WINTeR 2013 - Explore Big Sky

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EXPLORING LIFE, LAND AND CULTURE FROM THE HEART OF THE YELLOWSTONE REGION
Mountain
WINTER 2013
Skiing Alaska
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Mountain
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Mountain Outlaw is published by
Mountain
Winter 2013
PUBLISHER
Eric Ladd
Big Sky Chamber of Commerce
Business of the Year - 2011
3 TELLY Awards - 2012
15 Montana Newspaper
Association Awards - 2011 & 2012
Ski Area Management Magazine
“Best of Marketing” Recognition - 2011
Maggie Award Nomination - 2012
outside magazine 100 best places to work - 2012
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].
Join the ranks – submissions welcome
The Mountain Outlaw editorial team wants you to
know we accept well-written articles or photos for
consideration in our magazine. Submissions should match
the Yellowstone region style and Mountain Outlaw brand,
and are accepted throughout the year for our summer and
winter editions. Email submissions to
[email protected] or visit explorebigsky.com.
OUTLAW PARTNERS, MOUNTAIN OUTLAW
& THE BIG SKY WEEKLY
(406) 995-2055
PO Box 160250
11 Lone Peak Drive #104
Big Sky, MT 59716
explorebigsky.com
[email protected]
Copyright © 2013 Outlaw Partners, LLC
Unauthorized reproduction prohibited
Randy Evans sledding into the golden light at sunset
in Cooke City, Montana. Photo by Patrick Orton
4
Mountain
explorebigsky.com
creative
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Mike Martins
editorial
Managing Editor
Emily Stifler
Graphic Designer
Kelsey Dzintars
editor
Joseph T. O’Connor
Video Director
Brian Niles
Staff writer/
distribution director
Tyler Allen
Web Developer
Sean Weas
Videographer/
Photographer
Chris Davis
Sales and Operations
Chief operating officer
Megan Paulson
Operations Director
Katie Morrison
Design Intern
Taylor-Ann Smith
Contributing Writers
Bradley Bermont, Renae Counter, Victor DeLeo, Ryan Dorn,
Felicia Ennis, Marcie Hahn-Knoff, Mike Mannelin, Erik
Meridian, Forrest McCarthy, Corrie Francis Parks, Max Lowe
Forrest McCarthy
Contributing Photographers
Tyler Busby, Jake Campos, Mike Coil, Nick Diamond , Lynne
Donaldson, Beau Fredlund, Royce Gorsuch, Audrey Hall,
Ken W. Hall, Kirsten Jacobsen, Matty McCain, Greg Mather,
Gill Montgomery, Paul O’Connor, Patrick Orton, Kene
Sperry, Paul Swenson, Ryan Turner, Mark Weber
DISTRIBUTION
25,000 copies published twice a year and distributed
strategically around the Yellowstone region and the northern
Rockies including 500+ locations throughout (MT) Big Sky,
Bozeman, West Yellowstone, Gardiner, Livingston, Butte; (WY)
Jackson Hole, Cody; (ID) Driggs, Victor, Pocatello, Ketchum;
(OR) Bend; (Canada) British Columbia; and subscriptions
mailed to 39 states.
For advertising or subscription inquiries,
email [email protected]
explorebigsky
explorebigsky
A cabin along the banks of the Madison River in Ennis
Photo by Ken w. HAll bearfeather.com
On the cover: Architect Michael Reynolds stands next to a
new building at Greater World Earthship community in Taos,
New Mexico. Photographer Paul O’Connor used a 4x5 Toyo
View camera and burned up five sheets of Type 54 Poloroid film to get this image. Read more about Reynolds and
Earthships on p. 120.
features
34 Now: Profile of Brian Schweitzer
Montana’s governor and his plan to change the world
44 Q+A: Sniper in the vines
A winemaker in the vineyards of Afghanistan
59 region: man and beast
How a grizzly attack in Big Sky reflects the health of a species
68 a legacy of conservation
Saving the last pristine habitat of the Yellowstone Lake cutthroat
75 eight degrees south of the equator
Finding paradise in Bali
84 gallery: Gary Lynn roberts
Montana artist finds inspiration in God and family
stories
10 Trailhead
How many gallons of coffee
does it take to run an avalanche
forecast center? Plus: parties, an
extreme ski comp, backcountry
digs and a new Big Sky history
book.
15 health
Cutting edge medical
research on Everest
17 community
Blackfeet Community College: a
symbol of hope
20 Outbound Gallery
Stunning images from
regional photographers
30 tales
Helicopter skiing in Alaska
40 culture
Between LA and Big Sky
52 explore
Art and words from Alaska’s
Chilkoot Trail
102 Adventure: the long, clean line
80 science
Bozeman’s Microbion Corporation; Yellowstone Club Community Foundation partners with
University of Montana
91 dining
Rustic elegance at Rainbow
Ranch; Dutch oven cooking with
Jay Bentley’s Open Range
96 profile
The art and passion of ski instruction
100 Guide
Southwest Montana’s hot springs
106 history
Big Sky Resort, 40 years later
110 gear Guide
Ski and snowboard gear; pants
party; and the outdoor athlete’s
guide to office survival
118 Road trip
Montana’s Sweet 16
120 Outlaw
Earthships architect Michael
Reynolds
Traversing the Gallatin Crest on skis
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
5
from the publisher
Be open to possibilities
The mountains, oceans and rivers have
amazing advice. Slow down. Breathe.
Listen. Be present. In nature, I find
the purest venue to connect the dots
between life and business.
On a recent backpacking journey
through the Gallatin Mountains, it
dawned on me: 3 miles an hour! This is
the speed at which our species is meant
to operate; more in tune with our
surroundings and ourselves. Test this
theory: Go for a walk, go float a river,
go sit on a hillside and read a book or
magazine.
it’s because our team stayed open to the
possibility that perhaps print isn’t dead.
It isn’t.
For me, seeing Mountain Outlaw, a
print publication, succeed in our virtual
society is beyond rewarding. As we add
another eight pages to accommodate
growth, making it one of the largest in
this region of the country, I’m proud.
Supported by amazing advertisers, staff
and 400,000-plus readers, this magazine is defying gravity.
As our society winds up and operates at
a faster, more plugged-in pace, staying
open to life becomes a challenge. We
are becoming a culture that seeks daily
affirmation from social media, versus
living the mantra.
This issue features stories of people
who have stayed open to the idea of
possibilities: A governor who ran Montana and its government with a new
approach; an architect who designed
a new way of building a sustainable
home; a local Montana charity that is
making big impacts.
People often ask me how we make this
print publication work. Looking back,
This collection of stories is meant to
inspire our readers to create their own
Publisher Eric Ladd with dog Black Betty
enjoying some time in the North Dakota
fields together
adventures, to encourage us all to slow
down, read, share and imagine. Thank
you for your continued support. Enjoy
this publication, and let’s all stay open
to possibilities.
Eric Ladd
Publisher
[email protected]
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Elevate Living
from the editor
LONE VIEW RIDGE
at Yellowstone Club
•
•
•
•
•
Context is understanding
We ll de si gned, ready-to-build lots
Inte rconne cted ac c ess to
Ye llowsto ne Club, B ig Sky Resor t &
Mo onli ght Basin
8,0 00+ ski able acres
Wo rld-class family ac tivities
Ye ar ro und recreation in the
he art of Montana
Jackson, Wyoming-based
freelancer Forrest McCarthy
knew this when he wrote
about a ski traverse of the
Gallatin Crest.
Tyler Allen couldn’t ignore
it for his article on Yellowstone Lake cutthroat trout
and the species that depend
on them. Ecosystem health
affects tourism, business
and jobs.
Writing about Bob Olson’s
grizzly bear encounter kept
me up at night.
A bear climbed over the
fence into Olson’s yard last
spring in Big Sky, attacked
his dogs and charged him.
“It happened so fast, it
boggles your mind,” he says.
He wants people to learn
from his encounter and encourages carrying bear spray
close at hand.
Camping under the stars
this fall, I went to bed
reading Scott McMillion’s
Mark of the Grizzly.. Every
sound made me jump. I
spent October reading
scientific papers on grizzly
bears, reviewing text from a
dozen interviews, and filling
the space between with my
own words. But the story
wasn’t complete. I wanted to
see a Yellowstone grizzly in
the wild.
For me, context means
greater understanding.
8
Mountain
explorebigsky.com
LONEVIEWRIDG
E.COM
Outgoing Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer
understands context as well,
speaking to it in an interview
with Joseph O’Connor.
In perhaps this issue’s most
powerful story, a U.S. Army
sniper working in Afghanistan recalls fishing in Yellowstone as a child.
“Let’s face it: America isn’t
perfect,” he says. “However,
I’m willing to serve and sacrifice for the sake of that one
perfect day and the dream
that eventually another one
will come along.”
The Yellowstone region is
less populated than the rest
of the lower 48 – but even
so, we’re all connected. That
context gives us ground to
stand on.
Emily Stifler
Managing Editor
[email protected]
featured contributors
Bradley Bermont writes in the gray
area between freelance and unemployment, mostly around LA. Come
winter, he’ll be skiing in Big Sky with
his mother. He graduated from Roger
Williams University in 2012.
Paul O’Connor has been
making portraits of the Taos
art scene for the past 24
years. His recent book, Taos
Portraits, features 60 fullpage black and white photos
of some of the town’s notorious and creative characters,
accompanied by stories from
friends and peers.
Max Lowe is a photographer and writer
based in Bozeman. With a passion for adventure photography and documentary, Lowe
has traveled to far corners of the world,
played the field with high-level athletes,
and photographed renowned musicians.
Recently, his photos have been published in
National Geographic and Backpacker. More
at maxlowemedia.com.
Corrie Francis Parks is an
animator and designer with a
freelance studio in Big Sky. Her
award-winning films have been
exhibited at national and international film festivals on almost
every continent (she’s still waiting
for someone to organize an Antarctic Film Festival). Watch some
animation on her website corriefrancis.com, and if you’re in the
mountains, swing by the studio
and say “hello!”
Mike Mannelin now lives in Alaska
most of the year, calling Kodiak Island
home. He looks forward to sharing more
face shots with friends, whether it’s from
the Lone Peak Tram or some backcountry
stash.
Renae Counter is a Montana native who currently
resides in Big Sky. A secondgeneration ski instructor, she
taught skiing at Maverick
Mountain for four winters
as a side job while attending
the University of Montana
Western. Counter graduated
in December 2012, and is now
a full-time ski instructor.
explorebigsky.com
Forrest McCarthy has
been a professional mountain guide and adventurer for
more than 20 years. Whether by foot, ski, mountain bike
or packraft, McCarthy has a
penchant for exploring and
celebrating big, wild landscapes. He lives in Jackson,
Wyoming with his wife Amy
and their dog Fryxell.
Mountain
9
Photo by Kene Sperry
Cold Smoke Awards
It began as a grassroots Bozeman
film festival, then hit the road, touring the West. Now, it’s going viral.
Starting in January, Cold Smoke
Awards will offer worldwide
viewing and voting at
coldsmokeawards.com.
Freeride World Qualifier returns
to Moonlight Basin
For two days in 2012, the Freeskiing World Tour
blew up Moonlight Basin, bringing world-class
rippers to the Headwaters cirque.
“To see the Headwaters really get shredded,
that’s awesome,” said local skier and competitor Pat Gannon.
“It’s an online winter mountain film
festival,” said Brad Van Wert, one
of four founders. “You can come to
our website and see stuff you can’t
anywhere else. No one else is really doing that.”
Returning March 15 – 16, the 2013 comp will
be a four-star event, the highest qualifier for
the championship series that now combines
the Swatch Freeride World Tour, the Freeskiing World Tour and The North Face Masters of
Snowboarding.
The crew will again visit select ski
towns, showing trailers and short
films, and of course, throwing
parties. Don’t miss the academy
awards-style finale in Bozeman
this March.
“It’s a perfect venue,” said FWT operations
manager Nathaniel “Pouch” Gauthier. “The
amphitheater with the natural finish line –
[Moonlight is] completely set up for it.”
Check out footage from the 2012 event:
vimeo.com/39292338
34th annual Dirtbag Day
Every year in March, Big Sky Resort celebrates Dirtbag Day, a holiday commemorating the belief that skiing comes above all
responsibilities. Those who trust this have
earned the honored title: Dirtbags.
No one knows this lifestyle better than the
Dirtbag King and Queen, locals elected for
their dedication to the skier’s life. Every year,
the coronation is preceded by a ski parade,
the powder 8s and an evening ball. This wild
affair is a fundraiser for ski patrol.
Expect to see skiers sporting retro onepiece ski suits, football helmets, outfits
made of duct tape, hula hoops and maybe
a few whiskey-filled ski poles. There is one
message here: Skiing comes first. All other
things are meant for a laugh.
Find the 2013 date on the events calendar at
bigskyresort.com. -Victor Deleo
Compiled by the Editors
recommended reading
Images of America: Big Sky
Arcadia Publishing, 2012
The early white settlers in Big Sky
were hardy and persistent, and a
new book brings to life their trials
and tribulations.
Starting with the Hayden Expedition, which surveyed the region in
the 1870s, Images of America: Big
Sky, depicts 100 years of logging,
mining, homesteading, ranching,
recreation and tourism that followed. Co-authors Dr. Jeff Strickler and Anne Marie Mistretta
included historic records, character sketches, anecdotes
and more than 175 historic photos.
“I think it’s going to open up a tremendous amount of
interest in Big Sky history,” said Al Lockwood, chairman of
the local Historic Crail Ranch Conservators.
Available online at crailranch.org.
10 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
Backcountry digs
New cabin and yurt open near Cooke City
The bay window of the Woody Creek Cabin looks southwest
toward the Fin and Republic Peak, alpine ski objectives towering 2,300 feet above Cooke City.
Set on a 22-acre mining claim and surrounded by National Forest land, this backcountry abode is within skinning distance of
Woody Ridge, East Hayden Creek and Pilot and Index peaks,
and also accesses miles of ski touring trails – all this, just a 2.5
mile hike from Cooke.
Ben Zavora, of Beartooth Powder Guides, built the 20 by 24foot cabin by hand this past summer, felling all the timber for
the structure on the property. It and his new Mount Zimmer
Yurt are both available for rent this winter.
Located near the base of its namesake peak, the Mount Zimmer
Yurt is six miles north of town, next to Zimmer Creek and the
wilderness boundary, providing access to alpine terrain in the
heart of the Beartooth Mountains.
Both sites are decked out with kitchen supplies, wood stoves,
bunks and killer views. As well, they both have a mix of lowangle tree skiing for high hazard days, moderate and advanced
backcountry terrain, and steep ski mountaineering, Zavora said.
“Cooke is blessed with a pretty consistent snowfall, in general – it’s so reliable and so deep,” said Mark Staples, a Gallatin
National Forest Avalanche Center forecaster. “There’s tons of
great low angle skiing, steep skiing, and extreme skiing for the
right conditions.”
Zavora, who has been involved with the avalanche center for six
years, will guide backcountry skiing and snowboarding and also
offers avalanche and ski mountaineering courses.
“This is as good as it gets for ski touring in the Lower 48,”
Zavora said. - E.S.
beartoothpowder.com
Ben Zavora dropping in off Miller Mountain, with Wolverine and
Abundance in the background. photo by beau fredlund
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
11
WEB
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explorebigsky.com
health
Everest:
The Medical Mountain
Why does one critically ill patient survive while another does
not? Equally, why can one climber summit Everest while his
partner must turn around?
“The link may not appear obvious,” says Dr. Adam Sheperdigian, a research fellow at the UCL Centre of Altitude, Space,
and Extreme Environment Medicine, “but both scenarios
demonstrate a condition known as hypoxia, an inability to
deliver enough oxygen to support the body’s vital organs.”
As a climber ascends to extreme altitude, he has less oxygen
with each breath. During a slow, calculated ascent, his body
negates this by increasing breathing rate and producing red
blood cells. For some this acclimatization occurs without fail,
while others develop critical and even fatal conditions.
Dr. Sheperdigian works with the Xtreme Everest Team, a
specialist unit of medical providers and scientists using “the
highest laboratory in the world,” Mount Everest, to learn
more about hypoxia.
The team started work in 2007, studying more than 200
healthy volunteers in Everest Base Camp. The scientists also
performed exercise tests at the 25,938-foot South Col and
collected arterial blood samples just below the 29,029-foot
summit. Returning in spring 2013, Xtreme Everest will
study a wider demographic, including children, identical
twins and the indigenous Sherpa population.
Learn more at xtreme-everest.co.uk.
Above: Xtreme Everest Team at the Hillary Step
L: Lab at Everest Base Camp
Photos courtesy of Xtreme Everest
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
15
16 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
by katie morrison
photos by chris davis
community
The Blackfeet
Community College
Living off the land with
modern technology
The land northeast of Glacier National Park has a
raw, striking beauty.
Here, wildflowers form droplets of color amid tall
grasses in summer, teal blue water refracts glacial
sediment, and waterfalls pour over monumental
cliffs. Winter storms replenish the mountains’
crisp white glaciers, and winds howl through dry
plains surrounding the foothills.
Such wildness makes it hard to imagine that an
entire people has inhabited this region in great
numbers since the early 1700s.
The harsh climate requires strength to survive,
and offers grand rewards for the accomplishment.
This strength is a quality the Blackfeet Nation has
demonstrated for more than 300 years.
Chief Mountain, elevation 9080
feet, sits between Glacier Park and
the Blackfeet Indian Reservation,
near the Canadian border. It jets up
from the surrounding foothills and is
the first thing you see on the way to
the reservation from Cut Bank.
“That mountain is very important
to our people,” says Terry Tatsey, a
member of the Blackfeet Tribe. “It
marks the northern area of our summer hunting grounds.”
A sense of loss hangs in the air here,
an unspoken knowledge that the
nomadic lifestyle of his tribe disappeared in the late 1800s, with the
near extinction of the American
bison which they hunted and relied
on for their entire way of life.
ferently here. Unlike many other
parts of the state, nearly all the
plants are native on the reservation.
With very few fences, the horses
and cows graze together.
Following this loss, the Blackfeet
culture’s lifestyle was hampered by
immobility and dependency. The
tribe suffered from widespread
starvation and illness.
The clouds tend to linger on mountaintops, instead of being blown in
by the gusty winds.
The land today speaks to the stewardship of thousands of years, the
way its people have treated it dif-
Photo: A Blackfeet man plays a traditional drum in front of Chief Mountain.
Combined with the slow, even cadence of Tatsey’s voice, it’s enough
to transport you to another time,
another culture, another place.
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
17
community
The Blackfeet Community College
is a beacon of hope among the dilapidated buildings. Its recently built,
LEED Platinum-certified Southwind Lodge stands as a symbol of
what is possible.
Blackfeet Community College’s Southwind Lodge is a LEED Platinum-certified building.
The reservation is headquartered
in Browning, a town of 1,000. The
tribe’s rich history and colorful past
is not immediately evident here.
MAKING DREAMS REALITY
WWW.SEABA-HELI.COM
Photo © Will Wissman
HAINES, AK
Poverty seeps through the main street,
reflecting a near 70 percent unemployment rate and the substance abuse
issues that mire the community.
Built as part of a 10-year master
plan for the campus, the lodge also
exemplifies BCC’s motto: “Remember our past, build our future.”
The building embraces the historic
Blackfeet tradition of living off the
land – but does so through use of
modern technology. The prospect
of utilizing energy from the ground
and sun are certainly not new ideas;
rather, they are a return to what
the Blackfeet people have always
known.
community
“If you step back and think, they
really have it right,” said Wayne
Freeman, of CTA Architects, who is
managing the project. “They know
what is important to teach kids.
Everything needs to have a green
component to it – it’s part of their
heritage to protect the land.”
The master plan also addresses
other issues that create roadblocks
to higher education. Onsite student housing, childcare, a health
and recreation center, and a common area will provide a supportive
atmosphere and the resources that
will allow students to finish their
programs.
Students from the reservation who
attend BCC before going on to a
four-year university have a much
higher success rate than those who
go directly from high school, according to BCC President, Billie Jo
Kipp.
Future goals include constructing
additional energy efficient buildings that emulate the Southwind
Lodge. Planning for this expansion has included input from the
tribe and the town of Browning
on how to address community
needs. Healthcare, unemployment,
poverty, childcare and sustainable
energy were considered, as well as
education initiatives.
The vision: Upon graduation,
students will have workforce skills
immediately transferrable to growing industries in the region including green energy, ranching, land
resource management, nursing and
construction. Having an educated
workforce will help individuals,
Tatsey says, and contribute to a
healthier community.
Katie Morrison loves the new perspective a different culture offers,
and was excited to find such an
adventure in the state she has always
called home. Morrison is the Operations Director at Outlaw Partners.
D YOUR •
• FIN
PERFECT PROPERTY
BIG SKY • YELLOWSTONE CLUB • MOONLIGHT BASIN • THE CLUB AT SPANISH PEAKS • SKI, GOLF AND FISHING PROPERTIES
FEATURED PROPERTY:
141 Ulery’s Lake Moonlight Basin
•
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Eric & Stacy Ossorio
Eric Ossorio, Broker - 406.539.9553
Stacy Ossorio, Broker - 406.539.8553
[email protected]
[email protected]
prumt.com
ossoriorealestategroup.com // View Web Tour Online
•
One of the finest four-season
homesites in Ulery’s Lake
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Madison Valley views
$3,250,000 MLS# 186493
Real Estate Group
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Mountain
19
outboundgallery
20 Mountain
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patrick orton
L: Taylor Lyman blasting deep in the Cooke City backcountry.
R: Livingston local Matt Stott highmarking a pristine powder face in Cooke.
patrickortonphotography.com
outbound
gill montgomery
Celebrate winter
L-R: Dash Kamp, Jason Arens,
Pete Arneson and Noah Curry
[email protected]
22 Mountain
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tyler busby
“Forest and Corla, Eureka, MT.” from the
series Warm Light on a Winter’s Day
tylerbusbyphotography.com
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Mountain
23
outbound
greg mather
The frozen landscape of Paradise Valley,
Emigrant Peak on the right
gregmather.com
24 Mountain
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Mountain
25
outbound
mark weber
Sam Macke climbing a variation
to The Double Pillar in the Mother
Lode Area, Snake River Canyon,
near Twin Falls, Idaho.
markweberphoto.com
26 Mountain
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audrey hall
Classic beauty, powerful voice:
Montana jazz musician Jeni Fleming
audreyhall.com
facebook.com/jenifleming
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Mountain
27
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S ACRED
by mike mannelin | photo by ryan turner
The snow cloud settles on our gear pile as the helicopter
disappears out of sight. The rotor chop fades over the
next ridge, leaving us in silence on top of the mountain.
Snow-covered peaks surround us. Every breath up here is
sacred.
I click into my skis, tighten my pack straps, and slide
sideways for a second before pointing my skis toward
the entrance. Then the earth falls away into an unknown
specter of white. The face of the mountain is in full view
below me. It’s hard to tell the difference between humility and masked fear. Perhaps they exist together.
The first turn sends dry, grainy, surface hoar powder into
my face. With all my being, I release myself to gravity.
This is where I find myself. The consequences of letting
go of my edges are nonexistent. The run-out negates any
need for grasp or tight grip on life. There is no hint of
confinement. My skis are enablers.
I think about oxygen. I think about freedom. I think
about why I’m here. Why me? How? It doesn’t make
sense at this moment. The human brain is too complex –
or maybe it’s just too simple.
Gathering all the energy of my freefall, I turn my skis
sideways and push against a cloud. The feeling under
my feet couldn’t possibly be replicated by anything else.
There is a perfect balance that comes from pure energy
transfer, from deep within the soul, back to the universe.
It leaves me charged and full of wonder.
Finally, I come to rest in the valley. The faces of my
friends around me share a knowing smile. They, too, have
undergone transformations. We burst out laughing.
This is life. We belong to something so precious, and at
the same time, so heavy. It’s a great responsibility, and
we must take this feeling into the rest of our lives. We
can try to share it, but only indirectly, through positive
vibrations and genuine smiles.
We are skiers.
30 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
The author shredding spines outside of Haines, Alaska.
Photo by Ryan Turner ryanturnerphotography.com
Describe your perfect ski
This essay was
adapted from an email
Mike Mannelin wrote
to custom ski builder
Pete Wagner.
“I was imagining what
the perfect ski would
be like on my feet; and then I dropped in,”
Mannelin says.
Based in Telluride, Colorado, Wagner
Custom Skis are made to order, one pair at a
time, using ultra high-quality materials in a
shop powered entirely by wind and solar.
Wagner’s process starts with mapping your
personal skier DNA. Sound scientific? It is.
Precisely matching your body metrics with
your ski style, desired use and performance
needs, allows him to truly customize a ski
that fits your personality on the slopes.
For Mannelin, the follow up phone call with
Wagner was a thrill in itself.
“I [spent] an hour and a half on the phone
with another skier, talking about skiing
powder. We came up with a perfect design
for my skis, adding a little width here, a little
rocker there, and bomb proofing the construction. He sent me an email with a drawing of the shape and a description, saying
the boys in the shop were ‘stoked to build
this ski’.” Get custom – wagnerskis.com
- Megan Paulson
Private Powder
™
We don’t have powder days, we have powder weeks.
Yellowstone Club • Big Sky,Montana
{406} 995 -4900
www.yellowstoneclub.com
[email protected]
www.discoverylandco.com
Membership in the Yellowstone Club requires real estate ownership. Yellowstone Club is a secure gate guarded private community and appointments for access to view the real estate or amenities need to be arranged in advance.
This does not constitute an offer or a solicitation to residents in any state or jurisdiction in which registration requirements have not been fulfilled. Please call or email for complete information.
NOW
Brian
Schweitzer
A g o v e r n o r a n d h i s p l a n to
c h a n g e t h e wo r l d
BY JOSEPH T. O’CONNOR | photos by brian niles
34 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
NOW
Brian Schweitzer points to a fur
hide lying next to a Native American
headdress on his office table.
“You ever held a skunk pelt before?” he asks.
It’s October 2012, three months before the termlimited Montana governor will leave office.
Holding the pelt in a calloused hand, he talks about
special interest groups and how they’ve learned to
steer clear of the Capitol building in Helena. Schweitzer says he removed all lobbyists from his commissions and boards once he took office in 2004.
“I keep this skunk pelt in here so I don’t forget what
they look and smell like.”
During the 2012 election season, Montana was a
focal point for the nation as voters sifted through
political messages, numbed by tens of thousands
of negative campaign ads. Millions in outside cash
poured into the state, spinning the heads of anyone
following the news.
While Schweitzer kept a close eye on the issues this
fall, the race wasn’t his to win. After eight years in
the public eye, Montana term limits say he must go,
but the governor won’t be cleaning everything out of
his office. He’s leaving tracks.
Schweitzer, 57, has amassed an unprecedented
budget surplus, and signed bills for early education,
renewable energy, tourism and jobs. He’s exercised
his power to veto 130 times, taking down laws that
would have shortchanged public schools and eliminated same-day voter registration. He is leaving
office with a 61 percent approval rating.
That’s the governor on paper. In person, he’s larger
than life.
He’s 6’2”. He wears big boots and big belt buckles. He
owns big ranches with big tractors. He dreams big.
But Schweitzer is accessible. He tells stories that
ground him in Montana, connecting him to its
people and to a house on a dirt road, where he sees
himself after his last day in office on Jan. 7 – at least
temporarily.
The rest of the country got its first taste of Governor
Schweitzer at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, where he delivered a speech that catapulted
him into the national spotlight.
Adorned in his trademark bolo tie, Schweitzer told
the convention his family story – how his grandparents immigrated to Montana “with nothing more
than the shirts on their backs, high hopes and faith in
God.”
He spoke of how his parents had two things in their
house he’ll never forget. The first was a crucifix. The
second was a framed picture of John F. Kennedy on
their kitchen wall.
Schweitzer’s parents never graduated high school,
but “President Kennedy’s idealism and spirit of the
possibility inspired them to send all six of their children to college.”
And when he said ‘We’re going to the moon,’”
Schweitzer said, pointing skyward at the convention,
“he showed us that no challenge was insurmountable.”
The governor opened his address sounding like the
down home rancher he is, an amiable neighbor you
might invite to Sunday dinner. He closed by bringing
the convention to its feet, calling for national energy
independence and a collective belief that together we
can change the world. He closed as a leader.
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
35
NOW
The governor in October 2012, on the grand staircase in the Capitol building.
Montana is traditionally a red state.
Until 2004, it hadn’t elected a Democratic governor in two
decades. The Treasure State has voted for just two Democratic presidential candidates since 1952.
So, how did a Democrat get elected here the same year the
state voted overwhelmingly to re-elect Republican President
George W. Bush?
Schweitzer tells a story about Bill Clinton’s path to politics,
illustrating a difference between the two politicians. When
the former president was 13, he knew networking would
lead him to Washington.
“He used to go to conferences and get every single person’s
mailing address, and he’d send them a nice note,” Schweitzer
said. “He’d check in with them a couple times a year because
he knew what he wanted to do.”
Schweitzer didn’t do this; he never expected to be governor.
His path led to Libya the day after he defended his thesis in
soil science at Montana State University in Bozeman. From
there, he spent seven years in Saudi Arabia working on irrigation projects intended to boost the area’s agriculture. He’s
now fluent in Arabic.
“The people I was meeting were either Arabs or Europeans or
Africans,” Schweitzer said. “And I don’t think any of them
can vote for me here in Montana.”
In 1986, he returned to Montana to raise cattle at his Whitefish ranch.
36 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
“I never thought too much about politics,” said the
husband and father of three. “I voted and read the
newspaper like a lot of folks do, and once in a while I’d
flip on the Sunday morning television programs to see
what the heck was happening back there in Washington, D.C.”
But if somebody would have suggested, ‘You’re someday gonna run for governor,’ I would have said, ‘Governor of what?’”
Over the years, Schweitzer noticed trends and changes
in the business climate, in education and in the greater
community of Montana. He began asking questions.
“You find out the people running this [government]
stuff – they either aren’t very informed or they’re not
very smart.” For a while, though, he said, he “was a
complainer like everybody else.”
Then someone asked him, if he was so smart, why
didn’t he run for governor.
“It sounded kind of crazy to me,” Schweitzer said. But
he realized holding public office was something he had
to do.
“I thought, if regular people with a common sense
background don’t step up, the same cast of characters
will continue to run the state into the ground.”
NOW
two photographs stand out in the lobby
of Schweitzer’s Helena office.
In one, Schweitzer, in his usual jeans, boots and bolo tie,
kneels next to his border collie, Jet. The other is Lieutenant
Governor John Bohlinger sporting a bow tie, the American
flag in the background.
These photos might have been opposite each other on a campaign ad, but here they’re mounted side-by-side. Schweitzer
chose Bohlinger, a Republican, as his right-hand man in
2004.
The partnership has worked, Schweitzer says, because both
men were willing to challenge their bases in order to meet in
the middle.
Politics isn’t a popularity contest, Schweitzer says.
“You’ve got to articulate what yer fer, and what yer against,”
he said, in an exaggerated Montana accent. “And what yer fer
– ya gotta be willin’ to fight for it.”
“I thought, if regular people
with a common sense background don’t step up, the
same cast of characters will
continue to run the state into
the ground.”
He’ll reach across the aisle, but Schweitzer is no pushover.
Three photos hanging near his office door show former president Lyndon B. Johnson talking with a congressman.
Schweitzer narrates:
“Here, LBJ is saying, ‘This is a good idea. I think we can both
agree on this. The senator is saying, ‘Well, I’m not so sure.’”
In the second photo, Johnson is face-to-face with the congressman, leaning in, angry. In the third, Johnson has a
finger in the chest of the cowering congressman, who is bent
backward over a desk.
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
37
NOW
Schweitzer jabs a finger at the photo. “LBJ is saying, ‘I’m
not going to take no for an answer.’”
That’s what you do,” Schweitzer says. “You first romance
them, tell them how beautiful their wife is. You ask them
if they’ve been working out. But at some point, you tell
them, ‘Look here, you little son of a bitch, this is the way
it’s gonna be.’ That’s how you get things done.”
The governor pulls his four-foot “VETO” branding iron
from behind his desk. “You ever hold a hot iron brand
before?” he asks.
On April 13, 2011, Schweitzer famously stood on the steps
of the Capitol building and vetoed 17 bills with this iron,
the paper catching fire with each brand. He called the bills
“frivolous, unconstitutional, and just bad ideas,” and seven
of them are now displayed on wooden planks in the statehouse lobby, their numbers and the word “VETO” seared
into the wood.
In total, Schweitzer vetoed 79 bills in 2011 - 60 more than
any previous Montana governor had in a year. He’s never
had one overridden by the state Congress.
One veto had major significance for Montana travel destinations. House Bill 316, according to Schweitzer, would have
cut state tourism funds and promotions by $6 million.
“I vetoed that because tourism is such a big part of Montana’s industry,” he said, noting that the industry supports
25,000 small businesses in the state. And Montana, he says,
is like a business itself: You have to promote the product.
In April 2012, Schweitzer drove a semi truck through
Times Square, New York City. He leaned out the window,
speaking into a bullhorn, “like a political P.T. Barnum,”
wrote The Denver Post.
Schweitzer’s 18-wheeler was wrapped in a giant vinyl banner reading, “Montana: Gateway to Yellowstone.”
Bozeman had a new direct flight from Newark, New Jersey,
and the governor wanted to promote it.
“Who better,” he said. “Nobody loves this state more than
I do.”
38 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
Schweitzer shows off his ‘veto’ branding iron.
Schweitzer will leave behind an estimated surplus of $457
million for the state. Alongside what he called “the greatest investments in new education and the greatest tax cuts
in history,” it’s something he’s proud of.
As part of his final budget submission to the 2013 legislature, the governor proposed using part of the surplus to
freeze college tuition costs, his third such proposal.
Schweitzer said his most important investment in education was for full-time, state-funded kindergarten.
“Let’s say you [live with] your grandmother on an Indian
reservation, and English isn’t her first language. What are
the chances you’ll start first grade on an even keel with
the rest of the first graders?”
Early education, he says, is key to a child’s progression
through higher education and ultimately to landing a
good job. He maintains that if children don’t read at a first
grade level by the end of first grade, they never catch up.
“In 25 years, we won’t remember who was governor when
these kids are changing the world, as 30-year-old adults
with college degrees. We won’t know and we won’t care.”
But Brian Schweitzer will know.
NOW
Upon leaving office, Schweitzer’s dream
is to return to his roots and the tranquil life on
his ranch. He has always lived at the end of a dirt
road, except in college and during his eight years as
governor.
But he gets a gleam in his eye when discussing
future political office.
The last year has seen Schweitzer bounce from talk
shows with Letterman and Bill Maher, to NYC and
this year’s DNC. He’s basking in the media attention.
“nobody loves
this state more
than i do.”
His conversations with delegates from New Hampshire and Iowa in September 2012 drew national
interest, because they help decide who receives
presidential nominations.
“Maybe I spoke to South Carolina, too,” Schweitzer
said, grinning. “I might have even talked to Nevada.
But I don’t know why that’s a collection of states one
would care about.”
Then he laughed.
“I’m not gonna rule anything in, or anything out,” he
said. “But I’m not looking to be elected [to national
office] just to be elected. I would do it, but only if I
thought we could change the world together.”
Joseph T. O’Connor is an editor of Mountain Outlaw.
C R E ATE F R O M
Montana H I STORY
OUR T IM BE R TO YOUR T RE AS URE
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culture
Your office is on wilshire, right?
Dual Citizens
By Bradley Bermont
It’s the last week of the Olympics and Colleen Williams, coanchor for NBC4 Los Angeles is driving to work. She’s been
working for the past 28 days: an onslaught of Olympians and
Olympiads, culminating in exhaustion. She wants to be in Big
Sky with her husband Jon and their son.
On the other side of the city, in the heart of West LA, an agent
is calling Clay Lorinsky’s law office. His secretary answers and
asks if the agent wouldn’t mind holding for a moment while
she tracks him down.
Since they’re dialing a 310 area code and a secretary on
Wilshire is answering, “Mr. Lorinsky’s office,” his clients don’t
realize that he’s picking up the phone from 406.
His secretary calls, asks if he’s free, and tells him his client, an
agent, is on the line. Lorinsky asks her to put him through then
takes a sip of morning coffee in his home office under Yellow
Mountain. He’s in his gym shorts with no shirt on, and it’s
surprising how muscular this middle-aged lawyer is.
Unlike Williams, Lorinsky isn’t dreaming of Montana, he’s
living in it, and he’s been waiting for this call. There’s a TV deal
in the works with one of the cable networks, and he may be
40 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
pulling at what’s left of his hair if this doesn’t pan out. They’ve
invested many hours in negotiation, not to mention the tens of
thousands of dollars sunk into the pilot of this non-disclosable
television show.
They banter for nearly an hour before things start wrapping
up. As they’re making a date for their next meeting, face-toface in Lorinsky’s office, the agent asks him, “Your office is on
Wilshire, right?”
Lorinsky has his feet up on the desk, leaning back in his chair.
“Hasn’t moved since the last time.”
“I go back to LA once every five weeks, give or take,” he says.
During a week-long stint, he’ll have two to four meetings a
day, not including lunches and dinners with every client and
friend he can schedule, plus his normal workload, which is
nearly nonstop. There’s always more business to be had, he
says, and, “As much as I hate to do it, it’s pretty hard to bring in
new clients without leaving Big Sky.”
Colleen Williams faces an opposite difficulty – it’s tough to
broadcast the news from Big Sky. Unlike Clay, she can’t get to
Montana more than three or four times a year. Sometimes, she
visits for just a weekend.
L: Big Sky photo by Greg Mather
R: LA photo by royce gorsuch
big sky & Los angeles
As she walks into NBC’s Burbank studio, she’s ready for
this Olympics week to be over. Outside, it’s nearly 100
degrees.
“It’s the winters that I find really spectacular. It could be zero
degrees outside, and you’re still snowshoeing under blue
skies.”
“It is just a plane ride away,” she says of Big Sky. “When
there’s a direct flight, it’s great. I’ll get on at 6 p.m. and land
at midnight. I don’t mind getting an hour or two of sleep
the night before, because there’s such an anticipation when
I get there. It’s so calm, quiet and peaceful.”
She loves cross country skiing, while Jon is more partial to
downhill. Chalk it up to the serenity of nature or the short lift
lines accessing the “Biggest Skiing in America,” but winter had
an allure they couldn’t escape.
Neither could Lorinsky.
In 2005, she was taken aback when her husband Jon said he
was buying land in Montana. She hadn’t ever been there,
and she asked him, “Out of all the places, what could be in
Montana?”
“If you’re going to be a second homeowner, especially for a
ski home, you’re gonna be doing most of your skiing there,”
Lorinsky says. “For me at least, Big Sky is the only mountain
that I thought could keep me entertained.”
“If I don’t buy it, someone else will,” he said.
It didn’t take more than a season before she was sold. Now
seven years later, she says, “We couldn’t be more fortunate
to have it.”
In normal conversation with Williams, you can hear the
sound bites and the newscaster authority, but when Big
Sky comes up, her voice drifts toward nostalgia.
A friend introduced him to the area in 1993, but he didn’t
switch to dual-residency until 2005. Just prior to that, he was
offered an opportunity to run business affairs at Warner Bros.
“Ultimately, it was a lifestyle choice. There’s no way I could do
that and live like this.” He points out the window toward the
mountainside of Douglas-firs behind his home. Earlier in the
week, he saw a mother moose and her calf walk across his yard.
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
41
culture
“You can’t have your cake and eat it
too,” he says, shrugging.
Williams attests: “It’s not easy to
do with the hours,” referring to her
schedule of starting work at 11 a.m.
or noon and wrapping up close to
midnight, sometimes later during
high stress seasons or the Olympics.
“You’re never free from work.
There’ve been a few times where I
was in Big Sky and something big
happened in LA, like an earthquake,
and we discussed coming back.” Last
spring she left her vacation early
to cover the tsunamis that ravaged
Japan.
Traveling with her earpiece, Williams
can report from anywhere.
“I could be in the Bozeman airport,
saying ‘This is so big, people here are
looking at it,’ and that would end up
on the news in LA.” Or on the news in
Montana, which anyone with an NBC
West Coast feed could tell you.
She’s been stopped walking through the
Meadow Village and standing in the
Hungry Moose when someone will look
at her, do a double take and– “Aren’t you
that woman from NBC?”
“It’s weird to see yourself on TV in
Montana,” she says, laughing.
But for Lorinsky, it’s almost comforting to watch the 6 o’clock news
to see what’s happening in LA.
Williams and her teammates are a
constant, whether the lawyer is in
Montana or LA. Often, it’s a reminder
why he spends so much time away
from the city. He was happy to have
only experienced “Carmageddon”
(the 2011 construction on Route
405 that had some executives taking
helicopters to work) from his den in
Big Sky.
Like Williams says, “I’m neutralized
[in Big Sky]. Stress free.”
They’re dual citizens, drawn to Big
Sky for similar reasons.
For Clay Lorinsky, it’s not vacationing; it’s work with a chance of
vacation. For Colleen Williams, it’s
vacation with a chance of business.
Even so, they both agree: There’s no
place they’d rather be.
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42 Mountain
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43
Q+A
S n iper i n t he V i n e s
By Erik Meridian | Photos by Catch-22
a wine maker finds himself
training: military combat
usa
country:
44 Mountain
occupation: sniper
location: afghanistan
code name: catch22
in the vineyards of afghanistan
explorebigsky.com
Many of the grape rows he stalks
through in Zharay are owned by the
very Taliban fighters he seeks. Each
vineyard he enters offers a fresh
chance at death, either by mined trip
wire, pressure-plate IED or the crackthump of AK-47 fire. Commander
of a U.S. Army sniper team known as
Catch-22, he’s the deadliest soldier
on the battlefield and is the Taliban’s
greatest prize.
There is irony here: Once upon a
time, Kurt felt at peace in the vines.
In his previous life, he was a winegrower in the U.S.
a prearranged kill zone where sniper
fire and helicopter gunships await.
The team’s arsenal includes the M110
7.62 mm Semi-automatic Sniper
System, the bolt-action XM2010 300
WinMag Sniper Weapon System and
the M107 Barrett .50-caliber sniper
rifle. Each also carries an M4 carbine,
and the team leader has a M320 40
mm grenade launcher. Complementing these weapons are state-of-the-art
optics including an array of day, night
and thermal optics that allow observation several kilometers out.
At times Catch-22 may be folded into
a nine-man patrol and act as squaddesignated marksmen responsible
for laying down accurate, long-range
fire in enemy contact. Often they’re
tasked with sniper over-watch from a
concealed position, where they support a larger operation with powerful
optics and weapons capable of reaching farther than 1,500 meters.
The mastery of this equipment and
the knowledge to choose the right
tool requires an average of 18 months
of intense training and preparation. Far
more important than the toys is the
ability to make quick and correct decisions based on limited information.
Target detection, range estimation,
land navigation and stealth movement
are all part of sniper field craft.
Their favorite missions, however, are
those involving ambushes. In these,
snipers work with infantry to engage
the enemy and force them to flee into
In this game, lives depend on mere
scraps of intelligence, and the sniper’s
intuition and experience often makes
the difference.
“We were selected for this duty because we are independent operators,”
Kurt says. “We look at situations
differently than the normal infantryman.”
Sometimes being a sniper is a lonely
job, and the training reinforces selfreliance. Catch-22 often spends hours
watching an area, learning about the
patterns of life there. That way, when
something out of the ordinary occurs,
they can react.
As the 11-year conflict in Afghanistan winds down, the public pressure
to reduce civilian casualties abroad
and veteran casualties at home has
altered the way in which the U.S.
wages war. Gone are the days of overwhelming firepower, night operations and air strikes. What remains
is a battlefield that has nullified
many of the tactical and technological advantages once held by coalition
forces. In response to this new reality,
commanders on the ground rely
increasingly on snipers to provide
pinpoint lethality against an elusive,
yet deadly enemy.
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
45
“
They’re
ta k i n g
serious
r i s k s to
job
done, and
get the
they often
c a n ’ t spot
da n g e r
until it’s
to o l at e .
“
potential
Q&A with a sniper
Erik Meridian conducted this
interview with Catch-22 sniper team
members Kurt and Anthony in August and September 2012 when they
were in Zharay, Afghanistan. Kurt,
32, selected and trained Anthony,
27, based on Anthony’s skill set and
ability to operate independently in
a high-pressure environment. All
quotes are from Kurt, unless otherwise noted.
You’ve said Zharay is
“the birthplace of the
Taliban.” What does that
mean?
Have you heard of Mullah Omar?
He’s the one-eyed spiritual leader
of the Taliban who sheltered
Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaida in
Afghanistan, allowing them to plan
and execute the 9/11 attacks from a
safe haven. Mullah Omar was born
in a little village called Nodeh, in
the Zharay District of the Kandahar
Province. Nodeh is 1.5 kilometers
46 Mountain
from where we’re sitting. I can
literally see his house from here.
Lucky for him he’s not home.
What’s your favorite
weapon? Do they take on
their own personalities?
They sure do. Each one has a name.
My M4 with the M320 grenade
launcher is called Hungry Joe,
after the character in Catch-22, the
novel. He’s feisty and relentless. He
goes on every mission and never
leaves my side. My partner’s gun,
the M110 SASS, that’s Scarlet.
She’s a sassy minx who’ll slap the
shit out of you, especially with the
suppressor attached.
The XM2010 is called Closing
Time after the Joseph Heller sequel
to Catch-22. It makes sense since
the 2010 is the follow-up to the
Army’s old M24 Remington 700,
which is, to answer your first
explorebigsky.com
question, my favorite weapon. It’s
simple, clean, and effective. It’s
what I learned with when I became
a sniper, and you never forget your
first love.
As for the M107 Barrett, the celebrity of the bunch and the biggest,
we call it Orion’s Bow. It’s a behemoth, and it takes a stud to handle
it. One round from this rifle will
change the complexion of a battlefield in a heartbeat. It’s designed to
intimidate and destroy by punching
through anything in its way, be it
a vehicle, a brick building, or some
unlucky schmuck shooting at my
guys.
So, how much of a wine
guru are you? What’s
your background?
I studied Food Science and Food
Manufacturing Operations at
Purdue University and was trained
by some of the best. One of my
Q+A
professors, Dr. Richard Vine, is a
legend. A contemporary of Robert
Mondavi, who wrote the foreword
of Vine’s textbooks, he founded the
Indy International Wine Competition, one of the world’s largest.
I worked in the Enology Lab at
Purdue, facilitated the school’s
wine competition in 2002, and
began working for Chalet Debonné
Vineyards that fall. I came back
and graduated in 2003, and then
became the assistant winemaker for
Lakeridge Winery and San Sebastian Winery in Florida. We made
everything from cream sherry and
ruby port, to méthode champenoise
sparkling wines where we handriddled the bottles. Our red and
white table wines, both dry and
sweet, were consistent crowd pleasers and award winners.
The most exciting time was during
and right after harvest. Walking
the vineyards, deciding when to
harvest, working 80-plus hours a
week to process the fruit, running
the presses, starting the fermentation, and starting to blend after the
first racking...it’s addictive. Tasting
a wine that has reached its potential
– something you’ve helped shepherd and craft– is really fulfilling.
Those vines become your life. You
know them better than you know
yourself.
Later, I was a wine manager with
Total Wine and More for four
years and traveled to wine regions
throughout the U.S. and Europe.
By age 26, I was running the sales
floor of their $62 million per year
wine retail superstore outside
Philadelphia.
Tell me about walking
through these
dangerous grape rows in
Afghanistan.
It’s funny how life comes full circle,
but with little ironic twists. I used
to walk through the vineyards
every morning and evening. It was
the best part of my day. Now during
a mission, when I watch the sunrise
through the vines, I’m very aware
that my next step could be my last.
My greatest love may be the death
of me if I don’t watch my step.
arrived here. If we give away the fact
that we’re snipers, all hell rains down
on us. That means they’re afraid of
us. They know the name Catch-22.
They gather intel just like we do. It’s a
high stakes game of hide and seek, and
we’re determined to keep winning.
I have a very supportive family who
loves me, but I’m single with no
children. If I go, I leave no one behind. Anthony, however, has two
of the most adorable little daughters on the planet.
What’s your biggest fear
when you’re out there?
To Anthony: What if
something happens to
you?
As snipers, we’re the eyes and ears of
our unit. We look over their shoulders and watch their backs when
they’re sweeping for IED’s, carrying
tons of equipment, moving toward
an objective, totally exposed. We had
to earn their trust over time. They’re
taking serious risks to get the job
done, and they often can’t spot potential danger until it’s too late.
It won’t, but if it somehow did,
Kurt promised to be there for my
girls. They’re 2 and 4. I would want
them to know who their father was
– how much I love them and why
I made the tough choices I did in
order to provide for them.
When insurgents are moving
through grape rows or behind walls,
we have a chance to stop them or
alert the unit. If we failed our friends
that would be something we’d have
trouble living with. That fear keeps
us sharp.
What about your own
lives?
At this point, we’ve taken out our
share of Taliban fighters. If they get
us now, we’ve still done more damage
to them than they have to us. However, we recognize we’re trophies.
They’re gunning for us. There have
been prices on our heads since we
In most sniper teams
there is a primary
shooter and a primary
spotter. Who’s the better
shooter?
In unison: I am! (laughter)
Anthony: But Kurt’s the better
spotter.
Kurt: For now, I just have more experience seeing bullet trace and calling
wind.
Anthony: He’s the team leader so he’s
gotta work the radio and coordinate
things. That means I get more time
behind the gun, which is fine by me.
explorebigsky.com
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47
Q+A
Why the call sign,
Catch-22?
Have you read the book? It applies perfectly. With the tight
restrictions on rules of engagement and the lengthy process
of establishing positive ID on a
target before firing, soldiers often
feel like they’re in a no-win situation. It’s important to maintain a
sense of humor. If you lose that,
morale goes downhill fast.
Also, you can spin it a different way. We believe we’ve got
the Taliban in a catch-22. If they
stand and fight, they die. If they
fight and run, they die...tired.
Damned if you do, damned if you
don’t.
Are you tempted to make
wine out of local grapes?
The thought has crossed my mind,
but that would be against regulations
(winks). I could barter with farmers for fruit and use water jugs for
48 Mountain
fermenters. I’ve got the rubber tubing
and mosquito netting to rack and filter. The grapes have indigenous yeast
on their skin, so I wouldn’t need to
inoculate. I’ve made award-winning
wines with less. These vines aren’t
like Vitis vinifera vines that grow in
places like Napa Valley or the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The Afghan
grapes lack the sweetness and acidity
needed to make the wine stable at 10
– 12 percent alcohol, so you’d have to
ameliorate (add sugar) during fermentation. But it could be done.
Anthony: You’re such a nerd!
Kurt: Yeah, I know. But in all seriousness, one big reason I don’t is because
it would likely offend our Afghan
partners. Alcohol consumption is a
serious taboo in Muslim culture, and
we need them on our side.
Why is maintaining a good
relationship with Afghan
soldiers so important?
explorebigsky.com
This is their country. We’re just
short-timers trying to make an impact
and provide security. For us to go
home with dignity, they must be
ready to take the lead.
Our leadership has forced us to live
and work in close proximity with the
Afghan National Army, and we have
no choice but to intertwine them into
our lives. If they don’t patrol, we
don’t patrol. Our unit has decided to
embrace them and make them brothers. We eat with them, fight with
them, mourn with them, celebrate
with them, learn their languages and
customs well enough that if they
were to turn on us, they’d be killing
their brother.
When an Afghan soldier attacks
coalition forces it’s called a Green on
Blue incident. Those have become
the number two cause of death
among American soldiers in Afghanistan, second only to IED’s.
Continued on p. 50
Catch-22 at work
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BIG SKY’S BE
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Continued from p. 48
I want to make a stark differentiation between the ANA
that have committed the Green on Blue incidents, and
the ones we work with. We’ll be disappointed to have to
work with other guys. Our ANA are even more vulnerable than American infantry – they don’t have the same
level of mine detection equipment, protective equipment,
firepower or communications equipment – and they take
more casualties because of the risks they run. American
soldiers can’t go into someone’s house and search it anymore, so we have to ask them to do it. We take their safety
very personally.
But working with them is another catch-22. We have
the opportunity to build a strong bond with them, but
we also open ourselves up to serious risks. We hold our
enemies close and our friends closer. So far, it’s working
for us. The ANA are brave, motivated and professional,
but it’s always a work in progress.
Why have you chosen to serve?
It’s part of my journey as a man and an American.
When I was a kid, both my parents were schoolteachers,
so we had summers off. I grew up in eastern Indiana, and
when I was 5, we took a summer-long vacation and went
to every major park between Illinois and Yosemite. The
first time I ever went fishing was in Yellowstone National
Park. I caught a little brook trout, and it was the coolest
thing that ever happened to me. It was a perfect day.
My dad is a Special Forces Vietnam veteran. At that time,
he was a difficult person to talk to, and fishing with him
was almost therapeutic. We understood each other very
well that day, and it was many years before we understood each other again to that same degree. Part of the
reason I serve is to understand where he’s coming from.
The memory of that day and others like it built my appreciation and love for the vast beauty of this country. Let’s
face it: America isn’t perfect. However, I’m willing to
serve and sacrifice for the sake of that one perfect day
and the dream that eventually another one will come
along.
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LOCATED IN THE BIG SKY TOWN CENTER
big sky, montana 406-995-3830
Erik Meridian, a pseudonym, is an American soldier
serving in Catch-22’s unit in Afghanistan. His duty position prevents him from revealing his real name.
50 Mountain
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Aer ial of Estate 311
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A postcard
fr o m c h i l ko o t pa s s
S t o r y a n d p h o t o s b y C o r r i e Pa r k s
It was 6:45 a.m., and I had been hiking for two hours
through white mist on white snowfields. The summer
snow crunched beneath my feet as I steadily kicked
steps, heading toward a bright orange trail marker
barely visible 100 feet ahead. Beyond the marker, a
steep, talus-covered hillside emerged from the fog as
I came to the edge of the snowfield. I had reached the
Golden Stairs.
In 1898, more than 30,000 people walked this same
path, lock-stepping up the snowy chute to the Chilkoot
Pass, which separates southeast Alaska from the Yukon.
They were the “stampeders,” racing to the Klondike
goldfields and hoping to strike it rich.
Back then, the area immediately below the Stairs was
a makeshift city called The Scales. Here, the native
Tlingit packers increased their rates from 14 cents to
$1 a pound for hauling goods up the pass. Packers and
stampeders alike would make dozens of trips up the
Golden Stairs, carrying between 50 and 100 pounds
each time.
33
Gold pans, cast iron skillets and tightly wrapped bags
of beans and flour were some of the usual supplies
needed for a year of prospecting in the bitter north. A
few creative entrepreneurs packed rolls of silk, cases of
fresh eggs, live cats and contraband bottles of whiskey - all items that fetched premium prices in Dawson
City. At the pass, the men cached their goods, turned
around, and returned to the noisy collection of humanity at The Scales to collect another load.
2 Frères au Klondike
Now the valley was eerily quiet as I scrambled hand
and foot up the boulders. Not far ahead, I passed a
family from Fairbanks whom I met in camp the night
before. They were speaking quietly, as if trying not to
disturb the ghosts that might haunt this pass.
Mario and Jean, of Montreal, were tracing the
footsteps of their ancestor who joined the 1898
stampede to the Klondike. The brothers walked
the trail in wool jackets, and leather boots,
sleeping on folded blankets under a canvas
shelter, cooking tinned beans and potted meat in
a cast iron skillet. “We find gold in the scenery, in
people, everywhere,” Mario said.
miles from Dyea, Alaska
to Lake Bennett, British
Columbia
52 Mountain
3,525
feet of elevation gain and
the height of Chilkoot Pass
(trail starts at sea level)
50
explorebigsky.com
number of hiking permits
issued daily by Klondike Gold
Rush International Historic
Park for modern-day hikers
heading over the pass
7,000
estimated population of
Sheep Camp during the
height of the stampede,
April 1898
18
population of Sheep
Camp in July 1899
after the White Pass
Railroad to Bennett
was established and
the Chilkoot Trail
abandoned
Sentinel Over Deep Lake
“Why do I go to the wilderness? For the crystal clear streams and the cold winds off snowfields. For the warm, sun-baked granite. For the physical exercise climbing, swimming, scrambling, glissading down soft snowfields. For the way food tastes after a day of all that. But mostly for the views...” - Trail Journal - Day 9
Twisted cables and rusty cogs lay on the boulders around me, reminders of the tramway built
in 1898 to haul gear for those who could pay. By
1899, White Pass Railroad in the adjacent valley
had monopolized the route to the interior, and
the Chilkoot Trail was quickly abandoned.
Wading through the whiteout, I breached the
crest of the pass, the sound of a flag whipping in
the wind ahead of me. A few steps later, a shelter materialized from the fog. A red maple leaf
on the flag indicated I was now in Canada.
Inside, I fired up my stove to melt snow for
drinking water, pulled out an array of colored
22,000
estimated number of
stampeders that crossed
over Chilkoot pass in
1898
$150,000
customs duties for goods
brought into Canada
collected by mounties
stationed at the top of
Chilkoot Pass
7,124
boats that set sail for
Dawson City from Lake
Bennett when the ice
finally broke in June
1898
pens and pencils and a stack of postcards, and sat
down to wait.
My hike on the Chilkoot Trail was part of an
artist-in-residence program, a joint venture with
Parks Canada and the U.S. National Parks Service,
and I had plans for the backpackers adding their
footsteps to the thousands before them.
Hikers burst through the door in waves, steaming
up the windows as they shed sweaty layers and
devoured snacks. Stories and laughter bounced
around the tiny space. I offered hot tea and chocolate as I passed around postcards.
0
trees left on the shores of
Lake Bennett after all those
boats were built (the forest has
regrown in the last 100 years)
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This information is from
Klondike Gold Rush
International Historic Park.
Interested in hiking the trail?
Learn more at nps.gov/klgo.
Mountain
53
Tr a i l t o H a p p y C a m p
“Snow, snow and more snow! Snow canyons 15 feet deep, carved by the river; cracks and fissures of glacial blue opening up. We walk on snow for most of the four
miles to Happy Camp, where tired hikers revel in the first warm rays of the entire trail and moods rise with the barometer.” - Trail Journal, Day 7
On Location - Corrie Francis Parks on the Chilkoot Trail.
K l o n d i k e L e t t e r s P ro j e c t
For 13 days Big Sky resident Corrie Francis Parks wandered the Chilkoot Trail,
collecting postcards, talking to hikers and rangers, creating art and gathering
ideas. This fall and winter, she’s working to compile her experiences into a series of
animated documentaries and an art exhibition. More artwork, photos and stories on
are available at klondikeletters.com.
54 Mountain
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“Write a postcard to yourself,” I instructed. “Write down one
thing you want to remember from your journey up the Chilkoot
Pass.”
They wrote:
“From knee deep water at the start, through beautiful forests and
then starting for the pass at 4 a.m. Best of all, I did it with my
daughter.”
“I just experienced the most frightening day of my life. Extreme
heights, horrible shoes and snowy hills have made me truly grateful
to be alive. I love my life.”
Ghosts on the Stairs
“I came north not to run away, but rather to prove something, to
awaken a revival. I came for redemption, to save my soul in some
way.”
“We all follow the orange stakes marking the saf-e path across
the snow bridges, occasionally hearing the hidden rivers
rushing under our feet. The stairs have shed their snow faster
than the rest of the trail and it is pure scrambling from here.”
Trail Journal, Day 3
“Behind us is civilization... before us, vastness, silence, grandeur
– stand alone on the summit... and realize what an atom in the
universe you are.”
“I want to remember that traveling solo is amazing and that I do
not need a partner to have a great time.”
“The look on Yanik’s face as he reached the summit and hearing the
excitement in his voice as he said this was his favorite day. I want to
remember to see the world like that; always fresh, always seeing.”
tates
united s
canada
“Another day in the North. Embrace the good! Honour, challenge,
laughs, snow, friends and wool socks.”
In these handwritten scribbles, I saw the answer to a
question I’ve asked many times: Why do we seek out wild
places? What are we experiencing there that we can’t find
in our daily lives?
As the hikers packed up to continue their journeys, I
collected the postcards and tucked them away. I planned
to keep them for a year and then, when the memories of
this moment have lost their sharp edges, drop them in the
mail. My hope is that the act of creating these postcards and
receiving the physical artifact in the future will be vivid
catalysts for remembering wilderness.
Though the stampeders were seeking gold in the Klondike
wilderness, the vast majority didn’t find their fortune.
From their letters and diaries, we can see they found other
things: adventure, suffering, love and insight into human
nature at its best and worst. I see these same things written
on the postcards – ultimately, they’re what make these
wild places worth preserving.
kluane national
park & reserve
yukon
british columbia
bennett
Chilkoot trail
Gulf
of Alaska
skagway
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Mountain
57
K N O W YO U R
B AC K C O U N T RY S K I L L S
GOING OUT OF BOUNDS?
Sharpen your skills, bring the proper safety gear and always bring a partner.
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BSSAR.ORG // MTAVALANCHE.COM
58 Mountain
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m a n
a n d
beast
How a grizzly b e a r at ta ck in B i g S k y r e f l e c t s t h e h e al t h o f a s pe c ie s
by emily stifler
explorebigsky.com
59
MountainPhoto by Royce Gorsuch
Bob Olson at home with his dogs, Hatch, Weatherby and Cameron.
Photo by Tyler Busby
g r izzly k i l l e d i n bi g s k y
At 7:30 on Friday morning, Bob Olson was still in his
pajamas. He’d just finished eating eggs and bacon in his cabin
in Big Sky, when he heard his three king shepherds barking
outside, making horrible screaming noises.
He jacked a round into the chamber and shot the bear at five
yards. Struck in the head, it stopped charging, then spun
around a couple of times. Olson shot again, and the bear fell,
landing right by Olson’s feet.
“I knew the dogs were being attacked but I didn’t know by
what,” Olson said. “I knew something was totally wrong.”
“I was just reacting,” he said. “I killed it because I thought it
was going to kill me.”
He looked out the window into his yard, which abuts Ousel
Falls Park, but trees and the outhouse blocked his view.
Olson, 53, grabbed his .300 Weatherby Magnum and ran
outside in his flip flops. There, he saw his dogs fighting a
350-pound grizzly bear.
Shaken, Olson walked up to the dying animal. It had an
ear tag, and had clearly been wearing a collar at some point,
because the fur was matted around its neck. With grizzlies
protected as an endangered species, Olson knew he needed to
report the incident immediately. He called 911.
“It was attacking them, and when I ran out into the middle of
the yard, it came at me,” he said.
The sheriff responded first, then two wardens from Montana
Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and two biologists. They took notes
60 Mountain
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region
on the scene, identified the animal as a 6-year-old male from
the Taylor Fork area south of Big Sky, and then moved it into
a truck and transported it to the FWP lab in Bozeman. The
biologists and wardens returned, trying to determine where
and why the bear entered Olson’s yard.
“The food and stuff in that yard … it was the smell that
potentially brought the bear in there,” FWP bear biologist
Kevin Frey said later, referring to the bacon smell. Olson said
he doesn’t leave garbage or dog food in the yard.
Frey denies rumors this was a problem bear relocated from
elsewhere. “We’re the only ones that move bears, and in 20
years we’ve maybe put two bears in Taylor Fork.”
The Taylor Fork – and by extension, Big Sky – is “core
habitat associated with Yellowstone National Park,” Frey
said.
While female grizzlies have roughly 20-square mile home
ranges, males can utilize 90 to 300 square miles in a season. As part of his normal range, this one just happened to
drift north in the spring.
When Olson killed the bear, on May 25, 2012, grizzlies
were still protected by the Endangered Species Act. But
some, including Wyoming governor Matt Mead and U.S.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, say the animals have recovered and are calling for them to be delisted.
Hu m a n-g r iz z ly c o n f l i c t s o n t h e r i s e
Originally from Milwaukee, Olson
has lived in Big Sky part time since
1996. He’s been in the pawnshop
business for 32 years, selling gold
and diamonds. This wasn’t the first
time he’s been attacked.
In 1983, two armed robbers entered
his business and threatened his
life with a 25-caliber pistol. When
Olson turned to escape, he was shot
in the arm. Having a grizzly bear
charge him was “the same type of
feeling,” he said.
Olson carries a concealed weapons
permit. He and his staff train in
self-defense, and also alongside
Milwaukee law enforcement for
mock holdups. When the bear was
charging, that training kicked in.
His dogs, 75-pound king shepherds,
are part of his security system. Also
beloved pets, Weatherby, 7, is the
One of Olson’s dogs who was scratched by the Grizzly, Hatch, looks over the fence
where the grizzly climbed into his yard. Photo by Tyler Busby
oldest; Cameron, the black one, is 5;
and Hatch, with blond fur, is 4 years
old.
A six-foot wooden jack-rail fence
surrounds their kennel, which backs
up to the cabin porch. The fence rails
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Mountain
61
region
Bozeman
gallatin national forest
are about five inches apart, “so nothing can get into the
kennel, and my dogs can’t get out,” Olson says.
montana
wyoming
There’s also a shed where the dogs eat in the kennel
area, and where they sleep at night. He’d already let
them out that morning, and they were hanging out on
the porch before the bear climbed over the fence.
Yellowstone
national park
Cody
idaho
The tussle with the bear left Hatch with a scratch on
his nose, but otherwise the dogs came out all right.
Ashton
Olson thought he’d feel backlash from the community, but in the following weeks, half a dozen Big Sky
residents stopped by his place, all with kind words.
“Everyone was so supportive,” he said. “[They were]
happy I killed that bear because it probably would
have killed somebody at Ousel Falls… This was selfdefense, and I’m sorry this bear had to die.”
The current occupied range for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is shown in red and encompasses approximately
37,000km2. Based on map from NPS
Ultimately, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deemed it a
legal self-defense killing.
Grizzlies are abundant south of Big Sky, and according to
Frey, they also live in lower numbers to the north, on both
sides of the Gallatin River. The actual population is impossible to determine, but depending on the season and available
food sources, at least 10 to 25 are present in Gallatin Canyon
proper.
In the past 20 years, nine incidents involving grizzly bears
have led to human contact or injury in the greater Big Sky/
Gallatin Canyon area. These include a mauling on the Ousel
Falls Trail in 1997; an attack near the Deer Creek Trailhead
in 2010; and four hunting-related incidents.
Overall, the number of grizzly-human conflicts in the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is on the rise, said Yellowstone National Park bear biologist Kerry Gunther. 2012 was
relatively quiet compared to the four years prior.
“It’s like the stock market,” Gunther said. “There are peaks
and valleys, but the general trend is slightly upward.” This,
he explained, is because bears are expanding into areas they
haven’t been for more than 100 years. People at the leading
edge of this expansion generally aren’t accustomed to living
with bears.
www.themintmt.com
In 2011, 229 conflicts were reported in the Greater Yellowstone. Of those, 15 people were injured by grizzly bears
in 14 incidents. These included the first two deaths in
Yellowstone National Park in 25 years.
62 Mountain
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region
a s pecies r eco ver e d?
In the year 1800, an estimated 50,000
grizzly bears lived in the lower 48.
to start with young males that are curious and looking for a place to live.”
A late 19th century U.S. government
predator extermination program,
combined with the ensuing century of human expansion, sent that
population into a nosedive. A public
grizzly bear hunting season in the
Yellowstone Ecosystem compounded
things, and by the time they acquired
federal protection in 1975, there were
fewer than 300.
In the entire 19 million-acre Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem, biologists
estimate the grizzly population is
around 600; however, Frey says
ongoing research may find that
number is actually higher. In the
larger region – the Greater Yellowstone, combined with the northern
Continental Divide, Glacier National
Park, plus scattered areas in Idaho and
northwest Montana – there may be
upwards of 1,500.
“They were hit hard from a lot of
directions,” said biologist Steve
Gehman, co-founder of Wild Things
Unlimited in Bozeman, a nonprofit
dedicated to improving wildlife and
habitat management in the Rocky
Mountains.
The closure of the dumps in Yellowstone Park and its gateway communities between 1968 and 1979 severely
impacted bear numbers. Conditioned
to eating human foods and garbage,
the animals spread out in search of
other food sources, causing conflict
and property damage. Many were
killed by government agencies and
property owners.
“It took 25 to 30 years for [the population] to recover to the point where
all suitable grizzly bear habitat in the
park was again occupied by grizzlies,”
Gehman said.
Gehman has been studying grizzly
bears since the mid-1980s, particularly the animals’ movement northward
from Yellowstone into the Gallatin
Range. Around the year 2000, he
says, they began moving into areas of
former habitat like the Wind River
Range, the Shoshone National Forest,
and the Gallatin and Madison ranges.
“Bears are good at finding food and
available habitat,” he said. “It seems
These are “pretty good levels,”
Gehman said. “But if you look at
population biology genetics and what
it takes to have a genetically viable
population in the long term – which
to me is the definition of recovery –
we need probably around 2,000 in
the Montana-Idaho-Wyoming area,
and that population needs to be connected.”
don’t
let
Gehman and other biologists promote the idea of wildlife corridors
– areas of interconnected habitat that
allow isolated populations to make
contact, increasing genetic diversity
in the region.
“It’s not so much that bears are
walking back and forth, or that one
individual bear is going to make that
trip,” Gehman said. “It’s more a stepping stone approach – young bears
make their way along that line, then
a female makes her way, then her
offspring go that way, and eventually
an animal from one ecosystem enters
another ecosystem.”
Full recovery, he says, would include
the 4 million-acre Salmon-Selway
Ecosystem in central Idaho, a place
that currently has no grizzlies but
could likely support hundreds.
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FEATURE
Living with bears
Surrounded by public land, Yellowstone and
Glacier are some of the last large expanses
of grizzly bear habitat in the lower 48. If you
live nearby, it’s relatively normal to see a bear
walk through your yard.
“[People] have to realize one day it’s a black
bear, and the next it could be a grizzly,” said
bear biologist Kevin Frey.
The Big Sky Natural Resources Council is
working on a Bear Aware initiative to encourage responsible cohabitation.
Efforts have included starting a bear hazard
assessment of the Big Sky area, done by the
Wildlife Conservation Society, and creating a
Bear Aware committee. The committee will
help with the assessment, collaborating this
winter to find solutions for the related issues,
said BSNRC board member Kevin Germain.
“We need to find out what holes exist and
how we can fill those, what policies are out
there on the books, and what recommended
changes we have for the policy makers,” Germain said. Suggestions include implementing bear-resistant trashcans and centralized
garbage collection points.
The Bear Aware initiative is based on programming from the Get Bear Smart Society, a
Canadian group that helps people and bears
“safely and respectfully coexist in places
where their homes and home ranges overlap.”
Based on education, policy and management,
its programming has been effective in mountain towns from Whistler to Tahoe.
Photo by mike coil
64 Mountain
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region
E nd a ng er ed Specie s A c t
In March 2007, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service removed Yellowstone grizzly bears from the
Endangered Species list.
“[This] resulted in grizzly bears
feeding heavily on whitebark,
which resulted in very few
grizzly-human conflicts in the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
this year.”
Environmental groups led by
the Greater Yellowstone Coalition filed suit in federal district
Yellowstone cutthroat trout were
court, alleging the delisting plan
also once a staple for grizzlies.
failed to address issues like the
Those, too, have seen a decline,
possible effects of climate change
and bears that previously fished
on whitebark pine, a primary
for cutthroat have switched to
food source
preying on
for grizzlies.
“There is a lot of pressure elk calves durIn September
ing the spring,
coming from states.
2009, the
Gunther said.
district court
Wyoming, Idaho and Montana
reversed the
Louisa
are all very desirous of
delisting.
Willcox is
a wildlife
bears getting delisted
The case went
with
because they want control.” advocate
next to the 9th
the Natural
Circuit Court
Resources
of Appeals, which in November
Defense Council in Livingston. She
2011 upheld the district court’s
fought the 2007 proposal and says
ruling. Today the Yellowstone
there will likely be another delisting
grizzly is again listed as “threatdiscussion soon, once the U.S. Fish
ened,” and its natural food
and Wildlife Service in cooperation
sources are being studied.
with other federal and state agencies
has addressed the court’s questions.
Yellowstone grizzlies have long
used whitebark pine seeds as a
“There is a lot of pressure coming
food source in the fall, before
from states,” Willcox said. “Wyohibernation. During years with
ming, Idaho and Montana are all
poor cone production, bears
very desirous of bears getting delswitch to other foods includisted because they want control.”
ing ungulate meat, truffles and
roots.
She agrees removal from the endangered species list is the ultimate
Mountain pine beetle outbreaks
goal, but says it’s not the time to take
and invasive blister rust have
chances.
devastated a portion of the
whitebark stands throughout the
“Now is the time to be looking at alGreater Yellowstone in the past
ternative bear foods. What are bears
decade. Despite this, Gunther
eating now? Where are those foods
says there still appears to be
in relationship to where people are?
ample whitebark pine seeds,
How secure is that habitat? … [How
pointing toward high cone procould] climate change affect secondduction in 2012.
ary and tertiary foods?”
life
pass
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region
M a na g em e n t : A bal an c i n g ac t
Grizzly bear management is more a social issue than a biological one.
dation of habitat because of tighter restrictions being removed
in certain areas.”
While public support for bears in the Greater Yellowstone area
is widespread, some believe it’s time to crack down on growth.
Ask Olson:
For wildlife officials managing bear populations, walking this
line is critical.
“These things are everywhere. They’re not fearful of man,
nobody hunts them … Now humans and the bear population
are clashing. We’ve expanded, they’ve expanded. That’s why
we’re having these issues.”
Olson’s friend Jerry Andres has owned Andres Taxidermy in
Belgrade for 27 years, and he can remember the last hunting
season for grizzly bears. Andres says it wasn’t a mistake to
bring the population back, but it’s now at a tipping point.
Tim Bennett is the Northern Rockies Bear Program Director
for Keystone Conservation, a Bozeman-based nonprofit that
seeks practical solutions for wildlife conservation.
Bennett says the future of grizzly bear management isn’t bolstering populations or protecting habitat. “That’s the past. The
future is reducing their opportunity to come into conflict with
humans and increasing human acceptance of having grizzly
bears occupying the same habitat.”
Olson says it’s a balancing act.
“Hunters tell me they’re bumping into bears more and more
every year. Everybody thinks there should be a [hunting] season... The population is probably as high as it can get without
spilling into residential areas.”
A hunting season would impact the population, Gehman said,
especially where bears are trying to move into new habitats or
expand their range. He’s wary of two things: “Direct killing of
bears preventing movements between ecosystems, and degra-
A grizzly running across a snowy field in Yellowstone.
66 Mountain
“We need to protect them, but at the same time we need to
protect ourselves… How do man and beast live together without putting people in jeopardy, and without putting bears in
jeopardy? We need to get along.”
Emily Stifler is Managing Editor of Mountain Outlaw.
Photo by Tyler Busby
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BIG SKY
Traveling in bear country
Using bear spray
When in bear country, travel with a partner
and pay attention for fresh bear sign like
tracks, scat and natural foods. Carry bear
spray where it’s immediately accessible. An
average bear can run 35 miles an hour, so in
your backpack won’t do.
If you encounter a bear, don’t run. Stay calm
and assess the situation. Is the bear aware
of you? Is it threatening or fleeing? Keep the
animal in sight as you back away, but don’t
make eye contact.
Only use bear spray if a bear is aggressively
confronting you. If it’s approaching you and is
30 to 60 feet away, direct the spray downward
toward the front of the bear, with a slight
side-to-side motion.
“What you’re trying to is build a wall between
you and the bear,” said Dave Parker, a representative from Counter Assault, a bear spray
manufacturer in Kalispell, Montana.
If the bear is within 30 feet, spray continuously at the front of the bear until it breaks its
charge. Spray additional bursts if it continues
toward you.
Let us help you
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Shawna Winter
Shawna Winter
No deterrent is 100 percent effective, but
compared to all others, including firearms,
bear spray is the most successful at fending
off threatening and attacking bears.
Broker | Owner
[email protected]
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Winter & Co. Welcomes
Most cans last four years. They should be
replaced if beyond their expiration date.
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National Park Service technicians remove fish from gill nets on the Freedom.
A legacy of
conservation
Saving the last pristine habitat of Yellowstone cutthroat
By Tyler Allen | Photos by Jake Campos
Congress created Yellowstone National Park in 1872,
writing the first chapter
in one of our nation’s
proudest narratives.
Widely considered the world’s first national park, Yellowstone began a legacy of
conservation that continues to be written
to this day.
Biologists in the park are currently drafting another part of the story: preserving
the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout
and the integrity of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
It’s unclear when or how the non-native lake trout made it to Yellowstone Lake.
The U.S. Fish Commission in the 1890s intentionally brought them to two
other lakes in the park, Lewis and Shoshone, as a sport-fishing resource.
Whether they were intentionally released into Yellowstone Lake from that
population will never be known, but one thing is clear: since the first lake trout
was documented there in 1994, the historic cutthroat population of 4 million
has seen significant decline, and is now about 400,000.
The larger, longer-lived lake trout evolved as a predator in the Great Lakes of
the Midwest; in Yellowstone Lake, they feed on cutthroats at a rate of 40-50 per
year, according to Todd Koel, Supervisory Fisheries Biologist for the park.
Yellowstone cutthroat trout are a keystone species in the park, with more than
40 species depending on them as a food source. Their decline has implications
for the entire Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Because the cutthroat live in the upper 40 feet of the lake, they’re a food source
for birds like white pelicans, bald eagle and osprey. Otters, grizzly bears and
bald eagles feed on the cutthroat during their spring spawning run in the Yellowstone River and tributaries.
The lake trout, however, are mostly unavailable to these species, because they
inhabit deeper water and spawn in the lake. Starting with their discovery in
1994, park biologists have been developing a program to suppress, and if possible, eradicate the lake trout.
68 Mountain
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environment
“Fish are not necessarily a charismatic species...to
anglers they are, but not the general public,” said park
superintendent Dan Wenk. “[However] this is the most
important restoration work in the park.”
Using live trap nets and gill nets, the National Park
Service, with help from commercial fishing boats, caught
and killed more than 300,000 lake trout in 2012. And
the cutthroats are responding.
“We’re seeing way more cutthroats this year,” NPS Fisheries Biologist Patricia Bigelow said in late September.
The cutthroats they’re catching were typically larger
in 2012 than 2011, according to size distribution data
collected.
“It’s a very simple system,” Bigelow said. “If we can fish
them out of the Great Lakes, fish [other species] out of
the oceans, we can do it here.”
That’s good news for the more charismatic species that
depend on the cutthroats, and ultimately, for the millions of visitors who come to see them.
Fisheries biologist Patricia Bigelow has worked on the lake
trout suppression in Yellowstone since 2001.
“this is the most
important restoration
work in the park.”
-Dan Wenk, YEllowstone Park superintendent
A history of conservation
The Act of Dedication, signed by President Ulysses S. Grant on
March 1, 1872, explicitly created Yellowstone National Park
“for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”
Those famous words were taken from a letter by Ferdinand V.
Hayden, an American geologist and leader of the Hayden expeditions in 1860 and 1871. His team of explorers, photographers
and painters documented the landscape and geologic features in
the Yellowstone region. This imagery, including striking largeformat photographs by William Henry Jackson and paintings
by Thomas Moran, helped convince Congress to withdraw the
land from public auction and entrust it to subsequent generations of Americans.
A “supervolcano” created the landscape in and around the
park. Known as the Yellowstone Caldera, it created the largest concentration of geothermal features in the world. The
national park is also the cornerstone of the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem, a 20 million-acre expanse of land that includes
Grand Teton National Park, as well as adjoining national forests
and wilderness areas.
Unique to the natural world, this corner of the planet evokes
emotion from both visitors and residents of the ecosystem–
which may be the only reason it still exists intact.
Many of the 4 million annual visitors to Yellowstone come
to view some of the last remaining grizzly bears, bison and
wolves in the contiguous United States. Others travel to the
park for the cutthroats themselves.
Al Johnson grew up in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, and spent
weekends with his family, fishing Yellowstone Lake and the
river below it. A retired bank executive now living in nearby
Big Sky, he remembers the family routine “of stopping on
Fishing Bridge and watching the cutthroats spawn in June.”
Johnson learned of the declining cutthroat population 15 years
ago and has experienced it first-hand since. Prior to moving
back to Montana from the Midwest, he made yearly visits to
the park. He catches fewer cutthroats in the Yellowstone River
each year, he says.
“I would like to bring my grandkids to the park to have the
same experience I had as a kid.”
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Mountain
69
NPS technician Jay Fleming holds an adult lake trout in September 2012. From Annapolis, Maryland, this was his second year working on Yellowstone Lake.
70 Mountain
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environment
The Kokanee was one of two boats operated by
Hickey Brothers Research on the lake in 2012.
REMOVING THE INVADER
When the ice in Yellowstone Lake
melts in late May or early June, the
park begins its lake trout fishing
season in earnest. The work continues until the autumn snows and
cold temperatures shut them down.
Park biologists catch, tag and release select lake trout, and then use
radio telemetry to target populations.
The park service operates a boat
called Freedom; Hickey Brothers
Research, based in Sturgeon Bay,
Wisconsin, operates two others and
plans to bring a third for summer
2013. The Northwester manages the
gill nets, while the Kokanee sets
and pulls the trap nets.
Like a giant funnel, the trap has large netting wings
extending from its mouth. The smaller cutthroats and
juvenile lake trout pass through the nets, while the
larger ones are blocked and must swim the length of the
net, attempting to get around it. Eventually, they find an
opening they swim into but can’t escape.
A few days later, skilled fishermen use winches to pull the
traps. Nearly all the fish they pull in are alive – the cutthroat
are released back into the lake, and the lake trout have their
air sacs cut open, so they’ll sink when thrown overboard.
The gill net locations are set in shallower water, where
they’re laid in a precise serpentine course to confuse the fish
and prevent them from swimming around the nets. When
a fish swims directly into the nets, its gills are caught, and it
cannot wriggle free.
JEFF HELMS
Representing Buyers & Sellers
in Yellowsone Club, Moonlight Basin, Club at Spanish Peaks & Big Sky
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Mountain
71
September colors on Yellowstone Lake in 2012
feature
A model of success?
Lake trout were intentionally
introduced to Lake Pend Oreille in
northern Idaho in 1925, a result of
the same fisheries management that
brought them to Yellowstone.
“It was a time in our history when
folks didn’t understand the consequences [of introducing exotic
species],” said Andy Dux, Principal
Fisheries Research Biologist with the
Idaho Department of Fish and Game,
which has run a similar lake trout
suppression program there since
2006.
Their numbers in Lake Pend Oreille
remained low until the late 1990s,
at which point they began to outcompete the lake’s population of
kokanee trout, also non-native. The
growth was a delayed response to the
1960s introduction of Mysis shrimp,
brought to the lake by biologists in
hopes of benefitting the kokanee, a
popular sport fish and a food source
for the native bull trout.
Bull trout are listed federally as a
species throughout their range in
the Northwest, but the efforts in
Lake Pend Oreille are encouraging.
ADULT LAKE TROUT HAVE
DECLINED BY MORE THAN
80 PERCENT
SINCE THE PROGRAM
WAS INITIATED in lake
pend oreille
“Lake trout suppression has been
extremely effective, thus far,” Dux
said. Adult lake trout have declined
by more than 80 percent since the
program was initiated, and the
kokanee have responded favorably,
he said, its population at its highest
level since the fishery was closed to
anglers in 2000.
These results of the Lake Pend Oreille
trapping operation would seem to
offer more than a glimmer of hope that
Yellowstone Lake and other fisheries in
the region can recover with intensive
efforts.
Biologists working on Pend Oreille
have a couple more arrows in their
quiver.
The Angler Incentive Program pays
fisherman $15 for every lake trout they
remove. In the seven years since suppression began, this has accounted for
nearly half of the 143,000 lake trout
killed.
They also have funding. Power companies that operate dams above and
below the lake are obligated to fund
mitigation for the negative impacts on
the ecosystem caused by hydroelectric
infrastructure. That amounts to about
$1 million a year. With Lake Pend
Oreille once a world class fishery and
Idaho’s angling crown jewel, state fisheries managers are willing to spend the
money it takes to regain that status.
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Early signs of success
“This year was the first time in more
than a decade we’ve seen a significant
decline in juvenile lake trout,” said
park fish biologist Todd Koel. “There
was an increase in the total number of
cutthroat being caught.”
The entire Yellowstone Lake watershed is unfettered by the human
consumption of hydroelectric power.
The 692-mile Yellowstone River is
undammed. The wild nature of the
system is part of the allure for these
millions who marvel at the lake’s
beauty each year, but it means the
hydrological system has had limited
resources.
Mission: To protect, preserve and
enhance Yellowstone by funding projects beyond the financial
capacity of the National Park
Service.
Founded in 1996 by a group of
dedicated citizens, the nonprofit
Yellowstone Park Foundation has
since raised more than
$60 million for the park.
The additional funding means more nets
in the water, more man hours and next
year, another boat on the lake.
Until now.
Yellowstone Park Foundation is
the primary fundraising partner for
Yellowstone National Park and has
donated to the park’s native fish program for more than 10 years. In March
2012, YPF cemented its commitment
to Yellowstone cutthroat recovery
with a donation of $1 million, and a
fundraising goal of another $1 million
annually through 2016, if necessary.
Already, it’s making a difference.
Yellowstone Park Foundation
“Lake trout probably won’t be completely eradicated [in Yellowstone
Lake],” said Pat Byorth, Staff Attorney
for Montana Water Project. However,
biologists are learning creative ways
to help cutthroat survive even in the
presence of these predators, he said.
“It’s more than just putting down lake
trout. The product of these efforts has
greater implications.”
Tyler Allen has been a staff writer for
Outlaw Partners since July 2012.
In October 2012, a museum-quality exhibit called
Destination Yellowstone opened in the Bozeman
Yellowstone International Airport. YPF, partnering
with the Yellowstone Association, the NPS and the
airport, installed a mural depicting iconic Yellowstone wildlife, a web-based, LCD park map, a live
webcam of Old Faithful, and a 55-inch interactive
touch screen with Yellowstone facts, photos and
information on YPF.
Approximately 850,000 passengers came through
the airport in 2012 – up 50,000 from the previous
year, according to Airport Director Brian Sprenger.
Visitors to Yellowstone make up a significant portion of those travelers.
The new exhibit offers them “important information before they get there,” says park superintendent Dan Wenk. “When they return and want to
get involved, with the YPF exhibits, they can find
out how.”
More at ypf.org.
Trusted
Expertise in
Big Sky
Jeff Helms
M: 406.539.0121
E: [email protected]
bigskysir.com
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omissions, prior sales, price change or withdrawal without notice and approval of purchase by Seller. We urge independent verification of each and every item submitted,
to the satisfaction of any
prospective purchaser.
73
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Mountain
Explore
B
A
L
I
8 degrees south of
the equator
By Eric Ladd | photos by brian niles and megan paulson
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Mountain
75
Explore
Bali is an island of contrast.
Denpasar, the capital, is a bustling city with traffic-choked
streets. Amed, a hidden group of villages on the island’s stunning eastern tip, is home to fishermen, local craftsmen and diving. From Starbucks to fresh fish markets, seaside surf towns
to 3,000-meter peaks, nightclubs to sacred temples, thatched
hut resorts to the finest five-star hotels in the world – contrast
defines this island paradise.
A province in the country of Indonesia, Bali is 2,147-square
miles, the 12th largest in the archipelago of 18,000 islands.
Ninety percent of the 3,891,000 Balinese are Hindu, and the
rest Muslim.
Made famous for its beaches, culture and laidback vibe in the
1970s, its popularity has grown in the last decade, drawing
tourists for its surf, arts, night clubs and appearance in the film
Eat, Pray, Love.
Dubbed “Island of the Gods,” Bali has several distinct regions.
The southern part is considered the island’s heart, and here, a
bustle of trendy resorts, packed beaches, entertainment, shopping and nightlife abounds.
Verging on a step back in time, the eastern region is more
low-key, lending itself to relaxing days spent exploring the
rugged beaches, temples and mountainous terrain. Many locals
here make their living fishing from traditional outrigger boats
and tending to rice paddies by hand in the shadow of Mount
Agung, the island’s highest and most sacred volcano.
Although many parts of Bali are nearly bursting at the seams
with trash and scooters, and it’s had trouble evolving with
the rapid increase in tourism, the country still holds amazing
getaways for adventurous travelers.
A visit there could be compared to a less refined Hawaiian
island experience, with a rich culture that will leave even the
most seasoned traveler in a sense of…ahh.
76 Mountain
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Mountain
77
Explore
bali: “Island of the Gods”
Where to stay and what to do:
Surf Camp:
Padang
Padang
This premier boutique surf camp
will introduce you to some of
the finest breaks in the world –
and also a social experiment
worthy of reality TV. Located on
the southern end of the island,
this small spot is hidden in the
jungle off a dirt road. The
lodging is quality, and breakfast
and lunch are served family
style. Seasoned guides teach surf
sessions twice daily. At night,
guests typically go out for dinner
together in neighboring villages
or sit around the pool in
hammocks reliving the day’s
adventures. Bring good surf
booties, a rash guard and a book.
Tip: A minimum four-night stay
is required to book, but longer is
suggested. Request Tina as your
instructor.
balisurfingcamp.com
78 Mountain
Boutique
Luxury Resort:
Desa Seni
An eco-friendly resort with a
beautiful soul, Desa Seni is an
oasis in the chaos that is Bali. Its
grounds are manicured down
to the hand-trimmed blades of
grass, and its vibrant sounds
and colors are exactly how you
would imagine an Indonesian
resort. Located in the western
Bali village of Canngu, it’s a
relatively small place focused
on yoga, meditation and organic
foods. The vast majority of food
served is harvested from the
property’s gardens. In the center
of the resort is a saltwater lap
pool surrounded by refurbished
historical buildings dating back
hundreds of years. Within a day
the staff will know you by name
and know your favorite cocktail.
Tip: A daily regimen of yoga in
the outdoor studio, organic food
and Thai Massage is just what the
doctor ordered.
desaseni.com
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Luxury Home
Stay: Amed,
Soujourn -Ventures
Sojourn-Ventures has quite
possibly one of the finest homes
in Bali available for rent, Villa
Paradiso. Located in Amed, a
fishing village on the eastern
shore of Bali, it’s owned by an
ex-pat couple that has mastered
the art of entertainment. Staff
can arrange meals, daily adventures, private poolside Balinese
dancers and shuttles to any
island location. Making you feel
part of the village family, they
ensure you leave with a happy
but pained smile (who would
want to leave?!). The beaches are
rocky, so get ready for spending time poolside. If you are a
snorkeler or scuba diver, you’re
in luck because it’s home to some
of the finest in the world.
Tip: Get the fish curry and spring
rolls at Apa Kipar, and go play
music with the staff at Pazzo’s.
sojourn-ventures.com/travel
Green Resort:
Ubud Green
Located in the back streets of
Ubud, the artist village Ubud
Green was made famous by Julia
Roberts. A medium sized resort
with a focus on being environmentally friendly and low-key,
it’s just five minutes off the
‘strip’ of Ubud. An escape with
luxury accommodation overlooking rice paddies, its modern
rooms have private pools and
butler service. The in-house
restaurant provides quality food
in a dining area overlooking the
resort and jungle from a third
story deck.
Tip: Have the in-house Ubud
drivers get you to and from the
markets. Try Lotus Café for a nice
meal.
ubudgreen.com
10 tips and
suggestions for a
trip to Bali:
1.
Minimum of 14 days suggested; try to fly
Los Angeles to Singapore for most direct
option.
2.
Plan two days to go to the Gili Islands. Avoid
the magic mushroom shakes unless you’re
ready to spend all night in the clubs.
3.
Bring a water bottle. Bali relies on bottled
water, and the plastic pollution is substantial. More than 50,000 bottles of water are
thrown away monthly. Don’t be part of the
problem.
4.
Get ready for wheeling and dealing with the
taxis. It’s friendly but intense.
5.
Wi-fi is everywhere.
6.
Bintang is the beer of choice.
7.
Get a past-life reading! Yep, it’s for real: Find
out who you were in another life. Learn more
at baligoddessretreats.asia.
8.
Go whitewater rafting. Details at alam-amazing-adventures.com.
9.
Don’t miss beers and sunset at the Single
Fin Bar.
10. Visit Uluwatu Temple (pictured) – it’s
crowded but worth it. Sarongs are required
and available to rent for the day.
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Mountain
79
science
Microbion
Corporation
Addressing global biofilm control in health, industry
By Megan Paulson
Microbial biofilm is a highly resistant form
of bacteria that is nearly everywhere. In fact,
it resides in everything from toothbrushes
to the geysers in Yellowstone National Park.
In the last 20 years, science has shown that
98 percent of all bacteria on Earth exist as
microbial biofilms. Making up roughly 50
percent of the Earth’s biomass, they provide
a highly resistant protective shield for bacteria and fungi, facilitating their survival for
billions of years, even in extreme environments.
More than 80 percent of all infections are
related to microbial biofilms, according to the
National Institutes of Health. Moreover, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
have affirmed biofilms are highly resistant to
frontline antibiotics, causing more than 65
percent of hospital-acquired infections.
Microbial biofilms also cause many industrial problems, including biocorrosion of oil
pipelines, and biofouling of ship’s hulls, pulp
and paper manufacturing, and water filtration
systems used for desalinization and production of safe drinking water.
For Bozeman-based Microbion Corporation, advancements in the microbial biofilm
industry have propelled the company into a
wave of opportunity. Microbion is developing a platform of broad-spectrum bismuththiol (BT) antimicrobial compounds effective
against nearly all antibiotic-resistant bacteria
tested and their microbial biofilms.
“We believe that BTs may be the most potent, broad-spectrum antimicrobial/antibiofilm
compounds developed to date,” says Dr. Brett
Baker, Microbion Founder, President and CEO.
The company’s revolutionary compounds are
showing several key advantages over current
frontline antibiotics. This, Baker notes, makes
the BT technology unique in both health and
industrial settings.
Globally, market trends and unmet health
needs have shifted, emphasizing the need for
new classes of antimicrobials that address lifethreatening, antibiotic-resistant infections and
microbial biofilms.
“Antimicrobial resistance...
is becoming more dangerous...
urgent and consolidated efforts are
needed to avoid regressing to the
preantibiotic era.” -Dr. Margaret Chan,
Director, World Health Organization, March 2012.
Last year, the World Health Organization
identified antibiotic resistance as a global health
crisis. In response, Congress in 2012 passed the
GAIN (Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now)
Act with broad bipartisan support. This legislation provides incentives and FDA regulatory
priority to companies developing new drugs to
fight antibiotic resistant infections.
80%
NIH has stated that 80% of
infections are related to
microbial biofilms
In October 2012, the Defense Medical Research and Development Program awarded
Microbion and team a $2.5 million grant,
provided through the U.S. Department of
Defense.
With the funding Microbion, working with
the University of Pennsylvania and University of California - San Francisco, will conduct
Phase 2 human trials to treat post-surgical
orthopedic infections with Microbion’s
BisEDT, an antimicrobial drug currently in
regulatory development. Scientists successfully completed the therapeutic drug’s Phase
1 trials in 2011.
“This is a critically important area for the
global community, as almost all current
antibiotics are losing effectiveness against
antibiotic resistant bacterial and fungal
infections,” Dr. Baker said.
The technology has the potential to
improve outcomes for more than 100,000
orthopedic implant patients suffering from
post-operative infections in the United
States each year.
More at microbioncorp.com
The bright colors in this picture are created by biofilms thriving in a very acidic hot spring pool in Yellowstone National Park.
80 Mountain
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science
High-level science in Big Sky
Yellowstone Club Community Foundation and University of Montana begin new partnership
By Emily Stifler
Meadow Creek is a dynamic place. A
dozen miles south of Big Sky, it drains
into the Taylor Fork of the Gallatin
River. A major landslide has caused
significant changes to the geology and
biological life cycles there in recent
years, including altering elk migration.
Part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Meadow Creek is also home to
wolves, grizzly bears and native fish.
Supported in part by the Yellowstone
Club Community Foundation, Rick
Graetz, a University of Montana
geography professor, has studied this
micro-ecosystem and others nearby for
the past two years. The Big Sky area
and the upper Gallatin are an integral
part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Graetz said.
Graetz first visited Big Sky as a high
schooler in the 1960s, then did a stint
as a professional ski patroller in the
resort’s early days, and is now a parttime resident. A UM professor since
2003, he has published many books
on Yellowstone and other parts of the
world.
“He’s so impassioned by it,” said
YCCF executive director Casey
82 Mountain
Schwartz. “Yellowstone National Park
is in his bloodlines.”
sketches, and comparing the unstable
geology to that of nearby Big Sky.
Graetz is leading a larger collaboration
in Big Sky as well, bringing University
of Montana programming to Yellowstone Club’s Outdoor Pursuits
program, Lone Peak High School, and
a community lecture series.
Graetz described LPHS as “forward
thinking,” and the Yellowstone
Club as “progressive,” explaining
it’s uncommon for a private club to
have a working relationship with a
university.
Building on his research in the area,
Graetz is planning to work with students in the high school’s expeditions
program. The idea, says LPHS science
and math teacher Paul Swenson, is to
do long range studies on plant succession, geomorphology and changing
habitat. Swenson and environmental
studies teacher Nancy Sheil are leading the project for the school.
For the Yellowstone Club, this partnership is about being good neighbors. “[That’s] an essential part of
who we are at the Yellowstone Club
Community Foundation,” said board
president Sam Byrne, also the club’s
principal owner.
“For the kids in kindergarten now,
by the time in they’re in high school,
they’ll have seven or eight years of
research from previous classes they
can build on,” Swenson said, explaining that students could still be working on it 20 years from now.
The school’s interdisciplinary approach uses the project to combine
science, English, social studies,
math and art. Kids are writing down
observations, shooting photos to be
used in long-term studies, doing field
explorebigsky.com
“We want to support the university
to have a bigger footprint in our community,” Schwartz said. “That’s our
long term goal.”
For this winter, that means public lectures, and also partnering with other
regional organizations like the Yellowstone Park Foundation and the
Big Sky Community Corporation.
“How many kids take science
[class] in Yellowstone National
Park?” Schwartz asks. “We take it
for granted, but it’s an exceptional
experience.”
LPHS students on the Meadow Creek bridge.
Photo by Paul Swenson
406-993-9400
C R E I G H TON BL OC KG AL L E RY. C OM
B IG S K Y TOW N C E N T E R
11:00 AM - 7:00 PM // TUESDAY THRU SUNDAY
MONDAYS BY APPOINTMENT
Please visit the gallery to view our extensive collection of fine
works of ar t in the Main Gallery, the Charsam Room, and the new
Private Collection Salon.
“Bandits”
Ezra Tucker
Acrylic on Canvas 40 x 30
(Partial Image)
Picture
life
here
Representing distinguished properties and
buyers in Big Sky, backed by an international
network of sales & marketing professionals.
TA L L I E JA M I S ON
Associate
406.600.8081
reallyBIGsky.com
Gary Lynn Roberts, A Crisp Morning, 30” x 40”
By Ryan Dorn
The first thing you notice about Gary Lynn Roberts is his slow, Texas
drawl, which stands out a bit in Montana. Next, you see his devotion
to God and love for his family.
g a ry ly n n
ro b e rt s
“What defines me is my faith,” he says. “My family is my strength.
They are the reason I paint.”
A classical oil painter, Gary Lynn’s pieces are primarily set in the 1870s
and 1880s, and most depict vibrant scenes of cowboys or American
Indians living in the historic West. His style ranges between impressionism and realism, leaning more toward impressionism, he says.
Gary Lynn, 60, moved his family to Montana from his native Texas in
2008.
After a show at the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, he and his
wife Nancy vacationed in the Bitterroot Valley.
“I kind of trapped my wife,” he recalls. “I fell in love with it up here
but couldn’t get her to move. She came to Hamilton and said, ‘Now if I
could live here, I’d move.’ So, I jumped all over it.”
Within 24 hours he’d rented a house and a studio. They had two weeks
to move from Austin and enroll their daughters in school in Hamilton.
84 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
gallery
For the Roberts, paintings are a family affair. Nancy helps
In nearly 50 years of painting, Gary Lynn has had sucwith historic research, and daughters Mary, 15, and Anna,
cess in both art sales and awards.
12, help frame his finished work. The older children have
long been out of the house, but they too have helped, with
In 2009, he won both the C.M. Russell Art Auction
Joe building frames and Jeannie working at the Legacy GalPeople’s Choice Award and the Honorary Chairman
lery in Jackson, Wyoming where
Award for his painting, After the
their father’s work is sold.
Shower. This painting depicts three
cowboys riding down a dark and
“ [ Pe o p l e ] e x p e r i e n c e G a r y Ly n n ’s
Gary Lynn’s father Joe Rader
muddy street with packhorses in
w o r k e m o t i o n a l l y. I t g r a b s a v i e w e r
Roberts was also an accomtow, clouds breaking on a mountain
and creates the illusion that the
plished artist and commercial
above them.
viewer is in the scene, standing
painter. In the days before fine
just behind the point that the
art galleries were popular, he
More recently, Gary Lynn won
a r t i s t p a i n t e d fr o m . ”
provided for his family by paintthe 2012 Best of Show at the John
ing signs for businesses in their
Clymer Museum Auction for his
small hometown outside of
painting Colors of Fall.
Houston, Texas. Gary Lynn followed suit, and each week
his mother drove him to grocery stores to paint the newest
His paintings transport viewers to the place and time
specials on their windows.
depicted in the work, says Colin Mathews, owner of
Creighton Block Gallery in Big Sky, who represents
“I think I got $8, and I would do 20 of them,” he says,
Gary Lynn.
laughing. “I made a lot of money as a 14-year-old. You’d
make $1 mowing a lawn, so I made a whole lot more than
“[People] experience Gary Lynn’s work emotionally,”
my friends.”
Mathews said. “It grabs a viewer and creates the illusion
that the viewer is in the scene, standing just behind the
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the elder Roberts moved
point that the artist painted from.”
his family to Austin where a thriving art scene was emerging. There, he was finally
able to support himself
entirely with fine art
painting.
Gary Lynn also phased
out of the sign business,
and by age 22 he was
focusing entirely on his
own paintings. Despite
similar paths, Joe Roberts never pressured his
son to be a painter.
“He had a philosophy
that I share with him
to this day,” Gary Lynn
said. “If someone wants
to be an artist, you can’t
stop him… The ones that
are successful have it in
their blood.”
Gary Lynn Roberts, Aspen Grove, 24” x 36”
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
85
gallery
“I’ve been blessed with an imagination I think comes from
God,” Gary Lynn says. “I don’t necessarily need to see it
to paint it. Growing up, I thought I was raised in the West
since [I lived in] Houston. I didn’t know any different. I had
horses, and I did rodeo. That was most natural for me.”
Today, Gary Lynn prefers painting the American West of
the 1870s and 1880s, because he’s drawn to the spirit of the
frontier.
“It was an industrialist age… If you had the courage, you
could go west and make your fortune. That spirit has always interested me.”
Many of his paintings combine “extraordinary depth of
background, with a powerful sense of motion coming
toward the viewer in the foreground,” Mathews says. “His
mastery of the color wheel enables him to achieve subtle
spatial effects through careful juxtapositions of color.”
Gary Lynn Roberts, No place to forge, 28” x 40”
86 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
Gary Lynn’s studio is a nondescript building on Highway
93 in Hamilton. Inside, the furniture is sparse and the
decorations few. The walls are filled with history books and
paintings. A work of his father’s hangs in his office. He says
he wishes he had more.
Because Gary Lynn paints wet on dry, the first layer must
sit for three days before more paint can be applied. Six
paintings in different stages sit along a shelf. A colorful
woven Indian blanket, a beat-up saddle and a holster with
a gun are a few of the historical items piled into a corner for
reference. Although he enjoys history and tries to be as accurate as possible, Gary Lynn won’t label himself a historical painter.
Living in Montana, he is inspired by the landscape around
him, according to his family.
Continued on p. 89
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Mountain
87
The view from 1620 Chief Joseph Trail kitchen window
B i g S k y R e a l E s t a t e . c o m | 4 0 6 9 9 5 - 6 3 3 3 | L o c a t e d i n B i g S k y To w n C e n t e r
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This information is subject to errors, omissions, prior sale, change, withdrawal and approval of purchase by owner. All information from sources deemed reliable, but not guaranteed by
Montana Living - Big Sky Real Estate, independent investigation is recommended. For properties being purchased at The Club at Spanish Peaks approval for membership is required prior
to closing. If you are currently working with another real estate agent, this is not intended as a solicitation.
88 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
pick your pearls.
Gary Lynn Roberts, Honoring Nature
“It was an industrialist age… If you
had the courage, you could go west
a n d m a k e y o u r fo r t u n e . T h a t s p i r i t h a s
always interested me.”
Continued from p. 86
“Sometimes, we’ll be driving down the road, and
he’ll be very quiet,” Nancy says. “Then he’ll say,
‘Believe it or not, I’m working right now.’”
“And even [sketching] at church,” his daughter
Mary says.
S H E L LY B E R M O N T
“You didn’t need to add that,” Gary Lynn says,
laughing. “We could have left that alone.”
Gary Lynn Roberts is still busy. He stays behind
the easel as much as possible, working six days
a week, from the time he drops Mary and Anna
off at school until the family gathers for dinner.
He finishes more than 30 paintings a year and
receives requests from galleries all over the West.
Unique, handmade jewelry
Extensive selection of South Sea & Tahitian pearls
Exotic stones, raw diamonds, fine silver
and 18-22 karat gold
Despite a painting career spanning five decades,
Gary Lynn has no plans to slow down. “For me it’s
not work, it’s a labor of love.”
B I G S K Y, M T | P A C I F I C P A L I S A D E S , C A
Private appointments and trunk shows available.
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Mountain
89
shellybermont.com
dining
Steaks, chops and more
from Big Sky Country
Open
Range
by Max Lowe
If you’ve ever been to the Mint Bar and Café in
Belgrade, you know it has a unique and eclectic ambiance. The décor is like an old Montana ranch home,
adorned with fine woodwork. The classic, mirrorbacked bar is complete with humble and welcoming
bartenders. The photographs on the walls depict the
regular and faithful clientele that have dined at the
restaurant since its doors opened.
The food is classic and artistically prepared by head
chef Katie Hagmeier. The menu features grass-fed
Montana beef and bison, locally grown vegetables
and flavors that have been tried and perfected by
owner Jay Bentley.
A perfectly grilled flank steak with seasonal greens
is a staple on the Mint’s menu. photo by max lowe
Bentley’s latest venture is Open Range, a cookbook
written together with his friend Patrick Dillon
that hit shelves in October 2012. Themed “steaks,
chops and more from Big Sky Country,” it features
Bentley’s original recipes, some of which are Mint
standards; others come from across the country,
from his journey through life.
L: One of the Mint’s regular and faithful clientele who’s been on the wall since its doors opened. center: Jay Bentley keeping things good natured and
friendly at the Mint. photos by max lowe R: Soup and local beer photo courtesy of jay bentley
Inspired by a love for delicious food, Bentley began cooking at age 18.
“I would go into the fridge at home and just pick out ingredients I
thought would go well together,” Jay recalled. “Sometimes they would
turn into something awesome… It was always a learning experience.”
Bentley came to Montana from New Orleans – where he was working
as a realtor – in the late ‘80s when he got a job developing affordable
houses for low and middleincome families in Helena.
After several days of fly
fishing on the Missouri
River, he knew he was here
to stay.
Ask what attracted him to
Montana, and Bentley will
take you outside and say,
“Look around, there is a
reason they call it the last
best place.”
Open Range’s recipes are simple and straightforward. He believes that
like classic music, many great food ideas of the past have a life of their
own and should be given their due in today’s modern repertoire.
“My core menus have always tried to reflect the best of the tried and
true, while the daily specials offer the chance to be innovative and creative,” Bentley says. “I hate pretension and the kinds of menus where
every minute ingredient is touted as tonight’s special. That usually
reinforces my belief that fusion is an excuse for many chefs with poor
or no taste to pile on a whole lot of exotic ingredients [just] for the sake
of [it].”
Open Range is not just a cookbook. It’s also a cultural history of Montana and all the things that connect us to it. The recipes and stories let
readers imagine they’re sitting around a campfire on a brisk night with
friends, sipping bourbon out of a tin cup, or smelling fresh caught
trout frying on a skillet over open flame.
“I live in a beautiful place, and I have never regretted leaving the cities behind,” Bentley says. “Here, I get to do all the things I deem important. Fly
fishing in mountain streams for wild native trout; skiing that first powder
up at Big Sky; sitting around a campfire with friends by the banks of the
Madison River. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Open Range will be available at The Mint, the Country Bookshelf, and at
any Barnes and Noble.
photo by lynne donaldson
Jay Bentley’s
Dutch Oven Bison
4 lbs. bison meat, cut into 1 ½ “ cubes
1 c olive oil
1/3 c flour
2 c beef stock or water, plus 2 T beef stock
1 C dark beer – porter or stout
2 – 3 medium carrots, cut in 1” pieces
2 large onions, diced coarsely
4 baking potatoes, cut into 1-½“ pieces
3 bay leaves
3 T granulated garlic
3 T thyme
1 t allspice
1 small can tomato paste
½ c chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
In a hot Dutch oven, pot or braising pan,
add the oil, sear the bison and set aside.
Add the onions and, when they turn
transparent, add the flour. Stir in well.
When the flour has browned a bit, add
the seared meat. Pour in all the liquids,
stirring the cooked meat, flour and onions so they don’t stick to the bottom of
the pot. Add the thyme, bay leaves and
garlic and cook over low heat for three
hours. When the meat is tender, add the
potatoes and carrots and cook until they
are done but not mushy. Adjust the salt
and pepper and serve. The gravy should
be fairly thick. If it’s too thick, thin with
water or beef stock.
Serve in warm bowls with a bit of fresh
chopped parsley for color and plenty of
crusty bread, and a stout Zinfandel.
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
91
Special advertising section
dining
Rustic Elegance
at R a i n b ow R a n c h
Photo by chris davis
A c o u pl e s i t s o n t h e l e at h e r c o u ch
b y t h e f i r e pl a c e at R a i n b ow R a n ch
L o d g e , drinking cocktails. Jazz plays in the background,
and flames lick the hardwood logs.
“That was the best snow of the year,” Alexis says. “When
you went right to Obsidian, I cut under Lone Tree to the left
side of the face. It was blown in with fresh snow all the way.”
She sips a Stoli Doli, the pineapple-infused vodka that’s a
house specialty.
“Obsidian was pretty good, too,” Charles says, and takes a
bite of the Wagyu Carpaccio. “It’s still snowing,” he says and
smiles.
Up for the weekend from Bozeman, they’re celebrating their
10th wedding anniversary at Rainbow Ranch - perhaps the
most romantic resort in the area. They skied all day at Moonlight Basin, just up the road, and rolled down to the lodge
when the lifts stopped turning.
92 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
Upon arrival, they had fresh-baked cookies in their room; delicious, they’re made by the ranch’s pastry chef Liz Michaels,
formerly a pastry designer for Ritz Carlton. Rose petals were
strewn across the bed – a surprise touch Charles requested.
Intimate details like these set Rainbow Ranch Lodge apart. Its
extensive wine list, fine cuisine, serene riverside setting and professional but relaxed staff make it a hidden gem, both for locals and
those traveling from afar.
The bartender stops by and brings Charles a Twin Cabin. Named
for the trailhead just across the Gallatin River from the lodge, it’s
Makers Mark infused with pear, house-made ginger soda, served
on the rocks with a brandied cherry – nearly as good as skiing
powder.
At dinner, Alexis orders the trout, and Charles gets the bison.
Their server, whose cheeks are pink from snowboarding all day,
pairs their meals with Champalou Vouvray, a Chenin Blanc from
France’s Loire Valley, and Ladera Cabernet. He knows the offerings
– he’s been trained well and has tried everything on the menu.
Continued on p. 95
Photo courtesy of Saerack Design
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
93
Construction
restaurants/groceries
Services
Andesite Construction
Biggerstaff Construction
Blue Ribbon Builders, Inc.
Gallatin Associates
Green Construction
Haas Builders
Highline Partners
Lone Pine Builders
Sierra Pacific Windows
Wade & Associates Builders
Country Market
First Place Pub
Lone Peak Brewery
Olive B’s
health/fitness
nonprofits
The Agency Insurance
American Land Title Co.
Big Sky Owners Association
Big Sky Post Office
Big Sky Water & Sewer
Black Tie Ski Rentals
First Security Bank
First West Insurance
Hammond Property Management
Knaub & Co. CPA
Lindell & Associates, PC
Lone Peak Lookout
Stifel Nicholaus
Wells Fargo Private Mortgage
Big Sky Health & Fitness
Bozeman Deaconess Pharmacy
Gallatin Family Medicine
Ozssage, Ltd
Lone Peak Physical Therapy
The Studio
MSU Human Development Clinic
Retail
Big Sky Furniture
Horse of a Different Color
Made in Big Sky
Willow Boutique
Arts Council of Big Sky
Big Sky Noxious Weed
Big Sky Ski Team
Blue Water Task Force
Jack Creek Preserve Foundation
real estate
ERA Landmark
Sotheby’s Big Sky
Big Sky Properties
BIG SKY ’S FULL SERVICE GROCERY STORE
Hand- cut meats • Fresh baked goods • Gourmet items • Beer & wine
LOCAL
F R ES H
Delivery available - have your rental unit
stocked upon your arrival! 406-995-4636
Open 7 days a week, 6:30am to 8pm
Extended hours 6:30am to 10pm December 15-April 15
and July 1- Labor Day
94 Mountain
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Located in the Meadow Village
Center next to Lone Peak Brewery
wear the
“g o o d s t u f f ”
every day.
Just steps from the Gallatin River, Rainbow Ranch is open year round
Continued from p. 91
Rainbow has a history of hospitality. The Lemon family homesteaded the land as a cattle ranch in 1919, but realizing it wasn’t ideal
for livestock, they began renting cabins and making meals for folks
headed from Bozeman to West Yellowstone, calling it the Half Way
Inn. Renamed Rainbow Ranch in 1935, the property gained a reputation for fine food, wine and service in the early ‘90s, something
current owner Scott Gibson continues to build upon today.
The lodge and grounds are elegant, yet with a relaxed Montana sensibility. To boot: Chef Ian Troxler sources many of the restaurant’s
menu items from local farms including Trout Culture, Gallatin Valley Botanicals, Amaltheia Organic Dairy, Montana Wagyu Company, Lava Lake Lamb and Yellowstone Grass Fed Beef.
Charles and Alexis finish off the night with glasses of Moët & Chandon champagne and a made-from-scratch crème brûlée to share.
S H E L LY B E R M O N T
Cheers!
Unique, handmade jewelry
Rainbow Ranch Lodge offers packages ranging from outdoor
adventures and romantic getaways or elopement celebrations to
Extensive selection of South Sea & Tahitian pearls
larger weddings and gatherings, as well as corporate retreats and
meetings. Find the most current menu offerings, specials and details
Exotic stones, raw diamonds, fine silver
at rainbowranchbigsky.com.
and 18-22 karat gold
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profile
The art and passion of
s ki
When Frances Ackerman first
clicked into a pair of skis at age
40, she never envisioned becoming a ski
instructor.
Growing up in Virginia in a nonathletic
family, sport wasn’t on her horizon, and a
career as a hospital administrator further
added to her cautious nature. Pressure
from her three teenage children eventually
turned the tables, and Frances, along with
her husband Jim, took to the icy hills of
Virginia and West Virginia.
After almost 10 years without proper training, the Ackermans began honing their
skiing in early retirement at Canaan Valley
Resort in West Virginia. A ski patroller, seeing their openness and willingness to help
others, proposed they become patrollers.
When Ackerman expressed worry about her
ability, the patroller enlisted them both in
lessons, and ski school is where they stayed.
“I called my son and said, ‘This is the funniest thing, these people want me to be a ski
instructor!’” Ackerman recalls.
In 1998, while teaching at Canaan Valley, she received her Level I Certification
through the Professional Ski Instructors of
America. Two years later, seeking bigger
mountains and better snow, the Ackermans
moved to Angel Fire Resort, New Mexico,
where they lived and instructed for six
years. There, Ackerman earned her Level
II Certification and Level II Children’s Accreditation through PSIA.
Continued on p. 98
Frances Ackerman
Moonlight Basin
i n s t ru c t i o n
BY RENAE COUNTER | PHOTOS BY CHRIS DAVIS
At 58, Ursula Howland has
nearly done it all. She’s walked the
runway as a child fashion model; flown airplanes; raced downhill courses on 220 cm skis
and been a freestyle skier; taught gymnastics, scuba diving, wind surfing and skiing.
Howland began skiing at age 19. A year
later, while attending university in her
native Germany, she saw a job posting to
instruct beginner skiers. Not being able to
afford skiing otherwise, Howland’s name
was first on the sign-up list.
“I went to the interview, and they asked
how many years of experience I had. I said
one season. I didn’t realize they were asking
about instruction experience, not skiing
experience.”
Being a natural athlete, Howland got the
job and taught beginner lessons that winter.
In 1978, working as a school teacher in the
Black Forest region, she also instructed
at the Feldberg Ski School and passed her
German Level III. In 1986, she moved to
Garmisch-Partenkirchen where she worked
as ski and watersports instructor for the
armed forces. Three year later, she took off
to travel the world, searching for a place to
settle down. In 1990, she found Montana,
the place she would eventually call home.
Howland taught skiing at Big Sky Resort
that year. Next, she spent a season instructing at Bridger Bowl, and several summers at
Mount Selwyn (now Selwyn Snowfield) in
New South Wales, Australia.
Continued on p. 99
U r s u l a H ow l a n d
B i g S k y Re s o r t
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Mountain
97
profile
F RANCES
Continued from p. 96
Trips to visit their son in Big Sky convinced them to relocate
again. They bought a home and got on the roster at the Moonlight Basin Snow Sports School in 2006. Also a volunteer at
Ophir School, Ackerman saw an empty niche: a ski program
for 3-and 4 -year-olds. In 2010 she started the Ski Wees
Program with 11 students. Two years later it’s grown to 73
students and added a four-week session to the main six-week
program.
Ackerman can still remember and relate to the fears of the
first-time skier.
“In the beginning it was pushing myself enough to do challenging things – moguls, tree runs. It was really hard for me to
do those and feel comfortable.”
“Her vibe is infectious
to both her clients
a n d f e l l ow i n s t ru c t o r s . ”
ing from mom, to adults that have been skiing for a long time.
Her vibe is infectious to both her clients and fellow instructors.”
Nonetheless, she excelled at skiing, and at age 63 she is one of
the resort’s most popular instructors, according to Herb Davis,
director of Moonlight’s Snow Sports School.
When teaching young children, Ackerman’s enthusiasm
helps put them at ease, allowing the kids to have fun. In adult
lessons, she finds that understanding the whole person –
acknowledging strengths, weaknesses and fears – forms a bond
between student and instructor.
“Frances is incredibly positive, and clients love her,” Davis
said. “She works great everywhere, from 3-year-olds separat-
“No matter what level you ski, you can enjoy the sport,”
Ackerman says.
98 Mountain
explorebigsky.com
profile
ursula
Continued from p. 97
In 1991, while working as the first woman in the hard goods
department at Bob Ward and Sons in Bozeman, she sold a
duffle bag to Frank Smith, owner of the TowHaul Corporation, which builds equipment for open pit mines. Later that
year, he signed up for a ski lesson.
“The first time skiing, it took Frank two hours to get down one
run,” Howland recalled. “He is a 150 percent thinker – everything had to be explained and broken down into the physics
and biomechanics of it. We met every two weeks that season,
and by the end of it he skied [down] the Bridger Ridge.”
Today, Howland’s instruction style is still a combination of
this analytical approach, combined with a practical German
application.
“There are three basics, and they apply to every skier, beginner, intermediate or expert,” Howland says. “You need to be
on the ball of the foot, perpendicular to your ski and turn with
your legs.”
In addition, she says, there are “three ingredients in every
turn: rotation, edge and pressure. Add in three ways to
We’ve taken
change edge, and you’ve got the simple math equation of
skiing: three times three.
“If you can get those in your head and in your body, you
got it, most of it.” There’s also the all-important 90-degree
quadrant.
You’ll have to read her book to learn more about that…
when she finishes it, sometime between skiing and flying.
In 1995, Smith gave Howland his airplane, a Cessna 205,
to learn to fly. By 1996, she achieved her private pilot
rating, and Smith hired her as a researcher for TowHaul.
Next, she added commercial, glider and instrument ratings to her pilot skills and is now flying TowHaul’s King
Air as the copilot. She also tows and flies gliders for Big
Sky Jet, Inc.
Skiing is Howland’s passion, and though flying is now
her main job, she still finds time to bring her skills to the
slopes.
“I love teaching … Skiing is what I love the most.”
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Mountain
99
guide
Southwest Montana and
Yellowstone area hot springs
by felicia ennis
Plink, plink, plink.
I woke to the sound of melting snow dripping from my roof. Flakes were still falling
gently on the rusty green and yellow leaves
in my backyard in Livingston. It was the
perfect day for hot springs.
I drove 70 miles north to White Sulphur
Springs, an unassuming town with an
outstanding resource of hot water. These
healing waters are laden with sulfur,
magnesium and lithium, and its pools are
drained, cleaned and refilled daily. At 105
degrees, the inside pool is like a steam room
and hot pool mixed into one.
“If you start to feel soggy, it’s time to
move into the next pool,” a local soaker
advised me.
Geothermal features like the springs at
White Sulphur come from deep in the
Earth’s crust and are found worldwide in
earthquake and volcano belts.
White Sulphur Springs
Photo by Emily Stifler
Water temperatures in the springs vary
greatly. Some aren’t warm enough for a
winter dip, and some – like most in Yellowstone National Park – are scalding hot. But
quite a few in the Yellowstone region have
temperatures between 90 and 106 degrees
Fahrenheit, just right for a nice, long soak.
The hot springs in southwest Montana run
the gamut from primitive wilderness to
historic resort to modern athletic facility.
Here are a few favorites.
Chico Hot Springs Resort
Chico sits at 5,270 feet in the Paradise
Valley between Livingston and Gardiner.
Pioneers have written about these springs
since the 1860s, and the 40-room Chico
Warm Springs Hotel opened in 1900.
Today, Chico is a favorite of locals and
tourists alike.
Soak: Large pool maintained at 96 F, side
pool averages 103 F
Ski: 53 miles to Bridger Bowl
Special quality: Worth visiting solely for its
great food
100
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Bozeman Hot Springs
Jeremiah Mathews first opened
Bozeman Hot Springs in 1879 as a
bathhouse. Fully renovated in 2011,
the facility now boasts a fitness
center, nine pools, swimming
lessons and a party room.
Soak: 90-104 F
Ski: 45 miles to Big Sky/Moonlight
Special quality: Water temperatures
vary greatly between pools
Boiling River
photo by max lowe
Boiling River
One of very few hot pools in Yellowstone National Park open for soaking, the Boiling River sits where its 150-degree namesake meets the
icy Gardiner River. The two swirl together and are captured in a series
of primitive stone pools. Soak long enough, and you can imagine the
Native Americans who spent time here in centuries past. It is closed
during spring runoff.
Soak: 140 F in undiluted channels, 50-120 F where water mixes with
the Gardiner River
Ski: 55 miles to Cooke City, a backcountry haven
Special quality: Situated on the 45th parallel, halfway between the
equator and North Pole
jackson hot springs
The 9,000-square-foot rustic lodge was built
in 1950 and houses a giant oak dance floor, a
large stone fireplace and a sturdy bar. More
than 50 wild game trophies from several
continents line the walls. Don’t miss the
delicious homemade food at the Crossing
Bar & Grill at Fetty’s in nearby Wisdom.
Soak: 100-104 F, Olympic-sized pool
Ski: 44 miles to Lost Trail, 29 miles to
Maverick Mountain
Special quality: Wildebeests in Montana
Fairmont Hot Springs
Fairmont has it all: a 350-foot
waterslide, an 18-hole golf course, two
Olympic-sized pools with unlimited
hot, healing water, a fitness center and
camping.
Soak: Pools are fed by 155-degree
water, cooled to various temperatures
from 98-105 F.
Ski: 30 miles to Discovery Ski Area
Special quality: 350-foot enclosed
water slide
explorebigsky.com
Based in Livingston, Montana,
Felicia creates customized
travel itineraries and group
excursions to Patagonia,
Morocco, Montana and
Antarctica for groups, couples
and solo adventurers who
love the serendipity and
thrill of exploring the world.
bellatreks.com
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101
adventure
The long, clean line
A ski traverse of the Gallatin Crest
By Forrest McCarthy
A map of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem hangs on my office wall. Over the
years, I’ve drawn a series of black lines on the map. They
often follow the crest of a mountain range, a river or creek,
or sometimes a combination. My favorites are the longest
and straightest lines – the crest of the Wind River Range, the
Thoroughfare River, the Wyoming Range Trail, the South
Fork of the Shoshone River. The lines represent routes I’ve
traveled by ski, foot, packraft or mountain bike.
There are more lines at the bottom of the map, closer to
my home in Jackson, Wyoming, and also a few small ones
at the top; these pass through the Spanish Peaks and the
Beartooths, and alongside the Yellowstone River.
Despite these, I was eager to draw something more substantial, something more aesthetic – a long, clean line.
Twenty years ago, Wes Bunch and I started skiing in the
Teton Range together. Back then the Tetons were a blank
canvas, with only a few of the obvious lines drawn, just
enough to inspire us. Our mentor and my housemate at the
time, Tom Turiano, had a map of the range and the goal of
skiing all the named summits. Most of them had never been
climbed in the winter, let alone skied. Wes and I, with our
old, heavy, clunky ski and camping gear, followed Tom on
many long suffer-fests. We relished every minute and mile,
and affectionately named the adventures “Tom Foolery.”
Over the years, Wes and I have continued making annual
pilgrimages to ski in the mountains together. In the summer
of 2010, however, Wes had his left knee replaced. He took
the following winter off from Jackson and skiing.
The next May, my cell phone pinged with a text from Wes.
“I can ski Forrest, I can Ski!”
With 2011’s record spring snowfall, June wouldn’t be too
late to complete a long ski traverse. In a phone message, I
proposed the Gallatin Crest. He texted me back. He was in.
Continued on p. 104
102
Mountain
explorebigsky.com
Above: A portion of the author’s routes drawn on a map of the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem. Map ©1996 Yellowstone ecoysystem studies
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Continued from p. 102
We started at Daly Creek in the
northwest corner of Yellowstone Park.
At the trailhead, at 7,000 feet, the wide, sagebrush-covered
drainage was free of snow. Several miles of brisk hiking on
a cold June morning brought us to snowline and our first
critter tracks: Ursus arctos horribilis, grizzly bear. Soon after,
we saw elk tracks, then deer tracks. Gaining the Gallatin
Crest at timberline, we crossed bighorn sheep tracks.
Mountain temperatures had dropped below freezing the
last several nights, creating a solid crust atop the saturated
spring snow. We made good time along the crest, and by
late morning we rested on the 10,301-foot summit of
Ramshorn Peak. The Madison Range filled the horizon to
the west: Imp Peak, Koch Peak, Lone Mountain, the Sphinx
and Gallatin Peak. To the east, Paradise Valley shined a deep
wet green with Emigrant Peak, Mount Cowen and Black
Mountain forming the imposing skyline of the Northern
Absaroka. Our curiosity and imaginations soared as we
drew imaginary lines across these landscapes and mountains.
Skiing north from the top of Ramshorn, the first thousand
feet was perfect corn snow. Wes hooted, his grin visible
for the duration of the descent. When the crust gave way
at 9,000 feet, I tumbled head over heels into softening
afternoon snow.
Our progress slowed as we traversed around Fortress
Mountain, across questionable avalanche slopes. Fog settled
in and with it, drizzle. Beetle-killed whitebark pine covered
the slopes on either side as we trudged along the Gallatin
Crest to Eaglehead Mountain.
We made our way north to a public use cabin at Windy
Pass, the crest gradually rising back above 10,000 feet. The
snow was firmer again, our route straighter, and our de-
The cozy Windy Pass Cabin, available through the Gallatin National
Forest for public use during the summer months, allowed
McCarthy and Bunch to forgo carrying camping equipment.
104
Mountain
explorebigsky.com
The narrow spine of the Gallatin Range provides a high altitude
ski route through Montana wilderness.
Photos courtesy of Forrest McCarthy
termination resolute. The fog occasionally lifted, allowing
seductive glimpses of the surrounding mountains. Despite
the fatigue of 20 miles and 6,000 vertical feet, our excitement continued to grow.
The Windy Pass Cabin is managed by the Gallatin National
Forest, and for a phone call and $20, they gave us the combination to its door. The cabin has a wood stove, four bunks,
solid walls, a roof, chairs, cooking equipment and charm. It
beats the hell out of sleeping on snow. For us, it also meant
significantly lighter packs.
Tired and hungry, we inhaled our dinner of freeze-dried
pasta before lying down for a few hours of fitful sleep. At
4 a.m., the alarm on my wristwatch shattered the silence
with its piercing beeps, and we brewed a vat of cowboy
coffee. Sweetened with hot chocolate, it washed down our
breakfast of oatmeal and PopTarts. We left the cabin at first
light, worried we should have started even earlier – it froze
overnight, but barely.
It was a few miles to the 9,945-foot Sentinel, and kicker
skins, carbon fiber skis and caffeine propelled us over the
morning crust. The Gallatin Crest north of this peak is
magical. Though far from straight, it hovers above tree line
at about 10,000 feet, and is a natural pathway through a
rugged maze of mountains and valleys.
The terrain was complex and
exposed enough that we were
rarely bored. Nor were Wes and I
the only ones to use this route –
we followed a coyote’s tracks for
more than five miles. On Peak
10,059 we crossed a giant fivetoed weasel track: Gulo gulo, the
glutton, wolverine.
At the western end of Peak
9,690, we were confronted with
negotiating a 100-foot wall of
rock by traversing sketchy,
40-degree avalanche slopes
warming in the afternoon sun.
We picked our way carefully,
factoring every convexity, concavity, wind scoop, recent slide,
tree and nuance into our decision-making. After 30 minutes,
we reached a lower angle slope
of whitebark pines, relieved for
the final safe passage back to the
crest.
Impatiently, Wes and I picked
our way along, balancing the risk
of exposing ourselves to a lightning strike on the ridge against
the avalanche danger of traversing its flanks.
The storm subsided as we began our
ascent to Hyalite Peak, and on the
summit, clearing skies and pan-
Skiing through beetle-ravaged
conifers for a mile to Crater Lake,
I noticed younger, healthy
“The final ridge from Crater
green trees, as
Lake to Hyalite Peak was
well as the ocnarrow and corniced, dropcasional ancient ping away steeply on either
matriarch that
side. And if that wasn’t
had resisted the enough, a storm cell colravenous pests. lided with the crest, visibility
Here, I saw sur- dropped, and thunder and
vival and hope.
lightning filled the sky.”
The final ridge
from Crater Lake to Hyalite
Peak was narrow and corniced,
dropping away steeply on either
side. And if that wasn’t enough,
a storm cell collided with the
crest, visibility dropped, and
thunder and lightning filled the
sky. It was already mid-afternoon, and we had just enough
daylight remaining to complete
the traverse.
After removing our skins for the
last time, we descended Hyalite’s
northwest side. A small cornicedrop provided the final technical challenge, and lower down,
negotiating Apex Falls the final
route-finding challenge. Soon
after, we cruised the remaining
three miles along a packed trail
to Palace Butte Campground,
Wesley Bunch makes his way along the crest
of the Gallatin Range, on Ramshorn Peak.
oramic vistas greeted
us. To the north,
we saw Alex Lowe
Peak, named for the
famous Bozeman
climber killed by an
avalanche in the Himalaya in 1999.
Having worked with Alex at Exum
Mountain Guides in the Tetons years
ago, seeing the peak reminded me of
his boundless energy and enthusiasm
for the mountains, something that
continues to inspire me today.
We celebrated our final summit with
a festival of grins, high-fives, hugs,
photographs, Clif Bars and a Red
Bull.
explorebigsky.com
a road and our ride.Wes and I
arrived back in Jackson late that
night after two days, 45 miles and
12,000 vertical feet of skiing, multiple blisters and a final five-hour
car ride. I was supposed to be at
work the following morning.
At home, I limped upstairs and
took 600 milligrams of Advil PM.
Before the bliss of accomplishment and ibuprofen settled in,
I visited my map of the Greater
Yellowstone and drew a beautiful,
long and aesthetic line across the
top of it.
Mountain
105
Kent Davis (Madwolf)
d Wood
her and Tod
Kevin Kelle
Robert Kirschlager
Rathole + Dobe (Mike Donovon)
JC & Kathleen 1994
Rusty Squire
Dan “Bucky” Bilanon, Devon White, Julia Nichols
Annaleis Miller
Charlie Nun
emake
r
106
Mountain
Early Ski School
explorebigsky.com
history
By Marcie Hahn-Knoff
Gary “Chicken Fry” Collins arrived
in Big Sky country by accident. He’d
planned to spend the winter of 19731974 as a ski instructor in Taos, New
Mexico, but the season began with
no snow.
So, he hopped in his van and
meandered north with an idea of
settling in Steamboat, Colorado.
Upon arriving, Collins discovered
a booming resort community had
replaced the sleepy ski town he’d left
only a couple years prior. Not one for
crowds, he pulled to the side of the
road and considered his next move.
Thoughts of Big Sky, a new resort
in Montana, lingered in his mind. It
seemed promising, but at 21 years
old and with only $35 in his pocket,
it felt out of reach. As luck would
have it, just hours later a semi-truck
hauling sheep flipped over outside
town, and Collins scooped up a quick
$50 by helping clear the mess.
He drove north the next day, arriving
in Big Sky in time for the ribbon cutting. After a trip to human resources,
he had himself a job and a room.
Soon thereafter he earned the nickname Chicken Fry (“C-Fry” for short),
slinging eggs for hungry employees as
a breakfast cook.
Collins saw the magic in Big Sky. It
was new but not congested. With
tremendous open space, it still felt
wild. There was no powder frenzy and
plenty of terrain to explore. But it was
the people that gravitated to Big Sky in
these early days that turned out to be
the real treasure.
The launch of Big Sky Resort in the
early 1970s lured construction workers, snow professionals, entrepreneurs
and ski bums like “Chicken-Fry”
Collins, attracted by the promise of
new adventure, untracked snow and a
fresh start.
They all fell under the spell of Lone
Mountain.
Four decades later, Big Sky has become
a world-class ski resort and a thriving
year-round community. The individuals who came in those early days laid
much of the groundwork that made it
possible, and their stories tell of determination, friendship and hard work.
Mike McCully embraced that pioneer
spirit when he opened the
Conoco gas station
in 1972, at the turnoff to Big Sky
from Highway 191. At the time, the
Meadow area was a hayfield, but McCully could tell change was coming.
He recalls days of sub-zero weather
and was amazed that the construction
on the mountain continued through
the most “hard core” weather. One
morning in January 1974, the thermometer at the Conoco read -62F.
Lynn Bailey (née Poindexter) showed
up in 1970, three years before the
resort opened, in a Volkswagen bug
with her three kids. She’d followed
Gustav Raaum, her boss from Jackson Hole, when he was hired as Big
Sky Resort’s first CEO.
“Everyone I met in Big Sky was from
somewhere else, and we quickly created a family of friends,” Bailey says.
“It still felt remote in those days,
and people relied on their neighbors
to get by.” Her kids were welcomed
into the one-room Ophir School, the
three of them increasing the school
population by 30 percent.
J.C. Knaub moved to Big Sky from
Laurel in 1972, at 17 years old. He
had followed his father, Harold “The
Coach” Knaub, who moved to town
to work construction. J.C. settled into
a trailer in Pine Grove. Many Big Sky
residents from this generation lived
in cars, tents, trailers or old cabins –
modern accommodations hadn’t been
completed yet.
Under the spell of
40 years down the road
photos courtesy of J.C. Knaub
explorebigsky.com
Mountain
107
J.C. Knaub popping on Ambush
Watch 1970s Big Sky footage on the Old Big Sky YouTube
channel, youtube.com/user/oldbigskymovies.
To see or contribute photos from this time period, visit
flickr.com/photos/gwcollins.
style, all while starting his own family.
Through his efforts, Buck’s has grown
from a waypoint on the journey to Yellowstone with no winter business, to
the successful lodge it is today.
“If anyone needed to learn how to work
hard, they just had to spend a month
with Mike (Scholz),” Collins says,
attributing Scholz’s success to his business acumen.
“Big Sky in the ‘70s felt like it was
our own little world. We were all part of
something amazing and synergistic.”
“There was an interesting overlap of
the old homesteader pioneers and the
new ski resort pioneers,” he says.
J.C. documented these early years in
photos, capturing the homesteaders,
the beginnings of development, the
raw land, the ski pioneers dropping
new lines on Lone Mountain, and
his friends outfitted in the height of
1970s ski fashion.
“It was a wild area, much more remote
than today,” J.C. says. “There was
only a two-track logging road up to
the mountain when I arrived. The area
felt huge. Big Sky in the ‘70s felt like
it was our own little world. We were
all part of something amazing and
synergistic.”
Still calling Big Sky home, J.C. Knaub
says the connection to his friends from
that era hasn’t faded with time.
“Big Sky was amazing terrain,” Donovan says. “It wasn’t crowded, and it
wasn’t a destination area yet. The snow
didn’t get skied out, and the gondola
made it cool.”
Donovan worked his way up and became patrol director in 1979. He left Big
Sky in 1981 to attend college and never
returned to live in Big Sky. But he left
his mark, and Dobe’s, the chute beneath
the tram, is named for him.
When Mike Scholz’s family purchased
Buck’s T-4 in 1972, Scholz saw opportunity. As a young man, he could start
a business and live the mountain life-
40 years down the road
March 15 – 16, 2013
Mike “Dobe” Donovan was one of
Big Sky’s first professional ski patrollers during the season of 1973-1974.
There were only eight on the patrol
that first year, and many including
Donovan had followed Jim Kanzler
over from Bridger Bowl.
108
Mountain
In March 2013, the pioneers of the early resort days
will reunite in Big Sky for “40 years down the road,”
a celebration to be held at Buck’s T-4. Buck’s
owner Mike Scholz has planned a cocktail party
and banquet, complete with music from the era,
slideshows and a video.
“The reunion will be a time to reflect on the journey
of friendship, shared space and time,” J.C. Knaub
says. “It will be an opportunity to ponder who you
were in that moment and who you are now.”
explorebigsky.com
McCully agrees, describing the feeling
of reconnecting with fellow Big Sky
skiers from that era as “magnified magic
love.”
“It is a feeling that is difficult to
describe,” McCully says, “but it is impactful. Every time we’ve gotten back
in touch, something magic happens.”
Marcie Hahn-Knoff has been whooping
it up in the powder of the West for the
past two decades and now calls Montana
home. When not sliding downhill, she
helps people buy or sell their own piece of
the Big Sky as a real estate broker with
Winter & Company Real Estate. Find
her at homeinbigsky.com.
Knaub’s vintage photos of the era and a collection
from others will be shown at the event.
Gary “Chicken-Fry” Collins has been busy editing
video reel to be shown at the reunion. Collins, who
idolized Warren Miller, kept a Super 8 camera and
then a VHS camera as constant companions during
his 11 years skiing at Big Sky.
“Watching the films brings me back in time,” Collins says. “They capture the rich cast of characters
of the early 1970s in Big Sky – from construction
workers to resort professionals to ski bums – the
people that worked hard and played even harder.”
For more event information, visit buckst4.com.
Professionally accredited green builder in Big Sky, Montana
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building quality and eco-friendly custom
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(406) 995-4552
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Mountain
109
Nate Falconer, Montana State
University student and pro-am
snowboarder, hikes the jump
line at Big Sky Resort’s terrain
park. Photo by Max Lowe
gear reviews:
INBOUNDS
Skis: Rossignol Squad 7
The new Squad 7s are solid but forgiving,
says Grizzly Outfitters’ Andrew Schreiner.
Compared to its predecessor, the Super 7,
this ski has a lower-profile tail and shovel,
and a larger turn radius. “It turns as easy
as anything if you’re on the front of your
boot, but if you want to go fast, you’re not
fighting to make a big turn.” At 5.3 pounds
each, they’re relatively light (read: easy
on the knees), and the re-designed tip improves performance in the chop, Schreiner
said. Available in 188 cm. – E.S.
$799.95 rossignol.com/us
Snowboard: Never Summer Legacy
I like to consider myself an all mountain rider.
So, when throwing down for a new snowboard,
I needed something wide enough for the steep
and deep, yet responsive enough for narrow-nav
trees. I found it: The effortless turn initiation provided by the Legacy’s rocker and sidecut allowed
a significant length upgrade without sacrificing
playfulness. – Mike Martins
$509 neversummer.com
Mitts: Outdoor Research
Point N’ Chute
One problem has plagued me since
I first took to the slopes: cold hands.
For 20-some years, I’ve searched
from my family’s hand-me-down
tub to high-tech gear shops for mittens that let me play in the cold to
my heart’s content. Turns out OR’s
water-repellent, all leather Point N’
Chute Mitts are the solution. Ahhhh…
Primaloft insulation, Gore-Tex
protection and a stylish deep-purple
undercuff. Sending a very warm
high-five to OR. – Kelsey Dzintars
$119.00 outdoorresearch.com
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Helmet: Smith Gage
Gone are the days when you
didn’t wear a helmet because it
looked lame. You gave up on that
when you stacked after telling
your friends, “Watch this!” That
argument has gone the way of
the Dodo, thanks to the Smith
Gage helmet. Suiting up with
this lid gives you so much swag
you’ll even be strutting it après. I
guarantee the Gage looks better
than a soggy beanie. And it holds
up better in a crash.
– Chris Davis
$80 smithoptics.com
Caravan skis
Zeph Hallowell began making skis in his Bozeman
garage in summer 2011, “because I was bored and
wanted a big project.” He’s got three big projects
now: the Pig Dog, Zephyr and Daily Driver are
made of basalt fiber, bamboo and fiberglass with
custom top sheets by local artists available. Hand
cut, hand glued and hand pressed. – Tyler Allen
Starting at $499 caravanskis.com
Zeph Hallowell at work on a new pair of Caravan skis
Photo by Max Lowe
Goggles: Smith I/OX
The latest addition to Smith’s Vaporator Series, the I/OX is about seeing more. Their field
of view is unmatched by any other goggle, yet
the expansive real estate doesn’t compromise
helmet fit. The quick lens release technology
allows easy swapping in varying light conditions, and the 5x Anti-Fog inner lens keeps its
fog prevention promise. – M.M.
$175
Jacket: Men’s Outdoor Research Igneo
Thermore®, the insulating force behind the
Igneo, reduces thickness without sacrificing
warmth. Waterproof and breathable, it has
high-end features but won’t break the bank.
Also: all the pockets you’d expect, plus a detachable powder skirt, removable hood, and
double-sliding pit zips. My favorite feature is
the simplest – the ThumbDrive cuff, which
keeps a tight connection between your sleeve
and glove. – M.M.
$295 outdoorresearch.com
Baselayer: Bergans of Norway
fjellrap Lady Shirt
With flatlock seams and stretch merino
wool, this top moves with you no matter the activity. An added bonus: Its extra
long length doesn’t come untucked from
ski pants and covers your backside with
running tights on. Wicking, warm and with
a wild Euro look, this is my go-to piece unless it’s in the wash. – Katie Morrison
$91 bergans.com
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Nate Bosshard at Baldface Lodge
Nelson, British Columbia
Photo by Nick diamond
Patagonia Men’s Nano Puff Hoody
This is the perfect lightweight jacket for layering.
I wear it under a hard shell at the resort and take
it as a key piece for the backcountry. The hood
adds that extra bit of warmth when you really
need it. And one more thing: The Nano makes
you look sexy as hell. – Sean Weas
$249 patagonia.com
G3 Alpinist High Traction Skins/Love Glove
Built for punishingly steep skin tracks, the G3 Alpinist HighTraction
skins are made from high-plush nylon and have 15 percent greater
climbing ability than traditional designs. (Note: G3 still makes its
regular Alpinist skins, which balance glide with climbing ability.)
Tired of pulling gluey gook off your gloves? Check out G3’s Love
Gloves ($35). Like flipping a t-shirt inside out, put your arm in, grab
the middle of your skin, and retract. From there, they’ll fold up
without sticking to themselves. Also good for hiding your transceiver for beacon drills. - E.S.
$153.95-179.95 genuinegearguide.com
Dakine Pro II 26 liter backpack
gear reviews:
BACKCOUNTRY
A perfect day means good friends, fluffy and stable
snow, a two hour hike, 10 minutes of fall line bliss, and
a celebratory beer. The right gear is key for this kind of
enlightenment. Dakine’s Pro II 26 liter backpack has a
dedicated shovel/probe pocket, an insulated hydration sleeve, and a whistle rigged into the chest strap
for emergencies (or annoying your friends indoors).
Even with skis strapped to it, I found the Pro II rigid and
comfortable. Top and back entries make it easy to get
into when there’s a perfect photo-op. – Brian Niles
$130 dakine.com
Boots - Dynafit Gaia
With four buckles, a 110 flex and an alpine overlap cuff, the
Gaia is an everyday boot. The rubber/plastic soles are interchangeable, but I keep the rubber for traction while boot
packing. The 102 last is narrow for an AT boot but wider
than traditional alpine, and the thermoformable liners fit
as is. The men’s version, the Titan ($749), is a staple. New
this year, check out the Dynafit ONE PX ($640) – with much
greater touring capacity (cuff articulation is 60 degrees,
versus the Gaia’s 15), the boot is still stiff on the downhill.
This is a sexy three-buckle touring maniac. – E.S.
$669 dynafit.com
Snowboard Touring system:
Mountain Approach
This Ketchum, Idaho-based company has turned heads in
its three years. “We were sick of riding splitboards,” said
founder Cory Smith. So they invented a set of 140 cm, lightweight foldable skis with permanent climbing skins that
pack into their own custom backpack. The binding accommodates any boot size, and each ski is four pounds. “We’re
just trying to give people an alternative.” – E.S.
$795 mtnapproach.com
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Ski Touring
Binding: Dynafit TLT
Vertical ST
With these bindings, skinning is so
natural it’s almost unimpressive: No more
Frankenstein walking or booting out; be
gone hip flexor pain. The TLT Vertical ST’s also
perform well on the downhill for a skier light on
his/her feet – with a ‘release capacity’ of 5-10, they
don’t fall off unless you need them to. Specs: made from
high strength polymer plastic, CroMo and stainless steel;
520 g. New in 2012, the Radical ST ($499) has better power
transmission than the Vertical, but is still light on the uphill
for touring monkeys on wide planks. – E.S.
$449
Black Diamond Compactor poles
As a backcountry snowboarder, nothing can be more
annoying than bulking up
my pack for the ride down.
Using BD’s Z-pole technology,
the Compactors fold up and
become basically nonexistent
on the descent. Light, strong
and incredibly small, your legs
will thank you on the way up,
and your mind will forget about
them on the way down.
Adjustable up to 20 c.m. - S.W.
$119 blackdiamondequipment.com
Skis: 4FRNT HOJI
Designed by backcountry big
mountain skiing maestro Eric
Hjorleifson, the HOJI’s are
stable, yet nimble. “I could go
as fast as I wanted,” our tester
said. “They have a light feel,
easy to make quick turns.” He
liked them so much he ran out
and bought a pair. – E.S.
$749 4frnt.com
Avalanche Equipment
Avalanche transceiver – Whatever beacon you
choose, practice with it. A lot. The best one is
the one you know how to use really well.
Collapsible Shovel – Get one with a metal
blade. This is key for digging through avalanche debris, which sets up like cement.
Avalanche education – The pros at the Gallatin
National Forest Avalanche Center teach affordable, informative classes all winter. Take
one. And get your hands on a copy of Staying
Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper.
Probe – Debris can be deep. Get a sturdy,
three-meter probe.
Partner – Pick a friend you trust.
Airbag backpack – The late Theo Meiners,
avalanche expert and Alaska heli-guide, called
this just another tool in the bag. It’s not the
hand of God, but it might up your chances for
survival.
Medical kit – Tape is essential. Painkillers,
steri-strips and gauze are recommended.
Know what you have and how to use it.
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pants
party
GEAR
1
Backcountry:
Mammut Base Jump Touring Pant
It’s no surprise the Base Jump Touring pants
come from a company rooted in the Swiss
Alps. Mammut gets five stars with the women’s
version – the sublime blend of stretch, warmth
and waterproofing doesn’t sacrifice toughness
or agility. The brushed interior keeps me warm
on cold Big Sky days, while the 3XDRY is crucial
for staying dry on long ascents in BC’s Valhalla
Range. Other perks: good venting, suspenders,
integrated gaiters, reinforced cuffs. Men’s cuts
also available. – Megan Paulson
$259 mammut.ch
2
3
Hard shell:
Arc’teryx Sabre/Sentinel
Designed for resort and sidecountry riding, this
is the best ski pant known to man (and woman).
The freeride-style fit, combined with the classic
Arc’teryx articulation in the knees and inseams,
gives you steeze and range of motion. The threelayer soft shell Gore-Tex fabric is tech-nasty: The
outermost layer is a burly, abrasion resistant
nylon; the Gore membrane is waterproof; and
the innermost layer is soft, lo-loft flannel. Cargo
pockets and hip stash are easy-access on the
chairlift, and the zippers are watertight. Thigh
vents provide respite on a hot hike. – E.S.
$450 arcteryx.com
Onesie:
Airblaster Ninja Suit
4
Riding in the powder-filled B.C. backcountry, I caught my nose, threw a tomahawk,
tumbled thrice and a half, and landed
upside down in three feet of the fresh and
light. I discovered snow in nearly every crevice except down my pants, thanks to this
wonderful onesie, my only base layer on the
10-degree day. With a 350-degree zippered
waist, optional hood, and moisture-wicking
fabric, I’m always ready to kick some ass,
even in pink paisley. – K.D.
$109.99 myairblaster.com
5
Hotpants
Everyone needs a pair of hotpants. If you
live in a ski town, that means a brightly
colored pair made prior to 1990. This is
elemental to your survival.
Casual:
Horny Toad Jaywalk Pants
A well-fitting, comfortable pair of pants
is like a favorite pair of skis. You wear (or
ride) them every day and have to make
a conscious effort to switch things up.
The Jaywalks fit the bill. Their charcoalcolored twill weave looks good off the
rack and washes down to a quality vintage
look; the 2 percent smattering of spandex
allows mobility in the meantime. – T.A.
$75 hornytoad.com
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Somewhere in Ski Town, USA, a girl is missing her Obermeyer
hot pants Photo by Chris Davis
Photo: Learmond - Skier: Mayr
Revelstoke’s ONLY Small-Group Day Heliskiing
5-Star Lodge and Day Heliski Packages
www.EaglePassHeliSkiing.com
1 877 WAY DEEP
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GEAR
Ethnotek laptop Dep Sleeve
Dep means handsome or beautiful in Vietnamese.
Since that’s where Ethnotek’s bags are sewn and
where company founder/head designer Jake Orak
lives half the year, he named the sleeve after a Vietnamese word that says, “dang that’s a good looking
laptop sleeve!” Partnering with artisans in Ghana,
Guatemala, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, Ethnotek
incorporates handmade textiles into its bags, as
well as sturdy stitching, a big-toothed zipper, and
svelte padding. – E.S.
$45-55 ethnotekbags.com
Gibbon SlackRack
GeekDesk
From late night copy edit sessions to intense political interviews, the
GeekDesk keeps you on your feet – literally. Electronic buttons control the elevation, so any Outlaw can stand at a comfortable working
height. Pre-set levels make it easy to bring it back to your level. Geek
on! Available in several frame sizes.
$749 - 799 geekdesk.com
Work consumes most of the daylight hours during the Outlaw winter, and much of the darkness, too.
Weekends skiing or ice climbing
are a fleeting fix, and the SlackRack is our remedy. Its two-inchwide webbing stretches 12 feet
long, enough to wake up your core
on the way to the coffee machine.
One foot off the ground, it’s perfect
for casual slackliners looking to
improve skills and balance. Nearly
every Outlaw client that’s walked
into the office has given it a go,
and Bridger Bowl ski patroller Ray
Dombroski sent it first try. – T.A.
$299.99 gibbon-slacklines.com
Clif Bar Kit’s Organics
New this year, Kit’s Organics
are made from a base of dates,
and have simple ingredients
like berries, cashews, almonds
and sea salt.
clifbar.com $17.99/box of 12
the
outdoor
athlete’s
guide to
Black Diamond Sprinter USB headlamp
The Sprinter gets you out of the office and onto
the trail. It charges via USB port, so while you’re
plugging away, it’s fueling up. On the highest setting, 75 lumens, this torch lasts up to six hours,
and up to 42 on lower settings. A rear red light
keeps you visible to vehicles, and the weather
resistant exterior leaves no excuses. – R.C.
$69.95 blackdiamondequipment.com
office
survival
The Outlaws taking survival to a new level
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Photo by Chris Davis
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advice from
the experts
Go outside every day.
It’s a standard in the outdoor industry, says Serene
Pelletier, Dakine’s marketing and PR manager. “At
Dakine, we take group bike rides at lunch and bring
our dogs to work.” In that vein...
Bring your dog to work.
“Having a dog in the office keeps stress levels low,”
says Susan Strible from Ruffwear. “It’s also a constant
reminder to get outside more!”
Wear sunblock, and try to keep ‘er reeled in
when calling in sick on a bluebird pow day.
“Nothing gives you away faster than a goggle burn or
blown knee,” says Nick Castagnoli, Rossignol public
relations guru. “If you work in the ski industry like I
do, calling in sick is a moot point…the boss already
knows what I’m up to.”
Use light therapy.
This can be a valid treatment for the winter blues,
says Dr. Maren Dunn, of the Gallatin Family Medical
Clinic in Big Sky. “Bright light needs to enter your
eyes at a certain intensity to cause your brain to produce more serotonin, the body’s natural “happy pill.”
sanuk rugburn slippers
$45 sanuk.com
Drink more water than you think.
This from Eric “Hende” Henderson, previously a
mountain guide in the Tetons, now an armchair forecaster/account manager at Denny, Ink. in Jackson,
Wyoming. He also suggests stretching hourly, standing while typing, and running or skinning the same
route “to track your office fitness.” Finally, he says,
“lay off the beer...stick to vodka!”
Vew-Do Nub balance board
It’s like a traditional Vew-Do board
with no moving parts. Launched
in winter 2012, the Nub improves
balance for any sport. The learning curve is quick, says company
founder Brew Moscarello. Stance is
key, he says. “It’s not just straddle
the center, teeter toe to heel and
rotate. You can shorten up, put one
foot in the center of the board, turn
and spin.” – E.S.
$99.95 vewdo.com
Klean Kanteen insulated bottle
This double-walled wide vacuum bottle is essential to my
productivity, as I switch from coffee in the morning to yerba
mate midday. The quick twist, splash-proof Cafe Cap ($5.95)
makes it easy to fill a mate gourd or take coffee to go. It’s
not leak-proof, so hang onto the included Loop Cap for
stashing hot, skin track beverages in your ski pack. – T.A.
$27.95 kleankanteen.com
on ski break
Krimson Klover Traveling Rodeo Tunic
If there’s a downside to workday ski breaks, it’s
the concentration-blowing shivering that ensues
afterward. The Traveling Rodeo Tunic is the answer
to looking professional and staying warm after a few
turns over lunch. Super-soft, tightly woven merino
wool is paired with beautiful design and rich colors.
Add leggings, chunky heel boots and a lip gloss touch
up, and your boss will never know your midday meeting was with Old Man Winter. – K.M.
krimsonklover.com $198
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mountain khakis peaks flannel
The new Peaks Flannel by Mountain Khakis
is tough, warm and stretchy. Side gussets
add a feminine curve, and the longer hem
keeps you covered. A wool/poly/lycra blend,
it’s an ideal layer for morning ski runs before
a day in the office (it wicks and doesn’t stink
or wrinkle). Men’s cuts and colors also available. – R.C.
$89.95 mountainkhakis.com
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road trip
SWEET
by Renae Counter
On Jan.1, 2012 Cory Birkenbuel set off
with a goal to ski every one of Montana’s
16 ski areas in 16 days.
As part of his internship as a business
student at the University of Montana
Western in Dillon, Birkenbuel coined
the adventure “Montana’s Sweet 16.”
Accompanying him were his longtime
friend and Montana State film student
Kevin Hilton and an undying passion for
Montana skiing.
“Anybody can ski Montana. We have the
best skiing in America,” Birkenbuel said.
Growing up in Dillon, Birkenbuel was
raised on the slopes of Maverick Mountain, a small ski area with gorgeous views
and killer skiing in the rural Grasshopper
Valley. Here, Birkenbuel grew to love
skiing, to find solace in it, and to pass that
love along to others. In his 20s, he taught
skiing there, and even taught Hilton to
ski at age 7.
At 33, Birkenbuel was curious if the
rest of Montana had a passion for skiing
that paralleled what he experienced at
Maverick.
From the journey, he and Hilton produced Montana’s Sweet 16, a full length,
feature film that captures the passion
Birkenbuel sought. It shows a rippling
pride for hometown Montana ski areas
and powder lines.
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Photos courtesy of Montana’s Sweet 16
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8
7
5
Birkenbuel’s Route
on the Sweet 16 tour:
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9
6
11
Jan. 1 -2: Big Sky and Moonlight
Home to the Biggest Skiing in America
Jan. 3: Bridger Bowl
12
The Bridger Ridge is famous. The recently
opened Slushman’s zone is already legend.
13
Jan. 4: Red Lodge
Known for big, late season snowstorms
14
15
Jan. 5: Teton Pass
114 acres, 1,000 vert and a wild setting on the
Rocky Mountain Front
3
jan. 6: Showdown
16
At 75 years old, Montana’s oldest ski area
2
1
4
jan. 7: Bear Paw Ski Bowl
“Ski knee-deep cheap” on the Chippewa Cree
Indian Reservation
jan. 8: Turner Mountain
All 2,000 vert of rockin’ terrain is available
for rent.
jan. 13: Great Divide
Five terrain parks, night skiing and Montana-style jibbing on old
mine tailings
jan.9: Lookout Pass
Free ski and snowboard lessons for ages 6 through 17
jan. 10: Whitefish Mountain Resort
Snow ghosts, creamy pow and 3,000 skiable acres
jan. 15: Lost Trail Powder Mountain
jan. 11: Blacktail Mountain
Drive to the top and drop in before ever riding a chair.
jan. 12: Montana Snowbowl
The front side trees are epic – when there’s fresh. The Last Run Inn
is one of the nation’s best ski area bars.
“The people in Montana have a true
passion for everything they do,”
Birkenbuel said after the trip. “I hope
I educated the ski community that
there are 16 ski areas in Montana, and
I hope I motivated people to go ski
them.”
But it wasn’t all easy. On November
27, before the trip even started, a fire
consumed Birkenbuel’s house. Then,
while skiing Bridger Bowl on January
3, he honored the 10th anniversary of
his brother, Cody’s death. On January 4, a credit card company levied
Birkenbuel’s bank account, emptying
Jan. 14: Discovery
The Backside is steep and radical. The views are gorgeous, the
baked goods incredible.
LT straddles the Bitterroot/Salmon national forests, the Montana/
Idaho border and two different time zones. Early season dumps are
king.
jan. 16: Maverick Mountain
Ride the White Thunder!
his entire savings for the trip, and
on January 5, he learned of another
friend’s passing.
But through great loss comes great
understanding, and Birkenbuel’s
journey taught him even more: Skiing
equals peace of mind. On January 16,
after an early morning run at Maverick, he became the first person to ski
all 16 Montana ski areas in 16 days.
“the people in montana
have a true passion for
everything they do...there
are 16 ski areas [here], and
I hope I motivated people to
go ski them.”
Viewings of Montana’s Sweet 16 will
be held across Montana this winter
and at the Cold Smoke Awards in
Bozeman this February.
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outlaw
outlaw:
f e a t u r e d
Estrada Earthship in Taos, New Mexico
Photo by Kirsten Jacobsen
michael
reynolds
by Tyler Allen
Photo by Kirsten Jacobsen
Twenty-five years ago, Michael Reynolds
assembled progressive architectural
prototypes into one seminal idea:
Earthships.
exhausting effort in the New Mexico legislature to pass
a new sustainable building act couldn’t break Reynolds’
resolve. In 2007, he returned to his life’s work: changing
the world one house at a time.
Integrating solar, wind, thermal
mass, rainwater harvest, gray water recycling and indoor food production, the Taos, New Mexicobased architect builds homes from
re-purposed garbage. The exterior
shell and interior walls are made
from used tires pounded full of
dirt, glass bottles and cans, stacked
and mortared together with mud.
“I don’t call anything garbage,”
Reynolds says. “We can use anything for building materials.”
The structures are off the grid,
and off the map of conventional
home construction, which is why
the county tried to shut down his
Greater World Earthship Community test site.
Even a seven-year permitting
battle with Taos County and an
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The Estrada Earthship in Taos, New Mexico.
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Photo by Kirsten JAcobsen
Big Sky
Providing a
The greenhouse in Monte Koch’s Earthship, Big Timber, Montana
Photo by Matty McCain
His company Earth- “The efficiency
ship Biotecture,
and economics
given notoriety by
make sense. If
the documentary
Garbage Warrior,
you take care of
has built more
this house, it will
than 1,000 of these
buildings, while
take care of you.”
do-it-yourselfers
have built another
1,000. Taos has been the training ground, though
Reynolds has built Earthships from Illinois to Vermont, Canada to Haiti, and France to Australia; as well
as on islands in the Indian Ocean stricken by the 2004
Boxing Day tsunami.
Monte Koch lives in an Earthship northeast of Big
Timber, Montana. “I’m not a huge global warming
environmentalist,” he says. “But the efficiency and
economics make sense. If you take care of this house,
it will take care of you.”
It’s so well insulated, Koch can’t even hear the notorious Shields Valley wind that rips over the barren
steppe east of the Crazy Mountains. During winter
storms, he uses a giant squeegee to keep snow from
piling up on his giant south-facing windows.
“This deal isn’t for everyone,” Koch says. “But everyone can learn from it.”
The Earth’s mass stores heat – about 48 degrees below
the frost line in Big Timber – which is conducted by
p e a c e of mind .
- Locally owned, 24/7 service
- Dedicated on-site property manager
- Care-taking, marketing, reservations &
concierge services under one roof
- Commission based structure No monthly management fees
- The only company in Big Sky to offer
the services from our sister companies:
Yellowstone Luxury Tours, Yellowstone
Car Rentals & Shuttle to Big Sky & Taxi
[email protected] | 800.844.6081
bigskyluxuryrentals.com
a division of:
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121
OUTLAW
outlaw
the mass of the building. That means it only requires enough
energy to raise the indoor temperature 15 to 20 degrees for a comfortable living climate.
The south-facing glass wall of Koch’s house filters light into an
80-foot-long living space that is bright and warm, even by the
rear, tire-filled wall. Glass bottles in the interior walls refract ambient light, while the aluminum cans reflect it, bouncing sunlight
throughout the rooms. Orange trees, dwarf giant bananas, parsley,
pepper plants and concord grapes grow in his greenhouse. In addition to producing food, they filter the gray water created by daily
living, which is then drained into a treatment and containment
system for later use.
Reynolds believes these homes can be built anywhere on Earth
humans live. In the next year, he’ll bring Earthships to Guatemala,
Tierra del Fuego, Sweden and mid-town Manhattan.
“It keeps getting more and more exciting,” he says. “We’re building in more strange places around the globe and looking for more
challenges.”
Glass bottles and aluminum cans lining the interior walls of
Koch’s Earthship refract and reflect light Photo by Matty McCain
Look for new Montana company Seven Directions getting into
biotecture in 2013
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Gary Lynn Roberts, Go with Pride, 50”x 40”
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Featured artist at Creighton Block Gallery. See story on p. 84
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