Life and land from the heart of the Yellowstone Region April 17 - 30, 2015 Volume 6 // Issue #8 Farewell to winter: Local snowboarder lands on SFS podium BACK 40: Spring avy safety LPHS senior awarded Elks Foundation scholarship Bozeman's Movie Lovers defies odds Group seeks Wild and Scenic river expansion BSSD school board candidate bios explorebigsky explorebigsky #explorebigsky ON THE COVER: Big Sky Resort tram operator Chance Lenay airs through the Headwaters Cirque last winter. Lenay took third place this season in the Subaru Freeride Series men’s snowboard division. PHOTO BY NILES GREY JERAN April 17 - April 30, 2015 Volume 6, Issue No. 8 Owned and published in Big Sky, Montana TABLE OF CONTENTS PUBLISHER Eric Ladd Section 1: News Group seeks Wild and EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR Outlaw News...................................................................4 Scenic river expansion Joseph T. O’Connor Opinion.............................................................................5 SENIOR EDITOR/ Local..................................................................................6 DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR Tyler Allen Regional.........................................................................13 Montana.........................................................................14 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Maria Wyllie Section 2: Business, Sports, and Health CREATIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kelsey Dzintars Business.........................................................................17 Sports.............................................................................23 GRAPHIC DESIGNER Taylor-Ann Smith Health.............................................................................28 Environment..................................................................33 VIDEO DIRECTOR Bozeman’s Movie Lovers Brian Niles Section 3: Environment, Events, and defies the odds PHOTOGRAPHER/VIDEOGRAPHER Outdoors Wes Overvold Events Calendar............................................................38 Local snowboarder lands SALES AND OPERATIONS Events.............................................................................40 CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER on SFS podium Megan Paulson Outdoor..........................................................................45 DIRECTOR OF SALES Fun..................................................................................47 E.J. Daws Back 40.........................................................................48 ACCOUNT MANAGER Katie Morrison ACCOUNT COORDINATOR BACK 40: Maria Wyllie Spring avy safety MEDIA AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Ersin Ozer ACCOUNTANT Alexis Deaton CONTRIBUTORS Brad Bauer, Blythe Beaubien, Johanne Bouchard, David Brazier, Alan Bublitz, Mitch Casey, Jackie Rainford Corcoran, Andrew Graham, David Hardwick, Pauletta Hansel, Sepp Jannotta, Niles Grey Jeran, Alan Karchmer, Mike Quist Kautz, Explore Big Sky is the local paper for Big Sky, Montana, and a news and lifestyle Eric Knoff, Ted Kooser, Scott Mechura, Anna journal for the Greater Yellowstone Region. Middleton, Abbey Nelson, Donnie Sexton, Patrick Straub, Scottie Williams, Emily Wolfe, Michael Wright Editorial Policy Outlaw Partners LLC is the sole owner of the Explore Big Sky. EBS reserves the right to edit all submitted material. 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It gives readers a platform Starting with the current winter to view more in-depth and behind the scenes coverage. As I like to say, EXPLORING LIFE, LAND AND CULTURE FROM THE HEART OF THE YELLOWSTONE REGION FREE 2015 issue of Mountain Outlaw MOUNTAIN WINTER 2015 magazine, Outlaw Partners’ flagship “The Internet doesn’t have a word publication is available digitally as an limit.” BIOMIMICRY app on Apple’s Newsstand. LINKING BIOLOGY & BUSINESS LUKAS GEAR: NELSON Check out the current digital issue MAVERICK AND PROMISE OF THE REAL MAKEOVER walk on It’s easy. Open Newsstand, search for and watch the video expansion of “Mountain Outlaw,” and subscribe the story, “Walk On,” about Willie for free – you are now exploring life, Nelson’s son Lukas and his band land and culture from the heart of Promise of the Real; the Wagner the Greater Yellowstone region from Skis video explaining the virtues of your iPhone or tablet. customized skis; and the Baldface First Descents in Antarctica For our advertisers, this means your Lodge short – just by clicking on the ads can be fully interactive on this story or ad. WINTERKEEPER: 40 YEARS IN YELLOWSTONE platform, with unlimited options explorebigsky.com MOUNTAIN 1 to incorporate digital features. Like what you see and want your ad to Imagine someone watching a video be interactive? of your products, for example, or Email [email protected] being redirected to your reservations and we’ll take care of the rest. page simply by tapping your ad. It’s empowering. Zoom into read text Scroll through images EXPLORE I have fond memories of getting a new pair of skis as a child: the excitement of choosing boards at the A WAGNER SKIS OWNER DESCRIBES local ski swap and the immediate pride of ownership THE CUSTOMIZING PROCESS I felt knowing these skis were mine. One year my skis had a previous owner’s name engraved on them Name: Jon Hemingway Hometown Ski Areas: Crystal Mountain, Washington, and and my father keenly filled in the existing letters Big Sky, Montana with melted crayon wax and then wrote my name on Years skiing: Almost 50. I ski 50-60 days per year. the skis. Ski Dimensions: Length (cm): 185; Tip-Waist-Tail (mm): 144-107-129 Details: Off-piste rockered tip for easy turn initiation and Today, the world of custom gear is upon us. The float; all-mountain tail design with traditional camber un- ability to order custom sporting equipment is derfoot and a sugar maple/aspen core with titanal layers for a stable ride and great edge hold quickly evolving, ranging from orthotics in running Stiffness: Medium. Calibrated for height, weight and skier shoes to fitted golf clubs. Why not custom skis? “IT’S SIMILAR preferences Based in Telluride, Colorado, Wagner Skis produces Describe the Wagner ski interview and design process: TO HAVING It was a cross between a job interview and buying a sports full-custom, made-to-order boards. The skis are car, taking most of an hour. Pete wanted to know where I all manufactured independently in the company’s A SKI BOOT skied, how I skied, the purpose of the skis he was design- nearby Placerville manufacturing facility, head- FITTED ing, what skis I enjoyed in the past and why. quartered in a repurposed gas station that is wholly We narrowed the focus to a ski that would perform well powered by solar and wind energy. on the chalky steeps at Big Sky, with a bomber base and PROPERLY edges, and the ability to still perform well on corduroy, powder and crud. It had to handle my weight and allow “It’s similar to having