Explore Big Sky - March 7 to 20, 2024

March

SEARCH AND RESCUE REFLECTS ON HELI-RESCUES

BSRAD TO FUND INCORPORATION STUDY

BIG SKY RESORT HOSTS 15TH SPECIAL OLYMPICS

BEARS TO WAKE SOON; AWARENESS CRUCIAL

LOCAL HOCKEY TEAM CELEBRATES SENIORS

PLUS: CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING AT LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH

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March 7 - 20, 2024

Volume 15, Issue No. 5

Owned and published in Big Sky, Montana PUBLISHER

Eric Ladd | eric@theoutlawpartners.com

EDITORIAL

VP MEDIA

Mira Brody | mira@theoutlawpartners.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jack Reaney | jack@theoutlawpartners.com

DIGITAL PRODUCER

Jen Clancey | jen@theoutlawpartners.com

EDITORIAL CONSULTANT

Leslie Kilgore | leslie@theoutlawpartners.com

CREATIVE

LEAD GRAPHIC DESIGNER

ME BROWN | maryelizabeth@theoutlawpartners.com

SALES AND OPERATIONS

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Josh Timon | josh@theoutlawpartners.com

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Megan Paulson | megan@theoutlawpartners.com

VP DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Hiller Higman | hiller@theoutlawpartners.com

DIRECTOR OF RELATIONSHIPS

Ersin Ozer | ersin@theoutlawpartners.com

MARKETING MANAGER

Tucker Harris | tucker@theoutlawpartners.com

CONTENT MARKETING LEAD

Taylor Owens | taylor@theoutlawpartners.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT

Sara Sipe | sara@theoutlawpartners.com

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LEAD

Patrick Mahoney | patrick@theoutlawpartners.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Rich Addicks, Daniel Bierschwale, Mario Carr, John Clayton, Marne Hayes, Eric Laaksonen, Merrick Parnell, Anthony Pavkovish, Benjamin Alva Polley, Paul Swenson, Luis Villaseñor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

In June 2023, a new group called Big Sky Pride organized a local pride march. It was attended by more than 100 people. In November, Big Sky Pride became a nonprofit under the name Big Sky OUT. Since then, they have been networking with like-minded organizations, connecting with businesses and producing recurring events–from ice skating to rock climbing to potlucks.

SEARCH AND RESCUE REFLECTS ON HELI-RESCUES

After two short-haul helicopter rescue missions in February, EBS spoke with leaders from Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue about the importance of backcountry preparation and the uncertain access to helicopter—GCSSAR lacks an exclusive-use contract, so a helicopter may not be available for critical missions. A recent paragliding crash victim shared his gratitude for the short-haul rescue that brought him to urgently needed medical attention after a significant leg injury on Tick Ridge in Big Sky.

BSRAD TO FUND INCORPORATION STUDY

After exploring options for local governance in Big Sky in 2023— including incorporating as a municipality—the Big Sky Resort Area District voted on Feb. 14 to issue a request for proposals for a study about the potential benefits and drawbacks of local governance options. The vendor will be selected in May, with hopes that the study is completed by June 2025.

BIG SKY RESORT HOSTS 15TH SPECIAL OLYMPICS

On March 4 at Big Sky Resort’s Madison Base, nearly 50 athletes participated in the 15th annual Big Sky Area Winter Games, hosted by Special Olympics Montana. EBS spoke with athletes, and event organizers and volunteers about the growth of the Big Sky games.

LOCAL HOCKEY TEAM CELEBRATES SENIORS

The Big Sky 64s youth hockey team hosted their first-ever senior night as part of a weekend-long hockey event in Big Sky at the Marty Pavelich Rink in Town Center. With players ranging from eighth to 12th grade, organizers called the event “incredible,” drawing loyal fans, as well as curious passersby to partake in a high-energy match that lasted well into the night.

BEARS TO WAKE SOON; AWARENESS CRUCIAL

Bears typically begin exiting hibernation between March and May, and in 2024, the relatively warm winter could affect that pattern. Experts discuss the importance of bear awareness to mitigate conflict with humans, including proper food storage and removal of attractants—especially at homes within grizzly bears’ expanding range.

PLUS: CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING AT LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH

Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue conducted 130 missions in 2023 with support from 154 volunteers, totaling 3,484 hours. When something goes wrong in the backcountry, volunteers spring into action to mitigate the emergency. Short-haul helicopter rescue can play a key role when victims are located in especially remote or dangerous terrain. As the outdoor community grows, GCSSAR is working to secure helicopter access for life- and limbsaving missions. PHOTO BY

ERIC LAAKSONEN

EDITORIAL POLICIES

SCAN

anything discriminatory or in bad taste.

EBS welcomes obituaries written by family members or from funeral homes. To place an obituary, please submit 500 words or less to media@theoutlawpartners.com.

While many may come to Big Sky for its downhill skiing, the community is also known for its 53 miles of cross-country skiing, a tradition that Lone Mountain Ranch, alongside Big Sky Golf Course and Nordic Center, are keeping alive. Established in 1977, LMR first groomed trails by draft horse and although the technology has changed, the love for the sport has not. EBS contributor Leslie Kilgore takes a tour around the trail system to show us why.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters to the editor allow EBS readers to express views and share how they would like to effect change. These are not Thank You notes. Letters should be 250 words or less, respectful, ethical, accurate, and proofread for grammar and content. We reserve the right to edit letters and will not publish individual grievances about specific businesses or letters that are abusive, malicious or potentially libelous. Include: full name, address, phone number and title. Submit to media@outlaw.partners.

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CORRECTIONS

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PHOTO BY JACK REANEY

NEWS IN BRIEF BRIEFS

MUSEUM OF THE ROCKIES TO HOST SCIENTIST AND AUTHOR TO TALK OLD GROWTH FORESTS

EBS STAFF

On April 11, the Museum of the Rockies will host Dr. Joan Maloof for a talk about old growth forests in Montana. The event is part of Gallatin Valley Earth Day’s talk series and will provide free food, drinks and access to exhibits. The reception will start at 6 p.m. with the talk following at 7 p.m. and the presentation is called “Old-Growth Forests in Montana: Where are they, why are they important, and what you can do to save them.” The event is free and anyone wishing to attend remotely can register online.

Dr. Maloof is founder of Old Growth Forest Network, which supports the study of ancient forests for health and sustainability. She will discuss how old growth forests are treated in politics, what is happening in Montana and how to get involved. Dr. Maloof has authored five books on the topic of old growth and ancient forests.

GALLATIN COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT AND WASTE

MANAGEMENT

ESTABLISH E-CIGARETTE DISPOSAL

EBS STAFF

The Gallatin City-County Health Department has collaborated with the Gallatin County Solid Waste Management to create an e-cigarette disposal program. A press release from the GCCHD stated that community members can drop off their e-cigarettes at the Bozeman Convenience Site Tuesdays through Saturdays between 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. free of charge.

The Bozeman Convenience Site is located at 2143 Story Mill Rd in Bozeman and staff will instruct individuals on where to place materials when they arrive at the scale house window.

MISSOURI HEADWATERS STATE PARK COULD RECEIVE 26-ACRE EXPANSION

EBS STAFF

A historic site in Three Forks at the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers, the Missouri Headwaters State Park is pushing a proposal to expand by 26 acres.

On Feb. 12, the Montana State Parks Foundation announced its plan to donate 26 acres to the state park, in collaboration with the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust, according to a Feb. 15 MSPF press release. On Feb. 26, the expansion was approved unanimously by the Montana State Parks and Recreation Board.

In March, it will need to be approved by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s Land Board. Organizers hope that the topic will be decided on during a March 18 Land Board meeting.

“The public is strongly encouraged to participate and show support for this momentous project,” the press release stated, urging public comment and donations “to ensure the enduring preservation of this remarkable place.”

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK’S 2024 WINTER ENDS EARLY MARCH

EBS STAFF

Yellowstone National Park’s winter season ends early March and roads will begin to close to snowmobile and snow coach travel. According to a release from the park, by March 16 most visitor services and roads will be closed including the South, West and East entrances.

During this time, the park will prepare for a spring opening to the public.

Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris will close on Mar. 4. Norris to Madison, Norris to Canyon Village and Canyon Village to Washburn Hot Springs Overlook will close on Mar. 6. On Mar. 11, Canyon Village to Fishing Bridge will close, and on Mar. 16, the West, South and East entrances as well as all remaining groomed roads will close.

“As a result of limited snowfall in December and January, the 2023-2024 winter season was particularly challenging for the park and our oversnow operators,” Yellowstone National Park chief ranger Chris Flesch stated in the release. “We would like to thank our operators and partners for working closely with us throughout the season and for providing our visitors the magical opportunity to experience winter in Yellowstone.”

The North Entrance in Gardiner, Montana and the Northeast Entrance in Cooke City/ Silver Gate, Montana remain open year-round.

The park is expected to reopen on April 19, 2024 for the spring season.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE: REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE SEALED PROPOSALS INCORPORATION EXPLORATION STUDY

TO ALL INTERESTED VENDORS: The Big Sky Resort Area District is seeking competitive sealed proposals from “vendors” to provide goods and services for the Incorporation Exploration Study. Competitive sealed proposals should be delivered to the District no later than 4:00 PM, Mountain Time on April 15th, 2024. Proposals will be opened at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the Board of Directors at 9:00 AM, on Wednesday, April 17th, 2024. The full request for competitive sealed proposals can be found at resorttax.org or by contacting the District directly at 406.995.3234.

MADISON COUNTY ELECTION JUDGES NEEDED!

The Madison County Election Office is holding an election judge certification training on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 from 2-4 PM at the Water and Sewer district building at 561 Little Coyote, Big Sky MT. The class will take approximately 2 hours to complete and will certify you to work elections for the next 2 years. We have upcoming 2024 Federal Elections on June 4 and November 5 with a new polling place at the Big Sky fire station 2 (Mountain Station). If interested, please contact the Clerk & Recorder/ Election Office at 406-843-4270 or pmckenzie@madisoncountymt.gov, see you at class! Paula Mckenzie, Madison County Clerk & Recorder/Election Administrator

The Big Sky Resort Area District (BSRAD) is excited to introduce Jackie Haines as the Director of Economic and Strategic Development. In this pivotal role, Jackie will lead initiatives to align funding at local, county, state and federal levels.

Jackie brings a wealth of expertise in economics and building resilient communities. Utilizing data insights, she will inform decisions and financial forecasts, and work towards achieving community objectives.

Her leadership will play a key role in advancing initiatives outlined in the Big Sky Capital Improvement Plan, the Roadmap for Infrastructure Investment, as well as the Our Big Sky Community Vision & Strategy. Collaborating with government officials and stakeholders, Jackie will drive multi-year strategies, including legislative actions. Furthermore, she will develop and track key performance indicators to evaluate the measurable impact of resort tax funds.

We look forward to the contributions Jackie will make on our community

DANIEL

LOCAL

SEARCH AND RESCUE REFLECTS ON KEY MISSIONS, HELICOPTER ACCESS

‘VERY THANKFUL FOR US TO HAVE SUCH A STRONG CREW IN OUR TOWN,’ SAYS

VICTIM RESCUED BY HELICOPTER IN EARLY FEBRUARY

BY JACK REANEY

GALLATIN COUNTY—In the backcountry, even a small emergency can carry large consequences. In those moments, volunteers sacrifice time and energy to help distressed community members and visitors.

More than 150 volunteers with Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue are “dedicated people who give up their valuable, discretionary time to help the community,” said Jason Revisky, GCSSAR training coordinator.

“These volunteers are generous enough to take this pretty substantial chunk [of their lives] when they could be doing very many other things,” Revisky told EBS in a March 1 phone call. “For no financial reward, [they] give that time up for the community. That’s pretty outstanding, when you really think about it... And to do it at all hours of the day.”

Mark Bradford, Big Sky section manager for GCSSAR, said missions are slightly down this winter—2023 was the first year since 2019 that missions did not increase, according to GCSSAR’s annual report. Bradford credited the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center for reliably informing the community of a dangerous snowpack, information which may have helped prevent avalanche-related missions to date.

Still, in recent months, GCSSAR has performed intensive rescues. In February, helicopter access played a key role in two missions. Helicopter access, however vital, is never a guarantee for GCSSAR—without an exclusive-use contract, some of the most urgent search and rescue missions hang in the balance of whether a helicopter and qualified pilot are available from Central Copters in Belgrade, a private business that serves GCSSAR through an “as available” contract.

On Feb. 19, volunteers ventured at dusk into the Taylor Fork area south of Big Sky to rescue a pair of snowmobilers stuck in Sunlight Basin. The rescue effort turned into an overnight stay, and it was one of the hardest rescues in Bradford’s memory.

“That was a pretty intense call, because we couldn’t make it back up the same way we went down into the drainage,” Bradford said in a phone interview. The snow was sugary and soft, and neither the victims nor the rescuers could get traction on their snowmobiles.

Bradford said the victims should have brought a few more supplies for medical emergencies, and ways to build

a fire and cut wood. The victims had snowmobiled in the area before, Bradford said, but they didn’t know their way out—Sunlight Basin only has one way out, and they missed it by going further down into the drainage.

When they tried to turn around, the snow was too sugary—SAR volunteers encountered the same problem.

“Mark Bradford is the best snowmobiler I know,” Revisky said. “He’s an amazing snowmobiler. And if he can’t get out of there, it’s bad.”

Stuck in the dark, volunteers built a fire and everyone— plus their snowmobiles—was extracted the next morning via helicopter.

In total, the responding volunteers spent about 20 hours on that mission.

Just a couple weeks earlier, on Feb. 2, GCSSAR rescued a paraglider from the top of Tick Ridge in Big Sky. The paraglider, 32-year-old Big Sky resident Mathias Tellstrom, had crashed and injured his lower left leg.

“That was another kind of a difficult call because of the location,” Bradford said. He remembers a similar rescue about two years ago, and suggested that Tick Ridge must be a popular paragliding location.

“And we did the same thing, we had to fly ‘em out of there.”

Tick Ridge is steep and rocky, with many cliff bands and no established trail. Climbing it requires bushwacking and scrambling. To carry an injured victim down would take “a lot of hours,” Bradford said. He emphasized the importance of a helicopter being available to avoid a technical, high-angle rescue—a “multi-stage rope lowering,” Revisky said.

“Once we saw that they were pretty close to the top of the ridge, it became clear that this was going to be a long and potentially dangerous ground mission,” Revisky said.

Even if Tellstrom weren’t seriously injured—his exact condition remained to be assessed—GCSSAR called for a helicopter to protect its own volunteers.

On Feb. 2, by chance, the helicopter and qualified pilot were available—Revisky said the dedicated volunteers on the helicopter crew assembled quickly and made the 17-minute flight from Bozeman. Two volunteers were hoisted up beneath the helicopter, and nobody needed to hike up or down Tick Ridge.

When packaging Tellstrom, volunteers examined his injured left leg.

“There was no blood flow going down to his foot… That made it even more urgent to get him out of there to get him to a hospital to get that fixed,” Bradford said.

The entire rescue took about two hours, and Tellstrom was relieved by the speed. “I was not far away from town, but I was 1,800 feet up,” he told EBS in a March 4 phone call.

“I do think that with the helicopter rescue, it cut off about six to seven hours of time,” Tellstrom said. He’s now recovering from two surgeries, and still can’t put weight on his leg.

Without a helicopter rescue, “It could have been pretty brutal,” Tellstrom said. And the outcome may have been worse.

Bradford said Tellstrom and his partner were prepared for emergency, and it helped that they were within cell service to call for rescue.

“He bandaged his own foot, he put a stick splint on it… They knew what they were doing,” Bradford said.

Initially, Tellstrom was told he may have a severed artery and could lose part of his limb. He was urgently driven to Bozeman—an incoming storm prevented a helicopter flight—and flown to Billings, where medical personnel located his pulse.

“There was lots of emotion in the situation, and then lots of relief... I was definitely under the impression that it would have been worse,” Tellstrom recalled.

If not for the convenient availability of the helicopter and pilot, volunteers likely still would have been performing a complicated and dangerous rescue by the time Tellstrom was able to see a doctor in Billings. If rescued on foot, he could still have been descending Tick Ridge, fearing the worst.

Efforts underway

Bradford said GCSSAR is working to secure a helicopter.

“We would like an exclusive-use contract with Central Copters to be able to do short-haul rescues, and also do

Tellstrom awaits rescue on Tick Ridge, with his leg in an improvised splint. COURTESY OF MATHIAS TELLSTROM

Revisky on scene at the Feb. 2 Tick Ridge rescue. COURTESY OF GCSSAR

On Feb. 19 and 20, Search and Rescue volunteers completed an overnight mission with helicopter rescue. COURTESY OF GCSSAR

initial attack on wildland fires in Big Sky [and] Gallatin County,” Bradford said.

Until then, they’re still rolling the dice with every emergency.

“We’re at the mercy of their schedule and whether or not they have pilots or the helicopter available,” Bradford said.

“If either of those pieces are missing, then we just can’t fly a mission,” Revisky said.

Now, the main objective is fundraising.

“In short, we have been exploring numerous avenues for establishing a funding mechanism for an exclusive-use contract,” Revisky said. That includes philanthropy and community fundraising—SAR personnel are experts in public safety, but not as experienced in fundraising campaigns, he added.

“We’re working on trying to open as many doors as humanly possible, and not limiting ourselves to one paradigm or another. Trying to talk to as many subject matter experts as we can for getting this funded,” Revisky said.

Beyond GCSSAR rescue missions, the helicopter could be a useful tool for any emergency, from wildfires to floods.

“We’d like to make the most out of it to provide the best service to the community,” he said.

GCSSAR is exploring the best possible helicopter arrangement to make sure supporters are confident in the power of their dollars. An exclusive-use contract seems ideal, but ownership or lease are not entirely unreasonable.

“People don’t want to give their money away to a cause that isn’t going to produce,” Revisky said. He’s

confident in the GCSSAR’s track record, and focused on improving their capacity to fundraise.

He said anyone interested in supporting the effort to secure helicopter access should contact either himself or GCSSAR Captain Matt Boxmeyer.

“I would highly encourage people to get ahold of us and give us an opportunity to explain what we’re trying to do, and what the options are for helping us out,” Revisky said.

Tellstrom spoke to the importance of short-haul rescue, “especially with how much terrain we have in the area and a growing community... I think that having a helicopter service and focusing on funding it is really important.”

A communication tool and a ‘genius’ fire-starter

Any situation could require an overnight or timeconsuming rescue, and Revisky recommends being prepared to spend a night in the backcountry, even if it won’t be comfortable.

“All of us, me included tend to imagine our day in the backcountry [as] we go out to ski, we find good snow, the weather is good, and we come out.”

To mitigate risk, people tend to bring their beacon, shovel and probe in case a friend is caught in an avalanche. Some people might not think of being hurt and stuck, however, and having to shelter in place for the night.

Revisky said it’s important to have a communication device, including the popular Garmin inReach or any device that can send GPS coordinates. It may be important to carry a charging brick to give one’s phone a second life.

“So many of our cases have had better or worse outcomes based on the ability to communicate... I think it’s really something everybody should carry,” Revisky said.

In case of an unplanned overnight stay, it’s also important to have fire-starting tools capable of working when all the wood is wet.

“It’s much better from a survival standpoint to keep a fire going.”

Revisky is eager to share a tip he learned just two years ago. “It’s almost silly how well it works,” he said.

All you need is a sparking tool, sometimes called a “fire steel,” and a few cotton balls impregnated with Vaseline.

The cotton balls will light on fire—Vaseline is a petroleum derivative and the cotton acts like a candle wick—and burn for about 10 minutes, enough time to dry out wet kindling.

“That is the most genius method, and it’s so cheap... And almost foolproof,” Revisky said.

Through all the various types of rescue missions, from lost snowmobilers and hikers to anyone dealing with an immobilizing injury, Gallatin County depends on the many volunteer hours given by search and rescue personnel.

When Mathias Tellstrom was being rescued, he said he was apologetic for even requiring their services.

“They were very reassuring that they love their jobs, they love doing this,” Tellstrom said. The volunteers were kind and genuine, even after dangling from a helicopter in the overcast February sky.

“Thank you so much for your time and for the selfless acts that [you] do with search and rescue,” Tellstrom said. “[I’m] very thankful for us to have such a strong crew in our town.”

RESORT TAX ISSUES RFP FOR LOCAL GOVERNANCE STUDY

STUDY WILL IDENTIFY BENEFITS, DRAWBACKS OF INCORPORATION AND OTHER LOCAL GOVERNANCE OPTIONS

BY JACK REANEY

BIG SKY—In 2023, an intentionally diverse group of 12 Big Sky community leaders took a new approach to exploring a politically charged topic: incorporating Big Sky as a municipality.

On Sept. 13, those leaders presented what they learned at a Big Sky Resort Area District board meeting—BSRAD had created a board subcommittee for the topic and paid for a thirdparty consultant to lead the exploratory group over the summer. During three sessions totaling 12 hours, the group listened to opposing views and reframing problems into opportunities.

The next step came in February: BSRAD voted to pursue a fact-finding study about local governance options, including incorporation.

With approval during BSRAD’s Feb. 14 board meeting, BSRAD issued a request for proposals the following day. After the RFP period closes in April, BSRAD will review them in a public board meeting. In May, BSRAD will choose a firm, aiming for work to begin by June 1, 2024. After one year, the vendor is scheduled to deliver a report by June 1, 2025.

“The intention here is just following through on our commitment to explore governance options within the community,” said BSRAD Executive Director Daniel Bierschwale.

He pointed out that many Big Sky community members hold strong opinions about incorporation. “What the community doesn’t have necessarily are the facts and data behind what the actual impacts of incorporation would or wouldn’t be. So we hope that this becomes a meaningful document for the community to ground their decision making.

“It will chart out a path forward should the community want to pursue the actual process of forming a municipal government. But the intention of this report is not to have a position, one way or the other,” Bierschwale told the board.

Answering a public comment about whether this study addresses the possibility of creating a county, Board Chair Sarah Blechta clarified: “Any and all governance options. This is not specifically about incorporation.”

Been there. Done that?

Before voting to issue the RFP, the board asked for public comment. David O’Connor stepped forward, speaking as a former Big Sky Chamber of Commerce board member and current member of the subcommittee exploring incorporation.

“By my count, I think it’s my fourth incorporation group [in Big Sky] that I’ve sat on in the past 20 or so years,” O’Connor said. One was backed by the chamber, he recalled, and “inherent bias” got in the way. The other two were community member groups, lacking power and funding.

“After all of that experience and 20 years of considering this question, I stand here today and I still can’t tell you my opinion on whether or not we should do this,” O’Connor said.

“And one of the main reasons I can’t is because of what Danny [Bierschwale] referenced earlier,” he added, speaking to the lack of objective facts surrounding exact ramifications, costs to every resident, and legal options within Montana.

O’Connor said it’s “very appropriate” for Resort Tax to sponsor the fact-finding study, because it lacks inherent bias and has an active and engaged board.

“That’s why I am so emphatically in support of the proposal that’s in front of you now, is that it seeks to handle this in a different way than it’s been handled before,” O’Connor said.

In Big Sky’s history of conversations about incorporation, O’Connor said misinformation and misconceptions have been common.

“The remedy to fix that—so that we as a community can make an informed, responsible decision about the things that affect our lives—is, we need facts,” O’Connor said. “[Facts] that say exactly what will happen if we take action A, or action B, and what that will cost the community or what it will cost our households.”

O’Connor said if the Big Sky community does not support this BSRAD-backed study now, he does not see a reasonable time and group to pursue such a study.

“If not this, then what?” O’Connor asked.

Details from the RFP

The “Scope of Work” section of the RFP states the main objective of the Incorporation Exploration Study.

“The District seeks an experienced consultant(s) who has ideally worked in a resort community and understands the complexity of local governance (particularly in the West), municipal structure, financing, and legality, as well as the dichotomy of rural and urban needs. The consultant(s) will complete this project by collecting and analyzing data, engaging the public and stakeholder groups, and drafting a factual study. The Incorporation Exploration Study will act as an impartial tool for citizens to make an informed decision regarding the structure of local governance in Big Sky,” the RFP states (page 5).

In that same section, under context and considerations (page 5), the RFP states that Big

Sky’s population grew roughly 176% between 2010 and 2020, from 1,398 to 3,854 residents within the BSRAD boundary. In addition, since 2020, “Current community growth rate is unknown due to constraints of publicly available data,” the RFP states.

It adds an additional piece of statewide context.

“Montana became a state in 1889, while Big Sky as a thriving community has only existed for the last few decades, the last community to incorporate in Montana was over 20 years ago.” That community was Colstrip, which incorporated in 1998.

Bierschwale said BSRAD’s subcommittee—which includes O’Connor among the dozen community leaders—has been engaged with the Montana Association of Counties, and the Montana League of Cities and Towns, both “a wonderful resource,” he said.

However, being more than 25 years since a Montana community incorporated a municipal government, Bierschwale and Blechta said it’s possible that BSRAD may need to hire out-ofstate—despite BSRAD’s desire to support a local or regional firm.

“It may not be a Montana company that can do this,” Blechta said, noting the importance that BSRAD spends taxpayer money most effectively on the study.

Bierschwale said the quotes from firms may be “wildly varied and not necessarily cheap.” For BSRAD’s recently completed Big Sky Community Capital Improvement Plan, vendor proposals ranged from $75,000 to $330,000—in that instance, BSRAD decided the least expensive option was also a strong fit.

“This is going to be a heavy lift, but we’re excited about it,” Blechta said.

The RFP asks the vendor to include in its study: general citizen engagement; data gathering, research and trend analysis; engagement of Big Sky stakeholder groups; and community interviews across the state of Montana “with an analysis of resort tax and non resort tax communities.”

A review of prospective vendors will take place at BSRAD’s public board meeting on April 17.

Big Sky is unincorporated, meaning it lacks centralized local government. It is classified as a census-designated place and has seen a rapidly growing population in the past two decades. PHOTO BY MICHAEL RUEBUSCH

BIG SKY BANDAGE TO HELP LOCALS WITH MEDICAL COSTS

BY MARIO CARR EBS CONTRIBUTOR

Founded in 2023, Big Sky Bandage is a new healthcare assistance program that provides medical care reimbursements of up to $500 per winter season to local employees and residents of Big Sky who are uninsured or experiencing financial hardship.

Amy Vance is a nurse practitioner who began working at the B2 Urgent Care clinic at Big Sky Resort last year. She started the program after noticing the need to support uninsured or underinsured people in the community who have experienced medical emergencies or unexpected bills. She said she was “disheartened” to see people struggling with the cost of medical bills. Reimbursements can be used on acute medical care provided by the B2 Urgent Care clinics on the mountain, Mountain Pearls Dentistry, Big Sky Eyes, and the Big Sky Medical Center.

Community members can seek up to $500 in reimbursement for care received in Big Sky after Nov. 1 2023, or can have Big Sky Bandage pay the bill directly on their behalf. Vance said that after receiving a patient’s bill, Big Sky Bandage aims to get a check sent out that same week.

“Our goal is that people could do it on their phone in less than five minutes,” Vance said. “The last thing people need is like 10,000 forms… Really the only qualification is that you live or work in Big Sky and have some financial need… You just check a box and you get up to $500 for any acute-care need in Big Sky.”

Vance emphasized the importance that community members respect the “honor system” when submitting for aid. To receive aid, patients must submit a picture of their medical bill from the covered local provider, and testimony that they live or work in Big Sky and are underinsured or uninsured.

Big Sky Bandage launched with administrative support from Big Sky Rotary, and financial donations from Moonlight Community Foundation, Yellowstone Club Community

Foundation, and Spanish Peaks Community Foundation.

“There’s no overhead. 100% of the money received will go to patients,” she said.

Since the launch of the program on Nov. 1, 2023, Vance estimates that the fund has already helped pay 60 different bills. Big Sky Bandage is a program operated under the nonprofit Big Sky Rotary, and Vance said that they were able to get this program up and running very quickly. She is confident that the lump sum donations Big Sky Bandage received from the YCCF, MCF and SPCF will get them through this winter season, even with increased use of the program.

“We like to see ourselves as community builders and ‘fillers of gaps’ in the community. When there’s a need, we try to step in,” Laura Seyfang, Big Sky Rotary secretary, told EBS in a phone call about Big Sky Bandage. Seyfang said that starting a nonprofit can take more than 18 months and be very expensive. Under the umbrella of Big Sky Rotary, Big Sky Bandage can accept donations and keep that money in its own bank account, with checks to patients being paid out by Big Sky Rotary.

“We want people to be healthy and well here in Big Sky, and we want to be part of helping them accomplish that,” Seyfang said.

Vance hopes word will spread about Big Sky Bandage so that patients are not delaying treatment they may need due to financial worries.

“That is why we picked $500. Urgent-Care-wise, that pretty much covers—it’s not universal—but it pretty much covers you,” Vance said.

She also hopes to see Big Sky Bandage eventually cover other services in the community.

“There are other organizations who are doing great things for mental health and such… And we would love to combine efforts with these groups,” Vance said.

She was intentional with the creation of the fund’s name.

“We named it Big Sky Bandage because we know it’s not a fix to our healthcare system but we figured we should take care of our own.”

Gratitude from patients

Vance provided a few testimonials from patients that have benefited from Big Sky Bandage. All names and specific details regarding treatment have been redacted for privacy, and each quote is from a different patient.

“Big Sky is a great place to learn and grow, but very challenging to financially establish myself, so having assistance with this bill will take one matter off my plate that is currently a stressor,” wrote one.

“I’m grateful for any help, it truly is a blessing. Thank you. The application process is simple,” wrote another.

“Living in Big Sky is expensive and medical bills are an added, often unforeseen cost on top of normal living expenses. Thank you for any help you can provide.”

“This program helps me because I am a current seasonal worker in Big Sky and being sick and having a large bill was not on my budget and this helps me a lot.”

COURTESY OF AMY VANCE

Nurse Practitioner Amy Vance created Big Sky Bandage in 2023. COURTESY OF AMY VANCE

BSCO REOPENS AVALANCHE RESCUE PRACTICE FACILITY AT BIG SKY COMMUNITY PARK

THE STUDENT-LED INITIATIVE FIRST OPENED IN 2022; THIS WINTER’S LACK OF SNOW KEPT THE PARK CLOSED UNTIL MID-FEBRUARY

BY JACK REANEY

BIG SKY—Always important, and especially during a winter with a “remarkably weak snowpack,” Big Sky locals can practice flipping their avalanche beacons into search mode at a free public installment. Eight transmitters are buried in the snow in a softball field at Big Sky Community Park, connected wirelessly to a Backcountry Access practice system.

The park was first imagined in 2020 by Laney Smith, then a Lone Peak High School senior, for her International Baccalaureate creativity, action and service project. The concept was backed by Andy Dreisbach, a local search and rescue volunteer and owner of Cornerstone Management Services, which sponsored the park.

After the park’s initial installment in January 2022, the Big Sky Community Organization stepped in to manage and fund the facility, according to Marco DelGuidice, BSCO parks, trails and facilities maintenance manager.

For this winter, DelGuidice said it’s unfortunate how long it took to install—it was set up in midFebruary due to lack of early season snow. In past years, the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center has hosted free training clinics, but that is unlikely to happen this year, he said. The beacon park will remain open as long as snow coverage allows, typically in late April or early May.

“I think it’s a valuable asset for our community, especially in poor snowpack years like this one… I try to get out there at the start of every season. But it’s good practice, everybody should probably be out there at least once a winter, to refresh,” DelGuidice said.

The park is now open to the public, although users must bring their own avalanche transceiver and probe. Beacons can be rented at a few local shops including Gallatin Alpine Sports. Users are discouraged from using shovels inside the park, so that the targets remain properly buried, but probing is necessary to locate the targets.

On the fence behind the softball field’s home plate, a control board contains switches to activate any number of the eight sensors—the facility is designed to simulate multiple burials. The sensors are buried around the softball field, each housed in a rugged box and covered with a piece of plywood

attached to a sensor. The entire system is powered by batteries.

“When you strike the plywood, it notifies the control board and lights up,” DelGuidice said. He noted that it’s best to go with a partner who can monitor the control box and shout when the sensor is probed.

DelGuidice sees people using the park a couple times per week.

“I think it would be nice if more people used it, just because of how valuable it is as an asset if you are going into the backcountry, just to have your skills refreshed,” he said.

The main housing for the control board includes a wealth of information on avalanche safety and awareness, and tactics for beacon search and probing.

DelGuidice also said he hopes local dog-walkers will avoid that field.

“[Dogs] have a tendency to dig up targets,” he said. In addition, a BSCO social media post pointed out that it’s best for park participants to not be probing through dog droppings.

“We hope that most people are cleaning up after their dogs, but we know that some people don’t,” he lamented.

Aside from practicing with a beacon and probe, backcountry users should always read the avalanche forecast before venturing in the mountains. Near Big Sky, Bozeman, West Yellowstone and Island Park, Idaho, daily forecasts are provided by the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. Traveling with one or more trusted partners, emergency supplies and adequate communication devices will also help mitigate emergencies in the backcountry.

Marco DelGuidice and his team manage physical assets and facilities for BSCO, including the beacon training park in the winter. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY

At Big Sky Community Park, eight different sensors communicate with a control board. Visitors can practice searching for the sensors with an avalanche transceiver. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY

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SPORTS

BIG SKY RESORT HOSTS MONTANA SPECIAL OLYMPICS COMPETITION FORTY-SEVEN ATHLETES COMPETE IN THE BIG SKY AREA WINTER GAMES WITH SPECIAL OLYMPICS MONTANA

BY JEN CLANCEY

BIG SKY—On Monday morning, Big Sky Resort’s Madison Base buzzed as a crowd cheered outside of Headwaters Grille. At 9:45 a.m., Sean FitzGerald, winter games director for Special Olympics Montana and radio host Missy O’Malley announced the beginning of the 15th annual Big Sky Area Winter Games.

Eight teams from the Big Sky area, including Gallatin Valley, traveled to the venue to race in giant slalom. As “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas played under a tent at the base, competitors completed practice laps on the course, set on the “Cupajoe” trail.

One skier that came down finished next to a volunteer he met hours earlier. Andrew Beideman began skiing with Eagle Mount, a nonprofit accessible sports organization, at Bridger Bowl last year and usually skis there.

“I have a leader that guides me through it. And they show me what to do. Whenever you’re pushing down on your right, you’re turning left. When you turn on the left, you’re turning right,” Beideman said, describing how he usually trains. He competed in the giant slalom on Monday.

“I’m just trying to do the best I can do,” Beideman said. Volunteer Kenny Johnson nodded, adding that Beideman showed control around the turns. Though the two were randomly matched, they both believed it was a great fit.

“He reminds me a lot of my dad,” Beideman said.

A little bit later in the morning, Anneka VanAbbema completed her second run on the giant slalom course visible from Madison Base. VanAbbema skis with the Gallatin Valley Bears and has skied since she was five years old.

This was her 15th year competing in the Big Sky Area Winter Games, and has seen the event from its earliest year. “I like all the people and I have fun doing it with people,” VanAbbema said.

As for goals, VanAbbema said, “It’s just to ski my best.”

Vanabbema also competes in the summer and fall Special Olympics. “It’s because I want to be with all my friends,” VanAbbema said when volunteer Jodi Hausen asked what about the event kept her coming back each year.

Sean FitzGerald has been involved in Special Olympics Montana for 15 years. As director of winter games, he puts together the event, connecting with Big Sky Resort, teams and volunteers to continue the tradition.

“All these competitions take a ton of time, energy resources coordination to pull off,” FitzGerald said. He says that every time it is more than worth it.

“It’s pretty spectacular … it’s truly one of the best days of the year.”

Many athletes competed as unified competitors. “Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team,” Special Olympics’ website states. In ski racing, this means that both the competitor’s and the volunteer’s time is combined to bring a final result.

“A unified competition basically brings these various individuals together to compete together,” FitzGerald said. For instance, skiers on the Bozeman Yetis team are paired with students in Bozeman public schools in unified competition.

The future of Big Sky Area Winter Games

“We want to have as many Special Olympians competing in this as we possibly can,” FitzGerald said. He also emphasized excitement from the surrounding community, and his hopes that more people will view the Special Olympics as a destination to watch and support athletes.

“I just hope that we can get to those higher numbers and spread the word and where possible, have people support the Special Olympics, because it really is a special opportunity,” he said, referencing high participation numbers he saw pre-COVID.

He encourages people to volunteer for Special Olympics or help out in their own community however they can. “Once you do it once, it’s impossible not to not to keep doing it.”

The competition ended at 3:30 p.m. at the closing ceremony, where athletes were awarded with ribbons for race times. Emcee Missy O’Malley congratulated the athletes and the Big Sky Fire Department assisted in handing out ribbons to competitors.

The 15th year of the Big Sky Area Winter Games brought teams from the Big Sky and Gallatin Valley area as well as other parts of the state.

PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

Andrew Beideman (left) with Kenny Johnson (right) at Madison Base area. PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

Anneka VanAbbema (left) smiles with Jodi Hausen (right) after completing a run on Cupajoe. PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

Sidney Kirsch (left) and Ocean Sullivan (right) competed together on the Bozeman Yetis.

PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH KEEPS BIG SKY TRADITION ALIVE NORDIC SKI TRAIL SYSTEM HAS ATTRACTED ELITE ATHLETES AND VISITORS WORLDWIDE FOR MORE THAN 45 YEARS

BY LESLIE KILGORE EBS CONTRIBUTOR

Alpine skiing isn’t the only sport that brings people from around the world to Big Sky each winter.

Lone Mountain Ranch provides visitors and many loyal residents with a 53-mile trail system for Nordic skiing, a trail system that has won significant awards, attracts accomplished athletes and teaches local students of all ages the gift of a lifelong outdoor sport.

Established in 1977, Lone Mountain Ranch began grooming its trails with a rolling groomer pulled by their draft horses to accommodate the growing Nordic ski community. Now, the trails are groomed by a team that works seven days a week from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. with an impressive assembly of Piston Bully machines.

“There’s a history here through our extensive trail system that supports a lifestyle and passion in addition to downhill skiing,” Lone Mountain Ranch General Manager Pat McVey said. “LMR’s Nordic skiing program is a special opportunity for our guests and locals to enjoy incredible scenery while skiing.”

With the history and culture of Lone Mountain Ranch so prevalent throughout its trail system, much of the terrain and trails hold stories and memories that reflect Big Sky’s past, which only enhances the experience of exploring through their old growth trees, expansive views and abundant wildlife sightings while skiing.

“The trail that used to be known as Little Bavaria is now called Walking Jim [named] after our original musician at the North Fork Cabin when we started the sleigh ride dinners in the '80s,” McVey said. “When he passed in 2010, we renamed the trail to Walking Jim in his memory since it was his favorite trail to ski at Lone Mountain Ranch.”

The scenery and trails are considered some of the best in the country, but McVey said they also

attract many elite Nordic racers for training and conditioning due to the elevation gain of more than 1,100 vertical feet within the trail system.

“We have a good mix of recreational and competitive ski racers who use our trails throughout the winter,” McVey added.

The Big Sky Ski Education Foundation hosts races on the Big Sky Golf Course and Nordic Center trails throughout the winter for both skate and classic skiing. Community gatherings take place before and after the races at the Nordic Center run by Big Sky Resort. The Big Sky School District and Big Sky Discovery Academy also plan several Nordic ski days for local students.

“Our extent of trails and the Nordic Center run by Big Sky Resort at the golf course is a great partnership,” McVey said. “It only enhances what we can provide to Nordic skiers at all levels.”

While Big Sky Resort sells Lone Mountain trail passes and provides ski lessons on the golf course, Lone Mountain Ranch maintains the 53 miles of trails. Lone Mountain Ranch established easements for all the land before the golf course and most Big Sky homes in the meadow were built. Most of the easements are on land that’s part of the Big Sky Owners Association, and in trade, they provide a discounted rate to homeowners and Big Sky Resort for their ski passes.

“We’re happy that Big Sky Resort has developed the Nordic Center at the golf course. It’s brought a professional level of ski instruction to the public wanting to discover the sport of Nordic skiing,” McVey said. “Lone Mountain Ranch will continue to work with the community and Big Sky Resort to provide a world-class Nordic skiing experience in one of the most beautiful settings that Nordic skiing has to offer anywhere.”

For more information on Nordic Skiing at Lone Mountain Ranch and Nordic ski lessons with Big Sky Resort, visit lonemountainranch.com/nordic-ski-trailpasses and bigskyresort.com/Nordic.

The trail system meanders through old growth forests and many local animals are spotted by recreationists. PHOTO BY LESLIE KILGORE

A quick visit with the furry residents of Lone Mountain Ranch after a ski. PHOTO BY LESLIE KILGORE

Lone Mountain Ranch offers a 53-mile trail system for Nordic and classic cross-country skiers in the wintertime.

PHOTO BY

LESLIE KILGORE

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NORTH AMERICA’S ‘TOUGHEST’ SKIMO RACE RETURNS TO BIG SKY MARCH 16

BY MARIO CARR EBS CONTRIBUTOR

BIG SKY—On March 16, the Shedhorn Skimo will challenge athletes and impress spectators for its ninth year at Big Sky Resort.

In March of 2015, the Shedhorn Skimo was an invite-only ski mountaineering race with only 22 competitors at Big Sky Resort. Averaging between 80-120 competitors the last few years, Noah Ronczkowski of Big Sky Ski Patrol believes it’s earning a reputation as the “toughest” skimo race in North America.

“From the feedback that I’ve gotten, it’s the most challenging race,” Ronczkowski said. He explained that this is mostly due to the extreme nature of the descents. After skinning and bootpacking to the top of Lone Mountain from the base, competitors are forced to hold for one minute before their first descent of the day: the Big Couloir. This hold is necessary, Ronczkowski said, in order to make sure competitors are fully collected before tackling the descent.

“In years past when the [Big Couloir] has been too icy we’ve put a 600-foot handline down it,” Ronczkowski said.

Ronczkowski helped found the race nearly 10 years ago with the help of other Big Sky patrollers, and explained that it was a dream of his to have a mountaineering race on Lone Mountain.

“This is the type of mountain where you would spend a day going to, to ski the lines off of this mountain,” Ronczkowski said.

With the help of a friend in the ski mountaineering world, Ronczkowski said that they were able to recruit some of the best American ski mountaineers to participate in the first Shedhorn Skimo race, and that many world-class athletes return year a fter year.

“We’ve had a lot of male and female participants here that compete in Italy in the big Pierra Menta Races and represent the United States,” Ronczkowski said.

In Big Sky, competitors take off to the top of Lone Mountain from the base of Swift Current at 8 a.m. and have until 4 p.m. to finish the course. The fastest time the Shedhorn Skimo has seen is around 3 hours and 52 minutes.

In recent years, the race has been divided into three categories: the Shedhorn, the Pronghorn and the Shedling. The Shedhorn currently boasts an intimidating 16-plus mile course with 8,000 vertical feet of climbing. In the first two years of the competition, competitors were required to ascend the Kircher Cliffs on a fixed vertical rope, but that element has since been removed to help increase the authenticity and accessibility of the race, according to Ronczkowski.

“The [United States Ski Mountaineering Association] referees had us shorten the race because it was too long and had too much vert’ for their requirements for an individual race,” Ronczkowski said.

After removing the cliff ascension and shortening the course slightly to abide by USSMA guidelines, Ronczkowski said that the general route of the course has remained the same over the years. The ascents have remained constant, while descents are adjusted according to conditions each year— the Big Couloir always being the first descent. All USSMA sanctioned events need to include a category for athletes under 18 years old, hence the addition of the Pronghorn race, which is roughly half the length of the Shedhorn.

With an 8 a.m. start time, this race runs while the resort is open to the public.

“Our number one goal is racer safety, and public safety, and we’ve never had a negative interaction between the racers and the guests,” Ronczkowski said.

Athletes have until 4 p.m. to get back to the top of Lone Mountain after multiple other ascents and descents, otherwise they will not be allowed to finish the race. Ronczkowski has regularly attended this cut off station and feels bad for the handfuls of competitors he has had to shut down.

Big Sky Ski Patrol puts an immense amount of work into this race with set up, take down, navigation support and even breaking trail so that whoever is in first place is never breaking trail for the rest of the competitors. It takes days to set up most of the course, with a heavy lift setting course markers on the morning-of, due to grooming on the mountain.

“This mountain has it all… I’ve been told a lot of the top [skimo] competitors are human lungs–but you’ve gotta know how to really ski here,” Ronczkowski said.

Ronczkowski said that many folks are surprised by not just the intense skiing required in the Shedhorn Skimo, but also the gnarly weather conditions that can make hiking something like Alto Ridge a terrifying venture

“The energy of the ski patrol is what makes this race so cool as well,” Ronczkowski said, thanking Rachel Efta, Casey Hart, Dave Brown along with all of the pro and volunteer ski patrollers that make the race the welcoming environment that it is.

Registration for the 2024 Shedhorn Skimo is open to the public until Friday, March 15.

PHOTO BY ANTHONY PAVKOVISH / BIG SKY RESORT

The steep, consequential Big Couloir is seldom busier than during the Shedhorn Skimo. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY

Big Sky Ski Patrol supports competitors at various aid stations, including the summit (pictured).

PHOTO BY JACK REANEY

MONTANA 64S MAKE HISTORY HOSTING INAUGURAL SENIOR NIGHT AT HOCKEY INVITATIONAL

BY MERRICK PARNELL EBS CONTRIBUTOR

Big Sky's youth hockey program, the Montana 64s, hosted their first-ever senior night as part of a weekendlong hockey event in Big Sky at the Marty Pavelich Rink that began on March 2.

The honored group of seniors was the first to graduate from playing in the program, alongside some players who helped start the youth hockey program several years ago.

“Charlee Sue Dreisbach had expressed interest in putting together a team to play games as a freshman, so she and I got to work on finding and recruiting more players and tracking down games and opportunities to compete,” said coach and representative Joseph McFadden.

In addition to Dreisbach, the Big Sky hockey seniors honored were Keelan Grupe, Mason Dickerson, Aidan Germain and Drew DiTulio. The senior night festivities are part of a weekend of games in which teams from Lewistown came to Big Sky to play the 64s.

The idea for the senior night came after the Salmon, Idaho youth hockey program allowed the Big Sky seniors to be celebrated in their tournament, which the Montana 64s attended back in February. A few of the Big Sky seniors got the wheels turning and put together a weekend of their own.

The Montana 64s teams had a mix of players from eighth to 12th grade on the co-ed team. The team’s makeup was five seniors, two sophomores, one freshman and multiple middle schoolers. Saturday night proved to be a primetime event in Big Sky.

“There were about two hundred plus folks watching Saturday night hockey in Big Sky from younger players in respective organizations, family members, friends and schoolmates, as well as tourists checking out the loud noises and bright lights,” said McFadden. “It was an incredible turnout for a hockey-crazed crowd that lasted till around 9:30.”

Lacey Cook was a parent and hockey fan in attendance on Saturday and was thrilled with the experience.

“It was a great event! [It was] truly awesome to see the program grow with these amazing kids and for them to get to celebrate their sport and be celebrated by the community, their peers, family, and friends, it was super rad,” Cook said. “Truly electric just to be there.”

Over the weekend, the Montana 64s U19 team beat the Lewistown Eagles twice in their two-game series, while the 14U/mixed-age team split with the Eagles.

“Big Sky’s senior night was a huge success as all of the parents and people from the community came out and were loud for our seniors,” said Keelan Grupe, a senior on the 64s who helped organize the event.

“To hear the crowd erupt after each goal was something I had never experienced before. The support from everyone was unbelievable.”

the U14 and mixed-ages team. PHOTO COURTESY OF MERRICK PARNELL

The Montana 64s take to the ice on March 2 at the Marty Pavelich Ice Rink for the youth hockey team’s first-ever senior night. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSEPH MCCFADDEN

‘FLOWING AIR’ MAKES MISSOULA’S BIG SKY

BY JACK REANEY

Here’s a story about life, about dealing with crisis and making the most of a second chance.

In “Flowing Air,” viewers meet Lane Lamoreaux, a paraglider and former smokejumper living in Scottsdale, Arizona. The new documentary film follows his journey to recovery after a paragliding accident almost takes his life and destroys parts of his lower right leg and pelvis, and shows his battle to continue living a meaningful life. For Lamoreaux, that meant taking advantage of man’s modern ability to take flight.

The film’s trailer is available online, as well as a panel featuring Lamoreaux at TEDxBigSky in 2021.

Filmmaker Seth Dahl was born and raised in Montana, and now lives in Gallatin Gateway. By chance, he met Lamoreaux in 2015 at a coffee shop in Boise, Idaho. Dahl noticed Lamoreaux’s smokejumper hat and his limp. One week after meeting, they agreed to film some of Lamoreaux’s story—Dahl envisioned a mini-doc about 10 minutes long and expected about a month of production.

It turned into a nine-year project and a 40-minute film, enabled by trust and an emerging friendship.

“Over time, it just developed,” said Dahl, who formerly worked as videographer for Outlaw Partners, the publisher of EBS. “... I started realizing there could be a lot more there for a story. ”

Lamoreaux continued to invite Dahl into his life to shoot key moments in his journey to a complicated recovery. Lamoreaux was forced to resign from his firefighting duties after falling just short in a required physical test, and after further injuries, doctors began suggesting a below-theknee amputation.

“That’s where it turned into a longer-form story,” Dahl said. Following Lamoreaux in cinéma vérité, Dahl said he was a “fly on the wall”—the film condenses years of footage into just a few snapshots of Lamoreaux’s strength and resilience through painful struggle.

Through everything, Lamoreaux kept flying. He worked as a paragliding instructor and substitute teacher, and made fire training videos. He kept facing tragedy and finding meaning in flight. As life events developed, the time frame of the film kept extending.

“You don’t go in with a script,” Dahl said. “... It created a challenge from the story angle, because you’re like, ‘where is this going?’”

The potential for Lamoreaux to undergo lifeimproving leg amputation gave Dahl something to drive toward as a storyteller.

“Our heroes, they have to go through change,” Dahl said. After amputation, he felt it was time to end the film, even with the potential for Lamoreaux’s life to continue changing. Amputation gave the story hope.

“I have this part-time job called getting well, which is very time consuming,” Lamoreaux says in the film. “... This has certainly forced me to travel into an area I had never planned on visiting. The world of the ill, the world of the impaired, the world of the injured, the world of surviving. It’s a pretty daunting world.”

Dahl glimpsed that world, and emphasized his privilege to do so.

“I get to go home each night with a working leg,” Dahl said. “... As a filmmaker into such an intimate story, you have an emotional connection and a friendship, and a care, and a concern.”

Dahl only saw that world as a healthy outsider, but he gained a deeper empathy for Lamoreaux’s plight. «He’s living it. I’m just holding the camera telling the story,” Dahl said.

He believes the film is deeply about the resilience of the human spirit, and how we process life events and continue living.

“And overcoming adversity in our lives. I think ‘Flowing Air’ is really about life. Life’s not easy. It’s very tough for a lot of people. I think that’s why everybody can relate to this story, because we all have a ‘Flowing Air’ incident in our life... The loss of a loved one, or the loss of a limb.”

From passion project to ‘a lifetime goal’

Now two months old, “Flowing Air” has been wellreceived at both film festivals that have shown it. The film premiered on Jan. 11 at the Lookout Wild Film Festival in Chatanooga, Tennessee. Lamoreaux attended and won the Dale Grey Beard Sanders Perseverance Award, nicknamed “The Stoney,” for most inspirational character.

On Feb. 26, the film was featured in the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, under the Montana category, with Dahl being a Montana filmmaker. He calls the showing a “lifetime goal” and is continuing to submit to documentaryfocused festivals and exploring options with PBS. He expects the film will be available on his website after its festival run.

In Missoula, Dahl was praised by a photographer for her personal connection to the film, having experienced disability. Others called the film a beautiful piece of art.

“I think that’s a wonderful compliment [for] telling a life story that is cinematic and beautiful, and artful, but true,” Dahl said.

After nine years working on “Flowing Air” in his spare time, Dahl has a relatively clean slate as far as passion projects—his full-time media business, Big Cedar Media, remains busy. Recent work includes a seven-minute branded promotional film for Big Sky Bravery, a nonprofit supporting active-duty special operations forces by providing restorative outdoor experiences in Montana. He recently finished a film called “Redside” highlighting the nonprofit Redside Foundation, and Dahl hopes it will be shown in an upcoming film festival.

As far as passion projects, he’s not done. He’s hesitant to share details but may have some exciting multi-year projects in the works.

“I’m definitely looking for more,” Dahl said. “For good stories that are worth telling, and especially Montana stories.”

Lane Lamoreaux is the subject of a new documentary highlighting his road to recovery after a paragliding accident. PHOTO BY SETH DAHL

Dahl shooting at Horseshoe Bend Flight Park in Idaho, a site featured in “Flowing Air.” PHOTO BY LANE LAMOREAUX

PHOTO BY SETH DAHL

GRAMMY-WINNING SÄJE TAKES BIG SKY’S STAGE

BY JACK REANEY

BIG SKY—The music began with a playful rhyme from John Zirkle, executive director of the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center.

“Let’s get ready, let’s bring ‘em out to the stage,” Zirkle told a near-capacity crowd, pausing with a smile for dramatic effect. “It’s säje. Enjoy!”

On Saturday, March 2, WMPAC hosted säje for a highly anticipated concert—Zirkle told the crowd that he was trying to bring the vocal supergroup to Big Sky for more than a year, even before their debut album won the 2024 Grammy for “Best Arrangement, Instrument, and Vocals.” As it happened, säje’s show at WMPAC was their first live, post-Grammy concert.

Many remarks were made about the March 2 snowstorm, an afternoon with bursts of heavy snow and swirling winds, but the WMPAC auditorium was nearly full despite challenging road conditions. And despite the slick roads, Zirkle managed to bring the artists with Big Sky Adventures and Tours for a snowy glimpse of Yellowstone National Park before the show, complete with waist-deep post-holing while snowshoeing at Fawn Pass, and a trip to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.

After two songs, all four singers reached for their water bottles. Singer Sara Gazarek asked a question she knew the answer to.

“Is it dry here?”

Vocalist Johnaye Kendrick joked about standing up slowly due to Big Sky’s altitude.

“Imma need a minute, y’all. ‘Cause I gotta get up,” Kendrick said while crouching for a sip of water.

If singing on a 6,000-foot-high stage left the fourwoman quartet short of breath, then we’d love to see säje at sea-level. They performed for more than 90 minutes, including songs from their awardwinning debut album and songs and arrangements that will be released on their second album, slated for release later this year. The four singers caught their breath during jazz solos featuring piano and keyboard, upright and electric bass, and drums.

Near the end of the concert, they sang a rendition of “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, whose songwriting and philosophy serve as an inspiration to Gazarek. She interpreted that “Jolene” painted a story about a woman being able to ‘steal’ a man, giving Jolene’s character the deciding power in a relationship.

They finished with an encore, asking the audience to echo the chorus, “you can’t keep the storm from comin’.”

Zirkle was thrilled with the show.

“This is gonna go down as a top-10 for me, out of our 330 productions to date for WMPAC,” he told EBS. It can take years to book artists, but säje came together relatively quickly after Zirkle watched a YouTube video last year. Back then, the group seemed to be flying under the radar, before their debut album and the Grammy to follow.

“On the first listen, I just thought, ‘this is it,’ and then it was really fast,” he said. “... This one was really just like a spark the whole way through.”

On Saturday, Zirkle felt that although the music style was unique, everybody recognized the talent on stage.

“I think for some people, they told me it was the greatest concert of their entire life... My colleague at the school told me his cup is completely full and he was reminded why he’s a music teacher,” Zirkle said.

And even before the eager audience arrived, the singers gave their time to local students in Lone Peak High School’s a cappella group. In the same day as their Yellowstone tour, sound check and concert, “säje was kind enough... to schedule an hour and come work with the students,” Zirkle said.

The students had practiced a song written by Amanda Taylor—she’s the “A” in säje—and sang it for her. The artists gave a brief lesson on how to compose music.

“Pretty cool to have local kids in Big Sky, Montana, meet the composer of a piece they learned, and they perform it for them and get feedback on it,” Zirkle said.

He thanked the community for taking a chance on new music, especially when the snowstorm gave an easy excuse to skip the sold-out show.

“We sometimes bring well-established artists, and sometimes we like to take a risk and bring new groups,” Zirkle said. “I’m just so grateful that the fine folks of southwest Montana joined us on that adventure.”

Jen Clancey contributed writing to this story.

Now a Grammy-winning vocal supergroup, säje visited Montana and brought song to a snowy Saturday. COURTESY OF JOHN ZIRKLE

Students collaborated with säje (middle) in the new music room at Lone Peak High School. COURTESY OF JOHN ZIRKLE COURTESY OF JOHN ZIRKLE

BIG SKY EVENTS CALENDAR

Thursday, March 7 - Wednesday, March 20

If your next event falls between March. 21 - Apr. 3, please submit it to media@theoutlawpartners.com by March. 27.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7

Biomechanics for outdoor athletes presentation Bozeman Public Library, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY, MARCH 8

Bozeman Splitfest 2024 Gallatin County Fairgrounds, all day

Big Sky Passenger Rail Service Forum Online, 12 p.m.

International Women’s Day Big Sky Resort, 1 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 9

Bozeman Splitfest 2024 Gallatin County Fairgrounds, all day

Anderson & Roe Piano Duo WMPAC, 7:30 p.m.

MONDAY, MARCH 11

Holistic Emotional First Aid Santosha Wellness Center, 3 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 12

Line Dancing Tips Up, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13

Winter Live Music The Wilson Hotel, 5 p.m.

Trivia The Waypoint, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

Queer Cuisine BASE, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 16

Shedhorn Skimo Big Sky Resort, 8 a.m.

James Sewell Ballet WMPAC, 7:30 p.m.

Live Music: Cole & the Thornes The Waypoint, 8 p.m.

SUNDAY, MARCH 17

St. Joseph Mass Big Sky Chapel, 8 a.m.

All Saints Big Sky Big Sky Chapel, 10 a.m.

Big Sky Christian Fellowship Service Big Sky Chapel, 4:30 p.m.

MONDAY, MARCH 18

Gays on Blades Marty Pavelich Ice Rink, 8 p.m.

FEATURED EVENT:

Pop-Up Jazz with the Alex Robilotta Trio The Wilson Hotel, 5 p.m.

The Alex Robilotta Trio will play a free concert of jazz from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Wilson Hotel Lobby Bar. Isaac Winemiller will play on the bass, Alex Robilotta will play the guitar and Josh Poole will perform on the drums for the concert, which is put on by Arts Council of Big Sky

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

Big Sky County Water and Sewer District Meeting

Big Sky County Water and Sewer District, 8 a.m.

American Legion Winter Bingo The Waypoint, 6:30 p.m.

Line Dancing Tips Up, 7 p.m.

Vancouver International Film Festival The Waypoint, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

Symphony Storytime Bozeman Public Library, 10:15 a.m.

Pop-Up Jazz with the Alex Robilotta Trio The Wilson Hotel, 5 p.m.

Trivia

The Waypoint, 7 p.m.

AWARD WINNERS

BEST BUSINESS

1st Lone Mountain Ranch

2nd Ace Hardware

3rd Hungry Moose Market & Deli

BEST NON-PROFIT

1st Big Sky Search and Rescue

2nd Big Sky Community Food Bank

3rd Big Sky Arts Council

BEST RESTAURANT

1st Michaelangelo’s

2nd Riverhouse BBQ & Events

3rd BYWOM

COMMUNITY MEMBER OF THE YEAR

1st Deputy Dan Haydon

2nd Queen Jean

3rd Alex Hoecker

BEST EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR

1st Andrew RobinPeak Creative Designs

2nd Jon Riebe - Willing Workforce, High Altitude Spa

3rd Payton Hueler - 406 Agave

BEST WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS

1st Thorn Apple Baking Co.

2nd Lone Peak Vet

3rd Herbacous

LEADER IN SUSTAINABILITY

1st Gallatin River Task Force

1st Outlaw Partners Events

2nd Big Sky Resort

3rd Big Sky SNO

BEST LOCAL MEAL DEAL

1st Riverhouse BBQ & Events

2nd Mi Pueblito Taco Bus

3rd Blue Moon Bakery

BEST ARTIST

1st Jill Zeidler

2nd Heath Rapp

3rd Julie Edwards

BEST PHOTOGRAPHER

1st Ryan Turner

2nd Dave Pecunies

3rd Jonathan Stone

BEST LOCAL MUSICAN

1st Thad Beaty

2nd Dammit Lauren!

3rd Scavenger

BEST DATE NIGHT

1st Blue Buddha Sushi Lounge

2nd Horn & Cantle

3rd Montage - La Cortina

BEST CHEF

1st Ian Troxler - Olive B’s

2nd John Flach - BYWOM

3rd Jeremy Vitou - Montage

BEST BURGER

1st BYWOM

2nd Corral Bar & Steakhouse

3rd Riverhouse BBQ & Events

BEST PIZZA

1st Ousel & Spur 2nd Blue Moon Bakery

3rd Milkie’s Pizza & Pub

BEST BAR

1st Corral Bar & Steakhouse

1st The Waypoint

2nd Beehive Basin Brewing

3rd The Rocks Tasting Room

BEST BARTENDER

1st Heather Rapp

2nd Zach Lowenstein

3rd Michelle Clark-Conley

BEST SALON

1st

BEST SPA 1st

BEST

BEST OUTFITTER

1st Gallatin River Guides

2nd Geyser Whitewater

3rd Jake’s Horses

BEST FAMILY-FRIENDLY ACTIVITY

1st Big Sky Resort

2nd Music in the Mountains

3rd Big Sky Farmer’s Market

BEST REAL ESTATE AGENCY

1st Big Sky Real Estate Co.

2nd Outlaw Realty

3rd Big Sky Sotheby’s

BEST REALTOR

1st Mia Lennon

2nd Michael Pitcairn

3rd Martha Johnson

BEST

BEST ACCOMODATIONS

1st The Wilson

2nd Lone Mountain Ranch

3rd Montage

BEST PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

1st Stay Montana

2nd Two Pine Properties 3rd Ascend Properties

BEST ARCHITECT

1st Centre Sky Architects

2nd 45 Architecture

3rd Miller-Roodell Architects

BEST BUILDER

1st Big Sky Build

2nd Haas Builders

3rd Highline Partners

BEST CANNABIS DISPENSARY

1st Lone Peak Cannabis Co.

2nd Herbacous 3rd Double Dogs

BEST BOUTIQUE/GALLERY

1st The Trove West

2nd Big Sky Art Gallery/Ryan Turner

3rd Rhinestone Cowgirl

BEST SHOPPING/RETAIL

1st Montana Supply

2nd Faherty

3rd Ace Hardware

WORTH THE DRIVE

1st Yellowstone National Park

2nd Glacier National Park

3rd Beartooth Highway

HEALTH

THE DIRT ON DIRTY KETO: WHY WHOLE FOODS MATTER

BY LUIS VILLASEÑOR EBS CONTRIBUTOR

“Everything popular is wrong.” – Oscar Wilde

As a health coach focused on low-carb communities, this quote makes me think of dirty keto. Dirty keto has garnered significant popularity as a convenient way to lose weight. After all, people think that as long as you’re (1) eating fewer than 50 grams of net carbs per day, and (2) not overeating, your body will begin burning body fat for energy.

It begs the question: Food quality, who?

I’m not surprised that people gravitate toward the lazy keto diet. Processed foods are tasty and convenient, and people like to have their cake and eat it too — especially on a lowcarb diet. But that’s not all. These foods may also trigger a subconscious appeal related to the keto flu.

The keto flu, if you’re not familiar, is a set of symptoms that most often stem from sodium deficiency, an indirect effect of reducing carb intake. It’s pretty common on most diets that minimize carbs (like fasting, carnivore, and paleo) because these diets accelerate sodium losses. And since processed foods contain much more sodium than whole foods, people may actually crave and feel better eating processed foods instead of whole foods (in the short term).

If only they knew… There are plenty of solutions for sodium deficiency — the salt shaker, olives, pickles, electrolyte drinks, and more — none of which require eating garbage and sacrificing your long-term health.

Nonetheless, many people decide that dirty keto must be all gravy after losing a bit of weight. That’s why I felt compelled to write this short manifesto. Keep reading to learn how dirty keto falls short, which foods to avoid, and the importance of whole foods.

What is dirty keto?

Dirty keto (or lazy keto) is a low-carb diet that ignores food quality. The only rule is to limit carbohydrates. Some may define lazy keto distinctly as one that doesn’t track macros, but for my purposes here, I’ll be using “dirty keto” and “lazy keto” interchangeably.

Oftentimes, a lazy keto diet is high in processed foods (cured meat, industrial seed oils, etc.) and low in whole foods like unprocessed meat, fish, nuts, and vegetables. This doesn’t have to be the case but, for convenience sake, low-carb junk food usually takes the wheel.

By and large, a dirty keto diet is advertised as an “easy button” for weight loss and other benefits of ketosis. And while this message isn’t entirely false and may help people lose body fat, it won’t help anyone down a path of optimal long-term health outcomes. It ignores food quality for the sake of weight loss.

Can you lose weight on a Dirty Keto diet?

Yes, you can. Like any diet, keto weight loss mechanisms are mostly uncoupled from food quality. Despite how complex the inner workings of energy balance can be, the straw that stirs the drink has always been calorie intake. This doesn’t mean that other factors (such as hormonal response to food composition) play no part — they absolutely do. In fact, diet composition and even the timing of your meals can affect energy balance.

Nonetheless, you can lose weight on a dirty keto diet. When you restrict dietary carbohydrates for a while, your body quickly enters a metabolic state called ketosis. Ketosis is not some form of fat-burning wizardry. If you overeat, you’ll still gain weight — even on a ketogenic diet.

It’s just that people naturally tend to eat less, because many people feel more satiated on keto. If this leads to a caloric deficit, then keto works for weight loss. The type of weight loss, thanks to the increased reliance on fat and ketones for energy, tends to be body fat.

This logic applies to all very low-carb diets, including lazy ones. And many studies, for better or worse, don’t worry about food quality when structuring keto diets. They restrict carbs. They enter ketosis. They net a caloric deficit. They lose weight.

But weight loss isn’t everything.

What else do you have to lose?

Weight isn’t the only thing you can lose on a lazy keto diet. You can also lose your long-term health and well-being. You see, dirty keto holds zero regard for protein intake. The risks of low and high protein intakes are highly asymmetrical — the risks of eating too little vastly outweigh the risks of eating too much.  Inadequate protein is a huge reason why many people don’t hit their body composition—muscle vs. fat—goals on keto. People eating a dirty keto diet may lose weight, but oftentimes a good chunk of this weight loss is actually muscle loss. We want to lose body fat while maintaining our hard-earned muscles. Beyond muscle, protein is needed for endless processes in your body, such as the production of hormones and enzymes, and upholding your immune system. Since our body doesn’t have a place to store protein besides muscle, it’s important we hit our protein goal each and every day.

When I coach clients, I start by helping them set a protein goal. Next, we limit carb intake. Lastly, we fill in any remaining calories with fat according to the person’s unique energy requirements. I’ve seen this approach work for thousands of people.

So if lazy keto is lazy on protein, well, that’s another huge downside. Coming up, we’ll cover other ways dirty keto can derail your long-term health.

Two problems with Dirty Keto

Dirty keto may work for weight loss, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Here are two ways that dirty keto falls short.

First of all, processed foods can be healthy foods. Fermenting, blending, soaking, drying, and freezing are all benign processing methods. Sauerkraut is technically processed, and that stuff is great for you. More heavily processed foods, however, often contain artificial colors, food dyes, preservatives, parabens, and anti-caking agents. While I don’t recommend consuming these compounds en masse, I also won’t slap some “Blue #2” out of your hand.

While there is epidemiology linking processed meat and colon cancer, it’s based almost entirely on food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) — notoriously unreliable for tracking actual eating habits. Do you remember what you ate last Monday? I can say with a good degree of confidence that, for most people, the answer is no.

Some researchers believe the formation of N-nitroso compounds in cured meat drives cancer risk. However, all modern processed meat is required to contain ascorbic acid (vitamin C) — and vitamin C inhibits the formation of these compounds.

Also, in the case of the famous colorectal cancer study, many people who reported eating meat were more-so eating fast food like burgers and hot dogs. So if we’re going to blame meat, we’d do better to first look toward over-processed meats with hydrogenated oils. The up-sized fries, soda, and ice cream that often accompany these foods aren’t doing us any favors either. So why is processed meat linked to cancer? Assuming the FFQ data is accurate (a big assumption), my money is on the likelihood that salami and sausage eaters tend to live unhealthier lives. If you’re eating a lot of these foods, you probably aren’t exercising, meditating, eating vegetables, etc. Correlation, not causation.

All of that said, I do have a few problems with processed foods. They’re often calorie-dense, hyperpalatable, and lacking in nutrients. Excess calories stunt weight loss, and neglecting a whole buffet of nutritious foods that your body needs to thrive is just silly.

Another signature of lazy keto is a conspicuous lack of vegetables. People that eat lots of processed foods tend to be low in important vitamins like B12 and K. But low-carb vegetables like spinach, kale (yuck!), and broccoli are some of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet.

These foods are high in:

- Folate (for energy production and DNA repair)

- Vitamin C (for immune and skin health)

- Magnesium (for heart health, energy, muscle function, mood, and more)

- Potassium (for healthy blood pressure)

Take magnesium, for example. This mineral functions as a cofactor for over 300 enzymatic reactions in your body. You need it for almost everything, from repairing muscle to producing energy (ATP) itself. Magnesium deficiencies are linked to chronic inflammation, impaired blood vessel function, osteoporosis, and insulin resistance.

Potassium and magnesium deficiencies are super common because people don’t eat enough leafy greens on the Standard American Diet or programs like dirty keto. Plus, low magnesium is rarely suspected as a cause of low energy.

Another dirty deficiency worth mentioning is fiber. Fiber feeds your gut bacteria so they can produce anti-inflammatory compounds like butyrate. In the literature, higher fiber consumption appears to be protective against colon cancer and heart disease. In other words, constipation isn’t the only consequence of a veggie-free keto diet. Your longevity is on the table too.

“But what about us carnivores?” I understand that there are some people for whom fiber has a deleterious effect on health. However, this appears to be the exception rather than the rule. I believe the majority of people stand to improve their health by eating more fiber.

The importance of whole foods

In our quest for flavor and convenience, modern society has forgotten the value of real foods. Dirty keto is all about quickly checking off the low-carb box. The bunless burger, the pork rinds, the cured meat, and so on.

But when you neglect whole foods, you neglect what we evolved to eat. Whole food nutrients, in whole food combinations, are how we’re meant to nourish ourselves.

The concept of food synergy applies here. It’s the idea that whole foods are more than the sum of their parts. One example of food synergy is that tomatoes seem to benefit prostate health more than lycopene alone. Another is that full pomegranates seem to have stronger anti-cancer effects than individual compounds in the fruit.

Another advantage of whole foods? Relative to supplementation, it’s hard to overdo any specific nutrient. High supplemental intakes of folate may fuel the progression of cancer, and high supplemental intakes of vitamin A and vitamin E are linked to increased mortality risk. But unless you eat polar bear liver, you’re unlikely to suffer vitamin A toxicity. And I don’t know about you, but my grocery store doesn’t carry polar bear liver anyway.

Lastly, I’ll add that whole foods, compared to processed foods, tend to yield a greater thermogenic effect. Simply put, you burn a bit more calories eating whole foods—vs. processed foods— during the metabolization of the food itself.

Eating a clean Keto diet

Both a dirty and clean keto diet can tap into the benefits of ketosis. But the similarities largely end there. A clean keto diet: Is largely devoid of vegetable oils and other processed pseudo-foods; Supplies adequate protein from whole foods sources like meat, fish, eggs, and offal; Prioritizes healthy fat sources like the ones naturally found in meats, fish, eggs, olive oil, avocados, coconut oil, and butter; Is rich in non-starchy vegetables like kale, spinach, zucchini, broccoli, and some lowfructose fruits such as berries.

This prevents fiber, electrolyte, and other micronutrient deficiencies.

Before I sign off, I’d like to clarify — I’m not saying that there’s no in-between. “Clean” and “dirty” are relative terms. They exist on a continuum. Our diets will vary, be it due to preference, circumstance, or past experience, and that’s okay. Not everyone needs to crank their diet optimizations up to 11.

To speak generally, however, the cleaner your diet the better. The less junk food and more whole foods you eat, the better your long-term health will be. As I like to say, the simple moves the boat so much further across the ocean.

Editor’s note: This article was published with permission by LMNT. LMNT is a client of Outlaw Partners, publisher of Explore Big Sky.

BUSINESS

THE BIG SKY WAY: CHEERS TO DECADES OF PROPERTY TAX RELIEF

BY DANIEL BIERSCHWALE EBS COLUMNIST

The residents of Big Sky have lower property tax bills thanks to the forward thinking of some locals more than three decades ago. In 1992, residents voted in favor of implementing a resort tax, a decision that continues to have positive impact to this day.

People, mostly tourists, pay resort tax on their purchases. So, you might be wondering, how does that save residents money? To understand, we’ll take a look into how the two taxes work together.

The government services that are needed to run a community are typically funded in large part through property taxes. This includes essentials like the sheriff, fire department, water and sewer. These taxes, whether through mill levies or fixed fees and assessments, ensure that the costs of maintaining our quality of life are shared among property owners.

In our tourism-based community, additional services and infrastructure are needed to sustain the influx of visitors. Resort tax is collected on luxury goods and services typically used by tourists—such as hotel rooms, restaurants, recreational adventures and gear, and souvenirs—and is utilized to support

funding for managing the impact of tourism on Big Sky. Unlike traditional property taxes, which can disproportionately burden residents in a location impacted by visitors, the resort tax distributes the financial responsibility more equitably.

In the fiscal year 2024 alone, the Big Sky Resort Area District allocated over $10.5 million from its budget to fund essential government services within district boundaries—an area encompassing approximately 6,950 property parcels. These services, which would have otherwise been funded through property taxes, translated into significant savings for residents, averaging over $1,500 per parcel. While the exact figures vary depending on property values, the impact remains substantial. This is testament to the tangible benefits of the property tax offset enabled by Big Sky’s resort tax.

Many people underestimate the sheer magnitude of the savings generated through resort tax revenue. Since its inception, the resort tax has collected over $140 million. A large part of those public dollars have been targeted on funding government services. As our community is faced with financing over $750 million in critical infrastructure needs outlined in the Big Sky Capital Improvement Plan, it becomes increasingly apparent that diversifying funding options is essential. Strategically allocating resort tax revenue towards these projects will help to alleviate the burden on property owners.

In an area where home prices are steep, property tax relief is even more important. Without such relief,

the already formidable challenges of purchasing and maintaining a home here would become even more daunting.

‘But I don’t own property’

This tax relief extends its impact beyond property owners, benefiting renters and consumers as well. Lower property tax burdens can translate into reduced overhead costs for both landlords and local businesses. Without the tax savings, they would need to make up those expenses by charging more for rent or for goods and services.

All community members benefit from the significant property tax relief that resort tax provides. So, the next time you grab dinner and a cocktail at a local establishment, toast to the 4% resort tax line item on your bill. This seemingly small contribution plays a significant role in generating savings for property owners, renters, and consumers alike—and our many visitors are paying that 4%, too.

Daniel Bierschwale is the Executive Director of the Big Sky Resort Area District (BSRAD). As a dedicated public servant, he is committed to increasing civic engagement and voter education. Many ballot issues impact government services and public funding including subsequent property tax impacts. BSRAD is the local government agency that administers Resort Tax, which offsets property taxes while also funding numerous community-wide nonprofit programs.

Big Sky’s resort tax, a 4% tax on luxury goods and services, funds critical infrastructure that can be strained by visitors. COURTESY OF BSRAD

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ENVIRONMENT

BEAR SAFETY: BEARS PREPARE TO LEAVE HIBERNATION, PUBLIC AWARENESS CRUCIAL

BY TAYLOR OWENS

As winter’s cold grips disperses in the coming weeks, bears will begin the process of waking up from hibernation. With the end of hibernation season on the horizon, the focus will shift to the crucial role of the public in mitigating conflicts between bears and humans. This season, bear safety and awareness is more important than ever as we enter into a new era of grizzly bear population success and expanding bear territory.

“We actually don’t know what cues they take that get them to wake up in the springtime, but there is a pretty consistent pattern of hibernating beginning in November and emergence happening usually March, April and May,” said Danielle Oyler, wildlife outreach specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Bears hibernate as a response to a lack of food. Hibernation is a way to save energy during times of scarcity, and in North America, scarcity accompanies winter. Factors that determine how long a bear hibernates include age, gender and reproductive status. As of the 2023-24 winter season, bears in Montana have been consistent in their hibernation schedules.

“It’s an El Niño winter, but we haven’t noticed anything different with the bears,” Oyler said. “They have been on their normal cycle. Typically, bears will hibernate for a similar amount of time every year. There can be variability, especially in the fall with specific bears, if they have become accustomed to a food source that remains longer than maybe it does in other areas. So that’s something that does happen, but it’s usually not for a whole population of bears.”

Hibernation variability is not a usual occurrence but can occur in specific cases. One such case could be that a bear is not fat enough to make it through the winter. That bear may wake up because they are hungry, but that is not a normal or healthy occurrence.

“There can be bears that wake up occasionally,” Oyler said. “It’s pretty unusual, but bears can wake up in the middle of hibernation and then go back into the den. If they’re not going to make it through winter and they’re in a desperate attempt to find food, they might not make it. It is the exception and not the rule.”

The biggest task ahead for the public and people living in bear country is food storage and keeping attractants away from bears. These are the most important undertakings to keep bears out of trouble and safe, as well as keep people safe, as we approach emergence.

Most bear conflicts are related to attractants, whether that is bears getting into garbage or food waste that was left out. Keeping attractants away from bears is important for property owners,

vacation renters, hotel guests and anyone living or staying in bear country.

“I think folks visiting Big Sky don’t necessarily expect that a grizzly bear could walk through their backyard, but they definitely can, and do,” Oyler said. “So it’s always good to assume that they’re there, even if you don’t see them.

The best ways to impact your local wildlife is to take responsibility back home and evaluate your property and make sure everything is stored properly. Another important reminder, going into spring, is to put away bird feeders so bears do not get into them.

“It’s more important than ever that we all do our part this year to help bears share the landscape safely with people,” said Matthew Hart, communications director at Vital Ground Foundation. “That means everything from carrying bear spray and practicing its proper use to homeowners and landowners in grizzly country securing any possible bear attractants on their properties.”

By almost any measure, the recovery of grizzly bear populations in the Rocky Mountain West has been successful. Because of this, the bruins are moving into new places, looking for home ranges, and they’re showing up in places people haven’t seen them in in a long time.

“People should expect to see grizzly bears anywhere west of Billings, Montana,” Oyler said. “That doesn’t mean that there’s the same density everywhere in the state, but we are seeing grizzly bears moving into new places.”

Grizzly bear density in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is highest at the core of that ecosystem and the surrounding mountain ranges, including our neighboring Absaroka, Beartooth, and Gallatin ranges.

“If you imagine the core of the ecosystem is like a cup of water and now the cup is full,” Oyler said. “When you pour more water in the cup, it spreads out. That’s what’s going on with the bears.”

“If you think about where conflicts are more likely to happen, especially if they’re related to attractants and food, it’s going to be at the edges,” Oyler continued.

As bears continue to expand into new areas, there are more places and opportunities for them to find attractants and interact with people than there are in the core of their ecosystems. Proper storage of attractants has been a priority at the core of these ecosystems for a long time.

“The forest service and the park service have put in bear resistant containers and have a done a really good job of trying to get that message out and help their visitors do the right thing with their attractants,” Oyler said. “But at the edges, that’s a bit more challenging because it’s a mix of public and private land and agriculture and it becomes more complicated.”

More education and awareness on how to live in bear country will be needed in areas bears are now appearing in. Bear safety and education is more important than ever for longtime residents and visitors of this region of Montana.

This article is part of a partnership with Hey Bear. Organizations like Hey Bear, alongside partnering nonprofits like Vital Ground Foundation, work to spread awareness and safety tips about living in bear country, and protect and restore North America’s grizzly bear populations for future generations by conserving wildlife habitat and by supporting programs that reduce conflicts between bears and humans. Learn more at heybear.com.

ADOBE STOCK PHOTO

DISPATCHES FROM THE WILD: RESTLESS WINTER BRUINS

CLIMATE VARIATION IS INTERRUPTING BEAR HIBERNATION

BY BENJAMIN ALVA POLLEY EBS COLUMNIST

In northern climates, grizzly bears and black bears typically survive cold weather by entering hibernation, a period of decreased activity during which they don’t eat, drink or defecate; their body temperatures drop, and their heart rates slow to just nine beats per minute. The duration and depth of hibernation varies depending on local climate and food availability, allowing bears to conserve energy when food is scarce.

Some scientific theories suggest that hibernation and denning behavior may be a “residual adaptation” from the Pleistocene epoch, which allowed bears to escape and survive extreme cold periods. Hibernation may not be a hard-set scientific fact like we have all been told in hundreds of books and articles written on the animal—when it comes to brown bears or black bears, no rigid rules can be set because they adapt to any accessible environment that offers food availability.

In mid-January 2024, Bozeman saw 80- to 90-degree Fahrenheit temperature changes— from minus 45 to 52 degrees. These big swings in weather can affect wildlife, especially bears, and the Custer Gallatin National Forest has documented grizzlies outside their dens this winter near West Yellowstone and Gardiner due to climate variation.

Warmer winters like the one in Montana and in the West are depriving bears of the big clue that it’s time to hibernate: cold weather. There have always

been variations in winter’s severity, but as we have experienced warmer winters, later falls and earlier springs that disrupt food supplies and biological rhythms for bears, they are changing their hibernation routines. With more and more human development on the wildland-urban interface, more anthropogenic foods—like garbage, bird feeders, pet food and fruit trees—have become available for bears, which leads to more conflict with humans.

Brown bears, or what we call grizzlies in Montana, are the most adaptable of all bears in the Ursidae family. Their behaviors and genes show a high level of plasticity. Initially, they lived in places as diverse as Mongolia’s Gobi Desert and Mexico’s Sierra del Carmen and Sierra Madre Occidental, north to the boreal forest which spans the globe like a green belt through the Canadian and Russian Arctic. They are highly evolved, intelligent, resourceful and opportunistic bruins who can use their powerful body and aggressive nature to steal meals from other predators like mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and wolves. They have a keen sense of smell, powerful humps for digging roots and forbs, claws for raking berries, and jaws that crush bones. They are highly adaptable creatures, primarily vegetarian, but can and will eat meat if available. They will also hunt young, old or winter-weakened deer, elk or moose.

Some bears are tardy to den—or don’t den— because they are starving and have no fat reserves, while other big males can be more in a state of ‘walking hibernation,’ being out and about competing for available food. This has been reported in Yellowstone National Park and in Montana’s North Fork country on the west side of Glacier National Park. In the past, I have encountered grizzly tracks in wildlife studies in late November, December, January, February and March in Glacier National Park’s North Fork Valley.

Biologists have found reasons why some bears stay awake all winter or wake from their slumbers earlier. A black bear study in Durango, Colorado, found that for every one degree Celsius that minimum temperatures increase in winter, bears hibernate for six fewer days. As temperatures continue to rise, bears may stay awake between 15 and 39 more days per year by the middle of this century. The study found that higher temperatures and increased food supplies decreased the time bears hibernated. This could become more widespread.

As climate variation continues to impact weather, more and more bears will stay up later each winter, rise earlier in the spring, and some may not hibernate at all. We must continue vigilance in grizzly country by properly storing garbage, ensuring bird feeders are high enough and out of reach of all bears, including bears that climb, ensuring the fruit is picked off all our fruit trees, and when traveling through bear country, realize that we may encounter them in all months of the year and that we should carry bear spray more regularly.

Bears are highly adaptable creatures who cope with change and take advantage of available resources, so it’s essential that nearby humans are not complacent in the face of these varied changes.

Benjamin Alva Polley is a place-based storyteller with stories published in Outside, Adventure Journal, Popular Science, Field & Stream, Esquire, Sierra, Audubon, Earth Island Journal, Modern Huntsman, and other publications at his website www.benjaminpolley.com/stories. He holds a master’s in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism from the University of Montana.

BY PAUL SWENSON EBS COLUMNIST

Here is a little experiment that you should try. Kind of a party trick too. Take a dollar bill, crease it down the middle lengthwise and ask a friend to catch it between their thumb and first finger when dropped from a vertical orientation. The only rule is that the catcher cannot move their fingers down with the bill to catch it. Most people will not be able to do this. How come?

Objects at the surface of the earth accelerate downward at 9.8 meters per second, per second. There are two “per seconds” because the units of acceleration tell us the rate at which the velocity of an object changes. Derived from Newton’s Laws, there is an equation that finds the time it takes for an object to fall a certain distance: time = the square root of (2 times distance, divided by 9.8). The dollar bill can fall 15.5 centimeters before it is outside the pinch of your friend’s fingers. This results in a time of t = .18 seconds. It normally takes an undistracted human about .2 seconds to react to a single stimulus. So, if you miss the dollar, you are normal.

Now try the experiment again using a second stimulus. Tell your friend the funniest joke you can think of and at some random time during the joke, drop the bill. It should be apparent that their reaction time is slower. Now have them type a text to you with their dominate hand, repeating the joke you are telling, and randomly drop the bill. With three stimuli, their reaction time really slows down. My guess is that while they are texting, they will not even see the bill being released.

Behind the wheel

Now apply what we just learned to driving in the Gallatin Canyon.

The act of driving is stimuli intensive. You are watching the road, steering, braking, accelerating,

keeping track of several cars ahead and behind, watching for wildlife that could bound onto the road, listening to music and/or to a conversation, and perhaps being naughty and talking or texting on the phone. Finally, many of you have had an exhausting day at work or on the slopes. All of these are in addition to the stress of being in the upcanyon or down-canyon “train” at 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. Imagine you catch up to that 40-mile-per-hour guy. You know the one. It is tempting to get really close, thinking maybe he or she will use a turnoff. But therein lies the problem.

The reaction time for an alert, awake, undistracted driver is close to two seconds to recognize, interpret, and act to a situation around them. If you are traveling at 50 mph (74 ft/sec) and the car in front of you slams on their brakes, the distance you have

to react and avoid an accident is 150 feet. Given that a standard car length is 15 feet, a safe distance between cars traveling at 50 mph is 10 car lengths.

So why am I telling you all this? I am the driver that stays 10 car lengths back from the car ahead of me. It seems that behavior frustrates a lot of canyon drivers and I’m not sure why. If I tailgate the car in front of me at 50 mph, or hang back 150 feet, I am still going the same speed. Sure I’ll have gotten to the stop light one second sooner, but my total travel time is the same.

Now if I am the 45-mile-per-hour guy, I’m doing it because of the road conditions, and I use the turnouts. Flashing lights, honking horns and swerving all over the lane will not make me tailgate, or speed up.

And since we are talking about physics, the stretch of Gallatin Canyon between Gallatin Gateway and Big Sky is only 22 miles long. At 50 mph, that takes 26 minutes, and at 60 mph it takes 22 minutes. That is only a four-minute difference, the length of a single song on the radio. It’s not even as long as one Ramcharger chairlift ride.

Your reaction? It’s all about time, travel time and reaction time. I am not here to tell you how to drive, that’s your choice. I just hope this little piece might help readers avoid an accident that did not have to happen. Give yourself some space, and if there is the 40-mile-per-hour guy that won’t use the turnoff, take the opportunity to slow down and enjoy the canyon.

There is a lot of beauty along the way especially if you’re not seeing red.

Paul Swenson has been living in and around the Big Sky area since 1966. He is a retired science teacher, fishing guide, Yellowstone guide and naturalist. Also an artist and photographer, Swenson focuses on the intricacies found in nature.

Let’s leave tailgating for the parties at the football games. Leaving a little more s p a c e between you and the car in front of you is safer for both parties and does not change your travel time. PHOTO BY PAUL SWENSON

Experimental

PHOTO BY PAUL SWENSON

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WRITERS ON THE RANGE YOU’RE

NOT THE BOSS IN WILDERNESS

BY JOHN CLAYTON WRITERS ON THE RANGE

When my friends and I encountered the fresh grizzly bear scat, we were deep in Wyoming’s Teton Wilderness, 20 miles from a trailhead. I’d seen grizzlies before—from the car. But this experience was on a whole other level. I felt vulnerable, nervous. I also felt fully alive.

That feeling owes much to the Wilderness Act, which became law 60 years ago, in 1964. When President Lyndon B. Johnson created a nationwide system of wild landscapes “untrammeled by man,” it gave physical expression to an unusual attitude toward land.

The attitude could be summarized as: In the wildest parts of America, humans come second. What comes first is the land, its water and its wildlife. If the grizzly that left those droppings had confronted us, and I’m glad it never did, we lacked the resources of civilization to protect us.

If I’d fallen off a cliff, there was no cell service to call 911. If a freak snowstorm made us cold, wet and miserable, all we could do was suffer. In wilderness, Mother Nature won’t kiss a booboo to make it better.

There’s something elemental about being on your own, exposed. You’ve made a choice based on your values about the outdoors. As a result, you feel the power of larger forces—and sometimes, if you’re lucky, even the power of yourself.

Before the Act became law, American culture prioritized pulling all the resources we could

out of the land by drilling, mining, dam building, logging, over-grazing. We barged through habitat, flattened forests and plowed prairies. We replaced old growth with boardfeet of timber, canyons with cubic meters of water, and grasslands with barrels per day of oil. We’re still doing that on 95% of public land.

But the Wilderness Act acknowledged that in some places, the land should be left as unexploited as possible. It defined wilderness as being “in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape.”

Preserving wildness calls for restraint. It calls for motorized users, e-bikers, mountain bikers, pilots, snowmobilers, technical climbers with hardware and drone flyers to recreate somewhere else. Yet hiking, hunting, boating, fishing and horseback riding are all allowed in wilderness, as well as grazing if grandfathered in.

The Act’s primary author, Howard Zahniser loved hiking in wild places and he was determined: In eight years of lobbying the Congress for The Wilderness Society, he helped rewrite the bill 65 times. By the time the Act overwhelmingly passed—73–12 in the Senate and 374–1 in the House—Zahniser had died of heart disease at the young age of 58.

The Act is often discussed in terms of the acreage it protects, now comprising 806 wilderness areas and 112 million acres, roughly half of that in Alaska. Yet it’s really about nature being the boss.

In wilderness, we recognize that always getting our way can devalue ecosystems. It can harm wildlife, clean water, fresh air and other widely shared resources. It can cause us to scorn

Indigenous people’s connections to the land when we should be honoring them.

Wilderness is not the only place we embrace not getting our way, just as the U.S. Capitol building is not the only place we embrace democracy, and Civil War battlefields are not the only places we honor fallen soldiers. With wilderness as reminders, we can also consider not being the boss in a city park or backyard, while watching birds or growing native plants.

Threats to keeping wilderness wild, however, have never subsided. Sixty years have brought us innumerable technologies to help us get our way while recreating in nature. And as we’ve realized that making nature more accessible might make it more inclusive and its fans more diverse, some of us are tempted to relax recreational restrictions in wilderness.

That would miss the point. “We must remember always that the essential quality of the wilderness is its ‘wildness,’” Zahniser said. “We must not only protect the wilderness from commercial exploitation. We must also see that we don’t ourselves destroy its wilderness character in our own management programs.”

Honoring wilderness ideals is especially important today because it represents the same lesson that we should be learning from climate change: People can’t control nature. Thanks to the Wilderness Act, we can celebrate that some places remain free of our habit of changing everything—just because we can.

John Clayton is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit that promotes lively dialog about the West. He lives in Montana and writes the newsletter Natural Stories.

EVERY DROP COUNTS: BUILDING A UNIFIED VISION FOR WATER IN BIG SKY

BIG SKY’S COLLECTIVE ‘WATER PLAN’ IS RECEIVING AN UPDATE FOR ITS FIFTH BIRTHDAY

BY MARNE HAYES EBS COLUMNIST

Healthy water benefits the quality of life and habitat for fish and wildlife in the Big Sky area, as well as for the people that live here and depend on clean water in our daily lives.

When the Gallatin River Task Force considers what contributes to the health of our water, we examine the area in and around our community that is tied to the Gallatin River, local streams and groundwater, which feeds both the river and our community drinking water resource. In other words, our water is key to all aspects of our community’s health and is a resource that requires careful consideration, thoughtful strategies and community collaboration to be kept healthy.

Understanding what tools it takes to maintain clean water, and encouraging practices that lead to healthy rivers and streams are imperative in our ever-growing community, and our changing climate. That is where the Big Sky Sustainable Watershed Stewardship Plan comes into play.

The original plan was created in 2018 by a collaborative stakeholder group of 35 entities, representing local, regional and national conservation goals, local, county and state government, community leaders, resorts and developers, and downstream agricultural interests, in an effort to create a plan that identified solutions to water resource issues in the Big Sky area.

Built into the initial workings of the Water Plan was the group’s vision that it would establish Big Sky as a model mountain community for our efforts

to protect and improve water resources, sustain ecological health of our waterways, and support a vibrant local economy. These essentially became the bases of three focus areas for the plan, which intended to move forward action items that would address issues related to these fundamentally critical areas.

The primary focus in 2018 was to address water resource issues in the Big Sky area, which includes the West Fork Gallatin River, Jack Creek, and the Gallatin River mainstem and smaller streams along the stretch of U.S. Highway 191 that runs through Big Sky. All of these lands and waters contribute to the Gallatin and Madison Rivers, and the Water Plan focused on developing recommendations to address current and future water needs for both the natural and human communities in our collective footprint.

Now that the plan is at the five-year mark, its progress presents the opportunity to evaluate the actions since it was launched. It’s time to understand where the Water Plan needs updates, what focus areas need to be reconsidered, and how we continue engaging the stakeholder group so that the plan and the work remains a collaborative, community-based, and community-led process on behalf of the Gallatin River and our community water’s future health.

Priorities identified in the original plan covered three key areas: ecological health of river systems, water supply and availability, and wastewater treatment and reuse. Action items included water monitoring to establish trends, strategies for water conservation and groundwater modeling, and improved and expanded wastewater treatment and reuse capabilities.

In order to implement innovative solutions from the plan, partners at all levels would need to

commit to working together. Ongoing coordination and increased organizational capacity would be integral to accomplishing the goals of the Water Plan.

Since 2018, community partners have moved forward many action items that are now outlined in the 2023 progress report. With an original expectation that the plan would take 20 or more years of focused action, these initial successes are encouraging to the long-term wins for the plan, and for the Gallatin River. Issues that have arisen since the plan’s inception will guide the additional framework to lead ongoing action items and recommended solutions. Challenges like widespread algae blooms, faster-than-predicted community growth, lack of a water management boundary comprehensive of the entire Big Sky community, and the potential for catastrophic flooding will now be part of the substantive dialogue that will keep the Water Plan and its successes moving forward.

Led by the Task Force and a committed collection of more than two dozen stakeholder groups, the five-year update process is currently underway. The goal is to identify gaps and new issues that face our water resources, develop and prioritize ongoing solutions, and identify funding and accountability mechanisms that will set the Water Plan up for success. Awareness, education, engagement, and the willingness to find solutions is the name of the game, and the readiness of the community to step in and take an active role is paramount to the ongoing progress of this plan, for our waters.

For further information about the updated Big Sky Sustainable Watershed Stewardship Plan or the work of the Task Force, please visit our website.

Marne Hayes is the communications manager for the Gallatin River Task Force.

The Big Sky Sustainable Watershed Stewardship Plan was created in 2018, and will evolve with the changing landscape around Big Sky since. PHOTO BY RICH ADDICKS