Jan. 3 - 16, 2020 Volume 11 // Issue #1 Welcome to 2020! Top Stories of the Decade Chronic Wasting Disease numbers rise Pinky G’s opens for business LPHS squads fight for early-season hoop wins ‘Elkwood’: Local author pens wildlife fantasy book ‘Big Sky Quarry’ project advances TABLE OF CONTENTS LOCAL.........................................................................4 BUSINESS..................................................................35 REGIONAL NEWS BRIEFS...........................................8 HEALTH.....................................................................41 OPINION....................................................................11 FUN...........................................................................43 OP NEWS..................................................................14 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT.........................................45 ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS..................................17 DINING......................................................................54 SPORTS.....................................................................33 TOP STORIES OF THE DECADE...............................57 Jan. 3 - 16, 2020 Volume 11, Issue No. 1 Top Stories of the Decade Owned and published in Big Sky, Montana 57 Before the new decade commences, bringing with it a plethora of fresh news stories yet to be told, recall PUBLISHER the noteworthy happenings of the last 10 years by flipping through our top stories from the 2010s. Eric Ladd | [email protected] Chronic Wasting Disease numbers rise EDITORIAL The fatal Chronic Wasting Disease continues to plague elk, moose and deer in Montana, with the first EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VP MEDIA 23 case in the southwest region of the state recently being announced. Joseph T. O’Connor | [email protected] DIGITAL EDITOR, STAFF WRITER Michael Somerby | [email protected] Pinky G’s opens for business Pinky G’s, a Jackson Hole-based pizzeria, opened its new Big Sky location the day after Christmas. In SPORTS EDITOR / DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR 35 addition to offering New York-style pizza and other tasty bites, the new Town Center restaurant brings Doug Hare | [email protected] promise of late-night food. ENVIRONMENTAL & OUTDOORS EDITOR Jessianne Castle | [email protected] LPHS squads fight for early-season hoop wins Both Big Horn basketball teams struggled to stifle the Manhattan Christian’s high-scoring offense in STAFF WRITER, DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR 33 Brandon Walker their recent meeting. Even so, the LPHS girls and boys’ teams displayed promise for better results down the road. DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR, SOCIAL MEDIA ASSISTANT | Kirby Grubaugh ‘Elkwood’: Local author pens wildlife fantasy book Tracie Pabst, owner of Big Sky Shuttle, fulfilled a lifelong goal to publish a book that follows the story of CREATIVE 45 personified Montana wildlife characters. LEAD DESIGNER Marisa Specht GRAPHIC DESIGNER ‘Big Sky Quarry’ project advances ME Brown Big Sky Rock LLC seeks to remedy Big Sky’s lack of housing with a cluster-style development project they 7 are calling the “Big Sky Quarry.” SENIOR VIDEO EDITOR Ryan Weaver LEAD VIDEOGRAPHER Jennings Barmore SALES AND OPERATIONS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Megan Paulson | [email protected] VP, SALES AND MARKETING EJ Daws | [email protected] VP OF EVENTS Ennion Williams | [email protected] MEDIA AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Ersin Ozer | [email protected] BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LEAD Sam Brooks | [email protected] CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Blythe Beaubien | [email protected] CONTROLLER Treston Wold CONTRIBUTORS Three generations of family fun at the Elkhorn Ranch sleigh ride dinner. OUTLAW PARTNERS PHOTO Linda Arnold, Margaret Austin, Kathy Bouchard, Ryan Castle, Kelly Gorham, Anna Husted, Ted Kooser, Sara Marino, Scott Mechura, Eddy Murphy, EDITORIAL POLICIES Samuel Orazem, Alberto Rios, David Tucker, Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez, Carol Schmidt, Kene Sperry, EDITORIAL POLICY LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ADVERTISING DEADLINE Marshall Swearingen, Todd Wilkinson Outlaw Partners, LLC is the sole owner of Letters to the editor allow EBS readers to For the December 20, 2019 issue: Explore Big Sky. EBS reserves the right to edit express views and share how they would like to December 11, 2019 all submitted material. Printed material reflects effect change. These are not Thank You notes. the opinion of the author and is not necessarily Letters should be 250 words or less, respectful, CORRECTIONS ON THE COVER: the opinion of Outlaw Partners or its editors. ethical, accurate, and proofread for grammar Please report errors to [email protected]. A warm alpenglow illuminates the EBS will not publish anything discriminatory or and content. We reserve the right to edit letters in bad taste. and will not publish individual grievances about OUTLAW PARTNERS & EXPLORE BIG SKY summit of Lone Mountain as the sun sets specific businesses or letters that are abusive, P.O. Box 160250, Big Sky, MT 59716 on a memorable decade. The new year EBS welcomes obituaries written by family malicious or potentially libelous. Include: full (406) 995-2055 • [email protected] brings many changes, expected and un- members or from funeral homes. To place an name, address, phone number and title. Submit foreseen, but the emblematic peak of Big obituary, please submit 500 words or less to to [email protected]. © 2019 Explore Big Sky unauthorized Sky provides a consistent comfort for all [email protected]. reproduction prohibited living under its powerful trance. PHOTO BY KENE SPERRY #explorebigsky explorebigsky explorebigsky @explorebigsky 334 Nordic Lane ASPEN GROVES 5 BED + 5 BATH | 5,100 +/- SQ. FT. | $1,895,000 SKI-IN/SKI-OUT PROPERTY 4 Jan. 3 - 16, 2020 LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS Explore Big Sky Big Sky Resort introduces fastest The 5 Browns to wow at WMPAC six-person chairlift in North America EBS STAFF Swift Current 6 lift to arrive 2020 BIG SKY – As part of an ongoing mission to bring diverse and world-class talent to Big Sky, the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center is hosting a unique performance on Jan. EBS STAFF 11: The 5 Browns, a group of Juilliard-trained siblings with a prescient ability to meld the sounds of five grand pianos into new and winning takes on the classical music genre. BIG SKY – On Dec. 20, Big Sky Resort announced the instillation of a new chairlift feature, the latest in a slew of infrastructural upgrades Dubbed “extraordinary” by Oprah Winfrey, the group has also performed on “60 Minutes” and each of The 5 Browns’ three albums have held the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Classical securing the resort’s primacy in North American skiing. Album Chart. Swift Current 6, a six-person, high-speed chairlift, will be ready for Accepted simultaneously to Juilliard, a first-ever for New York’s world-renowned school of skiers for the 2020-21 ski season, and will feature the signature Big music, art and performance, the five members of the band will wow at the WMPAC with Sky Blue Bubble currently seen on the Ramcharger 8 and Powder their complex arrangements with no other instrumental or vocal accompaniment. Seeker 6 chairlifts, along with heated, ultra-wide seating. For the WMPAC staff, pulling off such an event is also nuanced; it’s no small feat to transport five grand pianos to the heart of the Montana Rockies, all with heated trac- Chairs on the Swift Current 6 lift will travel at a speed of roughly tor-trailers and an entire crew of piano movers. 1,200 feet per minute, crowning the chairlift as the fastest in North America. The initiative is a piece of the resort’s larger Big Sky 2025 Visit warrenmillerpac.org for more information. vision, of which a critical component is creating the most technologi- cally advanced lift network on the continent. Big Sky Resort announces 60-minute in- Despite the impressive speed, the chair will be “whisper quiet,” ac- cording to Boyne Resorts CEO and President Stephen Kircher. teractive adventure game Manufactured by Dopplemayr, the lift will be the fifth major Doppel- EBS STAFF mayr lift infrastructure project at Big Sky in the past four years. Big Sky – Imagine it’s 1863 in the Montana Territory. Gold has been struck in nearby Construction will commence as soon as possible following closing day Alder Gulch and members of the infamous gang known as The Innocents have overrun of the 2019-2020 season on April 19. your town. They’ve raided your supplies, imprisoned the local law enforcement and prom- ised to kill anyone that stands in their way. Visit explorebigsky.com/swift-current-6-coming-winter-2020-2021 for more information. You and other members of the town have managed to barricade yourselves inside Sheriff Plummer’s cabin for safety. But after several cold winter nights, supplies are running thin and The Innocents are close to discovering your whereabouts. With no one coming to your aid, you must work together to uncover the secrets of their plan, bring justice to your Outlaw Partners announces Peak to town, and escape. Will you make it out in time before this ruthless gang closes in? Sky concert dates That is the imaginative scenario for the initial installment of Big Sky Resort’s new real-life escape game. An escape room is a real life puzzle where teams work together to solve clues, logic puzzles, riddles and physical challenges. Participants are able to chal- EBS STAFF lenge their wits, problem-solving ability and creativity attempting to ‘escape’ before the time (one hour) runs out. Teams of four-to-six