Rotary Club of Big Sky. When did it start? How/when did you become involved? R.W.: Rotary has been around for over 100 years with 1.4 million members and 33,000 clubs worldwide so it’s not surprising to see a club in Big EBS: How can the community get involved in Sky. The club was founded in 2004 by community Rotary Club activities or support your efforts? leaders like Barb Maves and Kirk Dige, who R.W.: A great way to get involved with the wanted to bring their past Rotary experiences Rotary Club is to come to one of our meetings and learn more about what we are doing. We to Big Sky. When my wife and I first moved to meet the first and third Tuesday of every month Big Sky we wanted to become involved with the Ryan Wilson and his wife fell in love with the Big Sky area as soon as at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Center conference community—giving back and getting to know they moved here and have since worked to give back to the community. room (above The Rocks). We welcome all levels people. We were quickly impressed by the club’s PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN WILSON of participation depending on your interests and amazing work in the community and welcoming availability. If membership isn’t what you are atmosphere. I found myself volunteering for many looking for, our annual Gold Auction is a great way to show your support. community service projects, including building the bridge at Kircher Park, staining at the community park dugouts and cooking for Eagle Mount campers. EBS: What is the best business advice you have ever received? My passion for the club grew, as did my role in its leadership. I was honored to R.W.: Be humble. Admit that you are not the best at everything and strive to be voted in as Rotary president last year and have worked hard to expand our learn from people who are better than you at something. club’s reach in the community.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
36 March 11 - 24, 2022
Explore Big Sky
Deco & The Dusters celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at Tips Up BY TUCKER HARRIS
“It’s definitely not gonna be Irish, but it’s something that a lot of people may only get to experience once in their lives,” Banko said of the Mongolian’s performance. “He’s laying it down.”
BIG SKY – Guitarist and vocalist Declan Banko comes from a strong Irish heritage. His mother was raised in Roscommon County, Ireland, where he grew up immersed in Irish culture. He says he has been told his family has the last blood of the kings and queens in Ireland. From Nepal and China to Australia and New Zealand, Banko, 27, has traveled the world playing music and gathering stories from his experiences and the people he has met along the way. Banko now lives in Big Sky, works for the Yellowstone Club as a valet and draws inspiration for his music from the rugged peaks and the wide-open spaces in Montana.
Banko will be joined by Nick Hendee on the guitar, a friend from New York who moved to Missoula in 2019, and talented Austin, Texas studio session musician Andrew Misco who will play the keyboard, guitar and bass.
Deco & The Dusters are excited to bring Banko’s Irish roots to the Tips Up stage for a March 17 St. Patrick’s Day performance. PHOTO COURTESY OF DECLAN BANKO
Banko performed his first gig 12 years ago on St. Patrick’s Day at a pizza parlor in the Finger Lakes—a place he refers to as, “middle of nowhere out there in New York.” Banko has performed every St. Patrick’s Day since. And he will not let that tradition die. Deco & The Dusters are excited to bring Banko’s Irish roots to the Tips Up stage for a March 17 St. Patrick’s Day performance featuring primarily Irish folk tunes to celebrate the holiday, accompanied by some outlaw country and blues. The show will start at 9 p.m. In what Banko describes as a “culturally-thick” performance, Mongolian throat singer Bob Hosoo will take the stage before Deco & The Dusters to get the Guiness flowing.
CREATIVITY
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, Deco & The Dusters will perform multiple Irish folk songs, some written by Banko’s friends back in Ireland and some Banko has written himself. One such song is called “Riverman’s Blues,” which is inspired by a book he read about Siddhartha Gautama, a Buddha who lived along the riverside in Ireland, Banko said. “Irish folk is very culturally steeped," Banko said. "It’s something that kind of carved the way for American bluegrass and country music. It’s a huge influence on the world of music in general and people often don’t realize that.” When asked what event attendees should expect at Tips Up on Thursday night, Banko responded: “They should expect something that is gonna make you want to take a shot of whiskey, gonna make you want to have a glass of Guinness. Some songs are gonna make you want to dance. Others might make you want to cry. But in the end, you’re gonna walk away happy with the experience. That’s for sure.”
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Deco & the Dusters formed back in 2014. Deco refers to Banko himself, and The Dusters is what the band likes to think of as “dusting off the old style of music,” he said.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
37 March 11 - 24, 2022
Explore Big Sky
BIG SKY EVENTS CALENDAR Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 24
If your event falls between March 25 and April 31, please submit it by March 16 by emailing media@outlaw.partners.
Friday, March 11
IFSA Junior National Freeski Competition Big Sky Resort, March 10-13 BASE Community Days BASE, 3 p.m.
Shedhorn Skimo – Pan American Championship Big Sky Resort, 8 a.m. Lightwire Theater Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, 5:30 p.m. Craig Hall Trio Jazz Night The Independent, 8 p.m. Live Music: Wind & The Willows Tips Up, 9 p.m.
Live Music: Jacob Rountree Tips Up, 9 p.m.
Big Sky Serenity Seekers Al-Anon meeting All Saints Chapel, 4 p.m.
Big Sky Serenity Seekers Al-Anon meeting All Saints Chapel at 4 p.m.
Live Music: Deco & The Dusters Tips Up, 9 p.m.
Film: “Ex Machina” The Independent, 7 p.m.
Friday, March 18
Live Music: David Kosel Tips Up, 9 p.m.
Music: Mike Murray Acoustic Duo The Independent, 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 13 Opening Day for BASE BASE, 9 a.m.
Live Music: Cole Thorne The Standard: Cocktails and Desserts, 7 p.m.
Live Music: Hot Milk & The Flower Pallets Tips Up, 9 p.m.
Featured Event: Dead Sky at Tips Up
Join the Arts Council of Big Sky for a performance by Grateful Dead tribute band Dead Sky on Saturday, March 12 at 9 p.m. The Bozeman-based band features members of Pinky & The Floyd, MOTH and The Kelly Nicholson Band. The band has a fresh take on Dead songs and will be sure to keep you dancing all night long. This event is free to the public, but donations to the Arts Council of Big Sky are accepted via venmo to @bigskyarts or online at bigskyarts.org.
Sunday, March 20 Live Music: Cole Thorne The Standard, 7 p.m.
Monday, March 21
Film: “Searching for Sugar Man” The Independent, 7 p.m.
Live Music: The Damn Duo Montana Jack, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, March 15
Tuesday, March 22
Film: Vancouver International Film Festival The Independent, 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 24
Film: “Blade Runner” The Independent, 7 p.m.
James Sewell Ballet: Earth Tomes Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m.
Live Music: Dead Sky Tips Up, 9 p.m.
Wednesday, March 23
Thursday, March 17
Saturday, March 19
Live Music: Aaron Davis The Independent, 8 p.m.
Paddling Film Festival The Independent, 7 p.m. Trivia Night The Independent, 7 p.m.
Live Music: Mike Murray Tips Up, 9 p.m.
BASE Community Days BASE, 1 p.m.
Talk: What Can Be Done About Climate Change, and How Much Will it Cost? Gallatinvalleyearthday.org, 7 p.m.
Live Music: Bridget O’Brien Tips Up, 9 p.m.
Craig Hall Trio Jazz Night The Independent, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 12
Live Music: The Damn Duo Montana Jack, 4 p.m.
Book Presentation: "Thirty Years in a White Haze" Big Sky Community Library, 5 p.m. Trivia Night The Independent, 7 p.m.
Sweet Buns Catering Soft Opening Sweet Buns Catering, 4-7 p.m.
Monday, March 14
Wednesday, March 16
Freeride World Tour Qualifier Big Sky Resort, March 22-24
Do You or Someone You Know Need Help Getting Sober? Contact A.A. - We’re alcoholics helping other alcoholics stay sober. Call 1-833-800-8553 to talk to an A.A. member or Get the Meeting Guide app or Go to aa-montana.org for virtual and face-to-face meeting times and locations
HEALTH
38 March 11 - 24, 2022
Explore Big Sky
Your diet and your immune system BY DR. KALEY BURNS
Common causes of sensitivities and intolerances include: lactose, whey (dairy), glutencontaining grains, food coloring/dye, sugar and sugar alcohols, eggs and yeast.
One of the most powerful tools for a strong immune system is your diet. Nutrition can affect the microbiome (bacteria), intestinal barrier, inflammatory processes and white blood cell function, all of which impact the immune system. But what happens when our food is working against us?
If you’re unknowingly eating foods that you’re sensitive to, you may be exposed to chronic inflammation, which may be contributing to the symptoms outlined above. Identifying your unique food reaction profile can be difficult as these are delayed reactions and can take hours to days to present. For example, if you eat bread or drink milk on Monday, you may not have a reaction until Wednesday.
EBS COLUMNIST
Food sensitivities are usually caused by an imbalance in the gastrointestinal system that is affecting the immune system. Unfortunately, food sensitivities are largely undiagnosed. While they are less scary than a food allergy, these highly individualistic food reactions can still make us experience unpleasant and unwanted symptoms. Food reactions occur when the immune system overreacts to a food item that the body has mistaken as unfavorable. Fortunately, with growing awareness and food sensitivity testing capabilities, it’s easier to begin the process of identifying which foods may be connected to what you are experiencing. Identifying food sensitivities can be a game changer when it comes to health and wellness. Symptoms of food sensitivities differ from person to person and can depend on the type of food consumed. Symptoms can include headaches, dizziness, difficulty sleeping, mood swings, unintentional weight loss or gain, asthma, bloating, sinus problems, muscle or joint pain, indigestion, fatigue, hyperactivity, rashes and acne.
TBD BEAVER CREEK WEST LOTS 23 & 24 GALLATIN CANYON 40± ACRES | FORESTED LAND | $2,500,000 DON PILOTTE 406.580.0155
This is where lab testing and elimination diets can be helpful. A simple blood test can be the key to unlocking improved immune function. A food sensitivity test is just what it sounds like: A blood test that can, through the use of biomarkers, help to determine which foods you may or may not be sensitive to. Learning about your body’s unique food reactivity could help you enjoy your nutrition more and choose optimal foods more effectively. Thankfully, food sensitivities are not forever. You may be able to regain oral tolerance to sensitive foods once you’ve eliminated them and given the gut a chance to heal and the immune system a chance to calm down. Dr. Kaley Burns is the founder, owner and Naturopathic Doctor at Big Sky Natural Health. She embraces a natural approach to health and aims to similarly inspire and guide others on their health journey. Dr. Burns has advanced training application of regenerative and intravenous injection therapy. She also serves as the Vice President and CE Liaison of the Montana Association of Naturopathic Physicians.
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DILLON 350± ACRES | UNDEVELOPED LAND | $2,275,000 JAMIE ROBERTS 406.209.3069
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PARK CITY 19± ACRES | IRRIGATED FARM GROUND | $1,650,000 DON PILOTTE 406.580.0155
127 ROSE HIP CIRCLE
HIDDEN VILLAGE CONDOS 1940± SF | 3 BD + 2.5 BA | $1,275,000 SARAH RAINWATER 406.599.0154 KATIE MORRISON 406.570.0096
BHHSMT.COM | 406.995.4060 55 LONE PEAK DRIVE, STE. 3 BIG SKY TOWN CENTER
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DINING
39 March 11 - 24, 2022
Explore Big Sky
Spicy coconut peanut butter ramen BY TUCKER HARRIS
• • • • • •
This cozy, creamy soup is the perfect meal to keep you warm on a chilly March evening. This 30-minute healthy dinner is simple and filled with veggies for a night in after a long day. I used tofu for this recipe, but you can definitely swap that out for chicken if you prefer. Just remember to shred the chicken after step three. This recipe serves six people, so invite friends over or save for leftovers that can easily be reheated.
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated 1 clove garlic, minced or grated 2-4 squares of ramen noodles 1 lime, juiced 3 cups of fresh baby spinach 1/3 cup of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (can also use basil)
Instructions: 1. In a large soup pot, combine the chicken broth, canned coconut milk, soy sauce, peanut butter and red thai curry paste. 2. Add tofu, mushrooms, bell peppers, ginger and garlic. Set over medium heat on the stove and bring to a simmer. 3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes (after this step is where you would shred the chicken). 4. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat. 5. Stir in ramen noodles, lime juice, spinach, cilantro and chili flakes. Let sit five minutes or until the noodles are soft. 6. Ladle the soup into bowls and enjoy!
Ingredients: • 4 cups of chicken broth • 1 can of coconut milk • ¼ cup of soy sauce • 2 tablespoons fish sauce • 1/3 cup of peanut butter (creamy) • ¼ cup Thai red curry paste • 16 oz block of tofu (can sub ¾ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts) • 8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced • 2 bell peppers, chopped
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BIG SKY’S SOURCE TO BUY & SELL HIGH-QUALITY OUTDOOR GEAR HOURS: OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 9 AM TO 6 PM CONSIGNMENT DAYS: MONDAY- FRIDAY FROM 10 AM TO 4 PM OR BY PRIVATE APPOINTMENT
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Open 6:30am to 8pm • 406.995.4636 • Located in the Meadow Village Center next to Lone Peak Brewery • Delivery Service • Pre-arrival Fridge & Cupboard stocking
www.countrymarketofbigsky.com 47995 GALLATIN ROAD 59730 | GALLATIN GATEWAY | 406-995-3324 | HEADWALLSPORTS.COM
CLASSIFIEDS PUBLIC NOTICE 3 Rivers Annual Membership Meeting Monday, March 21, 2022
If you are unable to attend, you can watch a live stream of the business meeting on 3rivers.net.
Fairfield Community Hall
40 March 11 - 24, 2022
Explore Big Sky
AMUSE-BOUCHE Amuse-bouche refers to an appetizer, and by French translation means, “to entertain the mouth.” It offers a glimpse into what you should expect from a meal. Also it’s free, compliments of the chef.
Where’s the malt? BY SCOTT MECHURA
Registration begins at 11:00 am Lunch served Noon - 1:00 pm Business Meeting at 1:00 pm
Fairfield office will be closed to walk-in traffic Conrad and Big Sky offices will be open
DINING
EBS COLUMNIST
We’ve lost our way. Like the 1984 Wendy’s commercial in which an elderly woman asks the simple question: “Where’s the beef ?” I’ve been asking myself and my friends for quite some time now, where’s the malt?
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Where did it go? Beer is still made with the four basic ingredients: water, yeast, hops and malted barley. But in my opinion, so many beers no longer have a definable malt profile. To me, most current American beers lack a fundamental balance of malt. I know many might disagree. But as a former brewer and beer judge, I know of which I speak. At the height of the first beer renaissance in the 1990s when the British and Americans were fed up with mass-produced premium lagers and craved the styles of old, the beer styles that were first resurrected were much truer to style than today. Beers like extra special bitters, pale ales and India pale ales had just as much hop bitterness, flavor and aroma as today, yet they were balanced with a pronounced malt character that is, generally speaking, missing in today’s craft beers. There are of course exceptions. But by and large, malt is missing. For Gen Z and Millennials who didn’t sneak beer underage, you probably think I’m crazy and that IPAs are the greatest thing since Betty White; that the thousands of beers brewed today with more hops than they should are fantastic and I’m just an aging guy who pines for the old days. Well when it comes to some of the pioneering craft beers in America of the late 1980s and into the late 1990s, yeah I do pine for them. To put into perspective what I’m trying to compare, I submit to you exhibit A: Three Floyds Alpha King. The experience, accreditation, industry-wide recognition and integrity that Southwest Montana deserves.
#11 SCOTT BROWN Scott and his team manage roughly $300,000,000 in private client assets. Scott Brown CFP®, CIMA®, CRPC® recognized as Barron’s Top 1000 Advisor’s in 2011, 2012, and 2013.* *The rankings are based on data provided by thousands of advisors. Factors included in the rankings were assets under management, revenue produced for the firm, regulatory record and client retention. Investment products and services are offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (WFAFN), Member SIPC. Shore to Summit Wealth Management, LLC is a separate entity from (WFAFN). Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors Methodology 2020 The Forbes ranking of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria, mostly gained through telephone and in-person due diligence interviews, and quantitative data. Those advisors that are considered have a minimum of seven years experience, and the algorithm weights factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and those that encompass best practices in their practices and approach to working with clients. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes or SHOOK receive a fee in exchange for rankings. For more information and complete details on methodology, go to www.shookresearch.com
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Decades before Midas Crush, Grazing Clouds and others, there was Three Floyds Alpha King. And for clarity, Alpha refers to alpha acid units, which are a measurement of the level of bitterness contained in a beer. So with a name like Alpha King, you can imagine how bitter this ale was and still is. To put a finer point on, well, my point, I recently came into possession of this beer from someone from Chicago. It was everything I remembered in terms of all the qualities I loved it so much for. In fact, I still have a couple bottles stashed in the depths of my beer fridge in my garage. As packed with bitter, flavor and aroma hops this beer is, it still has a balance of malt flavor. Sadly, so many of today’s IPAs, pale ales and every other kind of new ale style Americans have contrived lack a malt balance. When we used to judge beers in competition, we advanced the brews that showed an appropriate malt-hop balance—appropriate being the key word. Every beer has a different malt-hop balance in relation to its specific style. Today we have lost that balance. Oh how things have changed.
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In the 1990s, when there was an occasion to travel from my hometown of St. Paul to the once-great beer town of Chicago, we always had a short list of beers we wanted to bring back. New Glarus Belgian Cherry, some of the early ales from Goose Island, and Three Floyds Alpha King from Munster, Indiana.
(406) 219-2900 shoretosummitwm.com
Scott Mechura has spent a life in the hospitality industry. He is an executive chef, former certified beer judge and is currently the executive chef for Horn & Cantle. at Lone Mountain Ranch.
BIG SKY • MOONLIGHT BASIN • SPANISH PEAKS • YELLOWSTONE CLUB
TBD Mountain Valley Trail | Wildridge Lot 34 $3,795,000
· 1.22± acres | Lot comes with plans & deposits for 7,000± square foot home, ready to be built · Enjoy spectacular views of the Spanish Peaks and Lone Mountain from this private lot adjacent to open space · Exclusive Spanish Peak Mountain Club location with proximity to all club amenities & the new Montage Hotel MARY WHEELER | 406.539.1745
TBD Outlook Trail, Lot 1 $2,125,000
Shining a light on the future. Making smarter decisions about renewable energy requires knowledge. NorthWestern
· 2.96± acres | Ready to build and includes Geotech report, septic & well · Backs to open space on two sides. Adjacent to trailhead providing hiking, biking & x-country skiing · Unobstructed views, privacy, Stony Creek runs through the lot and numerous springs; Broker owned JACKIE MILLER | 406.539.5003
60 Big Sky Resort Road | Summit Hotel Condominium 10608 $950,000
Energy’s solar projects throughout the state of Montana provide clean energy to the power grid – and they’re shaping the future of renewable energy, too. We’re working with local universities to better understand where solar energy belongs alongside a balanced energy mix. And that research is helping us build a brighter future for the next generation of Montanans. · 1 bdrm | 2 bath | 1,059± SF | Underground parking · Enjoy some of the best ski access in Big Sky with Ramcharger 8 and Swift Current 6 right outside your door · Building amenities include: valet and concierge services, room service, several restaurants, bar, & fitness center SANDY REVISKY | 406.539.6316
Visit us at either of our locations
88 Ousel Falls Road, Suite B | The Exchange (formerly the Mountain Mall)
406.995.4009 | www.bigskypurewest.com View more of the story at NorthWesternEnergy.com/BrightFuture
All information contained herein is derived from sources deemed reliable, however, is not guaranteed by Pure West Real Estate, LLC., Managing Broker, Agents or Sellers. Offering is subject to error, omissions, prior sales, price change or withdrawal without notice and approval of purchase by Seller. We urge independent verification of each and every item submitted, to the satisfaction of any prospective purchaser.
STACY OSSORIO Broker, Private Office Advisor 406-539-8553 stacyossorio.evrealestate.com stacy.ossorio@evrealestate.com
140 Upper Beehive Loop Road | Beehive Basin | Big Sky, MT Views of Lone Peak, Sphinx, Pioneer, Cedar and Fan Mountains +/- 20 Acre | +/- 6,705 Sq. Ft. | 4 Bedrooms | 4.5 Bathrooms $6,250,000 | MLS# 366377
Spanish Peaks Mountain Club | The Ranches, Lot 12 +/- 4.07 Acres | $2,150,000 | MLS #366465
TRUST EXPERIENCE Your trusted Big Sky real estate advisor. Providing exceptional service to buyers and sellers of Big Sky properties for 25 years. Let me be your community connection. ©2021 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. If your property is currently represented by a real estate broker, this is not an attempt to solicit your listing. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.E&OE. Published by REAL Marketing (REM) | www.REALMarketing4You.com | 858.254.9619
Ice Dams? Water Leaks? Smoke Damage? We’ve Got You Covered and We’ll Exceed Your Expectations robert.kerdasha@assuredpartners.com assuredpartners.com 406.640.0375
43 March 11 - 24, 2022
FUN
Explore Big Sky
American Life in Poetry BY KWAME DAWES It is not entirely clear what has arrived, here in this poem “PSALM FOR ARRIVAL.” What is clear, is the familiar sense that sometimes, after a long effort, we are able to “find sounds/ for words”—to articulate, the difficult stuff of memory. And perhaps this is what has arrived, the voicing of the difficult things. In the end, however, Khaled Mattawa finds no great relief in speaking these words. Somehow the deadening effects of memory can be persistent, despite our necessary efforts to disavow “old sentiments.”
PSALM FOR ARRIVAL BY KHALED MATTAWA When we find the sounds for words we need, their death rattle begins to echo in our throats. Memory creeps up on old sentiments, finds them lurking like blind fish in the twilight of our blood. Dead and living on—ancient prophecies or frozen microbes—something we disavow continues to feed on us.
BIG SKY
Corner Quote
BEATS Luck of the Irish BY TUCKER HARRIS
“You go out for wood and find yourself staring at the stars, the sky so cold it feels like it could crack, and you remember what time of year it is. A far arm of the galaxy is laced from horizon to horizon. Orion chases the beautiful Pleiades nonstop. You are in winter’s cave. This is where you paint the walls with your dreams, counting airplanes as they pass.” – Craig Childs
March 17 marks the anniversary of Saint Patrick’s death in the fifth century, observed as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. Falling over the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and then celebrate in the afternoon with Lent prohibitions waived, resulting in festive dance, drink and feasting on Irish bacon. Today, St. Patrick’s Day celebrates Irish culture, food, the color green and Irish beer. Americans today dress up in vibrant green clothing, find their favorite Irish pub to throw back pints of Guinness and participate in festive parades. Explore Big Sky has put together a playlist for all your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
“Arrive on St. Patrick’s Day” by Sir Reg “Drink Up Ya Sinners” by Sir Reg “Galway Girl” by Mundy “Drunken Lullabies” by Flogging Molly “The Night Pat Murphy Died” by Great Big Sea “Scalliwag” by Gaelic Storm “Capt’n’s Jig” by Sir Reg “The Rocky Road to Dublin” by Dropkick Murphys “Barrels of Whiskey” by The O’Reillys and the Paddyhats “Irish Pub Song” by the High Kings
Pristine office space in the heart of Big Sky Town Center
223 Town Center, A5 | $750,000 1,071 ± Sq. Ft. This multi-use commercial unit offers 1,071+/- sq ft of pristine office space divided between a main level and a supplementary loft. Don’t miss this ideal investment opportunity just minutes from Big Sky’s bustling Town Center. The unit makes the most of square footage with a front reception area, designated office, private conference room, storage room, and shared restroom. Located in The Cave building near Roxy’s market and Big Sky Medical Center, this well maintained unit is the essence of accessibility and convenience; just a 5 min walk from Town Center and 12 min drive to Big Sky Resort. Lowest priced commercial property in Town Center so act fast and make the most out of this rare opportunity. There is a lease with tenant in place until December 2022, unless otherwise agreed to between tenant and new buyer.
Contact Us Today! LKRealEstate.com | 406.995.2404 All information given is considered reliable, but because it has been supplied by third parties, we cannot represent that it is accurate or complete, and should not be relied upon as such.These offerings are subject to errors, omissions, and changes including price or withdrawal without notice. All rights reserved. Equal Housing Opportunity. If you currently have a listing agreement or buyer broker agreement with another agent, this is not a solicitation to change. ©2016 LK REAL ESTATE, llc. lkrealestate.com * Membership upon approval
