Winter 2011 - Explore Big Sky

Mountain
Winter 2011
Exploring Life & Land in Southwest Montana
photo by eric berger
into the
Great
White
Open
murder at
boiling river
featured town:
west yellowstone
theperfect
spot
explorebigsky.com
advice // “Skiing will be good tomorrow. You should call in sick.”
CENTRE SKY
ARCHITECTURE LTD
We create excitement in architecture
• Residential
• Educational Facilities
• Commercial
• Resort Communities
• Ranches
• Sustainable Design
Owner, Jamie Daugaard, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
406-995-7572 • [email protected] • CentreSky.com
Denver, Colorado •
Mountain
Big Sky, Montana • Park City, Utah
P
erhaps it’s time to let your body wander along with your mind.
Let us introduce you to one of our unique properties.
Live Life Wide Open
Big Sky, Montana
The Club at Spanish Peaks
Yellowstone Club
Moonlight Basin Ranch
Have you ever driven home as the evening sunlight washes over the vast valley below while noticing a
heard of grazing elk on the ridge just above? Or simply watch your kids wrestle with their first pair of
snowshoes? As Montana’s premier real estate brokerage, we not only introduce clients to a new home, but
a whole new lifestyle. Maybe it’s time for you to close your eyes and plan on opening them here.
Marilyn Walsh
Broker
406.580.4242
Jason Parks
Broker
406.580.4758
Sandy Revisky
Broker, CRS, GRI
406.539.6316
Branif Scott
Broker
406.579.9599
Ania Bulis
Broker
406.580.6852
Mountain
PureWest Properties.com | info@PureWest Properties.com | 406-995-4009
Jackie Miller
Managing Broker
406.539.5003
3
inside
Mountain
28
pa g e
features
22 return to
lost trail
Skiing Lost Trail has been a breath of
fresh air.
24 montana style
surf & turf
Combining multiple passions into a
blissful and adventurous vacation.
26 Ice climbing
44 Murder at
Boiling River
A true tale of mystery told by legendary
Paul Miller
52 The Perfect
Spot
Lone View Ridge - A unique
development between The Yellowstone
Club and Big Sky Resort.
How about A Backyard with
8200 acres of lift access?
Climbers battle early season hazards to
access one of Southwest Montana’s best
winter playgrounds - Hyalite Canyon.
38 G-M Ranch
The Leffingwells have passed their
family’s Bracket Creek ranching
tradition down five generations.
4
Mountain
62 Music Q&A
Brandon Hale—the voice of the Dirty
Shame
stories
13
Community
34
alternative:
renewable energies
46
my First Hunt
48
25th Infantry
Bicycle Corps
56 West Yellowstone:
from trappers to tourists
58 Snowmobiling hot
spots
60
Better with Butter
66 health for your hips
70
Local Gear
72
Outlaw:
Butch Cassidy
74
Real estate profile:
chalet 504
months later, I named my dog Cedar
after that special place. Residents of
Southwest Montana witness Mother
Nature’s magic and beauty daily. Visitors take home memories of a lifetime.
In the winter of 1998, I
received a phone call
from legendary ski
filmmaker, Warren Miller.
“Eric, I don’t care what
it costs,” he said. “Get
on a plane to Montana
tomorrow. I just had the
best ski day of my life,
and you need to see this
place.”
Eric and Brandy Ladd at the
base of Cedar Falls in the
Lee Metcalf WIlderness.
Karl Nuemann
montana inspired
We’ve designed Mountain Outlaw magazine to share the ‘life and land’ in this
amazing place. Through a diverse mix of
stories we’ll cover the culture, history
and landscape here.
My hope is this magazine will capture
a bit of the Southwest Montana spirit
and act as a small reminder of how
fortunate we are to be here.
I flew to Bozeman the next day. After
all, who would ignore a direction like
that from Warren? I arrived in Big
Sky after dark. The next morning, I
opened the curtains to a dead-on view
of Lone Mountain. I never went back to
Colorado.
Please enjoy this publication and feel
free to drop us a line.
See you around town,
The following summer, I took a pack
trip to Cedar Mountain in the Lee
Metcalf Wilderness. As I looked up at a
1000’ waterfall pouring from a hanging
garden lake, I knew I was home. A few
Eric Ladd
CEO Outlaw Partners
[email protected]
c o n t e n t s b y l o c at i o n
22
Montana
72
58
74
62
52
38
26
34
46
44
56 48
Mountain
5
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Do you want to
subscribe to or advertise
in future issues?
Please contact:
[email protected]
(406) 995-2055
6
Mountain
My ski edges scraped against rock
as I sidestepped to a safe spot between Jack and Rock Creek. Out of
avalanche danger, I waved up to my patrol
partner. He cut across hanging snow
patches purposely knocking down loose
snow, then moved into the main chute
and dropped into powerful telemark
turns. His jacket was striking red against
the snow and rock. Beyond him, over the
shoulder of Lone Peak, the Madison Valley’s dry, brown fields spread toward the
Tobacco Root Mountains.
The past five years, working as a Moonlight Basin ski patroller, I spent winter
mornings watching daybreak over the
Gallatin Range, the Spanish Peaks,
Southern Madisons, and the Tobacco
Roots. Some days the prevailing northwest wind blowing across the Headwaters ridge knocked me to my knees, and
some days I went home with a purple
strip of frostbite on my right cheek.
Now, from an editor’s desk at Mountain
Outlaw magazine, I have a different
perspective on Southwest Montana and
Yellowstone. The stories and people
behind this winter’s issue have broadened
my interest in the region. A few particularly struck me: the Leffingwell family’s
century-old ranching story; historian
Josh Howe’s take on the group of 19th
century black soldiers who rode bicycles
from Montana to Saint Louis; and Orion
Thornton’s piece about Independent
Power Systems’ recent solar installation
on the Northern Cheyenne tribal lands.
Thanks for picking up Mountain
Outlaw magazine – please let me know
what you think.
Emily Stifler
[email protected]
featuredcontributors
cialist in Orthopedic Physical Therapy
working in Montana. John lives in Big
Sky with his wife and two daughters.
On skis by age three, Ali Havig grew
up in Wisdom, Montana, and the slopes
of Lost Trail. She earned a Masters in
architecture from MSU in Bozeman and
has been living in the Big Hole Valley for
the past year. She is counting on another
epic ski season.
Joshua Howe is a Postdoctoral Fellow
with the John Tyndall Correspondence
Project in the Department of History,
Philosophy and Religion at Montana State
University. He teaches Environmental
History and the History of Science, and
he is currently writing a book about the
political history of global warming.
Brandy Ladd was born, raised and
educated in southwest Montana. Time
is not calibrated by day or month, but
by season for her. Ski season melts into
kayak season which dries into bike and
horse season leading to hunting season.
Gravity is her favorite force.
Paul Miller’s soul belongs to the
mountains and rivers he spent his life
exploring. He resides on his family’s
property along the Yellowstone River
near Gardiner. Serving over 30 years as
a ranger in Yellowstone National Park,
Paul played an integral role in preserving
and protecting the YNP wilderness and
wildlife people enjoy today.
Luke Rice was born and raised in the
Shields Valley and graduated from
Park High School in Livingston. After
graduating from Colorado College with
a degree in environmental science, Luke
moved back to southwest Montana. He
now resides in Bozeman and is a professional ski patroller at Bridger Bowl.
John Boersma earned his Masters
in Physical Therapy from Chapman
University in 1998, and is a Fellow of
Applied Functional Science. He is one of
only a few board certfied Clinical Spe-
Orion Thornton was born and raised
in an off-grid home in a remote area of
Northwest Montana. After completing
an AAS Degree in Renewable Energy
from San Juan College in 2006, Orion
was hired on at Independent Power
Systems, where he is currently project manager. With a strong passion for
sustainability, he lives in a zero fossil
fuel home and is a committed bike commuter—he especially enjoys cutting
fresh bike tracks in the snow while being
honked at by loud, jacked up trucks.
A native of eastern Washington, Taylor
Woodward has been a professional ski
patroller at Moonlight Basin since 2006.
His exploits have taken him from Denali’s summit, to a ski descent from 24,000
feet on Shishapangma, Tibet. Recently,
Taylor wrote a feature for Frequency
Snowboard Journal about a sailboat-accessed ski mountaineering expedition to
Alaska, in which he skied from 12,000
feet on Mount St. Elias to the ocean. He
claims southwest Montana as home, but
plans to return to British Columbia’s
Coast Range using boat approach.
Mountain
7
Mountain
Winter 2011
CEO, PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Eric Ladd
COO & SENIOR EDITOR
Megan Paulson
VIDEOGRAPHER
Brian Niles
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Mike Martins
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Kelsey Dzintars
MANAGING EDITOR
Emily Stifler
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Abigail Digel
SALES DIRECTOR
Hunter Rothwell
DISTRIBUTION
Danielle Chamberlain
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS
Eric Berger, John Boersma, Ali Havig, Joshua P. Howe,
Brian Hurlbut, Brian Ladd, Brandy Ladd, Paul Miller,
Luke Rice, Hunter Rothwell, Orion Thornton, Pat Wolfe,
John Marshall, Kene Sperry, Scot Livingstone, John
Layshock and Taylor Woodward
EDITORIAL POLICY
Outlaw Partners LLC is the sole owner of Mountain Outlaw
magazine and the Big Sky Weekly. No part of this publication
may be reprinted without written permission from the
publisher. Mountain Outlaw magazine reserves the right to
edit all submitted material for content, corrections or length.
Printed material reflects the opinion of the author and is not
necessarily the opinion of Outlaw Partners or the editors
of this publication. No advertisements, columns, letters
to the editor or other information will be published that
contain discrimination based on sex, age, race, religion, creed,
nationality, sexual preference, or are in bad taste. For editorial
queries or submissions, please contact
[email protected].
DISTRIBUTION
Distributed twice a year in towns across Southwest Montana,
including Big Sky, Bozeman, West Yellowstone, Three
Forks, Livingston and Ennis. We also distribute nationally
through direct mail. Mountain Outlaw can also be found at
explorebigsky.com.
OUTLAW PARTNERS, MOUNTAIN OUTLAW &
THE BIG SKY WEEKLY
(406) 995-2055
PO Box 160250
5 Center Lane, Suite B
Big Sky, MT 59716
ExploreBigSky.com
[email protected]
Copyright © 2010 Outlaw Partners, LLC
Unauthorized reproduction prohibited
8
Mountain
40
603
species of game
animals: Mule
deer, white-tailed deer,
elk, moose, pronghorn
antelope, bighorn sheep,
mountain goat, mountain
lion, black bear, woodland
caribou, grizzly bear and
wild bison
species of
migratory game
birds: Ducks, geese,
brant, swans, sandhill crane,
coots, common (Wilson’s)
snipe, tundra swan, and
mourning doves
estimated
population of
grizzly bears in
the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem in Montana, Idaho
and Wyoming
742
23,721.6
1.6
species nongame
wildlife According to
state law these are:
“Any wild mammal, bird,
amphibian, reptile, fish,
mollusk, crustacean or other
animal not otherwise legally
classified by statute or regulation of this state.”
1,225
Montana kids with good
or improving grades used
Moonlight Basin’s M-Bar-T
program last winter to earn
affordable skiing.
square miles in Gallatin,
Park, Madison, Sweetgrass,
Jefferson, Silver Bow,
Beaverhead, Deer Lodge,
Granite and Ravalli counties,
combined.
222,905
people live in this area.
601,375
skiers visited Big Sky,
Bridger Bowl and Moonlight
Basin last year, combined.
billion dollars spent
annually in Montana.
montanastats
12
1,170
miles the Nez Perce
tribe walked in 1877,
pursued by U.S. Army. The
Nez Perce (Nimíipuu or NeeMe-Poo) National Historic
Trail winds from Wallowa
Lake, Oregon, to the Bear
Paw Battlefield near Chinook,
Montana.
Mountain
9
Something of the past
“As technology thrusts us relentlessly into
the future, I find myself, perversely, more
interested in the past. We seem to have lost
something—something vital, something of
individuality and passion. That may be why
we tend to view the Western outlaw, rightly
or not, as a romantic figure.” - Robert
Redford, who portrayed the Sundance Kid
in the 1969 movie, Butch Cassidy and The
Sundance Kid. view story, Page 72
Selected Old West
Slang from A
Writer’s Guide to
the Old West
A Hog-Killin’ Time ~ a real good time. “We went to the New
Year’s Eve dance and had us a hog-killin’ time.”
Bosh ~ Nonsense
Boss ~ the best, top. “The Alhambra Saloon sells the boss
whiskey in town.”
Gallatin National
Forest Avalanche
Center
“Skiing
will be
good
tomorrow.
You should
call in
sick.”
(GNFAC director Doug Chabot)
Based in Bozeman, the GNFAC covers
approximately 10,000 square km, including the Bridger, Gallatin, Madison,
and Washburn Ranges, the Lionhead
area near West Yellowstone, and the
mountains around Cooke City. In the
winter, 3,534 people a day receive avalanche advisories. Last year, avi center
experts gave 65 avalanche talks to 4,900
people. They offer these classes at little
or no cost across the advisory area.
mtavalanche.com
Fish ~ a cowboy’s rain slicker, from a rain gear manufacturer
whose trademark was a fish logo. “We told him it looked like
rain, but left his fish in the wagon anyhow.”
Flannel Mouth ~ an overly smooth or fancy talker, especially
politicians or salesmen. “I swear that man is a flannelmouthed liar.”
Bazoo ~ mouth. “Shut your big bazoo.”
Get A Wiggle On ~ hurry
Take The Rag Off ~ surpass, beat all. “Well, if that don’t take the
rag off the bush.”
10 Mountain
john layshock
Take French Leave ~ to desert, sneak off without permission
Available from Western
Eye Press at
(800) 333-5178,
[email protected]
or on Amazon
$15.95
Suggested Reading:
The Perfect
Turn
Dick Dorworth is an icon of Western
skiing and an architect of its lifestyle.
The low-key Ketchum, Idaho/Bozeman,
Montana resident “learned to ski as a
boy in the post WWII years in the hills
above the south shores of Lake Tahoe.”
His newest book, the Perfect Turn: and
other tales of skiing and skiers, is a collection of fiction, nonfiction and photos
based on the author’s travels in the U.S.
and abroad. With a thoughtful mind and
conversational tone, Dorworth brings
readers into over 50 years of adventure,
history and great characters.
EVENTs:
Big Sky Nordic
Ski Festival
The first annual Big Sky Nordic Ski
Festival will be March 6-13, 2011. The
week’s lineup includes: the Glide and
Gorge (skiers visit gourmet restaurants
in tents on trails), the 18k Gallatin
Glissade race, The Mad Wolf Classic
downhill race from the top of Andesite
Mountain to the Lone Mountain Ranch
Outdoor Shop, clinics for all abilities,
family events, dog-friendly programs
and a terrain park. Proceeds from the
festival help fund the Big Sky Ski Education Foundation Nordic programs.
bigskynordicfestival.org
origin:
clyde park, MT
In 1887, John Harvey became postmaster of Sunnyside, a bustling town
15 miles north on the railroad from
Livingston. At Harvey’s ranch (now
also the post office) Harvey and Tom
Tregloan bred Clydesdales from a stallion they imported from England. Sunnyside became Clyde Park, named after
the draft horses and the dramatic open
parkland of the Shields Valley.
Mountain
11
AUTHENTIC THAI
& ASIAN CUISINE
Open 7 Days a
Week
Come try our
NEW MENU
and celebrate
the winter
season
3090 Pine Drive #2, Big Sky
406-995-2728
by hunter rothwell
In 2010, a group of businesses, landowners and
organizations from the Big
Sky area formed the Big Sky
Natural Resource Council
(BSNRC). The group came together
in response to the growing damage
caused by the mountain pine beetle and
the spruce bugworm in white pine and
lodgepole pine forests in the Big Sky
region. With an eye toward increasing
forest health, the council hopes to establish community goals and objectives
based around:
• wildland fire protection
• wildlife habitat preservation
• landowner responsibility
• watershed protection
• community development, tourism,
and recreation
This winter, the BSNRC will begin
its first project, the healthy forest
initiative. The project’s initial phase,
the ‘Big Sky forest stewardship plan’,
aims to develop comprehensive pro-
cedures promoting forest health, longevity, and sustainability on private
land in Big Sky. The council is designing the plan as an educational resource
for landowners and as a guideline for
local forestry businesses.
Council member Scott Brown hopes
it “will act as a road map to a healthy
forest here in Big Sky and as a model for
communities scattered throughout the
Rocky Mountain and western states.”
The council has 11 voting members
and over 50 non-voting members and
advisors. Professional technical advisors come from agencies and organizations specializing in Southwest
Montana’s natural resource issues. The
BSNRC will schedule these advisors
to give educational workshops teaching the community about the plan and
how to utilize it. Advisors will also
be available to assist landowners with
implementation.
community
Healthy Forests Community members
help form the Big Sky Natural
Resource Council
As a subsidiary of the Rocky
Mountain Resource Conservation
and Developments Natural Resource
Committee, the BSNRC operates under
this larger committee’s bylaws and 501C3 status. A recent $30,000 donation
from Merrill Lynch will help support
development of the Big Sky Forest
Stewardship Plan.
“We encourage anyone who is interested
to participate, provide public comment,
and feel free to address any natural
resource issues you feel are important,”
says Crystal Hagerman, the program’s
coordinator.
For more information on the Healthy
Forest Initiative:
foresthealth.wikispaces.com
contact Crystal Hagerman at
(406) 209-0344
[email protected]
Mountain
13
T H E W E S T M AY B E W I L D ,
but it’s not uncivilized
N E W M E N U ! Featuring
• Roasted Locally Grown Organic Beets, Arugula, Amalthea Dairy Chevre, Orange Supremes, Fine Herb Vinaigrette
• Asian Barbecue Glazed grilled Quail, Braised Greens, Fingerling Potato, Blood Orange Gastrique
• Braised Szechuan Spiced Rubbed Bison Short-ribs, Parsnip Potato puree, Broccolini, Braising Jus
NEW RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT
Steve Kuntz & Matt Fritz
RAINBOW RANCH RESTAURANT
8 0 0 - 9 3 7 - 4 1 3 2 • 4 0 6 - 9 9 5 - 4 1 3 2 • F ive m i l e s s o u t h o f B i g S ky e n t r a n c e o n H w y 1 9 1
R e s e r v a t i o n s R e c o m m e n ded • www.rainb owranchbigs ky.com
S
R
E
L
SEL
d
e
t
n
a
W
Gear Review
BUYER 102 LOOKING FOR SKI-IN SKI-OUT DIAMOND
HITCH HOME. Older couple from Florida, who have
come to Big Sky multiple times and are looking for a
family vacation home at a great price
BUYERS 304 & 305 LOOKING FOR GLACIER /
YELLOWSTONE / SILVERBOW CONDO. 2 couples, one
from WI now have kids in the area and another from SD
looking to relocate to Big Sky.
NEGOTIATIONS PENDING
RYAN & TALLIE
A TEAM WITHIN A TEAM
BUYER 146 LOOKING FOR MEADOW HOME. Couple
that currently owns a condo in Big Sky and is looking for
a larger property.
BUYER 198 IN AN INVESTOR SEEKING HIGHLY
MOTIVATED SKI-IN SKI-OUT BUILT PRODUCT. Cash
buyer looking for Powder Ridge, Moonlight Mountain
Home or Chalet. Quick closing.
** NEW BUYERS ARE REGISTERING OFTEN, SO LOOK
FOR UPDATES IN THE BIG SKY WEEKLY PUBLICATION.
MARKETING LIKE THIS GIVES US A PULSE ON THE MARKET.
WANT AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO REAL ESTATE?
WE’RE YOURGALLERY
TEAM. BOOM.
PHOTO
ANNOUNCING BIG SKY’S FIRST PROPERTY TRADING WEB SITE,
DEVELOPING A NEW APPROACH TO REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS.
*COMING IN SPRING 2011
RYAN KULESZA | BROKER
406.539.4666 CELL
[email protected]
TALLIE JAMISON | ASSOCIATE
406.600.8081 CELL
[email protected]
Mountain
Mountain
15
15
outbound
RyanKrueger
16 Mountain
Dancing among giants in the Bridger Range
after the perfect snowstorm
ryankruegerphotography.com
Scotlivingstone
Avi control - chose your weapon: classic ski
cutting or a visit to the ‘boom room’
Mountain
17
outbound
18 Mountain
kenesperry
Chad Robbs gets the goods while taking in the
last few rays of sunshine.
eyeintheskyphotography.com
Mountain
19
Mountain
20
Lunch, Apres Ski
& Fine Dining
BURGERS &
BREWS
•
•
•
•
100 beers
100 wines
12 HDTVs
Full Bar & Menu
Open daily
at 11:30 a.m.
BIG SKY TOWN CENTER
big sky, montana
(406)995-3830
TIMBERS - MOONLIGHT LODGE
big sky, montana
(406)995-7777
Reservations Recommended For Dinner
It must have been a Thursday.
The temperature was brisk, the
powder deep. I remember the
crispness of the air and how the
chill tickled my nose. My breath was
visible as I lingered on the crest of Thunder for
a moment. The trees looked
like ghosts, every branch
“At LT, it doesn’t matter
and needle enveloped by ice
crystals. The cold had turned
what you ski, where
the snow to the consistency
you’re from, or who you
of sugar. Off in the distance,
the view was familiar: a snowy
know. Coming back to
road wound its way into Idaho.
the Big Hole Valley and
The mountains, layer upon
skiing Lost Trail has been
layer to the horizon, met a
perfect blue sky. Montana to
a breath of fresh air.”
the left and Idaho to the right.
I gave myself a little pep talk as I watched my
mom, my partner in crime that day, fly past.
One last deep breath, and I was off, moving
through the snow, turn by turn, without effort.
Untouched powder underfoot, I was suspended; nothing held me back, a feather on a breeze.
In my periphery, I caught a glimpse of my mom,
poaching powder in the trees - her favorite place
to ski. “Woohoo!” she shouted, carefree. I felt
infected by her lighthearted spirit. This was the
beginning of another transcendent day at Lost
Trail Powder Mountain.
I grew up skiing Lost Trail. From snowplow
A Lost trail
native returns
home to ski
by Ali havig
tales
A
familiar
View
to ski instructor, it has always been, and will
always be, my home mountain. For eight weeks,
beginning in kindergarten and continuing
through eighth grade, the Wisdom Elementary
PE program gave us Friday afternoons to ski
at Lost Trail. In high school I worked as a ski
instructor, which meant I was on the mountain
every weekend all season. College took me to
Bozeman, five hours from home. I majored in
architecture and skied Bridger Bowl, Big Sky
and Moonlight Basin.
After receiving my Masters degree in architecture, I was ready for a new experience,
something far from the familiar. Ambition for
something new took me to the east coast, and
Washington, D.C. A new city with new people
was exciting and different, and I remember
the exhilaration of the metro and finding my
way around the city. In time, the mountains of
Montana and the slopes of Lost Trail called me
back home just in time for ski season to start.
In my 22 years on skis, I have been fortunate
to ski Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and
Colorado, but I still call Lost Trail my mountain. I love the terrain and the incredible snow
conditions. I always feel welcome here. At LT,
it doesn’t matter what you ski, where you’re
from, or who you know. Coming back to the
Big Hole Valley and skiing Lost Trail has been a
breath of fresh air. Knowing I can always come
back gives me confidence to let life take me
where it will. I love this place.
Mountain
23
Cast &
Blast
Steelhead,
chuckar hunting
and fall rafting:
a sublime vacation
By Brian Ladd
Photos by Matty mccain
24 Mountain
When Matty uttered the
word “chuckar,” the
canyon erupted with the
metallic sounds of shotguns being assembled
and chambers being
loaded. As the diminishing
echoes of the chamber pump reverberated through the rock walls,
a loaded silence settled over the
10 members of our group. I knew
then I was north, far north, of an
ordinary raft trip.
I’d heard of ‘cast and blast,’ but my
raft trips usually involved white
water or fishing, and the ‘blast’
portion had never interested me.
They came together this fall when
I joined an otherwise all-Montanan
group on the Lower Salmon River.
While most of us had rafted various
upper stretches of this magnificent
river as it flowed from the jagged
heart of Idaho, we didn’t know
what to expect from this section.
Over 90 miles and five days, we
floated from open, warm high
desert into dark, intimidating
schist canyons. The river held clear,
consistent, if not giant, whitewater.
The setting and scale of the place
reminded me of the Grand Canyon,
which we’d all floated together
that spring. We shared camaraderie
in exploring a new place that far
exceeded our expectations.
In the last few years, I have become a steelhead fanatic, and the
Lower Salmon has a fall run of
these magnificent fish. Genetically,
steelhead are rainbow trout. After
one to three years in the river, they
swim a thousand-plus miles to the
Pacific Ocean. During their years
at sea, they can travel as far as the
Arctic Circle. They then return as
eight-pound beasts and spawn at
their location of birth. On that risky
journey, the fish pass hydroelectric
dams. Unlike salmon, steelhead
repeat this feat more than once. I
hooked and landed a few steelhead,
but paid my penance as the casts
between fish were in the hundreds.
For me, just knowing these creatures were there added to the river’s
power and mystique.
When the Montana armada loaded
up for the covey of chuckar partridge hiding in a side canyon, I was
one of few unarmed. Six loaded
guns surrounded me, all with
multiple rounds ready to go. Troy,
nominated as the flushing dog with
gun in hand, hopped out of the raft
and disappeared up a narrow, rocky
side canyon. This is a Montana accountant on vacation, I thought. He
flushed the birds, and they flew directly over the river and our waiting
rafts. The silence broke. Hunters,
dressed in shorts and life jackets,
took their shots from the rafts. I felt
the gunfire reverberate within the
rock walls as much as I heard it. The
quiet of the canyon returned, and
we watched one bird fall into the
river. I laughed at the absurdity, the
poor shooting display, and because I
was having so much damn fun.
Brian Ladd, husband and father of
two, resides in Steamboat Springs,
Colorado. You’d be hard pressed to
convince him to give away the exact
location of this story.
Author Brian Ladd and dog Luna
with prize steelhead
Mountain
25
The author climbing in Hyalite Canyon
Ice climbing in
Hyalite Canyon
By Emily Stifler
In mid-November 2009, Pat
Wolfe and I went to Flanders,
a chilly side drainage of
Hyalite Canyon that often
holds early-season ice. We
parked by Whit Magro’s car
and crossed the creek on
slippery rocks.
After a half hour of walking on a packed
trail through the snow, we looked up
through the trees to the impressive freestanding Killer Pillar, a route Jack Tackle
first climbed in 1982. Next in view was
the exquisite hanging drip The Big Sleep, a
400-foot test piece suited for the strongest climbers. A climber in a red jacket
was visible on rock between the approach
ice and the massive main flow on The Big
Sleep. We hooted.
26 Mountain
Pat Wolfe on thin ice
“WhoooHoUoUoUooooo,” echoed back
Sam Magro’s classic loon call.
“I bet Narcolepsy’s in,” said Pat. “Wanna
check? It hasn’t formed in three years.” We
walked another 10 minutes, crossing huge
moose tracks. We could barely see the ice
through the forest.
“It looks thin,” I said.
We turned off the trail, and post holed
across a creek and up a treed hillside.
Raised in Bozeman, Pat is a blacksmith
and a dedicated bowhunter. He’s climbed
throughout the U.S. and in Patagonia, but
couldn’t imagine living anywhere other
than here.
We skirted the base of the cliff and kicked
out a snow platform near Narcolepsy. I
knew this was a cool find; established in
1995 by Doug Chabot and the late Alex
Lowe, this ephemeral line doesn’t form
often and melts out quickly.
Pat Wolfe
I organized the ropes and then settled in
to belay, wearing both of our down coats.
A sheet of ice, three feet wide and three
inches thick, was starting to peel from the
rock. Pat was careful before committing to
the steep ice flow. Finally, he stemmed his
feet between the rock and the ice, moving
upward methodically. The protection was
thin, and Pat placed short screws in the ice
and tiny gear in the rock, when possible.
Spindrift blew hard from above, and he
turned his head away and waited, then
gunned through a rotten bit, disappearing
onto lower-angled ice.
My pitch was a rolling, three-foot wide
ribbon in a U-shaped chimney. Spindrift
continued, turning the world white,
black and gray. The sound of metal on
rock scraped in my ears as my crampons
scratched against the rock beside the ice. At
the top, I folded myself into a cave and built
an anchor of ice screws and a cam placed
emily stifler
“Did you see how big those tracks were?”
Pat asked. “I’d like to put in for a moose tag
next fall.”
between curious, smooth rock cobbles. I
piled the ropes on the ice in the tiny cave,
and sat down on them to stay warm. Joining
the handful of people who’d done this rare
route seemed like a moment to remember,
and I realized I’d begun to feel in tune with
the climbing mediums of ice and winter.
2009 was my sixth winter in Montana.
By nature of the geography, people often
live far apart here, and the size of the place
sometimes feels isolating to me. In the winter though, Hyalite Canyon and its plethora
of natural ice brings the ice climbing community together. Three years ago, with
leadership from the Southwest Montana
Climbers’ Coalition, this sometimes scattered community of independent spirits rallied together in a battle to preserve Hyalite’s
road access against seasonal closure. The
road is now plowed all winter.
This essay was adapted from a longer piece
first published in Rock and Ice magazine.
rockandice.com
Mountain
27
into the
b y Tay l o r W o o d w a r d
photos by luke rice
Earning a skier’s
r i g h t o f pa ss ag e in
t h e M a d i s o n Ra n ge
“This is it,” he said. “Check out that east
couloir!” Mount Dudley holds a handful
of skiable lines, only obvious when viewed
from Dudley Creek to the east. From the
beginning, Kapes had a plan. I had just met
him a few weeks ago, but today he promised
powder skiing off the top of Dudley. He
rattled off peaks in the surrounding area.
“That’s Wilson across the way, and there’s
Jumbo and Gallatin Peak—you gotta ski the
Southeast face of Gallatin.”
“What’s with that range to the south?” I
asked.
“That’s still the Madisons. The big stuff.”
These mountains seemed to hold endless
possibilities for adventure. I shook myself
from a stupor, remembering going down
was pertinent. We skied deliberately, leaving deep turns to the valley floor as the high
country lingered in the evening. I wondered
why it took me so long to move here. My
excitement became insatiable.
Moving from a temporary existence in
Boulder, Colorado to Big Sky a month
earlier, in January 2006, couldn’t have come
at a better time for me. I’d been stagnating
in the big city and felt like I was in a rut. I
packed my ski gear and everything else that
fit into my 1984 Honda Civic, and then
headed north, puttering up dark
state highways. I’d scored a job as a
ski patroller at Moonlight Basin and
moved there mid-season.
region
The ridge seemed to go forever.
Weaving past giant cornices,
we skinned higher until
snow gave way to rock under
a prominent summit. I felt
relieved when, ahead of me,
Ryan Kapes stopped moving.
A week after our Dudley tour,
Kapes and I went to Beehive Basin,
Big Sky’s best access into the Spanish Peaks’ high alpine zones. Kapes
talked as we skinned over a ridge
toward Bear Basin. “You can’t just
go anywhere you want,” he advised.
“This isn’t Mount Baker. The snow here is
different from Washington, and we’re way
back here.”
Excited and perplexed, I appreciated Kapes’
continuous tidbits of advice. He pointed out
Bear Basin’s prominent ski lines: The Hoo
Haas, Bat Ears, The Giver and other obscure
gems spilling towards Spanish Creek. No
matter the punchy conditions, we had the
place to ourselves.
“That pass takes you to Hellroaring Creek.”
Kapes pointed. “The other one leads into
Spanish Creek.” The names were familiar
from highway signposts, but I had no idea
how big the drainages really were. How far
back could we ski in a day? This question
only fueled my fire.
I was determined to know everything about
the Spanish Peaks. Every day off from
work, I went back for more. On each outing,
I found new terrain. Couloirs, traverses,
open bowls and white bark tree runs satisfied my powder craze. Then, later in the
spring, while skiing Beehive’s tight, steep
and rocky lines, I discovered Montana ski
mountaineering.
W
e skied deliberately,
leaving deep turns to
the valley floor as
the high country lingered in
the evening. I wondered why it
took me so long to move here.
Mountain
29
The Madison Range is a sizeable
and relatively unbroken span
of wilderness in Southwest
Montana. Running north to south from
the Gallatin Valley to Hebgen Lake, these
mountains span over 50 miles, and boast
some of Montana’s highest continuous
alpine terrain, writes Thomas Turiano in 50
Select Peaks of the Greater Yellowstone. After
nearly a century of exploitation between
government land swaps, railroad misuse
and logging blunders in this spectacular
area, Montana Congressman Lee Metcalf
proposed a wilderness area of over 600,000
acres in the 1970s. A conflicting bill by Sentator John Melcher won however, appeasing
recreation interests and logging industry
giants. In 1983, Congress protected 261,000
acres in the Lee Metcalf Wilderness.
For sake of explanation, the range can be
split into three sections: the Spanish Peaks,
the West Fork Peaks and the Taylor-Hilgards. Big Sky Resort and the surrounding
30 Mountain
community—which split the northern and
southern half of the wilderness—exemplify land use compromises introduced by
Melcher’s bill.
Jack Creek and the Middle Fork of the
Gallatin River isolate the Spanish Peaks as
the northernmost part of the Madisons.
Northwest weather patterns rising out of
the Madison River Valley favor these mountains, and as a result, they receive similar
snowfall as nearby Big Sky. The rock here,
1.6 billion year old gneiss, began crystallizing during the Precambrian Age and has
eroded away to sculpt buttresses, fins and
walls. In turn, these rock formations give
way to clean couloirs and featured summits.
At over 8,000 feet, Beehive Basin provides
ski access into this area from early October
turns to late-season mega tours deep into the
backcountry.
South of Sphinx Mountain, a geological
division line called a thrust fault sepa-
Surfing, Montana style
rates the northern section of the Madisons from the
Taylor-Hilgards. The area between holds the West
Fork Peaks: Cedar, Lone Peak (home to Big Sky and
Moonlight Basin), Pioneer (Yellowstone Club) and
Fan Mountains. These dramatic massifs are anomalies,
formed independently into masses of folded sandstone, limestone and shale. About 70 million years
ago, magma worked its way into sedimentary formations leaving dacite porphyry, which bears a mistaken
resemblance to volcanoes of the Cascade Range. Cedar
and Fan are visible from the ski resorts on Lone Peak
and the Yellowstone Club, but backcountry ski objectives on those mountains are large-scale and remote,
with difficult access due to private land.
A skier stops to take in the
ominous mood of Lone Peak
The Taylor-Hilgard mountains make up the southern
half of the greater Madison Range. In 1959, a 7.3
magnitude earthquake here caused a massive landslide
that killed 28 people and blocked the Madison River,
creating Quake Lake. Geologically, the Hilgards
consist of three billion year old metamorphic rock,
massive glacial moraines and lofty rock horns. This
remote sub-range runs about 25 miles north-south
and has limited winter access due to long and diffi
Mountain
31
Taylor Woodward
i just found the next twenty
years of my life...
Looking south
from Imp Peak,
Hilgard and Echo
Peaks dominate
the skyline of the
southern Madison
Range
cult approaches. The allure to skiing here
is the concentration of 11,000-foot peaks
like Koch, Imp, Echo and Hilgard. At
11,316 feet, Hilgard Peak stands proud as
the highest point in Montana outside the
Beartooth Range.
We lifted our feet unloading the Headwaters chairlift, plowing through giant
drifts on our way to morning avalanche control work
in Moonlight Basin’s alpine
terrain. It was March 2008, and we’d
received two feet of snow overnight.
After 18 inches the previous day, Lone
Peak’s alpine terrain was powder heaven.
I wallowed up Country Club in disbelief
of the waist deep snow. Switching leads
with other ski patrollers, we broke trail
in a fitful fashion. En route to Three
Forks, we skirted the start zones of the
chutes Firehole, Hellroaring and Jack
Creek, which were choked with snow.
32 Mountain
“Hurry up! We gotta open soon!” Matt
Weiland, my route partner, prodded and
chastised me for breaking trail so slowly.
“You try. I’ll hang back and bother you,”
I said. My agitation felt bittersweet.
Wieland sunk to his neck, flailing. As we
rested at the top of Rock Creek, the sun
breached the horizon behind Ramshorn
Peak and grazed the highest peaks around
us with a fiery hue. South, in the Hilgards, Imp Peak ignited in flames of red.
away from their avalanche run-outs was
essential. My radio crackled continuously,
as patrollers called in shots. “Fire in the
hole!” Explosives broke through the cold
morning air.
Fire on Lone Peak, I thought, watching the
sunrise fade into memory.
Every detail of Lone Peak consumed me
as if I’d never seen the mountain before.
Kapes and Weiland stood beside me as
the day unveiled, broken by the infantry
of Moonlight Basin ski patrol.
March 2009 5:00 a.m. Two degrees Fahrenheit couldn’t
convince my frozen fingers to
hitch the snowmobile trailer.
We grabbed coffee and junk food at the
Conoco, fuel for a big push up Imp Peak in
the Hilgards. It was still dark as we pulled
onto 191 South. In the moonlight I saw
the Gallatin River, locked in icy grips.
Part of a coordinated siege of the Headwaters cirque, Weiland and I moved down
Three Forks, throwing explosives, ski
cutting and watching each other from safe
spots. We communicated with patrollers
in neighboring chutes, because staying
The weather was clear and cold, with
no storms predicted for days. The truck
hopped between ruts down the Taylor
Fork road. We parked at the ranch and
began blindly foraging for gear in the
darkness.
“This is going to be a cold ride for you,” Kapes said. “Enjoy
it.” He preferred to tow me behind his snowmobile rather
than destroy his suspension by riding tandem.
We counted six moose in the creek, stoically posed in
willow groves. As we closed in on the trailhead, Woodward Peak caught the sunrise above us through low
clouds. We left the snowmobile and made good time
skinning up the drainage on supportable crust. Barely
speaking a word the first four miles, we moved upwards
through the cold morning.
We took a break at the first sunny spot along the creek. I
looked back at the crazy rock striations of Woodward Peak
and thought of my friend Troy, who had told me about
that mountain. “Some day you’ll ski your namesake!” he’d
said. I’d taken his advice in fall of 2007, climbing and skiing Woodward’s north couloir above the Taylor Fork.
When we reached the elevation where White Bark pines
gave way to meadows, a castle-like peak grazed the horizon. Another north couloir split the gothic rock horns
on Imp Peak’s north face for 2,000 vertical feet. We wove
through an endless maze of terminal moraine, ending the
nine-mile approach.
Ryan Kapes gets
some love from in
Bear Basin
“The wind beat us to it,” I said, looking up at the scalloped
and drifted snow on Imp’s north face. The slope above had
taken a beating and was stripped of recent new snow.
We booted up toward the notch below Imp’s summit and
arrived at the ridge. Goats scattered from the knife-edge in
a frenzy. To the south, the Henrys Lake Mountains snaked
toward Island Park. Beyond that, we could see the Tetons.
The Gravelly, Centennial and Pintler ranges wandered
west in the distance. To the east, the Gallatins and Absarokas. North, the spine of the Madisons continued unobstructed until spilling out of sight into the Gallatin Valley.
“I just found the next twenty years of my life,” I said.
Kapes agreed with a casual smile, as he stripped the climbing skins from his skis. “Let’s go skiing,” he said.
Mountains mean something different to
each person. For me, skiing is an outlet. It is my way
of life and a tool of exploration. I find freedom one summit at a time—meeting a sunrise or finding a white bark
tree alley that unfolds in front of every ski turn. In Montana, I’ve found unnamed couloirs, mountain traverses I
dream to complete, and salvation in perfect powder days.
The will for adventure keeps me human. I wouldn’t trade
it for the world.
33
Mountain
The author in Beehive Basin
alternatives
The Word is out about Solar
Independent Power Systems’ installation on tribal lands is a
landmark for renewable energy.
By Orion Thornton
photos courtesy of ips
On a
clear, sub
zero day last
February, the installation crew from Bozeman’s Independent Power
Systems (IPS) began work
on a monumental project
for renewable energy and
community involvement on
Northern Cheyenne tribal
lands in Southeast Montana. The day started in Colstrip,
home to one of the largest coal fired
power plants in the West.
The presence of the giant coal cloud
reaching into the sky that morning
was motivation enough to start work
on what would become the largest
single metered solar electric system in
the state, and by far the largest solar
project on Montana Native American
lands. At 49,980 watts, the system
is just 20 watts shy of the state’s net
metering limit. Working closely with
34 Mountain
the
Northern
Cheyenne Tribal
Housing Authority and
Tongue River Electric Co-Op,
it took the eight man installation crew
two weeks to complete the project.
The solar installation was part of a
larger renovation of the Wendel Turkey
“Shoulder Blade Complex” in Lame
Deer, Montana. The building is a 35-unit
apartment complex for elderly tribal
members. The renovation also included
removing and replacing all interior
building materials, as well as asbestos
abatement.
The Northern Cheyenne Tribal Housing Authority funded the overall
renovation project with an award of
$485,705 in low-income housing tax
credits from the Montana Board of
Housing. The project closed with an investor in 2009 and soon generated $3.4
million toward the rehabilitation. The
total project cost was about $4.7 million. The total cost of the solar electric
system was $322,000.
Travois, Inc., a housing and economic de-
velopment consulting firm that
works with American Indian tribes,
helped with the tax credit application,
and Travois Design & Construction Services acted as the design consultant and
worked with the tribe to determine the
scope of work for rehabilitation.
In celebration of the Shoulder Blade
renovation’s completion, the tribe held
an open house rededication ceremony in
September 2010.
“A flood of those anxious attendees
rushed in to see the new apartments,
kitchen, dining room, pavilion, sauna,
Independent Power Systems (IPS) has been designing and installing renewable energy power systems
in the Northern Rockies since 1996. With branch
operations in Bozeman, Montana and Boulder, Colorado, IPS has installed over four megawatts of solar
energy globally. A company philosophy that centers
around a high level of installation quality and service
ensures that each system will produce a maximum
amount of energy while attaining a maximum lifetime of operation, backed by a ten-year installation
warranty. solarips.com
library, conference room, Elderly program office space and laundry rooms,”
the Northern Cheyenne .
Tribal Housing Authority reported.
“One of the main attractions for the day
was the solar system.”
As the U.S. solar industry continues on
a path of rapid growth and system sizes
reach well into the 100 megawatt range,
a 50 kW system in remote Montana may
seem insignificant. But this project is
very important for the residents of the
Shoulder Blade Complex and for Montana’s solar industry as a whole.
For the residents of the Shoulder Blade
Complex, who are mainly elderly tribal
members, it is a step toward self-sufficiency. For the Montana solar industry, it
means the word is finally getting out that
renewable energy is a valued commodity,
and that there is still a chance to make
renewable energy a major player in our
energy sector.
With a minimum lifetime expectancy of
30 years, the solar system on the Shoulder Blade Complex is quietly producing
up to 62,630 Kilowatt-hours of clean,
renewable energy a year.
The system will offset 47 tons of CO2
annually—equivalent to planting 235
trees every year. This project opens a
glimpse into what is possible for Montana’s energy future. As the coal cloud
just 24 miles down the road slowly drifts
away with its finite supply of fuel, the
significance of the Shoulder Blade solar
system becomes more apparent. Independent Power Systems is set to finish
another large commercial solar project
on Native Lands this December, with
the completion of a 23kW system on
a new building for the Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana.
IPS looks forward to collaborating with
indigenous peoples throughout the nation in the future.
By focusing efforts toward renewable
sources of fuel, our communities can
ensure a healthy environment for all
citizens, provide much needed jobs in
our most remote communities, and leave
clear skies for future generations.
Mountain
35
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nelson, british columbia
backcountry snowcat
skiing & boarding
B A L D FA C E . N E T
I N F O @ B A L D FA C E . N E T
250-352-0006
Rider Mikey LeBlanc
PHOTO BY ASHLEY BARKER
KBHC
a c e n t u ry
on the
Arial view of G-M Ranch
38 Mountain
Emily Stifler
RANC H
The Leffingwe ll s have passed t heir
fami ly’s Bracke t C reek ranching
Pat Clayton
tradi t ion down five generat ions
Mike Leffingwell in
the G-M horse barn
Mike Leffingwell opens the heavy wooden
sliding door and walks into the shadows of
the horse barn. “This is like my second home,” he says.
“I usually keep about 35 head of good, broke saddle horses.”
Today, the small barn is quiet—it’s November, and all the
horses are out to winter pasture. “We raise some foals, and
we’ve got yearlings, two year olds and three year olds, so we
run about 55 head of horses.” The old wood walls muffle his
voice. Bits of hay are scattered between open stalls.
Lengths of dusty tack hang from the rafters. “My great grandfather Leffingwell was a harness maker. That’s all old harness he built.” Mike walks over to another harness hanging
from hooks on the ground floor. “If I’m feeding [cattle] in the
winter time with a team of horses, I still use this set, which
he built as well.”
Mike walks through an open doorway into a side room, stops,
props his hand on a saddle horn, and looks around. He pushes
back the ball cap he’s wearing over his thinning red hair. The
room, which smells like leather, saddle soap and dust, is lined
on four walls with more than 30 saddles. “I can find a saddle
for just about anybody,” he says. Mike, 42, is a fourth generation rancher. His family has been running a livestock opera-
tion on Brackett Creek for more than 100 years. In 1934, his
grandparents, George and Mary Leffingwell, started a guest
and dude ranch the family continues today.
He walks outside, through his horseshoeing shed, and out
onto the dirt road. “When I’m working cattle, weaning calves
or colts, or if we have to put something through the squeeze
chute, we use these pens next to the barn.”
To the south, Mike’s parents George and Patricia’s house is
barely visible, a quarter mile up Miles Creek. Beyond that,
aspen groves are bare of leaves, and snow speckles the higher
elevations of the Bangtail Divide. North of the barn, across
Brackett Creek and past a grove of cottonwoods, are generations of log buildings dating back to 1941. Among them is the
G-M guest lodge, as well the house where Mike lives with his
wife Maria and his daughter, Mary. The hills across the road
to the north are brown from the dry Indian summer. 30 minutes on horseback into those hills from the barn is Section 5,
a hilltop with views of the Castle Mountains and the Crazies,
the Bridger Range, the Absaroka-Beartooth and the Gallatins.
Mountain
39
Montana’s economy has been
tied to cattle ranching for
150 years. With the growing mining industry in the 1860s, demand for
beef increased. In 1866, Nelson Story
and a group of cowboys drove 3,000
Texas longhorns from Texas to Montana. Story started a cattle ranch in the
Gallatin Valley; as the state’s largest
cattle and horse breeder, his nickname
was the “cattle king.” During the
1870s, the last of the Plains Indians
were corralled into reservations, and
the American Bison population was
nearly eliminated. Huge regions of the
West were left unoccupied, and the
great cattle drives from Texas moved
over 10 million cattle and one million
range horses through this open range
land. By 1895, barbed wire, railroads
and settlement ended the large-scale
drives, but in the next 15 years, small
ranches established themselves across
Montana’s range country.
In spring of 1898, Mike Leffingwell’s
great grandfather, Charles Bridgman,
left Zainesville, Ohio and rode the
train as far west as he could go on $100.
He landed in Big Timber, Montana
and took a sheep-herding job up the
Boulder River valley. After four years,
he set off to find his own homestead.
By this time though, professional
homesteaders had already claimed
and proved up on most of the country.
Bridgman bought an established homestead on Brackett Creek, built a cabin,
started a sheep farm and married the
local schoolteacher, Dorothy Crichton.
In its best day, Charley Bridgman’s
operation ran 6,000 head of sheep,
which he summered in the Bangtails
and at the base of the Bridger Mountains. Once, during the depression, he
shipped three carloads of steers to sell
in Chicago, expecting to make a profit.
Instead, he got a bill for the freight.
Then in 1939, to boost passenger train
business, the railroad company encouraged ranches to add guest lodging. The
Bridgman’s daughter Mary had recently married a “fun-loving, good looking
cowboy” named George Leffingwell.
Together, they opened the guest business and called it the G-M, after their
own first names. The business thrived.
The Leffingwells had two sons, Georgie and Hank. In Mary’s book, Trails I
Have Chosen, she remembers leaving
the boys with a list of chores while she
and George went to town. The boys
dispatched the chores and moved onto
mischief:
George kept cases of dynamite in the
old root cellar that he used to make
ditches, move boulders, and other such
jobs, as we didn’t have machinery like
we do now…When we returned from
Livingston, George noticed a cloud of
dust hanging over the wood house and
called to the boys for an explanation…
They had secretly been working on [a
trap door and a] tunnel for weeks in
their spare time. When the neighbor boys
showed up, our boys decided to hurry the
digging with the help of a little dynamite… When the dynamite exploded, the
blast lifted the wood shed about four feet
in the air, disintegrating the rotten bottom logs…They were all pretty shook up,
scared, and willing to confess by the time
we got home.
Years later, George Jr. met his future
wife, Patricia, when she was visiting
the guest lodge with her father.
Before Mike, George and Patricia’s
son, took over running the ranch, he
“cowboyed and buckarooed around”
the country for a few years. When he
returned to Brackett Creek, he met Maria. Originally from Honduras, she’d
come to the ranch to clean houses. “I
was a mail order bride for somebody
else,” she says. “It’s a long story.” Mike
and Maria fell in love and married, and
he took a job managing a neighboring
ranch a mile down the road—his family’s original homestead. After living
20 years in Brackett Creek, Maria loves
everything about ranching, particularly
g-m ranch collection
g-m ranch collection
40 Mountain
ing each day at 6:30 a.m. Mike packed
a GPS in his saddle bags, and calculates
they averaged 25 miles a day. “We saw
most everything and got all the cows
back. Those folks were pretty sore by
the time they left, but that’s what they
came for.”
PAT CLAYTON
George and Patricia Leffingwell in the
G-M guest lodge
cooking, which she learned from Mary
Leffingwell, Mike’s grandmother.
horseback chores. He also teaches riding, roping and other ranching skills.
The G-M runs mostly Angus cattle,
which are well adapted to the environment and seasons in Montana. In
summer, the Leffingwells graze their
cattle on the 60,000 acres of Forest
Service land on the Bangtail Mountains
south of the ranch. Mike keeps about
150 head of mother cows and runs a
strong breeding program. Working
through a cyber stockyard on ebay, he
sells calves in June with an October delivery date. The last three years he sold
stock to a buyer in Eastern Montana.
“We get in situations where we need
to rope a cow to doctor it, but most of
[the guests] don’t understand how to
lay a cow down or how to handle one
when it’s on the ground,” Mike says.
He keeps horned cattle called TK for
teaching skills like these. “It’s not like
you see in the rodeo, where you run
one down.” Instead, he teaches people
to move slowly: “We’ll slip in there
and I’ll head one, then I’ll get somebody I’m teaching to ride in and heel
‘em. Then we’ll stretch ‘em out and lay
‘em down. As soon as we get ‘em on
the ground I’ll step down and put both
front feet in the rope. It’s one of those
little cowboy tricks we’re losing.”
“It’s the go go go
world now, and
this is not the real
world here,” George
says. He smiles. “I
couldn’t live in the
real world.”
Guest lodge visitors accompany Mike
to check fence lines, move cows and do
Some guests have returned to the G-M
for 20 years. George says the typical
guest has changed. Instead of staying a month, many families now come
for only three days. “It’s the go go go
world now, and this is not the real
world here,” George says. He smiles. “I
couldn’t live in the real world.”
This fall, a couple from England helped
Mike bring cattle down from summer
pasture. They rode for two weeks, start-
In fall, the G-M houses hunters for Elk
Creek Outfitters and Adventure Outfitters. Financially, the Leffingwells have
to take opportunities like these. For 25
years, George spent winters building
log homes in Big Sky, a business his
second son, Steve, took over and now
runs in Wilsall. Now, Mike buys, sells
and trades horses, shoes horses, and
leases and manages nearby property and
livestock. In spring, he helps five other
ranches with cattle breeding.
The Leffingwells seldom hire ranch
hands, though occasionally mentor a
young person looking for experience in
agriculture or ranching. “This is pretty
much a family deal,” Mike says. The
ranch isn’t big enough to justify hiring
full time help. “It’s different than going
to town and earning a paycheck. There’s
a lot of thinking and planning that goes
into what we do.”
Whether building a barn or cutting and
splitting a semi-load of wood, everyone
pitches in to get the work done. But the
sacrifice is worth it, Patricia says, “to be
able to get on our horses and ride out into
what we think is God’s country. To be
with our family, to share in hardships,
to have good neighbors and be good
neighbors.”
As Gallatin and Park Counties have grown, ranchers
have had to adjust to changes in Forest Service grazing
regulations, nearby development and higher cost of
living. The number of family owned
operations like the Leffingwell’s is
dwindling.
Mountain
41
G-M COLLECTION
“I can probably count on two hands the number
of ranchers in Park County that are still making a
living solely on cows,” Mike says. “The old time
rancher is becoming extinct. The rancher we’re
seeing today has made their money someplace else.
Cows and ranching are a hobby for them.”
In the past 10 years, the Leffingwells and their
neighbors have established conservation easements
along Brackett Creek east from the Park County
line, almost to Clyde Park. “We’ve built a community of stewards,” Mike says. “We’re concerned about
the elk herds and the grazing, the watershed and the
view sheds. We’re so lucky to be a part of that.”
Emily Stifler
Because she moved to ranching from the outside, Patricia has perspective: “I see tradition
that comes from generations of tradition. We live
our every day lives, but we still live with the
thought of George’s mother Mary, and what she
worked for on the ranch, of Mike’s great-grandfather and how he started the ranch. It wasn’t an
easy life at all.”
42 Mountain
Emily Stifler
Patricia says when she moved to Montana in 1988,
the old-time ranchers lived by a certain etiquette.
“There was an unspoken politeness and a respect for
each other’s land and cattle and way of life.” Neighbors depended on each other to help with branding,
calving, or if machinery broke down. “Nowadays,”
she says, “people are more independent.”
Mary Leffingwell and Carmen
Patricia’s granddaughters, Stephanie and Mary, are fifth generation.
Mary, 15, lives and works on the
ranch and attends tiny Clyde Park
High School, where she sings in the
choir. Mary is competitive in reining,
a precision-based style of Western
horseback riding similar to dressage.
She’s also learning to train horses
from her father, and this summer, she
raised an orphan filly named Carmen,
bottle-feeding with goat’s milk every
two hours day and night for several
months. Mary has Carmen halter
broke and weaned, but she still sucks
on Mary’s fingers as if she’s bottlefeeding. For Mary, meeting summer
guests is a way to “learn about different cultures and ideas.” Other ranches, she says, have pools and TVs—but
at G-M, the guests are involved with
the operations of the ranch.
“We choose whether we’re going to
live like this or not,” Mike says. “But
“...we still live with the
thought of George’s mother
Mary, and what she worked
for on the ranch, of Mike’s
great-grandfather and
how he started the ranch. It
wasn’t an easy life at all.”
what other job can you work with your
family? What better place to raise kids?
Mary can saddle a horse and be gone
half the day. This legacy that we live is
part of what we do. In my eyes though,
it’s a small part. It’s a choice we make.
But after a long tough spring, seeing
those cows spread out in front of you
in the hills, it’s healthy. It’s a good place
to be.”
Emily Stifler is managing editor of
Mountain Outlaw and the Big Sky
Weekly.
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Mountain
43
Murder at Boiling River
A true tale of murder, drugs and alcohol
in Yellowstone National Park
By Paul Miller as told to Megan Paulson
A young man
staggered down the
road, clad in Levis
and a t-shirt. He
tried desperately to
flag down a vehicle.
I stopped my car by the
Boiling River turnout and
walked up to him. Blood
dripped from his mouth and
stained his shirt.
He collapsed into my arms. I
lowered him onto the ground
and then called for backup
on my radio. As a ranger for
Yellowstone National Park,
I was in full uniform on my
way to a night shift at my
duty station in Mammoth.
During that time in the mid1970s, the Boiling River
recreational area between
Mammoth and Gardiner
had become an area of crime
fueled by illegal drugs and
alcohol. The Park Service
ignored the alcohol consumption and nudity that
was commonplace.
“Who did this?” I asked the
wounded man.
“My best friend,” he said.
Then he died.
After performing several
rounds of CPR, I brought
44 Mountain
him back around. When he
came to, he threw up in my
face. It was obvious he had
been eating Doritos.
Ranger Marc arrived with the
patrol car, and together, we
loaded the man into the back
seat while I continued tending to him. Looking closer, I
saw what appeared to be two
bullet holes: one in the front
of his neck and one in the
back of his chest. The drive
to the clinic at Mammoth
only took a couple minutes.
Who would have shot their
best friend, and why? I
wondered.
We left the injured man at
the clinic after getting his
California ID and called in
on the radio to further alert
the rest of the Park. Our next
goal was to go back down
to Boiling River to see if we
could find a shooting suspect.
As we neared the area, we
saw two men who appeared
to be hiding something.
Marc covered me while
I approached the men. It
appeared they were doing cocaine, so I asked for their IDs
and then searched them and
the area. While interviewing the rest of the people
at Boiling River, a bulletin
alert came across the radio: a
vehicle with California plates
had gone off the road; single
individual running through
the trees away from the car.
By radio we alerted the
ranger handling the situation that the man shot in the
Boiling River area had also
been from California. We
suspected the man running
from the car accident was a
likely perpetrator.
Shortly after we concluded
gathering information at
Boiling River we heard
another radio call-in. The
individual who’d crashed his
car had been arrested.
A follow-up investigation
concluded the two men
had stolen a vehicle from
California and driven it to
Yellowstone. High on illegal
drugs, they were sitting
in the parking lot arguing
about whether to use their
drugs themselves or sell the
drugs to get money for food
and gas.
The passenger got out and
came around to the driver’s
side, where the driver had
his window down. The driver shot the passenger under
the chin with a 22-caliber
pistol. As the passenger
turned and ran, the driver
shot him again. I found him
shortly after.
The driver had headed
toward Norris, speeding. When he crashed the
vehicle, he got out and ran,
throwing his pistol into a
swampy area to get rid of it.
Rangers arrested him. He
confessed to murdering his
best friend.
After this murder in the 70s,
the Park implemented new
regulations to get the Boiling
River recreational area under
control, and rangers stringently patrolled there. Now
it is a place where families can
go without being bothered
by illegal activities.
After 30 years, I am now
retired from my work as a
ranger. I still enjoy going for
a warm soak in Boiling River
– usually once a week. But to
this day, I don’t eat Doritos.
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Mountain
45
region
my first
Hunt
Brandy and Bullet with
Electric Peak in the
background
story and photos
By Brandy Ladd
When I was a young girl,
I’d wake on fall mornings,
stumble groggily into the
cold autumn air, and hug my
father and grandfather before they set off on a hunt.
I wanted to wish them good luck, but
more than anything, I wanted to hunt
with them.
My grandfather always reminded my
grandma not to worry unless they
hadn’t returned by lunch the following day. Since her husband and son
were heavily armed, riding feisty
1200-pound horses, and silently stalking elk through dark, bear-infested
woods, Grandma fretted anyway.
To ease her mind, she baked pies. In the
warmth of our Paradise Valley home,
Grandma and I filled flaky piecrusts
with freshly peeled cinnamon apples
and other recently harvested fruits and
berries. As a warm bite of pie melted
in my mouth, I daydreamed of rugged
hunting adventures.
Though I didn’t really know what
hunting was all about, I was inspired.
When I was eight, I decided to start
working on the skills I figured I’d need
to hunt: endurance, riding, hiking and
an ability not to whine. Bullet, my black
Welsh/Shetland pony trained me well.
For the first mile of a trail, he’d crow
hop, rear and charge. After he cooled
off, he was reliable and wonderful.
I also knew I’d need to stay warm for
46 Mountain
hunting, and I really wanted a down
coat. Since I was in
the same weight
class as the hostile
members of our
gaggle of geese, I
carried a large stick
to protect myself
from them. During one confrontation, I hit a gander in the head with the
stick as he knocked me to the ground.
Ultimately, he ended up as one of our
delicious dinners, and his feathers filled
the warm, durable down coat my mom
tailored for me, with love.
Armed with these developing skills and
a nine-year-old’s negotiation tactics, I
convinced my father and grandfather to
take me hunting the next fall. We woke
at four a.m. and ate a hearty breakfast.
Bullet proudly clomped into the horse
trailer next to the other horses, which
towered over him. In the truck, I sat between my father and grandfather. I felt
excited, nervous, cold and sleepy.
We arrived at the trailhead well before dawn. The horses’ breath made a
ghostly fog as they huffed up the trail
into the Absaroka Mountains. As soon
as Bullet calmed to a walk, I tucked my
hands under his thick mane, warming
my numb fingers. The first glimmer of
morning light gave me hope we’d soon
feel the sun’s warm rays. Craggy peaks,
deep valleys, trees and rocks materialized from early morning shadows. Completely absorbed into the surroundings,
I was hooked.
Mid-morning, we spotted an elk herd
grazing along the tree line of a distant
meadow. The northern wind carried
our scent away from the animals, so
our best approach was a large southern
arc. We lowered our binoculars and
steered our horses into the thick forest,
concealing ourselves. We ducked and
wove through thick tree branches and
navigated around rock outcroppings. I
weighted my stirrups and leaned against
the saddle horn as we scrambled up
steep scree slopes. The horses’ hooves
struck magnesium rocks, creating a
mineral smell in the air.
Finally, we unmounted in an area we estimated was directly across the meadow
from the elk. I secured the horses to
trees while my father and grandfather
slid their rifles from the scabbards. My
heart pounded as we crept to the top
of the ridge and peered down over the
other side.
The herd was still grazing along the edge
of the meadow and showed no signs of
alerting. The afternoon sun was to our
backs, and the light breeze blew our
scent away from the elk. Everything was
silent. My father and grandfather belly
crawled into position, chambered their
cartridges and whispered to each other
about which elk each had targeted. The
nearly simultaneous rifle cracks ripped
through the air and echoed off the
surrounding cliff walls. Two animals
jerked, staggered and collapsed. The rest
of the herd bolted and disappeared in
the timber. Silence returned.
I lay in the dirt and squinted through
my binoculars at the two forms on the
ground. Stunned, I tried to fathom the
reality of the situation. We were on
our way to safely obtaining our goal,
which was to provide meat for the family. I shared elation with my father and
grandfather, but I also mourned the two
magnificent elk that lay lifeless in the
grass. At that moment, I learned a deep
sense of respect for the life cycle.
With a broadened understanding, I
walked hand in hand with my father
across the meadow to field dress his
elk. Our work consumed the remaining hours of the short, fall day, and
we finished packing the horses as the
sky turned pink with twilight. There
was no room for me in the saddle—two
hindquarters now sat atop my pony. A
full moon lit our way as we carefully
descended to the trailhead, unloaded
the meat in the truck bed, loaded the
horses in the trailer and started for
home. I was sound asleep when we
rolled into our driveway to greet my
mother and grandma—well before
lunch the next day.
As an adult, I still hunt. Leaves crunch
under my heavy boots now, and I feel
the cold in my toes. The temperature
dropped well below freezing last night.
There is a heavy frost on the trail and
snow in the high peaks. My rifle is
slung over my right shoulder alongside
my backpack of provisions for the day’s
“I shared elation with my
father and grandfather,
but I also mourned the
two magnificent elk that
lay lifeless in the grass.
At that moment, I learned
a deep sense of respect
for the life cycle.”
hunt. I carry my grandpa’s hunting knife
on my belt and my father’s maps in my
pocket. The familiar smells of trees and
dirt waft through the air. I track an elk
through dense timber, and my heart
pumps with the same exhilaration it
did many years ago. I am honored to be
surrounded by wilderness and a healthy
ecosystem, and grateful to take part in a
family tradition.
Brandy’s brother, Justin, and her father, Paul,
in Paradise Valley with Justin’s first deer.
Mountain
47
history
Ta k i n g H i s to r i c a l
M o n ta n a o n i t s
Ow n T e r m s
the story of
the 25th infantry
bicycle corps
B y J o s h u a P. H ow e
It is an odd sight. On the wall
of Yellowstone’s Mammoth
Hot Springs Lodge, a black
and white photograph portrays Missoula, Montana’s
25th Infantry Bicycle Corps.
Eight men, dressed in the high-waisted
woolen pants and flat-brimmed hats of
19th century U.S. Infantry, pose on nearby Minerva Terrace. The year is 1896,
and the men stand alongside simple,
elegant steel-framed, fixed-gear bicycles,
loaded with gear. They are fit and strong.
And all of them are black.
Why were eight black soldiers riding
fully loaded bikes around Yellowstone in
1896? They were following orders. Specifically, they followed orders from Lt.
James A. Moss, the ranking officer and
progenitor of the U.S. Army’s first officially sanctioned experimental bicycle
unit. Moss’s orders were simple: Ride to
Yellowstone. Hang out. Ride back.
The advent of Missoula’s Bicycle Corps
and the account of its two major tours the first to Yellowstone in 1896 and the
second an epic slog to St. Louis, Missouri
in the summer of 1897 - have become a
familiar tale in Montana’s history. When
Moss arrived in Missoula in 1894, 22
years old and fresh out of West Point, he
found the place a little boring. The last
major skirmish between Army troops
and the Nez Perce was over a decade old.
The men had little to do but drink and
drill, and the young lieutenant didn’t
particularly like either one.
So Moss turned to something he was
good at: cycling. A “wheelman” himself, Moss had read manuals on military
cycling from European bicycle units and
from entrepreneurial American bicycle
manufacturers looking to capture the
military market. In April of 1896, he
petitioned the Army to allow him to form
a small bicycle corps to test the bicycle
as a vehicle for American military use in
Montana’s rugged, mountainous terrain.
top: “Bicyclists’ group on Minerva Terrace,” Yellowstone National Park [Lt. James A. Moss’s company of the 25th Infantry, U.S. Army Bicycle
Corps, from Fort Missoula, Montana ] 1896 Photo by F. Jay Haynes. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives.
RIGHT: “25th Infantry Bicycle Corps before riding from Montana to St. Louis, 1897.” Photo courtesy of Archives and Special Collections,
Mansfield Library, The University of Montana
48 Mountain
In surprisingly short order,
the Army approved. Military
brass had only one condition:
the Army would not buy the
bikes. In place of Army issued machines, Moss secured
modified ‘test’ versions of
the ‘Spalding Racer’ and
the ‘Spalding Special’ from
Chicago-based A.G. Spalding
and Brothers. By the fall of
1896, the 25th was rolling—
first across Southwestern
Montana and later, across
the Eastern Rockies and the
Great Plains to America’s
Gateway to the West, St.
Louis.
The story of the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps has been
well told. In 2000, George
Neils Sorenson published
Iron Riders: Story of the
1890s For Missoula Buffalo
Soldiers, and that same year
PBS released a documentary,
The Bicycle: America’s Black
Army on Wheels. Over the
past ten years, short pieces
in newspapers and journals
have periodically reminded
Westerners of this unique
moment in Montana history.
A replica of one of the Corp’s
original bicycles at the Fort
Missoula Historical Museum
ensures that it will not soon
be forgotten.
At first, the 25th Infantry
Bicycle Corps appears as
a startling anomaly in our
image of Montana’s historical landscape. Black men in
military garb riding bicycles
across the rugged 19th
century West strike us as interesting because we imagine
that they must have been so
completely out of place. But
the contextual dissonance
that makes these characters
appealing to the modern eye
comes as much from a blend
of present assumptions and
perhaps inaccurate historical
imagination as it does from
the singularities of the characters themselves.
As the only officially sanctioned Army bicycle unit in
the U.S.—and one operating
in a rugged new state—the
25th does have a unique
place in history. As a Buffalo
Soldier unit, its demographic
makes it more remarkable
still. Upon reflection however, the 25th Infantry Corps
is interesting and important
in the context of the late
19th century American West
because it was, in fact, hardly
out of place at all.
Begin with the soldiers. The
histories of the individuals
of the 25th Infantry Corps
remain, like the histories
of many Buffalo Soldiers, is
obscured behind a complex
shroud of prejudice, illiteracy and time. But as a group,
the black soldiers stationed
at Fort Missoula reflected
a constellation of national
problems involving race, labor and westward expansion
much larger than themselves.
The Civil War had highlighted the West as an outlet
for a glut of labor precipitated
by European immigration
and American emancipation.
After the conflict, Americans
white and black alike headed
for the Great Plains. But the
Plains were hardly a friendly
place. The U.S. Army was
soon engaged in a series of
brutal conflicts with Plains
Indians that lasted more than
two decades. The vastness of
Western geography soon required the Army to ship more
soldiers west. Faced with
racially-charged complaints
about stationing black regiments near cities and towns
along the Eastern seaboard in
the 1860s, the Army chose
black soldiers—later called
Buffalo Soldiers—as a fighting force in the Indian Wars.
In the Missoula of the 1890s,
with no Indians to left fight
and with few other job prospects, the Buffalo Soldiers of
the 25th Infantry were not
anomalies so much as relics.
They were relics of the national struggle over slavery,
of the brutal Indian wars
then drawing to a close, and
of the larger problems of race
and labor endemic to the East
and increasingly important
to the rest of the country in
the late 19th century. Today’s
demographics notwithstanding, black soldiers were not
uncommon to Montana, and
certainly not to the larger
mountain West.
Neither was the bicycle so
strange a sight on the roads of
Montana in the 1890s. Moss
and the U.S. Army came
to cycling at the end of a
decade-long boom in cy-
As a historian, however,
when I read these accounts of
the Bicycle Corps and their
epic Montana adventures,
I feel a little uneasy. I often
wonder if something important has been lost in translation. The characters seem out
of place, somehow aloof from
historical context. And in
history, context matters.
Mountain
49
cling and bicycle design that supported
more than 300 bicycle manufacturing
firms and produced more than a million
bikes in 1896 alone. Touted as the ‘nag
of the people,’ the so-called ‘safety
bicycle’ was a chain driven machine
with pneumatic tires. Affordable, it
made bikes accessible as transportation
and recreation across the rigid lines
of race, class and gender characteristic
of Victorian culture. Bicycles were a
physical embodiment of a new, mechanistic age defined by efficiency, independence and a spirit of reform. They
were wildly popular and widely used,
and for a time, bicycle track racing was
America’s most cherished sport—more
popular even than baseball. So, when
Moss first asked volunteers from
the 25th for the Yellowstone trip, he
expressed little surprise that 46 of the
men in Missoula fancied themselves
excellent riders.
If the prevalence of black soldiers and
bicycles in the American West reflects
the particularities of the late 19th
century, so too do the specific details of
the 25th’s ventures help us to understand the Bicycle Corps as a uniquely
19th century story. For example, Moss
chose his routes by following the path
of the railroads, which were perhaps
the defining symbol of the late 19th
century West. The lieutenant relied on
the rails for supplies and emergency
transportation, and often the group actually rode along the tracks when roads
became too poor or muddy to pass.
The 25th’s first major destination, Yellowstone Park, also constituted an important touchstone of American politics and
Western culture. Created by an Act of
Congress in 1872, the Park characterized
the Federal Government’s ambivalent
approach to governance of Montana’s
and Wyoming’s wild spaces. The
Park’s growing popularity coincided
50 Mountain
dynamic and complex, and neither the
experiences we draw on from modern American life, nor the stylized
vision of history we construct from
faded photographs and dusty letters
necessarily helps us to understand its
wrinkles.
James A. Moss’s Manual of Military
Cycling, sponsored by the Spalding
Company.
with the decline of a frontier lifestyle
woven into Montana’s social fabric. By
the 1890s, Yellowstone was a major
American tourist destination. As David
Herlihy notes in Bicycle: The History,
tourists had even begun to show up on
bicycles in the Park as early as 1884.
When I recall my own first encounter
with the 25th Infantry Corps—the old
photograph on the wall at Mammoth
Hot Springs, divorced from its historical context and displayed as an anomalous artifact of Montana history—it occurs to me that the story of the 25th is
an object lesson in taking history on its
own terms. As both a cyclist and a historian, I find the story fascinating. Like
other authors who have written about
the 25th, I am drawn to it because it
contrasts so sharply with my vision of
the Montana of the “Old West.”
But the Montana of the Old West is not a
real place; it is an imagined one. Moreover, it is one we tend to imagine rather
poorly, in static and limited ways. As the
history of the 25th reveals, the Montana
of the 19th-century West was in fact
The story of the 25th Infantry Corps
reminds us that Montana of the 1890s
had as many quirks and contradictions
as our society does today. It was, to
paraphrase the novelist J.L. Hartley,
like another country; they did things
differently there. As historical travelers, our subjects are not out of place;
we are. To find lessons, inspiration or
even simple entertainment as travelers to Montana’s past through stories
like that of Missoula’s black soldiers
on bikes, perhaps we can work to learn
historical Montana’s customs and speak
its language.
Historian Joshua Howe is a Postdoctoral
Fellow at MSU Bozeman.
For more information about Missoula’s Montana’s 25th of Infantry
Bicycle Corps:
Read George Niels Sorensen’s
Iron Riders: Story of the 1890s
For Missoula Buffalo Soldiers.
PBS released a documentary
in 2000, The Bicycle: America’s
Black Army on Wheels.
The Historical Museum at Fort
Missoula houses a variety of
materials on the 25th, including one of the original bicycles. More
recently, Cody, Wyoming resident
Mike Higgins, compiled newspaper clippings from the two major
tours—to create a source-based trip
narrative on his 25th Infantry Bicycle
Corps blog.
bicyclecorps.blogspot.com
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51
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fly past in the moonlight. Buddies and ski gear synonymously
stuffed into a Chevy Blazer.
Thirteen hours later, the goal is
achieved: arrival at Montana’s
winter mountain playground
– daunting, challenging, and
fully rewarding.
For a real estate developer
from North Dakota, a love,
appreciation, and lure to
Montana started generations
before him.
Although he didn’t know it
at the time, summer getaways
at his grandparents’ home in
Helena, college road trips in
the ’70s to ski Bridger Bowl,
and “betting the farm” on a
PC software company in the
’80s would shape the rest of
his life. And bring him back to
Big Sky Country years later to
invest in and develop one of
the foremost ski properties in
the world: Lone View Ridge,
which bridges Yellowstone
Club and Big Sky Resort.
History
The Lone View Ridge developer’s
maternal grandparents moved from
Fargo, North Dakota to Helena,
Montana in the mid-1930s. His
grandfather, who was Fargo’s first
public health doctor, received an offer to work as Director of Montana
Public Health. An avid fly fisherman, the prospect of a Helena-based
job in the field of his passion was
impossible to resist. With grandparents in Helena, as well as a beloved
uncle, aunt and seven cousins in
Billings, the seeds of a life in Montana were planted early.
“Family has always been very important,” he says. “The family vacations
in Montana while growing up are
full of amazing memories. As teenagers, we – my siblings and cousins
– created many wonderful outdoor
adventures, such as our own selfguided, white-water raft trips on the
Yellowstone and Stillwater Rivers,
backpacking in the Beartooths, or
climbing on the Rimrocks above
Billings.”
Through his college years at North
Dakota State University and in the
Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, continued ski trips
to Montana grew his appreciation for
the state, its dynamic landscape, and
its abundant outdoor pursuits.
“My first taste of Big Sky was in the
mid-70s, right when things were
just getting going. The first time I
saw Lone Peak I was amazed – it’s
such an incredible mountain. I
dreamed of skiing off the top of it
someday. Of course now, with Big
Sky Tram access to the very top of
Lone Peak, getting to the top of the
mountain is no longer a dream. Big
Sky quickly became an annual ski
vacation spot.”
After grad school and stints of traveling and working as a consultant
in Chicago, the young businessman
returned to North Dakota, and an
old adage came to fruition. At a mere
26 years old, he mortgaged farmland
he’d inherited from his father to create the seed capital for a PC software
startup company – literally “betting
the farm”. After 14 years of amazing teamwork and partnerships, the
startup became a public company and
was later acquired for $1.1 billion by
a Fortune 500 company.
30 Years to Find “The
Perfect Spot”
With three children now in the picture, a successful startup-to-public
company, and a fulfilling executive
leadership role, this North Dakotan
continued to hold a keen attraction
to Montana.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have a
breadth of skiing experience from
my travels. I can honestly say that
nothing compares to the Yellowstone
Exclusively
Yellowstone Club,
Uniquely Big Sky
54 Mountain
Club-Big Sky-Moonlight Basin
interconnected ski opportunities.
The quality is superior to any other
place in North America: the powder,
mountains, terrain and vistas. No
matter where I go, it always draws
me back. There is something for everyone. My kids learned to ski here,
and there is always another challenge regardless of how advanced
the skier.”
The developer and his significant
other, a fellow North Dakotan
who also began her love of skiing
at Big Sky, first began considering buying property in Montana
after renting properties around
the Big Sky and Moonlight Basin
areas. They enjoy hosting groups
of family and friends from across
the U.S. to spend time skiing and
being outdoors together. The kids
grew to love the beauty and energy
of the area.
“The most
beautiful, pristine
saddle with
amazing views –
looking right at
Lone Peak.”
Skiing YC’s Private Powder™
Custom Residence 486
Locati Architects design,
SBC Construction built
“For 30 years I dreamt about the perfect ski property but never purchased
anything. And then I found Lone View
Ridge. It was a natural fit.”
From Doorstep to
Summit
complete with its own pre-built, YCoperated, private chairlift directly on
the lot. One can leave Lot 480 at 8:45
a.m. and be the first in line for the 9:00
a.m. Swift Current chairlift at Big Sky
Resort’s base area. Or, from the top of
Lone Peak, one can ski directly down
to Yellowstone Club’s private trails and
Lone View Ridge – more than 3,500
vertical feet of skiing in one shot.
Lone View Ridge
He first skied onto Lone View Ridge
before the access roads were even
completed.
“It was just the most beautiful, pristine
saddle with amazing views – looking right
at Lone Peak. The ski runs were ideal –
one side led directly to Yellowstone Club,
the other led directly to Big Sky.”
Encompassing just under 90 acres,
Lone View Ridge is located within Yellowstone Club, yet directly interconnects with Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin – providing direct access
to more than 8,000 acres of skiable
terrain – the largest in the U.S.
By working with Landscape Architect Mike Allmendinger, founder of
Land Elements, and Steve Locati of
Locati Architects, a design was created
that reduces density, preserves view
planes, and maximizes ski access.
A total of 12 lots were re-plotted to
nine thoughtfully crafted single-family home sites. Working with the team
at Yellowstone Club, they maintained
preservation of a full 65 acres of open
space to ensure the unique home site
views will be preserved forever.
The vision for Lone View Ridge as its
own neighborhood had emerged.
Today, the nine properties within
Lone View Ridge range from 1.7 to 4.8
acres – a total lot area of just more than
23 acres. The 65 acres of open space remains a tranquil setting of wilderness,
wildlife and end-of-the-road privacy.
The views from these lots encompass
five separate inspiring mountain vistas: Lone Mountain, Pioneer, Cedar,
Sphinx and the Spanish Peaks.
“The sheer ease of moving around
multiple 10,000+ foot mountains so
quickly from the Lone View Ridge
community makes for unforgettable
days. After a day of skiing, fly fishing, golfing or hiking with family and
friends, there is nothing quite like relaxing on your deck near the warmth,
crackle and smell of an outdoor fireplace while watching the alpenglow of
a sunset on the peaks.”
The first custom residence built
for resale within Lone View Ridge
was completed in 2010. This Locati
Architects-designed, SBC Construction-built home is a refined 11,000+
square foot residence – constructed of
historic reclaimed Montana timber and
materials – situated near the top of the
development. Every element of the
home is specifically tailored to maximize functionality and enjoyment for
active families and capture exceptional
views of the Montana landscape.
Another unique property in the Lone
View Ridge community is Lot 480,
All the land within Lone View Ridge,
including where Lot 480 sits, was only
in recent years added to Yellowstone
Club as part of the YC expansion.
Situated on land formerly held by Big
Sky, this saddle of land is truly oneof-a-kind and offers the best of both
worlds: public and private amenities.
“When I look back, everything that
was important growing up is representative in what we’ve established
at Lone View Ridge. It’s more than a
property; it’s an experience –a small
community with families at the center,
who love to spend time together,
making wonderful memories, enjoying the outdoors in any season, and
appreciating the rustic, natural beauty
of Montana.”
--To view videos and learn more about
Lone View Ridge properties, visit LoneViewRidge.com or YellowstoneClub.com.
For direct questions or sales inquiries,
email [email protected]
This article was written by Megan
Paulson, courtesy Lone View Ridge.
Mountain
55
explore
West
Yellowstone
A RESILIENT t o w n b u i l t
o n m i g r at o ry c y c l e s
By Brandy Ladd
PHOTO COURTESY OF
YELLOWSTONE HISTORIC CENTER
In the early 19th century, hunters and
trappers followed animal herds along
the Madison River up to the Yellowstone Plateau. By the 1860s, rumors of
the area’s natural splendor that trickled
back East enticed a handful of adventurous souls to visit the area that would
become Yellowstone Park. These early
tourists arrived in via jolting stagecoach
rides on primitive trails. Their need for
accommodations prompted the first development in what eventually became
the town of West Yellowstone.
As the number of people passing
through the area increased, an industry
grew around them. In 1908, the Union
Pacific Railroad laid track from Ashton,
Idaho, and although trains rumbled
photo courtesy of Yellowstone historic center
56 Mountain
through only in summer, a year-round
community grew. By the early 1900s,
private entrepreneurs had opened
hotels, lodges, dining facilities, dance
and pool halls, a blacksmith shop and a
veterinarian clinic.
During prohibition, bootlegging and
gambling became a part of the town’s
economy. Paul Shea, former director
of the Yellowstone Historic Center
and West Yellowstone historian for 16
years, says, “There was a strong presence of Las Vegas people in the early
days. They probably came to West
Yellowstone during the summer before
the advent of air conditioning.” Shills
and cardsharps frequented gambling
establishments, and one old timer
commented, “There wasn’t
a straight game in town.” In
reverse, some West Yellowstone
business owners escaped the
freezing snows of winter to the
sunny Nevada desert.
Because West Yellowstone was
built on National Forest Service
land, government officials knew
of the gaming activities. Some
were concerned that unsavory
businesses would flourish if West separated from government lands. In 1919
however, after urging from community
members, the Forest Service removed its
control of the town’s 49 blocks. Residential numbers grew steadily, and school,
churches and community centers were
established. In 1966, West Yellowstone
became an incorporated town.
Today, like most gateway communities,
West Yellowstone relies on tourism as
its main source of income. Jan Stoddard, chamber of commerce marketing
director, says, “Part of our success lies
in an ability to put on events with minimal funds and a small group of dedicated volunteers. We are also fortunate
to have strong partners in Yellowstone
Park and the U.S. Forest Service.”
Indeed, activity in Yellowstone Park
directly affects the town. In 1996,
when the federal government furloughed 800,000 employees, visitor
numbers dropped drastically, devastating the local economy. More
recently, when visitation increased
during the recession, West Yellowstone benefited. In the past several
years, the Park’s snowmobile access
photos courtesy of West Yellowstone Chamber OF COMMERCE
In 2010, on an average summer day,
15,000 visitors came through West—
significant traffic for a community of
1,177. A 3% resort tax helps fund
town parks, trails, roads, sewers,
water, law enforcement, fire
protection and maintenance of
historic buildings. The town has also
partnered with the
Grizzly and Wolf
Discovery
Center,
Junior
Smoke
Jumper
and
Ranger programs, and West
Yellowstone Ski Education
Foundation to provide youth
education programs.
Clint Fowler, general manager of Three
Bear Lodge, credits the tax for establishing West Yellowstone as a ‘real town’.
He says the tax funds go toward creating “a more attractive town, [which
causes] more people to visit.”
The Yellowstone Historic Center and
the town maintain a historic district.
Built in the late 1800s by Union
Pacific Railroad, it is the largest and
most intact historic railroad complex
of any gateway town built to
serve national park visitors.
Museum curator and
manager Jennifer
Cantu loves
seeing “the awe-struck faces of visitors as they marvel at the details of
the historic structures.”
As the busiest entrance to Yellowstone Park, West Yellowstone is
entrenched in the migratory cycles of
modern day tourism. Visitor numbers
fluctuate with the seasons. Businesses
work with the town’s marketing campaigns to provide a diverse range of
year-round activities. The community
is proud to share this continual cycle.
wyellowstone.com
destinationyellowstone.com
John Layshock
restrictions and changing rules have
confused part of the winter tourism
market.
Mountain
57
A selection of
by Brandy Ladd
photos by John layshock
snowmobile trails
BEAVERHEAD-DEERLODGE
NATIONAL FOREST
Georgetown Lake
Range:
Pintler Mountains
Contact:
Pintler Ranger District (406) 859-3211
Club:
Anaconda Snowmobile Club
Features:
Easy route around lake, great for families
Distance: 56 miles, 52 miles are groomed
Elevations: 6,400 - 9,000 feet
Wise River-Elkhorn Hot Springs
(Pioneer Mtn Scenic Byway)
Range:
Pioneer Mountains
Contact:
Dillon Ranger District (406) 683-3900
Wise River Ranger District (406)832-3178
Club:
Beaverhead Sno-Riders
Features:
Tour route between Wise River and
Grasshopper Valley
Distance:
23 miles of groomed trails
Elevation:
5,100-7,800 feet
Stewart Meadows Complex
Range:
Pioneer Mountains
Contact:
Wisdom Ranger District (406) 689-3243
Club:
Big Hole Snowmobile Club
Features:
Winding trails through forest and meadows
Distance:
39 miles groomed
Elevations: 6,058-7,500 feet
North Meadow Creek
Range: Tobacco Root Mountains
Contact:
Madison Ranger District (406) 682-4253
Club:
Vigilante Snowmobilers
Features:
Access to alpine lakes and mountain couloirs
Distance:
12 miles groomed
Elevations: 5,822-8,000 feet
58 Mountain
[
Montana Snowmobile
Association: m-s-a.org
[
GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST
Shields Loop
Range:
Crazy Mountains
Contact:
Livingston Ranger District (406) 222-1892
Club:
Big Sky Snowriders
Features:
Varied terrain occasionally groomed
Distance:
6-20 miles
Elevations: 4,489 - 7,800 feet
Brackett-Fairy Lake and Olsen Creek-
Bangtail Ridge Trails
Range:
Bridger Mountains
Contact:
Bozeman Ranger District (406) 522-2520
Club:
Gallatin Valley Snowmobile Association
Features:
Varying terrain, access to mountain couloirs
Distance:
10-30 miles
Elevations: 4,755-9,500 feet
Daisy Pass and Lulu Pass Road
Range: Beartooth Mountains
Contact:
Gardiner Ranger District (406) 848-7375
Club:
Upper Yellowstone Snowmobile Club
Features:
Trails leading to vast valleys and ridges
Distance:
60 miles
Elevations: 7,600-10,000 feet
Boulder Canyon
Range:
Absaroka/Beartooth Mountains
Contact:
Big Timber Ranger District (406) 932-5155
Club: Sweet Grass County Recreation Association
Features:
Intermediate ride to Independence ghost town
Distance: 35 mile round trip
Elevations: 4,072-9,000 feet
brian niles
Lionhead Mountain
Range:
Madison Mountains
Contact:
Hebgen Lake Ranger District (406) 823-6961
Club:
West Yellowstone Grooming Committee
Features:
Steep climb to the summit, provides views of Yellowstone and Teton National Parks
Distance:
16 miles of groomed trail
Elevations: 6,666-10,000 feet
Rider Justin Miller,
Thin Air Productions
The speed limit on all groomed Forest Service trails is 45
MPH. Snowmobilers must stay on designated trails while
traveling through the restricted area. All litter must be
packed out. The trails have two-way traffic, so riders must be
aware of oncoming traffic and keep to the right. No drinking
and driving is permitted. Riders must also be aware that
moose, elk, and bison may be on the trails. All snowmobiles
must be registered.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks operates Montana’s
Snowmobile Safety Education Program and regulations:
(406) 444-7317 or fwp.mt.gov
Mountain
59
Everything is
Better with
Butter
Homemade Pies from Bugaboo Café
By Abbie Digel
60 Mountain
“Growing up in south Texas, I learned
how to make pecan pie when I was six
years old,” says Paul. Pecan is only one
of many varieties of pie the Camerons
make on request, or serve hot and fresh
in their restaurant, Bugaboo Café.
This holiday season, as owners and
head chefs at the Bugaboo, Paul and
Kim will be buried in homemade
dough, rolling out pies to please customers. They pride themselves on the
fruit, cream and nut based pies they
bake in the kitchen of the restaurant
they’ve owned and run for the past
seven years.
“We follow the recipes, but then build
off of them,” says Kim. “I think this
one will be better with a little more
brown sugar here, or a little more white
sugar there. They’re really very basic.”
Kim can’t decide which pie is her
favorite. “You can’t beat apple, or the
chocolate coffee crunch,” she says.
“That’s a pretty tasty one. It’s smooth
and creamy, with the layer of baked
crunchy coffee cookie. But the black
bottom banana with its baked crust,
chocolate ganache, fresh sliced bananas, pudding... ”
“It’s also tossed with a whole bunch
of whipped cream, and the crust is
butter,” adds Paul. His eyes twinkle.
“Everything is better with butter.”
dining
When Paul and Kim
Cameron make
pecan pie, a line
forms at their door.
Bugaboo serves up hearty
breakfast and lunch entrees
to hungry skiers and locals. In summer, the café
is a hot spot for tourists
driving to Yellowstone
Park. They’ve recently
closed their dinner
hours to focus on perfecting the morning menu.
The Camerons started baking and selling pies in September, and the pies “just flew out of
here,” Kim says.
“Nobody else in Big Sky makes pies,”
says Paul. “There was a niche that
needed to be filled. It’s fun, and we
both really enjoy doing it.”
draws you in, but the entire atmosphere, from the hardwood floors to
the friendly staff
behind the counter.
At Bugaboo, it’s not uncommon for
customers to order a slice of peach pie,
or an apple turnover, made from the
same recipe, with a generous scoop
of ice cream. “It’s more acceptable for
breakfast than cake, and fruit pie is
really not that bad for you,” Kim says.
“The fruit provides natural sugars.”
“Customers appreciate when we
remember specific things about their
orders,” says Kim. “It’s part of my job
to remember these things.”
Abbie Digel is assistant editor of
Mountain Outlaw magazine and the Big
Sky Weekly.
Bugaboo is the kind of place you’ll
come back to. Its not just the food that
It’s more
acceptable for
cake
breakfast than
Bugaboo Café // 47995 Gallatin Road, 100 yards north of the Big Sky turn off in the Bighorn
// (406) 995-3350 // Call 24 hours in advance to order a homemade pie.
Shopping Center
Mountain
61
music
Brandon Hale of the Dirty Shame
62 Mountain
The Dirty Shame’s
Brandon Hale
The man with the deep voice speaks out
about country music and hot sauce.
By Emily Stifler
Photos by matt arkins
Mountain
63
Brandon Hale, the voice
of the Dirty Shame, has
become a regular figure
at Southwest Montana
bars and events. Hale
sings uncanny versions
of Willie and Waylon,
and also writes and performs his own songs.
The Seattle native has roots in small
Montana towns from Nashua to the
Yaak. Tom Day, the band’s steel pedal
guitarist, describes Hale as “a combination of an ideas man and an action
man.”
As a band, the Dirty Shame has been
together in some iteration for over four
years, and recently produced their first
album. Hale wrote most of the songs
on the self-titled cd, and his lyrics
describe characters from a hard-living
western life. In the thread of classic
country, his bar-goers and modern
highwaymen accept hardships with a
mix of party, mourning and a touch of
sweetness.
In “Lonesome Highway,” Hale sings:
Got this aching in my heart, got to get the hell
out of here
I don’t recognize the face staring back at me
in the rear view mirror
Nobody said it would be easy, nobody said
it’d easy to be free
I guess it’s just time to pick up the pieces, pick
up the pieces of me
Hey there bartender I’ll have one more beer
and I’ll be on my way
Before I take my first steps on this Lonesome
Highway
And you can’t find the will to continue, just
take another look deep down inside
Everything you hold dear, everything you
bought and sold is gone
Don’t worry brother this highway goes on and
on and on and on
64 Mountain
Hey there momma, everything is gonna be ok
I’ve found my path, it’s this Lonesome Highway
Q&A
Where does the name ‘The Dirty
Shame’ come from?
My grandpa had a bar in Yaak, Montana called the Hellroaring Saloon. It’s
on a stretch of highway in the middle
of nowhere, right on a river with just
mountains and forest. When I was kid,
I spent summers there, and I learned
the Willie and Waylon off his jukebox. I wanted to name the band after
something from the Yaak, and there’s
a bar up there called The Dirty Shame.
It was my grandpa’s regular joint to go
drink.
When did you start playing music?
When I was 14, I picked up the guitar
and some songbooks and taught myself
some chords. I was in Alaska working
in my dad’s restaurant that summer. I
was really into Neil Young.
Do you ever sing duets?
Our next single release will be a duet.
It’s a song I wrote, Lonesome Me Lonesome You. We recorded it with a gal
from Nashville. Once in a while, if a
girl wants to come up and sing with me
at a bar, sure, we’ll usually do Jackson.
How do you make your voice sound
exactly like Waylon and Willie?
I listened to Willie Nelson and Family
live on the eight-track player in my
mom’s old Volare. It was my favorite
album when I was like 16, so I just
tried to sing like him. I taught myself
vibrato by imitating Willie.
Coe’s gear didn’t show up, so he called
us back on stage and we played his
whole slot. His semi finally came, and
he played for a half hour. That jumpstarted us in the music scene. People
saw that show and started booking us.
What makes a show fun for you?
The crowd’s energy, 100 percent. If
they’re giving the energy, we give the
energy back.
Tell me about your special hot
sauce. What’s it called?
What do you like most about
country music?
I like the simplicity and the rawness of country. I’m not a huge fan of
new country. The stuff from the 60s
through the 80s—Willie, Waylon,
Johnny Cash, Coe, Hank Jr.—that’s my
style. It’s mean and gritty and real.
What other styles of music do you
like?
I like harder music. Being from Seattle,
and being a teenager in the early 90s,
I was a big fan of grunge – Pearl Jam,
Soundgarden. I really like Chris Cornell’s other band Audio Slave, and I
like Metallica and Black Sabbath.
What’s your favorite show you’ve
played?
When we were first starting, we
opened for David Allen Coe in Great
Falls. I used to get really nervous on
stage, and we played for 3 or 4,000
people, as the second of three opening
bands. When we finished our set, we
started drinking. Then David Allen
Brando’s Buffalo Sauce. I love Buffalo
wings, but when I moved here, no
place had good wings or a fresh tasting
sauce. It took me years to devise this
one, and now I’m making it for the
Murray in Livingston. I go there on
Mondays and have beers with people,
rep the sauce and sometimes play
music.
You just produced your first cd. Tell
me about that.
We’re a live band, but usually when
you record, you’re in a booth by yourself listening to what the other guys
did. We checked out some recording
studios, but nothing seemed right.
Then we met Doc Wiley, a Grammywinning engineer who worked for
Island Records before moving to Montana. We recorded our album live in
Doc’s studio on Peach Street. The last
track on the cd, “Into the Darkness,” is
about my grandfather. I wrote it three
days before we recorded the album,
and none of the other band members
had heard it. I started playing it, they
joined in, and that’s the take on the cd.
It wasn’t perfect, but it had emotion.
That was awesome.
The Dirty Shame is
available on
thedirtyshame.com
Mountain
65
health
hips: the knees
best friend
by John Boersma, MPT, OCS, FAFS
As a physical therapist
in a ski town, I am often
asked two questions:
What are the best
exercises to prepare for
ski season?
What can be done to
help prevent knee
injuries?
While the quad and hamstring
muscles play a big role in performance on the hill, especially on
what happens at the knee, our
current training style tends to
focus only on those muscles and
often misses the mark for maximizing performance and minimizing
injury. For optimal ski training we
need to shift focus from the knee
and take a closer look at the hip.
During skiing, it can be more difficult
to see exactly how the hip moves
versus the more obvious motion
at the knee and ankle. Also, many
muscles around the hip joint are not
well understood, and skiers usually
experience less pain in the hips than
they do in the knee or ankle. As a result, the hips tend to take a back seat
in training. However, the hips may
play the most important role in onsnow performance and knee injury
prevention.
Many people complain they turn
better one way than the other while
skiing, or they report their instructors hound them to stand tall and
66 Mountain
keep their shoulders facing down the
fall line when turning. I see clients
who have been working on these issues for years without improvement.
I believe this is because many skiers
have limitations in hip range of motion or weakness of the hip stabilization musculature.
Like the engine of a car, the hip is
the power source of the body. When
working correctly, it can be your
best friend. Because the hip is such a
big and powerful joint, dysfunction
there can dramatically limit performance, cause pain or injury, and
manifest in weaker areas of the body.
The bony part of the hip is made up
of a deep socket in the pelvis (the
acetabulum) and a big ball known
as the femoral head. 17 different
muscles surround the joint and there
are also several facial attachments
(thick connective tissue) between
the hip and the spine. Because the
hip is a ball and socket joint, it is triaxial, meaning it is designed to move
in all three planes of motion: sagittal
(forward/backward), frontal(side to
side) and transverse (rotational).
The way we live and work has
changed dramatically over the past
several hundred years. Instead of
hunting and gathering, many people
are now fairly sedentary. With
this lifestyle, movement in the
sagittal (forward/backward) plane
dominates, and normal motion and
strength in the other two planes is
lost. Over time, the hips tighten,
limiting motion and creating weakness. With the dynamic nature of
skiing, especially in the frontal (side
to side) and transverse (rotational)
planes, limited motion or weakness
in the hip can be devastating. Throw
in sliding down a hill in an unstable
environment, and it’s obvious why
having good motion and strength in
the hips is so important.
When the hips are tight, it decreases turning efficiency; if limited
enough, this can even pull the upper
body out of position. Tightness in
the hips also forces stress into other
parts of the body not designed for it:
the knees, the low back, the neck or
the shoulders. This increased stress,
in connection with the rigidity of ski
gear, can cause knee injuries.
In true function, and specifically skiing function, the hips work as much
to control motion as they do to create
it. Because of that, it’s important to
strengthen the muscles that stabilize
the hip as it moves through its range
of motion. Gary Gray, renowned
physical therapist and president of
the Gray Institute, refers to this as
having “mostability” in a joint—
controlled strength throughout the
entire available range of motion in
a specific joint. Children tend to
have more “mostability” due to their
increased activity in all three planes
of motion compared to most adults.
That’s why kids tend to have fewer
injuries while skiing than adults.
However, even kids are becoming
less active and more susceptible to
injury.
Creating “mostability” in the hip
joint can be a complicated process influenced by an individual’s
anatomy and lifestyle. Each of our
bodies function differently, and we
all live different lives. Both of these
things affect our ability to move
through our hips.
The following exercises are targeted toward helping skiers improve hip range of motion, while at the same time building
strength. If you find after performing these exercises for several weeks you are still having trouble with your hip joints, see a
qualified physical therapist or personal trainer for help advancing your program and addressing lingering issues.
1
Squat with rotations
Stand with your feet hip width
apart. Squat until your hips are level
with your knees and reach out in front
of your body with your arms at chest
height. Bend at your hip joints and not
in your spine. Your back should remain
flat and your knees should be directly
over your feet—not way out in front
of your toes. From this position, turn
your hips and trunk, first one direction
and then the other. Return to the starting position. Complete 2-3 sets of 10
-15 repetitions.
1
2
4
5
3
2
Around the clock lunges
Imagine you are standing in the
center of a clock. Keep your left toes
facing forward and step out and lunge
with the right leg. First, lunge to
the 12:00 position with your right
toes pointing at the 12. Return to the
center. Next, lunge out at the 2:00 position with your right toes pointing at
the 2. Return to the center. Finish with
lunging toward the 4:00 position with
your right toes pointed at the 4, and
return. Now, position your right foot
in the center of the clock, toes pointing forward and then lunge toward the
12:00, 10:00 and 8:00 positions with
your left leg. Perform 2-3 rounds of
10 on each leg.
3
Single leg balance with opposite leg sweep
Balance on your right leg. Reach out
with your left leg as far as you are able
and lightly touch your toes to the
floor. Sweep your left leg in front and
behind your body in a circle while
maintaining your balance on the right
leg. Use ski poles for assistance if you
are having difficulty maintaining your
balance. Repeat 10 times, switch
legs and repeat. Perform 2 sets of
10 repetitions on each leg.
4
Grapevine squats
Start with your feet shoulder
width apart. Cross your left foot in
front of the right as far as you are able,
place it on the ground, and squat as
low as possible. Reach out in front
of your chest with both arms as you
squat. Stand up and uncross your legs.
Now cross your left leg behind the
right as far as you can, set your foot
down and squat as low as you can.
Repeat this sequence for 10 repetitions, then switch legs and now
cross your right leg in front and
behind the left. Perform 2-3 sets of
10 repetitions
5
Line hops (forward/back, side
to side, rotational)
Find a line on the floor (a seam between floor boards, line in the carpet
pattern, etc). Start by jumping with
both legs, and progress to one leg after
a few weeks. First, jump over the line
forward and then backward. Next,
jump over the line moving side to side.
Finally, jump sideways over the line,
but rotate your lower body to the left
as you jump left and to the right as you
jump right. Perform 2-3 sets of 10
jumps in each direction.
Established in 2001, Lone Peak
Physical Therapy has offices in Big
Sky, Belgrade, Four Corners and
West Yellowstone. Specializing in
sports and orthopedics, LPPT uses
an integrated approach; treating
the entire body and focusing on the
underlying cause of an individual’s
problem instead of chasing symptoms. Lone Peak PT’s therapists
also work with competitive and recreational athletes on performance
enhancement and training.
lonepeakpt.com
Mountain
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Mountain
Local Gear Review
By Brian Hurlbut
This winter, local Montana companies
have ramped up some of the latest and
greatest gear. These three products—a
sleeping pad, a splitboard binding and a
ski pack—will make your winter more fun
and keep the dollars right here at home.
Peak Oyl Elite Sleeping Pad
If you still have that old Thermarest
that’s flat when you wake up, it may
be time to invest in a new sleeping pad
from Pacific Outdoor Equipment. The
employee-owned company, which
started as a spin-off from Dana Design
in 1999, also makes burly bike panniers,
messenger bags, stuff sacks, duffel bags
and camp chairs. Its ultra-cool sleeping
pads are what really stand out. They’re
comfortable, environmentally friendly
and designed in Bozeman.
If you spend any time camping in cold
or winter weather, check out the fourseason Peak Oyl Elite, touted as the
warmest self-inflating pad on the planet.
User-friendly features for the 2011 version include insulated bermed side rails
for stability and comfort, a 50 Denier
Ripstop fabric with a sticky graphic on
the top to reduce slippage, and a DWR
finish to keep the moisture out. Zeroloft
Aerogel insulation which performs 2-3
times better than down or polyester for
warmth. All this, at just over 26 ounces.
Other pads in the series include the Peak
Oyl Mtn, a superlight four-season pad
that rolls up small, and the Peak Oyl
Lite, designed more for three-season use.
Women’s versions, called the Petite, are
available for all styles, and include added
hip support and more insulation in the
foot area of the pad. Finally, all of the
eco-friendly pads in this series feature a
durable fabric made with recycled plastic
bottles and recycled aluminum valves
that are light and easy to replace.
pacoutdodor.com
Blaze Splitboard Binding
For snowboarders who want get deep
in the backcountry, touring with a
splitboard is mandatory. Bozemanbased Spark R&D has been the leader
in splitboard specific bindings for a
few years now, and this year they’ve
stepped it up with the introduction
of the Blaze binding. Weighing in at
~3.5 pounds per pair (yes, you read
that right), the Blaze follows in the
footsteps of last year’s Fuse binding,
but with several updates that make it a
must for backcountry boarders.
70 Mountain
With a slimmed down baseplate
machined from a solid piece of aluminum, the Blaze has 30 percent
less material than the Fuse. The new
baseplate is also built with more
avenues for snow to escape, helping a
rider avoid snow and ice buildup. The
highbacks, now completely designed
in-house, have several innovative
features: a wider range of forward lean
allows for unlimited possibilities for
ascending and descending; vertical
slots hold booster straps for a stiffer
climbing setup, and a large hole in
the back lets the rider easily grab the
board when perched on a harrowing
drop-in.
The Blaze also operates more smoothly than previous models, thanks in
part to a slightly redesigned pin system. The pin is attached with a stainless steel cord instead of fabric, and
the binding straps feature a webbing
border to reduce wear and tear—more
evidence of the attention to detail
that makes these bindings especially
bomber. sparkrandd.com
Mystery Ranch Fuze Backpack
Design guru Dana Gleason and
his team have been creating
killer backpacks in Bozeman
since the early Dana Design
days of the 1980s. The latest
packs from Gleason’s Mystery
Ranch are among the best in
the industry—intuitive designs
with user-friendly features,
bomber materials and a unique
look. And best of all, you
might just see the dude
who put the thing
together in the lift line at
Bridger on a powder day.
The Fuze is the most versatile of Mystery Ranch’s
skiing and snowboarding
packs, thanks to a healthy
1,500 cubic-inch capacity
and a frame system that
maintains comfort even with heavier
loads. Slightly larger than the popular Saddle Peak pack, the
Fuze handles inbounds terrain and backcountry tours with
ease. When riding the lifts and not carrying as much gear,
the Fuze compresses down to a manageable size. When you
need the extra room, the pack expands to stash gear for your
Beehive tour or trek into the Northern Bridgers.
One of the pack’s best features is the separate
compartment for shovel, probe and snow saw.
While this is not a new feature, the particular design on
the Fuze (and the Saddle Peak and the smaller Nya Nuki,
too) is clever: it’s on the outside of the pack and totally
secure with incredibly fast access. Separate sleeves hold
the tools, and a heavy duty weatherproof zipper keeps
everything dry. The Fuze has straps for diagonal ski carry
or a vertical snowboard carry. The ‘Futura Yoke’ frame
system is adjustable to individual torso lengths, guaranteeing a perfect and comfortable fit. Other key features
include small stash packets on each waist belt, an internal
zippered pocket for goggles or smaller items, and a sleeve
to secure a hydration reservoir.
Mystery Ranch is also working to become an innovator
in avalanche safety gear: a new backpack, on the market
winter 2011/12, will integrate a fast-deploying airbag
for flotation during an avalanche. A release mechanism
located on the shoulder pad system sets off a compressed
air cylinder in the top compartment of the pack, filling
the airbag. The pack boasts many of the same features
found in the Fuze, and the airbag can be deployed even
when loaded with skis or a snowboard.
If you’re looking to buy just one pack for your winter
needs that doubles as a long summer day hiker, the Fuze
is it. If you want a strictly inbounds or slack-country
pack, try the Saddle Peak pack. For snowboarders and
those with shorter torsos, go for the Nya Nuki—although you’ll give up quite a bit of volume.
mysteryranch.com
Brian Hurlbut is the author of the Insider’s Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks (Globe-Pequot Press). His writing has appeared in the
Oregonian, Montana Quarterly, Luxury Living, Big Sky Journal, Western Art and Architecture, and more. He lives in Big Sky, Montana.
Mountain
71
b u t c h C a s s i d y
Th e
o u t l aw
e v e ry o n e
loved
by hunter rothwell
“I steal their
money just to
hear them holler”
-butch cassidy
As the old 1886 story goes, a cowboy
lent Butch Cassidy $25 to help him
get to Butte, Montana. A year later
the cowboy received $100 by mail. A
note accompanying the money read:
“If you don’t know how I got this,
you will learn someday.”
Twenty years earlier, the man we
know as Butch Cassidy was born
Robert LeRoy Parker in Beaver, Utah.
Son of a poor Morman couple and the
eldest of 13 children, he was still in
his early teens when he set out on his
own. While working as a cowhand,
he met a shady rancher named Mike
Cassidy who taught the young man
a variety of cowboy skills, including
small-time rustling. A few years later,
he took the name George Cassidy as
an alias; a stint as a butcher in Rock
Springs, Wyoming gave him the nickname Butch.
When he was 16, Butch let himself
into a closed shop, and took a pair
of jeans and some pie. After a long
journey, he’d found the shop closed,
so Butch left an IOU promising to pay
on his next visit. He was arrested and
although acquitted after a jury trial,
the experience left young Butch with
little respect for authority. This experience taught him the law protected
the interests of the rich, consequently
prosecuting common folk. In 1894,
a rustling job landed Cassidy an
18-month vacation at the Wyoming
state prison in Laramie.
After doing his time, he and Harry
Longabaugh, aka ‘The Sundance Kid’,
formed a gang called the Wild Bunch.
The gang lived in hideouts up and
down the Outlaw Trail that stretched
between Canada and Mexico. Target-
ing the impersonal rich, Cassidy
led them to rob trains, banks and
cattle barons.
“I steal their money just to hear
them holler,” he wrote. “Then
I pass it out among those that
need it (sic).”
Because he was so generous in
sharing his loot with widows,
children, and friends, the public
adored him. This ‘Robin Hood
of the West’ never committed
murder, not once.
The Wild Bunch pulled off some of
the greatest heists of the Old West.
In July 1901, they held up a Union
Pacific train near Wagner, Montana
and stole $60,000. After that, the
law nearly caught Cassidy. The Wild
Bunch disbanded, and he took off for
Argentina.
Cassidy’s death is a mystery. In a 1908
shootout in an Argentinean mine,
two men, both fatally wounded,
were identified as Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid. However, many
respected historians believe Cassidy faked his death, returned to the
United States under the name William Phillips, and died in Spokane,
Washington in 1937.
In American folklore, Butch Cassidy
lives on as a hero of western adventure who embodied the spirit of a
legendary wild land.
D. Hunter Rothwell was born and
raised in Charlottesville, Virginia. A
retired stockbroker, he moved to Big
Sky in May 2010.
T H E OUTLA W TRAIL
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