OPINION

Letter from the Publisher: 10 years of PBR

Nearly 15 years ago Big Sky PBR was a dream discussed tableside with Andy and Jacey Watson; a rendering showed an arena in the shadow of Lone Peak, and a bold sunset casting a colorful sky. I could only imagine the crowd of cheering fans.

Thanks to a key partnership with Jim Murphy, seeded by original sponsorship and support from the Yellowstone Club, Simkins Family, and Big Sky Town Center, and made a reality by the hard work of the Outlaw Partners team, welcome to the 10th year of Big Sky PBR!

Taking pause to celebrate 10 years of “Big Sky’s Biggest Week” is exciting and humbling. Time flies when you are having fun and the Big Sky PBR has been a blast; it seems like just yesterday that we were borrowing bleachers, stacking hay bales on flatbed trailers for overflow seating, and awarding Montana native Beau Hill with the inaugural win.

Fans have been gracious in supporting this event, sponsors have shown up in countless ways to make this event a success, and PBR has recognized us as Event of the Year seven times over!

The original premise of Big Sky PBR was to bring an authentic, fun event to Big Sky to celebrate community while also raising money for important causes – all enjoyed amongst a setting that Mother Nature has blessed us with. Ten years later Big Sky PBR is a thriving, sold-out event generating millions of dollars of economic impact for the community and over $1 million in donations for local non-profits and charities.

If you are reading this letter, you have likely helped play a role in making this event such a pivotal part of the Big Sky community. As you watch the sunset over Lone Peak and enjoy this event, please know that I appreciate your support. You helped make a dream a reality.

An additional sincere thank you to my Outlaw Team and the talented staff from PBR who orchestrate such a professional show…you are world class! A special note to Montana’s home state hero Flint Rasmussen for being part of this event for all 10 years; Chad Berger who has been instrumental in curating the livestock since day one; and lastly, the show would never happen without the riders and livestock who show up every year – we are grateful for your support.

Let’s hope we can celebrate this event together another 10 years from now – imagine the continued legacy of fun, goodwill, and connection this event will produce for our incredible community.

Grateful,

Eric Ladd Chairman, Outlaw Partners

Big Sky’s Biggest Week, a series of events leading up to Big Sky PBR, kicks off on July 16 with the Big Sky Community Rodeo. What’s your favorite part of a rodeo?

Jackie Crain | Denver, Colorado “I’ve been to the PBR several times, but I love the bronc riding, I would say it looks more challenging. Yeah, they’re definitely all cowboys!”

Allie Prather | Winter Park, Florida “I love the actual PBR and the bull riding…one time I went to one and there was a fair there which was cool.”

Joe Jenkins | Albuquerque, New Mexico “I would say probably the bronc riding…I like bull riding, I think the Broncs, It just takes a little more skill, but I enjoy it all.”

Tamara Schafhauser | Big Sky, MT “I’m excited for just all the activities and everything that’s going to go on, like the live music too, and that I can just see the rodeo/PBR in person.”

Letters to the Editor:

Gallatin deserves ‘Wild and Scenic’

To the Editor:

Montana is home to untold miles of iconic waterways: the Madison, Yellowstone, Boulder, Smith and of course the Gallatin, all call this great state home. Now, with Sen. Jon Tester’s reintroduction of the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act, we can give these rivers the protection they deserve.

This made-in-Montana bill would designate 385 river miles as “Wild and Scenic,” including 39 miles of the Gallatin and 15 miles of the Taylor Fork. From Yellowstone National Park to Spanish Creek, our local waterways would be protected under this groundbreaking legislation, the highest form of river protection in the country.

As the general manager of a hospitality business here in Big Sky, I cannot stress how vital a clean, healthy Gallatin is to our business. Guests come to the Lone Mountain Ranch from around the world to fly fish, whitewater raft, horseback ride along the river and enjoy our relatively pristine wildlands. The Gallatin is the lifeblood of this ecosystem and major part of the ranch’s popularity. It’s the backbone of our local economy and without it we can’t succeed.

In Montana, conservation and commerce go hand in hand—the latter can’t succeed without the former—and free-flowing rivers like the Gallatin are becoming fewer and farther between. Striking a sustainable balance between the two and allowing one to the support the other is the surest path forward, and the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act lays the necessary groundwork for that path. Join me in supporting this landmark legislation.

Big Sky for sale?

To the Editor:

I and many acquaintances and friends are so dismayed that our little village has succumbed to “naming rights” as evidenced by the new Len Hill Park, formerly so aptly and subtly named “Town Center Park.” While it may always be problematic to raise substantial sums for civic improvements, I cannot help but wonder how many of us would have reached deeper into our pockets to avoid the unseemly, un-Western, unBig Sky, self-aggrandizing Len Hill.

Who cannot appreciate the former, diminutive plaque recognizing the original benefactors of our little park, right-sized you might say, not overshadowing the beauty of the place.

And what could follow? “Ousel Falls Trail Brought To You By Kirkland Water,” “Budweiser Upper Hummocks Trail,” “Tesla Town Square”? Are we really for sale?

Patrick Mitchell Big Sky