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December 2, 2011Volume 2 // Issue #21

S P E C I A L S E C T I O N :

GIFT & GEAR GUIDE

BIG SKYSEARCH & RESCUE

WORD FROM THE RESORTS

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15th annual Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival

2 December 2, 2011

Big Sky Weekly

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Climbers are fl ocking from around the U.S. and Canada for the 15th annual Bozeman Ice Fest. Four days of on-ice clinics will be held in Hyalite Canyon, south of Bozeman, including a special ladies day on Friday.

On Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., fes-tival goers will convene at the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman for multi-media presentations from ice climbing’s greatest characters.

“Genesis” will premier Friday night: A celebration of 40 years of ice climbing in Hyalite, the fi lm features Montana legends Pat Callis and Chad Chadwick repeating Callis’s classic route Genesis II, with Bozeman climber Pat Wolfe using vintage gear from the 1971 fi rst ascent. In the fi lm, Yvon Chouinard discusses inventing the modern ice axe.

Special guest Jeff Lowe will introduce a fi lm on his 1974 fi rst ascent of Bridalveil Falls, near Telluride, Colo. This rare foot-age documents the ascent that ushered in the era of modern ice climbing. Also, the legendary Henry Barber will share his perspective on how the hardest ice and mixed routes of the 1970s infl uenced the world.

Other guests include Barry Blanchard, one of the most prolifi c ice and al-pine climbers of his generation, and Kitty Calhoun, who’s climbed some of America’s steepest ice.

On Saturday evening, local pioneer Kris Erickson will recount the milestone fi rst ascent of Hyalite’s Winter Dance by his mentor the great Alex Lowe, and the fi rst free ascent made with Whit Magro a decade later.

Three videos representing the cutting edge will also premier that night, including one featuring adven-

ture sports phenomenon Will Gadd, and another from Bozeman’s own Max Lowe.

Beer from Big Sky Brewing, and food and drink will be served by the Emerson Grill. Proceeds fund the Hyalite road plowing effort. Don’t miss the enor-mous gear raffles. Evening tickets on sale atbozemanicefestival.com.

DECEMBER 2, 2011VOLUME 2, ISSUE 21

PUBLISHEREric Ladd

COO & SENIOR EDITORMegan Paulson

CREATIVE DIRECTORMike Martins

MANAGING EDITOREmily Stifl er

GRAPHIC DESIGNERKelsey Dzintars

EDITORAbbie Digel

ASSISTANT EDITORTaylor Anderson

SALES DIRECTORFrank Jordan

DISTRIBUTION DIRECTORDanielle Chamberlain

VIDEOGRAPHERBrian Niles

VIDEOGRAPHER/DESIGNERChris Davis

ACCOUNT RELATIONS COORDINATORKacey Brown

OPERATIONS DIRECTORKatie Morrison

CONTRIBUTORSTorie Bentley, Mike Coil, Erin Bills, Nettie Breuner, Tessa Burnett, Tom Cook, Nick Engelfried, Grady, Allyson Hagen, Lisa Hagen, Alex Hassman, Marcie Hahn-Knoff, Marne Hayes, Teresa Larson, Sam Magro, Erik Morrison, Brandon Niles, Piper Platte, Chris Samuels, Kene Sperry, Brandon Smith

EDITORIAL POLICYOutlaw Partners LLC is the sole owner of the Big Sky Weekly. No part of this publication may be reprinted without written permission from the publisher. The Big Sky Weekly reserves the right to edit all submitted material for content, corrections or length. Printed material refl ects the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of Outlaw Partners or the editors of this publication. No advertisements, columns, letters to the editor or other information will be published that contain discrimination based on sex, age, race, religion, creed, nationality, sexual preference, or are in bad taste.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR PARAMETERSThis is a platform for readers to express views and share ways they would like to effect change. The Weekly will run letters, positive or negative, of 250 words or less that are respectful, ethical, state accurate facts and fi gures, and are proofread for grammar and content. We reserve the right to edit letters. Please include: fi rst and last name, address, phone number and title. Send letters to [email protected].

ADVERTISING DEADLINE FOR DECEMBER 16 ISSUE:December 9

CORRECTIONSThe Big Sky Weekly runs corrections to errors we’ve printed. Please report them to [email protected]

© 2011 The Big Sky WeeklyUnauthorized reproduction prohibited

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15th Annual Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival, Dec. 7-11

Whit Magro climbing in Hyalite Canyon. PHOTO BY ARI NOVAK

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4 December 2, 2011

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COMMUNITY

On a Saturday in mid-November, two hikers snowshoeing to a cabin up Buck Ridge west of Highway 191 became lost.

They were still in cell range, called 911 for help and were rescued before night set in.

“Another two or three hours and they would have really been in trouble,” said Ed Hake, founder of Big Sky Search and Rescue.

The case represented a lucky incident within cell range, a rarity in the area, because most winter cases involve lost skiers and snowmobilers who need help and aren’t within cell range.

Enter Big Sky Search and Rescue.

“Looking for lost parties is a good part of what we do, and occasionally there are injuries thrown in with that as well,” says BSSR member Steve Johnson.

Johnson casually describes the non-profi t group as a trained group of athletes doing what needs to be done in distressed times.

“If [people] get into trouble, we need to make sure they have an opportu-nity to get taken care of, otherwise it would be a dishonest way to attract visitors to Big Sky.”

Local outfi tter Ed Hake is one of few current residents who grew up in Big Sky. “There is nobody in Big Sky who’s lived here longer than I have,” he said in his snowmobile outfi t-ter building on Highway 191, wife Kathy nodding her head yes.

Ed’s seen the area develop, grow and change since his childhood. He’s spent much of his life with friends, outside. With that came the responsi-bility of taking charge when trouble comes.

That’s why he and a few friends in the area, all outdoorsmen, banded to-gether to assemble a search and rescue in Big Sky, fi rst informally, then, in 1992, as a sanctioned group.

Now, more than 20 years later, the nonprofi t SAR group consists of about 20 members, each of them pos-sessing a set of skills qualifying them to participate in rescue work.

“It’s taken a long time, but we’re one of the fi nest search and rescue organizations in Montana, if not the Northwest,” Hake said.

BSSR operates as a faction of the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Depart-ment, which has performed more than 800 searches and rescues since 2001.

The crew from Big Sky is one of 11 search and rescue factions within Gallatin County, essentially creating a network of trained professionals able to help.

It’s awarded a part of the county’s an-nual budget when needed, and received this year $35,000 for a new truck from the 2012 Gallatin County budget.

BSSR can also apply for resort tax money, and has been awarded any-where between $6,000 and $25,000 annually since 1995, money that has helped build the current search and rescue building. The group has received almost $270,000 in 16 years from the tax board.

“We’ve been fortunate resort tax has helped with what we’ve asked for,” Hake said, later reminiscent about start-ing the group out of his Canyon Rentals outfi tter shop.

A mission to fi nd a missing skier on Lone Mountain last March showed just how big the network of trained volunteers is.

The fi rst day of the search involved ski patrollers from two resorts in town, BSSR, two helicopters, a fi xed-wing aircraft and dog teams. By the end of the four-month search, BSSR members had spent 300 volunteer days crossing and re-crossing the mountain look-ing for the body, which they found in late July. In total, the search cost an estimated $30,000, according to some estimates.

The father of the skier asked that funeral attendees make donations to BSSR in lieu of fl owers, and the group collected more than $10,000.

BSSR launched a campaign this season to promote backcountry safety, known as Think Risk, Then Reward, in an at-tempt to reach the target demographic that tends take risks while skiing out of bounds.

“We thought, ‘yeah, we could get new sleds or new equipment,’” but why not do something that gives back to the community? Johnson asked.

Other counties don’t allot as much money for SAR. At about 3,600 square miles Madison County gives its search and rescue team just $5,000, Johnson says. The two teams work together, as lost parties near Big Sky are often over the county border.

“When it comes to emergency services, we’re about taking care of people who are hurt, and we’ll fi gure out the ac-counting later,” Johnson said.

Jurisdiction and county lines don’t come into play either, when it comes to SAR missions, he said. It all goes into making up a part of the greater good.

“That’s just the nature of the game. If you’re going to do some good to dig somebody out of the ditch, you’ve got to go right now.”

Aside from working to save lives and sharpen outdoor skills, members are working towards promoting awareness when playing in something unfathom-ably humbling and powerful.

“Reality TV shows and videos show people doing crazy things in the back-country and walkin’ away from it,” Hake said. “What they don’t show is they’ve got crews behind them keeping them safe.”

Hake wants his employees and BSSR volunteers to make the right decisions in the backcountry, and all his guides have taken at least Avalanche 1 safety courses.

“I don’t want to be digging any of my guys out, I want them to not be in there,” he said.

BY TAYLOR ANDERSONBIG SKY WEEKLY ASSISTANT EDITOR

Big Sky Search and Rescue works for the greater goodGroup launches backcountry awareness campaign

120 people packed the house for the grand opening of Lone Peak Cinema on Wednesday, Nov. 23 to watch a showing of "Tower Heist." PHOTOS BY KENE SPERRY/EYE IN THE SKY PHOTOGRAPHY

Lone Peak Cinema grand opening

December 2, 2011 5

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Integrity.

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Craft.

406-995-2174To view a video tour of this property visit:

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COMMUNITY

The Gallatin National Forest Ava-lanche Center and the Friends of the Avalanche Center want to thank to the community for making this year’s Powder Blast Fundraiser Event our most successful ever.

Despite competing with one of the biggest World Series games in decades, we managed to have a banner event this year, raising over $22,000.

We are amazed and thankful for the support of our local and larger com-munity. Thanks also to the tremendous effort from our volunteers and Board. The great success of this fundraiser and increasing momentum of community involvement means the GNFAC will continue to provide daily avalanche hazard and weather forecasts, as well as

offer more educational opportunities, and upgrade the equipment needed to meet the ever increasing backcountry user market.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any specifi c suggestions or comments regarding the Friends or the GNFAC’s services and programs. And count on another great event next year the last weekend of October. Sincerely,Jeannie WallBoard President Doug ChabotGNFAC Director

And The Friends of the Avalanche Center Board of Directors

Letter: Thanks from the GNAFC

Community “Gemeinschaften” Beer Suds to benefi t local charities

Imbibers in Big Sky buying a pint of Lone Peak’s upcoming American Pale Ale will be doing much more for the community than they might know.

Lone Peak Brewery owners Steve and Vicky Nordahl are coordinating ef-forts that will generate about 40 cents for each pint (about $1,000 a month) of designated beer sold throughout the next year, a sum that will benefi t

groups like the Big Sky Ski Education Foundation and Women in Action.That means that when you’re sitting there warming up after a chilly day on the hill, you’ll be doing more than pumping your body full of hops and malted barley, you’ll be making a bet-ter Gemeinschaften.

The Nordahls hope the campaign will last indefi nitely, with new batches released every four to six weeks and distributed throughout local bars.


6 December 2, 2011

Big Sky Weekly

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Friday, December 9th5:00 Santa arrives in Meadow Village Center on fi re truck; Lighting of

the tree and Carolers in front of the Blue Ribbon Builders offi ce

5:15-6:30 Letters to Santa and Photos at Outlaw Partners

6:30 Magic Show at First Security Bank

7:00 Town Center Bonfi re, S’Mores, ice skating (weather permitting), sleigh rides, etc

8:15 Fireworks - Town Center

9:00 Live Music at Choppers featuring the Cropdusters

Throughout the evening there will be artist markets, open houses, raffl es, scavenger hunt, sleigh rides, beer tasting (provided by Lone Peak Brewery), and much more!

COMMUNITY

Bozeman’s newest radio station, Mountain 107.7 FM, is putting onthe First Annual Gallatin Valley Coat and Boot Drive.

The drive is encouraging people to donate gently used winter coats and boots through the end of the year.

A kick-off event was held the Friday after Thanksgiving at Bob Wards

during a live remote broadcast on Mountain 107.7, with another slated for Dec. 2 at First Montana Bank.

Coats and boots can be dropped off at Bob Wards off North 19th, or at First Montana Bank at North 19th Avenue and Oak Street through Dec. 31st. Gallatin Laundry will clean the coats and they will be given to HRDC/Head Start for distribution to families in need.

New radio station hosting coat and boot drive

BIG SKY WEEKLY WIRE SERVICES

The Bozeman REI is accepting dona-tions of new or gently used clean clothing, footwear, and gear to sup-port local nonprofi t groups. REI has a drop box permanently located inside the front door of the store, which is located at North 19th and Oak.

Every month REI will choose a different nonprofi t to receive dona-tions. Each group will provide a wish list according to their specifi c needs.

Throughout December all dona-tions will go to THRIVE, a non-profit group that has served thou-sands of families in the Gallatin Valley for the last 25 years. The

THRIVE wish list for donations includes adult winter clothing and snowshoes. If you would like to donate, please be considerate and do not place any dirty, broken, or unwanted items in the box. The recipient nonprofit groups are responsible for taking everything placed in the box, and they would appreciate it if the donated items are those on their wish lists.

Nonprofit groups slated to re-ceive clothing or gear donations in the future include the Craighead Institute, HRDC, Adventurers for Science and Conservation, MOSS, and Working Dogs for Conserva-tion. If your nonprofit group would like to be considered call Teresa at 587-1938.

Used clothing/footwear drive at REI to benefi t Bozeman nonprofi ts

BY TERESA LARSONREI OUTREACH SPECIALIST

The Big Sky Chamber of Commerce is hosting its semi-annual Town Hall forum meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 1 p.m. at the Big Sky Chapel.

This meeting will bring together the Chamber, the Big Sky Community Corporation, and the group behind the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heri-tage Center, to report on updates and progress of their respective projects.

The Chamber will report on the Biggest Skiing in America ongoing marketing campaign, as well as the current Branding and Strategic Planning initiative and the Wayfinding project, still both in their initial stages.

The Big Sky Community Corporation will give an update on the formation of the Mountain and Meadow Big Sky Park, Trail, and Recreation District, and give a progress report on the Com-munity Park construction.

The MCHF & WHC group will give an update on the process that currently has Big Sky as one of the top contenders to be the host to this cul-tural center representing the cowboy and western character of the State of Montana.

Started last year as a way to keep the community informed on a variety of topics, all are welcome to attend.

Big Sky Town Hall meeting Dec.7 at the Big Sky ChapelBY MARNE HAYESBIG SKY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Bozeman-based nonprofit group Big Sky Youth Empowerment recently received a big PR bump when it won $10,000 from the Toyota Halftime Handoff contest.

Here’s how it happened:

In October, a social media market-ing group contacted BYEP about participating in an online contest. BYEP—which introduces at-risk youth from Bozeman, Belgrade and Big Sky to snowboarding, ski-

ing and a rigorous character devel-opment program—was up against three other (national) nonprofits in a weeklong voting competition. By scoring the most votes on the Halftime Handoff Facebook page, BYEP won $10k and a 15 second spot on NBC Sunday night foot-ball (aired 11/27, watch at you-tube.com/watch?v=tIe38FJRXTo).

The funding is a step in helping the program meet its $600,000 an-nual budget, said Pete MacFadyen, BYEP’s Founder and Executive Director.

“We’re humbled we were chosen to be part of the competition. We’re excited and re-energized that our constituency went out and voted for us. It’s a testament to the communities belief and sup-port in our program.” What’s larger, but also harder to measure, is the PR the campaign generated. There’s been a buzz around BYEP in the week since they won, MacFadyen says, with people in the community talking about the award, and analytics way up.

BYEP wins $10,000 from Toyota Bozeman-based nonprofi t wins social media contestBY EMILY STIFLERBIG SKY WEEKLY MANAGING EDITOR Become a

Snow Sponsor

It costs $125 to take each BYEP student snowboarding or skiing 10 times over the winter. New this year, BYEP is inviting community members to sponsor a BYEP kid. For $125, you put one local at-risk teenager on the snow for the entire winter. In return, you’ll get a full day transferable lift ticket to Big Sky Resort for the winter 2011-2012. To participate, text “Deep Powder” to (406) 538-0399. Only 100 sponsorships available.

December 2, 2011 7

Big Sky Weekly

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Carolers needed at Big Sky Christmas stroll on Dec. 9Calling all singers

Join local singers for a holiday tradition at the Big Sky Christmas stroll on Friday, Dec. 9.

Carolers will meet in front of Blue Ribbon Builders at 4:30 p.m. and will be ready by 4:45. Santa will arrive at 5 p.m., and carolers will sing as the Christ-mas tree is lit, for about an hour.

Rehearsals are on Sunday, Dec. 4 and Tuesday, Dec. 6, from 7-8 p.m. at the Big Sky Chapel.

Ophir School’s music teacher, Christian Gutierez, is organizing the group, and says 10 to 15 carolers would be ideal (the more the merrier). Come with your voice, song suggestions and Christmas spirit! For more information contact Gutierez at [email protected]. A.D.

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Ophir School's eighth grade class is headed to Washington D.C. in May 2012. This annual educational trip has been part of the Ophir experience for over a decade. This year, they hope to add an evening Shakespeare perfor-mance to their list of activities in D.C.

The students prepare for the trip all year long, working to fund most of it. Donations from Ophir School Council and the Gallatin Canyon Women's Club also help support the trip.

The students raise money through "8th Grade for Hire,” working various jobs in the community such as Town Center events, pet sitting, baby sitting, as ski buddies, snow shoveling and working at private parties. Through another program, "Tips for Trips," students bus tables in area restaurants, which then donate all tips collected that night.

This year, the students are taking orders for Schwann's Frozen Foods, with a percentage of each order donated to the class. To make an order, contact Diane Bartzick at (406) 995-2395 or [email protected]. Pick up is Dec. 7 at Ophir School.

BY NETTIE BREUNER AND CHRIS SAMUELS BIG SKY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTORS

Fundraising for “Destination D.C.” in full gear

8 December 2, 2011

Big Sky Weekly

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LOCAL NEWS

After seven years as a frequent visitor, Maren Dunn, D.O., has finally moved to Big Sky.

“It’s a dream come true,” she says.

She first came here in 2004 as a fourth year medical student to work with Dr. Jeff Daniels at the Medical Clinic of Big Sky. At that point in her training, Dunn was unsure which path she wanted to take as a physician. But when she drove into Big Sky on a beautiful Memorial Day week-end, she realized this was the type of place she wanted to live.

“Doc Daniels showed me what type of lifestyle I could have as a physician,” Dunn said. She fell in love with the idea of becoming a rural family medicine doctor.

Dr. Dunn will be opening her own private prac-tice, Gallatin Family Medicine, in Big Sky at 18 Meadow Village Dr. across from the post office. Its projected opening is late December.

GFM will have operating hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Hours will adjust according to the needs of the community. Previously sched-uled appointments and same day appointments will also be available.

As a rural family medicine physician, Dunn fo-cuses on many areas of health including: pediat-rics; women’s health including contraception and prenatal care; treatment for chronic conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes; preventive medicine such as wellness exams and vaccina-tions; in-office procedures such as neonatal circumci-sion, vasectomy and skin lesion removal; and os-teopathic manipu-lation, a hands-on treatment for physical pain and other illnesses.

As a doctor of osteopathic medicine, or a D.O, Dr. Dunn’s approach to healing is similar to that of a M.D. with an added emphasis on treatment of the whole person, not just the complaint at hand.

“Osteopathic medicine includes a personal ele-ment. I want to know the patient’s family and social history and what their life is like,” Dunn said.

She says it’s important to understand a person’s lifestyle and how it can affect illness. “I educate patients so they can assist in their own healing,” Dunn said. “It’s not enough to simply hand a patient a prescription and send them on their way.”

Dunn received her bachelor’s degree from Uni-versity of California-Santa Barbara in 1998. She

graduated from Kansas City University of Med-icine and Biosciences as a D.O. in 2005. Becoming a D.O. includes the same rigorous training as an M.D., with additional training in Osteopathic Manipulative Treat-ment, or OMT.

As opposed to tradi-tional methods where a patient might be given medication or an x-ray, a D.O. like Dunn will use her hands to diagnose and treat medical issues. Using OMT, a D.O. will move muscles and joints while stretching and adding gentle pressure and resistance to a pa-tient’s body. It’s literally a healing touch.

Dunn said osteopaths “visually and physically address a patient’s stat-ure and muscle imbal-ances,” not unlike a chi-ropractor or a massage therapist. Osteopaths look at the structure of the body and help put it in a position to heal itself, she says.

After her college education, Dunn worked three years in San Diego and New York City in the bio-

tech field and as a personal trainer. Her hands-on work as a trainer coupled with ex-perience as a long distance athlete helped Dunn expand her career into medicine,

including manipulative treatment.

Upon completing medical school, Dunn chose a three-year family medicine residency at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. Following her residency in 2008, Dunn worked for a year in rural Cascade, Idaho, and two years in rural Prin-eville, Ore doing family medicine and in-patient hospital work.

When Dunn visited friends in Big Sky last spring, she noticed that despite the downturn of the economy, the community had continued to grow and prosper with new restaurants and build-ings, as well as growth of the local school.

“I noticed there was a need for someone with my skills,” Dunn said.

Dunn is currently working to connect with medi-cal professionals in Bozeman to bridge between

her practice and specialists in town. She will provide prenatal care for Big Sky women, who will transition to their obstetrician in Bozeman at the proper time.

She’s also looking to connect with local nonprofit organizations and the Ophir School District in order to offer her assistance where it might be useful within the community.

Dunn is already living out her dream in Big Sky: She’s hit the slopes, and the cross country trails. She’s looking forward to also attending yoga classes and running with her two dogs.

“I feel so lucky,” Dunn said. “It’s not often that a doctor can live and work in a place they love.”

If you didn’t see her on Thanksgiving at the BSSEF Turkey Trot, stop by Gallatin Family Medicine and say hello.

A hands-on approachBig Sky welcomes Dr. Maren DunnBY ABBIE DIGELBIG SKY WEEKLY EDITOR

“I educate patients so they can assist in their own healing. It’s not enough to simply hand a patient a prescription and send them on their way.”

Dr. Maren Dunn | 406-995-3111

[email protected]

December 2, 2011 9

Big Sky Weekly

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LOCAL NEWS

After about a month of fundraising efforts by the revamped Big Sky LIFT program, which awards money to laid off Spanish Peaks employees, offi cials are fi nding applicants slow to come out of the woodwork. The program, aimed at providing for-mer Spanish Peaks employees with aid this winter, has far more money than applicants have requested.

Grants were given out in mid-November to the fi rst (and only) fi ve applicants, who received a total of $8,300, an average of $1,660.

The Montana Community Founda-tion out of Helena runs the program, and had collected $65,000 as of Nov. 30, according to Nicole Rush of MTCF.

“We haven’t received as many as we’d like but I think we’ll see more” as the holidays near, Rush said.

The program was fi rst started in 2009 to assist employees in the wake of the Yel-lowstone Club’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy fi ling, and was resurrected after Spanish Peaks closed and its parent company fi led Chapter 7.

“The sentiment I’d like to get across is hopefully we get more people to apply,” said John Haas, one of the coordinators of the program.

Haas said the application process is easy, and that so far, Spanish Peaks members have donated all the money available.

“There’s this outpour of generosity by the members trying to give out love that was given by the employees in the past,” he said.

The money sits in a bank account, and if the funds aren’t given to Spanish Peaks employees, they would possibly open up to everyone in Big Sky who’s been effected by the bankruptcy or recession in general, Rush said.

“It will defi nitely be spent in Big Sky in one way or another. That’s its purpose.”

Many questions have been raised during the fi rst month after Spanish Peaks closed its doors and its parent company fi led for Chapter 7 bank-ruptcy.

Now under the spotlight is the liquidation process of all the clubs’ assets.

A Wall Street Journal article in No-vember announced the former club for the rich would begin auctioning off the 63 vehicles Spanish Peaks owned when it closed.

The club has just $29,000 in cash, the article reported the bankruptcy trustee as saying. The trustee, it said, cited harsh winters as reasons to ramp up liquidation of the club’s assets as part of the Chapter 7 process.

Early reports of the debt-to-asset ratio listed, at most, a 10–1 ratio, and a list of creditors between 100 and 199.

During the sell off, the club’s water system will be among the assets in question. At a November meet-ing, the Big Sky Water and Sewer District examined what would hap-pen to the water system, which is overseen by John Olson, one of fi ve

employees remaining at the club. The board recognized the system is at risk of damage during the winter.

The district bills Spanish Peaks cus-tomers but doesn’t run the drinking water system. It does run sewage through a pipe that travels from the club to ponds in the meadow.

The water infrastructure at the club is valued around $8,000,000 and could be sold off at a depreci-ated price as part of the liquidation process.

It’s unclear, however, if Spanish Peaks would continue running the water sys-

tem until a potential sale of the en-tire resort, in which case the water could go with it, as well. The club could also choose to sell the water to a private, for-profit company.

Spanish Peaks Holdings II bank-ruptcy trustee in New Jersey, Charles M. Forman, didn’t return calls to the Big Sky Weekly to answer questions about the liquida-tion process.

Check explorebigsky.com/chap-ter7 for updates on the liquidation process. Contact Taylor at [email protected].


Spanish Peaks’ liquidation process coming to spotlight

Big Sky LIFT takes off, slowlyMoney waiting for former Spanish Peaks employeesBY TAYLOR ANDERSONBIG SKY WEEKLY ASSISTANT EDITOR

10 December 2, 2011

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WORD FROM THE RESORTS

The fi rst chair on Ramcharger on opening day at Big Sky was packed with locals. So was the chair behind them, which included the 2001 dirt-bag king, and a human-sized turkey on skis.

The king was here, he said, because he couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. The smile on his face made it clear there was nowhere else he’d rather be. The turkey just said ‘gobble, gobble.’

In fact, at least three quarters of the fi rst 50 people riding Ramcharger on that warm, cloudy Thanksgiving Day were loyal Big Sky locals. The crowd cheered, looking forward to their fi rst turns of the year on Tippy’s Tumble.

Those not from Big Sky included a posse of MSU kids chomping at the bit, and the Eck brothers from Penn-sylvania (although one was spending a month in Bozeman for a medical school elective and the other had been in Darby, Mont. all summer).

“It’s great to see smiling faces and friends we haven’t seen in six months,” said Mountain Manager Mike Unruh.

The mountain was alive again.

“Amazing!” said local ripper Mike Manelin, back for another year and breathless from running up the hill to the lift in excitement.

By 9:45, locals Jesse and Eileen Coil had already taken three runs and were “extremely psyched” to be back on the snow. “The energy today is good, even though the conditions are variable,” Eileen said.

Explorer was also running, with Mr. K groomed and in prime condi-tion. The Swifty 2.0 terrain park was popular, and the zipline ran a party through mid-day.

The snow sports school was up and running, and director Christine Baker was enthusiastic about an expanded beginner area this year, and contin-ued locals programs.

The feeling that opening day was an annual reunion was a theme through the hundreds of skiers on the hill that day.

“It’s a family tradition,” said Tate Niese, referring both to seeing old friends, and to the many families he imagined drove from far away each year to ski over Thanksgiving week-end. “It’s a great way to bring people together.”

In total, 4,000 skiers visited Big Sky over open-ing weekend.

“Even though we had less ter-rain open than we did at this time last year, this number is right up there for our opening weekend—peo-ple are excited to just get out there and start off the season,” said

Greer Schott, the resort’s Public Rela-tions and special events coordinator.

“We’re ready to get more lifts turn-ing as soon as we get more snowfall, and we’ll open as much terrain as we safely can as fast as possible.”

Big Sky Resort will employ 1,000 people this winter, with more than 150 newly hired staff.

BY EMILY STIFLERBIG SKY WEEKLY MANAGING EDITOR

A family traditionOpening day at Big Sky Resort

Waiting for opening dayYou’ve already hit up Big Sky Resort, but here are your other favorite resorts’ opening days, just to keep you in the loop.

Moonlight Basin: Dec. 10Bridger Bowl: Dec. 9Lone Mountain Ranch: Dec. 14Rendezvous Ski Trails: Some trails open. Check groom-ing report. Discovery Ski Area: Nov. 24Bohart Ranch Cross Country Ski Center: Dec. 2Maverick Mountain: Dec. 5Lost Trail: Dec. 1

December 2, 2011 11

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When Denise Wade arrived in Big Sky in 1985, her plan was to stay for one winter. Instead, one winter turned into an indefinite number of years.

It didn’t take Wade long to fall in love with the snow, mountains, Yellowstone National Park and the tight-knit community. Wade spent a short amount of time in Idaho and Alaska, but she couldn’t escape the attraction of Big Sky and remained here full time after 1993. Wade was an integral part of Lone Mountain Ranch’s Nordic program for many years and has returned to the Ranch to take over the program.

Wade will also manage the trail sys-tem Lone Mountain Ranch utilizes for both summer and winter activi-ties. “Her dedication to… exposing people to the outdoors, making a difference in the community, with guests and our crew, and to the success of Lone Mountain Ranch… is extraordinary,” general manager

Mark Parlett said. Wade has been a member of the Big Sky Resort Volunteer Ski Patrol, owned a restaurant with her hus-band for 10 years in Big Sky and was an instructor for University of Montana-Dillon Elder Hostel program, which specializes in inter-generational educational adventure trips. She has also enjoyed teach-ing summer ecology classes and field studies for the University of Montana-Western and introducing people to the wonders of Yellow-stone for the past 12 years.

Wade is a Level 3 PSIA certified Nordic instructor and has been involved with the Professional Ski Instructors of America organization for more than 20 years.

“The friendships and relationships established while experiencing the outdoors have enriched my life im-measurably and I am thrilled to be part of Lone Mountain Ranch again as the Nordic and trails director.”

Denise Wade is Lone Mountain Ranch's new trails/nordic director

Moonlight Basin is bringing back its popular M-BAR-T program that helps Montana kids get out skiing and snowboarding. Short for Moon-light Basin Aspirations Reward Team, this program is an incentive-based program that encourages grade improvement by rewarding honor roll students with season passes.

Moonlight Basin feels strongly aboutcontinued involvement and participa-tion in the greater region. M-BAR-T is available to students in sixth–12th grade, attending public, private, and home schools in Gallatin, Madison, Beaverhead, Park and SweetGrass counties.

moonlightbasin.com/site/M-BAR-T.html $99 processing fee applies

Honor roll students ski free at MoonlightM-BAR-T program is back

On Friday, Dec. 16, Moonlight will hold its fi fth annual Turkey for a Ticket food drive at the Madison Village Base Area. Pass holder and corporate donations may also be dropped off at Albertsons in Bozeman from 7:30–11 a.m.

Donations of 20 cans of food or one frozen turkey earns you a free lift ticket valid that day only.

Moonlight Basin or Big-gest Skiing in America® season pass holders receive a voucher for a single day lift ticket valid Dec. 16-23, 2011 and January 2-27, 2012.

Employees can team up to make donations on behalf of their business.

These corporate donations earn one lift ticket voucher per 20 pounds of food or one lift ticket voucher per fro-zen turkey. Minimum donation must equal 80 pounds to receive vouchers. Maximum donation is 800 pounds (40 tickets).

Support the Gallatin Valley Food Bank Moonlight’s fi fth annual Turkey for a Ticket food drive is Dec. 16

my mountain isMOONLIGHT

moonlightbasin.com

SEASON PASSES STILL AVAILABLEBuy online

opening for the season - December 10thseason pass holders - December 9th

Kids 10 & under ski FREE all season

12 December 2, 2011

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REGIONAL

Yellowstone National Park is updating its Fire Manage-ment Plan to refl ect changes in federal fi re policy.

The park sees fi re as a natural force that shapes and impacts its land, and also has potential to impact visitors, area residents and historic structures. It’s asking the pub-lic to help identify issues worthy of consideration.

In a new plan, greater emphasis on fi re suppression may be placed in developed areas, then leaving a broad range of strategies to meet fi re management objectives across the rest of Yellowstone.

The public scoping process is now open and will run through Dec. 20.

Find additional details on the proposal and an electron-ic form to submit comments at parkplanning.nps.gov/yell, or write to the Fire Management Plan, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190. Comments will not be accepted over the phone, by fax or e-mail.

Park staff members will host a public meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Park County Courthouse in Cody, Wyo. The park is considering holding additional public meetings during the plan-ning process.

The new Environmental Assessment is expected to be available for public review and comment in spring 2012. A final decision and plan should be completed that summer.

Yellowstone updating Fire Management Plan, public invited to commentBIG SKY WEEKLY STAFF WRITER

With La Niña off to a slow start, our mountain snow-pack is thin but still skiable. Enough snow to slide on means enough snow to avalanche.

Like Thanksgiving leftovers in the back of the fridge, the early snow that fell in late October and stuck on high slopes has rotted out, turning to a weak layer of sugary facets near the ground.

That weak layer crusted over in some places, and then was buried by mid-November snows. Wind piled heavy slabs atop that in many alpine areas, creating a perfect recipe for avalanches: heavy on top, weak on the bottom.

Since then, warm temps in late November helped stabilize slopes in places like Bacon Rind, the Lionhead and Beehive Basin. “However, it is still possible to trigger slides in these areas,” according to a Nov. 28 avalanche bulletin from the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.

In the northern Gallatins and the mountains around Cooke City, both of which had deeper snow, the warmer temps did not affect the weak facets in the same way. Accordingly, these ranges have both seen notable natural avalanche activity.

The avalanche center warns that steep, upper elevation slopes, specifi cally those that have been wind loaded, are particularly dangerous.

“Thinner, early season snowpacks, tend to catch people off guard,” said Eric Knoff, a GNFAC forecaster. “Just because it’s shallow, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily safe.”

“People are going to start venturing further and deeper in the backcountry in search of [better conditions], because the lower elevations got worked in this warm weather.” That’s where Knoff imagines someone getting into trouble.

Knoff wanted to drive home the point “that avalanches are highly unpredictable, and that it’s still very possible to trigger slides in the back-country.”

So, what happens when it snows?

It all depends on how much, and how quickly that snow comes, says Mark Staples, another GNFAC forecaster.

“If we just get a little bit of snow, the danger won’t go up too much. If we get a lot, it’ll go up more... This is because when a lot of snow accumulates quickly, the snowpack doesn’t have time to adjust to the load. “We tend to see a lot of avalanches anyway, when we get a big, rapid, heavy load, no matter what’s happening in the snowpack,” he added.

“If we could just turn on the snow hose and let it come in a few inches every day, that would be ideal,” he said, explaining that a slow steady build-up of snow, combined with mild tem-peratures, would allow that weak layer near the ground to gain strength over time.

And what about La Nina? NOAA’s long-range climate-based forecast calls for slow building this winter. So while we wait, it’s a good time to prac-tice with rescue gear.

Knoff wanted to remind skiers of the three key rules of backcountry travel: Carry rescue gear;, always watch your partner and never put more than one person on a slope at the same time.


Avalanches still possible, even likely, with thin snowpack

This avalanche occurred on Saturday, Nov 26. It was triggered by a snowmobiler who was fortu-nately able to out run the avalanche. The slope was heavily wind loaded and the avalanche broke three feet deep. A relatively fl at area near the left side of the photograph caused the debris to pile up very deeply. Southeast facing slope at 9715 ft. PHOTO: GNFAC

Montana FWP Region 3 Citizens’ Ad-visory Committee is meeting in Boze-man on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at the FWP Regional Offi ce (1400 S. 19th Ave.) from 1-7 p.m. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

The committee is comprised of citizen advisors with a variety of interests and backgrounds across Southwest Montana. The CAC meets quarterly to provide input and guidance on natural resource and management issues ad-dressed by FWP. All meetings are open to the public.

FWP Citizens Advisory Committee meeting

Final weekend of general season sees slight harvest increase

Montana’s big game hunting seasons ended Sunday, Nov. 27. State wildlife offi cials confi rmed there are no plans to extend the seasons anywhere in the state. Ken McDonald, chief of Mon-tana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ wildlife bureau added, “If specifi c population or damage problems emerge, we’ll use management seasons or game damage hunts to address them.”

Check Station Hunters White-tailed deer Mule Deer Elk % Hunters w/ game

Livingston 1463 56 83 123 17.2%

Ruby 0 0 0 0 0.0%

Cameron 2491 24 36 122 7.1%

Gallatin 1122 3 12 37 4.5%

Mill Creek 1057 4 11 29 4.2%

Divide 1332 6 57 61 9.0%

Silver City 3428 38 73 109 6.2%

Totals 10893 128 260 481 7.7%

Southwest MT Check Station Summary 2011 Season

December 2, 2011 13

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14 December 2, 2011

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MONTANAMontana’s workplace injuries and illnesses declined in 2010State still behind national average

Though the state lags behind the na-tional average, injuries on the job in Montana declined in 2010, according to a survey done by the Department of Labor and Industry Research and Analysis Bureau.

Private industry workplaces in Montana reported 5.0 injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in 2010—compared to 5.3 in 2009.Still, Montana was above the national

rate of 3.5 in 2010. Employers in Montana reported a total of 15,700 injuries and illnesses with 6,800 of them involving days away from work during 2010 compared with 17,200 injuries and illnesses with 7,600 days away from work cases reported in 2009.

Injuries and illnesses are reported when they result in lost work time, medical treatment other than fi rst aid, loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or require a transfer to another job.

MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRY

Montana’s incidence rate of injuries varies bymajor industry division. The following rates are based on the number of cases per 100 full-time workers:

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Open burning season overOpen burning season ends statewide on Nov. 30, 2011, and remains closed until March 1, unless specifi c permission is obtained from the Montana De-partment of Environmental Quality. This includes all of Gallatin County.

Montana’s regulations limit open burning to the spring and summer when air ventilation is best. During the fall, when ventilation worsens due to inver-sions and stagnant air conditions, the DEQ operates a monitoring program. Open burning is generally prohibited in the western portion of the state during the winter. deq.mt.gov

Montana will receive assistance to create jobs and help repair roads and highways damaged by record fl ooding this summer.

Sen. Jon Tester asked the U.S. Depart-ment of Transportation for fi nancial relief in July after fl ooding in central and eastern Montana caused wide-spread damage to roads and bridges. In

a July letter to Sec. Ray LaHood, Tester asked the department to reimburse state and tribal agencies for emergency fl ood-related spending.

In response, the DOT allotted more than $2,500,000 in emergency relief to the Montana DOT for repair or reconstruction of fl ood-damaged roads and bridges.

$2.5 million secured for fl ood-damaged highways Emergency relief comes in wake of historic fl oods

His iconic face and voice brought the news of the world to television viewers across the nation and to those he always remembered back in his Montana homeland.

“Remembering Montana’s Chet Hunt-ley, Legendary Newscaster, Journalist and Developer of the Big Sky” will be presented all day during the Montana Historical Society’s free admission Second Saturday, Dec. 10. Events will be in the Society’s auditorium, just east of the State Capitol in Helena. The gala day is in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Huntley’s birth in Caldwell as the oldest of four children to Northern Pacifi c telegraph operator Percy and his wife Blanche. He lived at numerous other Montana locations and graduated from Whitehall High School before attending Montana State University. Documentaries, fi lms, video clips and talks by noted Montana broadcaster Norma Ashby, historian Jon Axline, and the Society’s own Interpretive Historian Ellen Baumler will all be featured, as well as Huntley memora-bilia from the Society collection, loaned items from the Museum of the Rock-ies, and from the personal collection of Ashby.

Huntley is best known for co-anchor-ing The Huntley-Brinkley Report for 14 years beginning in 1956 on NBC. In addition to eight Emmy Awards, Huntley was awarded the Alfred I.

DuPont Award, Peabody Award and two Overseas Press Club Awards.

In Montana, Huntley was also the developer of Big Sky Resort. The scope and concept of the 11,000 acre year-round resort changed the recreation industry in the state.

“His voice brought the news of pivotal events of the day to Americans—the Kennedy Assassination, the Civil Rights Movement, the conquest of space and so much more,” Society Special Projects Manager Sue Near said. “But we should also remember him for changing the face of Montana and its development.”

Door prizes provided by the Helena Credit Union and other sponsors will be offered all day.

Event schedule:10 a.m. - “Huntley Video Clip Festival” highlighting Huntley’s work and legacy presented by Sue Near.

Noon - “Chet Huntley’s Montana” power point images and audio record-ings by Huntley presented in 1959 to the Montana Broadcasters Association.

1 p.m. - “Personal Recollections of Chet Huntley” an interview of Norma Ashby about Huntley produced by Helena Civic TV.

3 p.m. - “Last Chance Gulch” a 1964 fi lm on the history of Helena writ-ten by Norma Ashby and narrated by Huntley. Ellen Baumler and Jon Axline will provide additional commentary.

Chet Huntley featured at Montana Historical Society Free admission Saturday, Dec. 10

BY TOM COOKMONTANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

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MONTANA

In connection with the fi fth anniversary of its campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, Mothers Against Drunk Driving has unveiled a report that rates the nation and each state on progress imple-menting drunk driving countermeasures. On a fi ve-star scale, the nation received an average rating of three stars, while Montana earned a one-star rating.

“This provides an important indicator of where the state stands in its efforts to eliminate drunk driving,” said MADD Montana volunteer Becky Sturdevant.

Montana law establishes enhanced penalties for those who drive drunk with children in the car. Additional stars would come from requiring igni-tion interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, conducting sobriety checkpoints, participating in “no-refusal” activities for those suspected of drunk driving, and taking away licenses of drunk driving offenders.

Launched in 2006, the campaign provides three steps to eliminating drunk driving by supporting police patrol roads, lobbying for an ignition inter-locking to require convicted DUI drivers to blow zero before the car starts.

Ignition interlocks, on average, reduce DUI repeates by 67 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The current interlock law in Montana is mandatory for repeat offenders. Simi-lar laws in New Mexico and Arizona helped reduce DUI fatalities in those states by 36 and 46 percent, respectively. 15 other states require ignition inter-locks for convicted drunk drivers.

“The idea is not to catch people, it’s to publicize that people need to be aware about not driving impaired. It’s to say look, ‘We’re really watching this week-end, so don’t do it,” Sturdevant added. “Ideally, we’d have no DUI arrests because nobody would drive under the infl uence.”

MADD showed updated fi gures that drunk driving costs the U.S. more than $132 billion annually. These costs include monetary and quality of life costs to victims of drunk driving, along with costs to both the government and employers.

“It is only appropriate that we shine a light on Montana’s drunk driving problem during the time of year when drunk driving crashes are most preva-lent,” Haubenreiser said. “MADD urges residents to be extra vigilant about planning ahead for a safe way home when holiday festivities include alco-hol.” madd.org

BIG SKY WEEKLY WIRE SERVICES

MADD gives Montana poor ranking for DUI punishmentMT receives 1 of 5 stars for countermeasures

Montana is joining 25 other states writing the process of the next generation science standards, a shared ef-fort to defi ne the content and practices students will learn from kindergarten through high school.

American students have lagged internationally in science education. A recent Department of Commerce study shows that over the past 10 years, growth in science, technology, engineering and math jobs was three times greater than in other fi elds. These jobs are expected to continue growing faster in the next decade.

Partnering with the states are the National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Sci-ence, and Achieve, which is coordinating the work.

The states will guide the standards writing process, gather and deliver feedback from state-level commit-tees and address common issues and challenges. Mon-tana’s committee will have approximately 30 members, including K-12 and post-secondary educators, busi-ness and industry representatives, state agencies and nonprofi ts.

The 26 states involved represent more than 50 percent of the nation’s students. The standards should be com-pleted by the end of 2012.

Montana helping write next generation federal science standardsBY ALLYSON HAGENMONTANA OFFICE OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

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December 2, 2011 17

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December 2, 2011Volume 2 // Issue #21

SECTION 2: SOUTHWEST MONTANA’S

LIFE // LAND // CULTURE

PROFILE

MAERA (Montana Awareness Education Recre-ation Association) is an idea that was 11 years in the making, ever since Sasha Hyland rescued her first horse.

Hyland was 19 when she found Kalida, just three years old. Neglected and abused, pregnant, un-derweight, and burned with hot rod irons, Kalida responded to humans with fear and aggression.

“I was the only one that could get near her,” Hy-land said. Kalida was so unhealthy that when she gave birth, the foal had to be put down four days after it was born.

A horse’s brain is dictated by the limbic system, Hyland explained. That means they can feel loss and intense emotion, just like humans.

“It took Kalida awhile to get through the trau-ma,” Hyland said. Now Kalida is Hyland’s closest friend. She lays down next to Hyland when camp-ing, is a gentle mount for lessons and pack trips, and is a therapy horse.

“She does everything. She re-learned to trust, which most horses can do if given the opportunity.”

Hyland trains horses using natural horsemanship techniques. Her specialty is dealing with severe abuse and neglect, as well as wild horses.

After rescuing horses and for a decade, MAERA expanded in March 2011. Its new educational programming helps people develop a closer con-nection to the Earth by teaching primitive and survival skills, earth-based sciences, and giving kids and adults hands on experience with the Earth and animals.

The organization also has a healing component, working with troubled youth and individuals in need, and offers the use of its horses and staff for wilderness and equine therapy.

While MAERA currently leases 60 acres in Bozeman and in Gallatin Gateway, Hyland is working with the Big Sky Community Corporation to implement after school programming. MAERA is open to working with new businesses and individuals, and is looking to expand to other communi-ties, as well.

With Hyland as executive director, the group has volunteer board members, part-time paid fi eld instructors, and contract horse trainers.

MAERA students range from home-schooled to families looking for adven-ture. Many locals who participate in MAERA classes want to get into the backcountry or learn to ride horses.

The curriculum includes survival es-sentials, fl int knapping, animal move-ment and tracking, nature awareness, bow making, primitive hunting and traps, wild edible plants, knife throw-ing, and brain tanning. Classes range from one hour to multi-day backcoun-try expeditions.

"Did you know there are over 25 ways to make a fi re by rubbing sticks together?" Hyland asks. A typical class with MAERA is fun, and 90 percent of the activities are outside.

MAERA has room for 26 rescue horses and is looking for additional space. It also houses goats for cheese and soap making, and Santiago, a llama, watches over the horse pastures.

The horses go through a minimum of 30-days of test-ing, where Hyland learns their strengths and needs. There, she decides if she’ll use them in MAERA pro-gramming or how to fi nd them the best home possible.

“The horses don't just sit in a pasture. They get used wherever they fit in, whether it’s horseman-ship, packing workshops, classes—each horse is put in a role with something that they love to

do,” Hyland said.

Interacting with animals creates a natural bond, she added. “It's an immense learning environment.”

Hyland aims to in-crease her students’ personal awareness and help them learn what the Earth has to offer.

“I love watching connections being

made, like seeing an eight-year-old teach a 50-year-old how to make a primitive fi re.”

Hyland believes these skills are missing from our culture, and we need to get kids away from video games and computers.

Her broad skill set comes from both experience and training. She spent years learning natural horse-manship and studying primitive skills, and has degrees in psychiatric nursing, wilderness therapy and eco-psychology. She’s looking into doctorate programs in outdoor experiential education.

Priority now for MAERA is fi nding a new facil-ity and offi ce space that accommodate all of its programs and house all of its horses. Bozeman, Livingston, Three Forks and Big Sky are all poten-tial spots.

Hyland noted that MAERA’s classes start at around $20, and part of the low cost is attributed to grant money and donations. Both she and others believe in this work:

“We want to keep the places we love safe,” Hyland said. “If we can teach people to connect and create a relationship with the Earth through amazing expe-riences and skills, they will innately protect it.”

For an introduction to MAERA programming, attend a monthly barbeque at one their locations. Contact MAERA at (406) 551 4913, PO Box 6451, Bozeman, MT 59771 or visit montanaawareness.com.

Bozeman nonprofi t teaching primitive and life skillsMAERA expanding from its base in horse rescue programsBY ABBIE DIGELBIG SKY WEEKLY EDITOR

PHOTOS BY MIKE MARTINS

18 December 2, 2011

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GALLERY

Originally from Helena, Allison McGree fi rst moved to Bozeman in 1999 after her sophomore year at Gonzaga University, in Spokane. A sixth generation Montanan, McGree was drawn back every summer to work at the Yellowstone Raft Company. After graduating with an art degree, she stayed in Spokane as an assistant professor, but after a year missed the mountains and returned to Montana.

McGree worked as a Big Sky ski instructor while earning a teaching certifi cate from MSU. She has continued to paint and spent three years traveling with the nonprofi t Art Mobile of Montana, working in schools, retirement homes, private art studios, and country clubs across the state.

Through an ongoing fellowship with the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Man-agement and Education, based in Half Moon Bay, Calif., McGree has worked with other educators to create a free database (Open Educational Resources) for teachers. That national group focuses on modeling cutting-edge thinking in K-12 education.

Today, the 31-year-old works as an artist in residence in Montana schools, and is working to start a nonprofi t, Project MArt (more art), that would promote, facilitate and support individuals of all ages in the healing, exhilarating, and educational experience of art.

In 2012, McGree will be part of the Montana Arts Council’s new Artpreneur program and will start a Masters in Arts Administration and Holistic Nonprofi t Management through Prescott College.

Living in Bozeman, she’s now a Bridger convert.

- Emily Stifl er

Allison McGree

I’m intrigued by skies and water. I can sit on the porch and just watch the clouds move across a landscape, … or beside a river watching water. Clouds and water are mesmerizing, and dif-fi cult to paint.

My grandma is an artist. I used to chase her around, and that was how I got into painting. Now she’s bedrid-den and can’t use her hands anymore because of her arthritis. For a while I’d put the paintbrush in her hand. Now she directs me, and I paint for her. Because she’s an artist and she has the eye, her instincts are keen. I have to focus on what she’s thinking instead of what I want to do. Our work is different. She worked in wa-tercolor. I work in oil, and my colors are crazier than hers. She was much more realistic.

I like oil because it doesn’t dry as fast. It thickens like butter. You can mix colors together and layer them on top of each other. It’s more sculptural.

Gonzaga was really traditional. I painted a lot of still lives, and did [fi gure] drawing. I learned important skills, but it wasn’t until I could paint what I was interested in that I truly became excited about painting.

The Art Mobile travels the state with a gallery of original Montana artwork boxed up in the back. The Teaching Artist hangs the artwork in schools, cafeterias, libraries, classrooms, in retirement centers, and home-school groups at churches. I’d give a mu-seum docent tour of the gallery and also teach hands-on art lessons. It had so many art supplies and [so much] artwork I could barely fi t my own luggage in there.

I met amazing people, artists and teachers. Montana is lucky. There are so many incredible organizations and individuals. The Montana Arts Council was recently awarded a grant where they described Montana as not a series of small places, but instead one big community.

I like getting kids into art. I like their perspective. They’re not inhibited or worried about being right or wrong.

I did a mural in Belgrade with 240 sixth graders [last] year. It was amazing. I had groups of 8-10 kids throughout each day. We were done in four days. They got to paint on a wall, which seems like something they shouldn’t do, so it’s fun.

McGree will have a show in May 2012 at the 406 Brewing Company in Bozeman, and one at Zoot Enterprises April-July.

"Mishra's Mountain"

From the artist

December 2, 2011 19

Big Sky Weekly

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GALLERY

Montana kids don’t have much art until middle school or high school, outside of the Artists in Residence program, and what classroom teachers have time to do. I go to Butte once a month to be a K-8 artist in residence and I visit the forth grade classrooms at Hawthorne Elementary once a week. I do lessons with spray paint, wire, everything, paint, pastels, markers, glue, air-dry clay. It’s rapid-fi re art, but it’s great.

Each [of my] paintings or series ebbs and fl ows. Each has a life of its own. There is usually a time in the painting where I want to rip it, burn it or give it away. Then I turn it against the wall and wait for it, then come back to it with a different perspective, instead of letting agony take over.

When the energy to make a painting exactly right slowly fades into being easier and less restrictive, a fl ow takes over [and], it gets more comfortable. It’s like I’m trying to answer a question for a while, and I beat it into the ground, and slowly the question answers itself, and it’s not as diffi cult to paint.

I love painting places. You can paint the same thing 700 times, and it’s always going to be different. I could paint Lone Peak forever.

My goal was to have 30 new paintings by the time I was 30. I was painting on the eve of my 30th birth-day, but I did it.

Art allows us to digest things. To see the world in a different way and problem solve. It’s important to for all of us.

I think art is connection. You can listen to music or see a painting or a sculpture, and you feel like you understand someone else or yourself more. Or sometimes it bewilders you—allows you to wonder why someone did something and makes you think.

How do you make yourself as happy and fulfi lled as possible? You never know how long you’re going to be around. Art gives you a chance to do that.

I love painting places. You can paint the same thing 700 times, and it’s always going to be different. I could paint Lone Peak forever.

"Enchanted Light" "Lone Peak, Big and Bold"

"Thompson River" "Spring Bridgers"

20 December 2, 2011

Big Sky Weekly

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There hasn’t been much to cheer about for the Miami Dolphins this season, a team that looks disenfran-chised and will surely be looking for a new coach and a new start at the end of the season.

A bright spot on the team has been the surprising play of rookie Jimmy Wilson, a cornerback from Montana, chosen in the last round of this year’s NFL draft.

Big plays have come at a premium for the Dolphins this year, and Wilson is

one of the players able to make things happen on the fi eld. He had an intercep-tion against the Cleveland Browns in the third game of the season, and he has four passes bat-ted down this year, including a big one against the Giants last week, his fi rst NFL start.

While Wilson has made mistakes and has a lot of developing to do before he becomes a top level NFL player, he’s shown fi re on the fi eld and he’s proven that he has the athleticism required to become a productive play-maker in the league.

His fi rst start against the Giants wasn’t a perfect outing, but he fi lled in ad-mirably for the injured Vontae Davis, and the Dolphins can only hope he continues to learn and develop into a regular starter.

Wilson has had to overcome a lot of adversity on his way to the NFL.

He started 12 games in his first two years as a Montana Grizzly before starting every game in 2006 and playing well enough to earn second team All-Big Sky Confer-ence honors. Prior to the start of his senior season, he was involved in a domestic altercation that left one man dead.

He was incarcerated for 25 months on murder charges during a long trial in Los Angeles. After the first trial resulted in a hung jury in which eleven out of twelve jurors voted for acquittal, a second jury acquitted him unanimously of all charges.

Wilson was then fought for and won an extra year of NCAA eligibility and returned to the Grizzlies to fi n-ish his college career.

After the 2010 season, many teams were hesitant to give him a chance,

but the Dolphins took him in the seventh and fi nal round of the draft.

After being drafted, Wilson impressed coaches with his determination and talent throughout the pre-season and he’s continued to impress in the regu-lar season. If he continues to develop and show the kind of passion for the game that he has thus far, his future in the NFL will be promising. As he attempts to reach that potential, his story of redemption will continue to be a journey worth following and his legacy as a Grizzly will always provide a unique perspective of a young man’s path toward fulfi lling his ultimate dream.

Brandon Niles has done online freelance writing about the NFL since 2007. His articles range from NFL news to team-specifi c commentary. A Communication Studies graduate student at the Uni-versity of North Carolina Greensboro, Niles is also an avid Miami Dolphins fan, which has led to his becoming an avid Scotch whisky fan over the past decade.

BY BRANDON NILES

Former embattled Grizzly Wilson in a bright spot in Miami

SPORTS

Let the games begin. Montana football is mak-ing a strong showing this year in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, and it’s going to be a good one.

The Bobcats suffered a disappointing 42-17 loss to North Dakota State during the fi rst

round of the playoffs last year and look to string together a run to bring the FCS champi-onship back to Bozeman for the fi rst time since 1984.

The Grizzlies are back in the playoffs, having missed the playoffs for the fi rst time in almost two decades last year after fi nishing 7–4. They won 36-10 over MSU on Nov. 19 in what was essentially a Big Sky Conference champion-ship.

The conference declared UM and MSU co-champions, and the teams fi nished Nos. 4 and

7 in the FCS heading into the playoffs. Both teams had earned home games in the fi rst round after fi nishing 7–1 in conference.

That news was clouded when ESPN—the sports media giant that owns the rights to the FCS playoffs—announced it would air the Montana games online only. The move sparked a statewide backlash online and letters from

Montana politicians asking ESPN to show the games on TV. ESPN announced late Nov. 29 it would allow fans to buy the game on a pay-per-view ESPN channel for $24.95.

Head coaches of both teams said after the ‘Brawl of the Wild’ that they would rather not see one another during the playoffs (which could happen by the third round if the teams win).

The Grizzlies’ defense stopped what is known as an explosive Bobcat offense during the rivalry game, while Dan Moore and the UM offense ran for more than 200 yards. The Bobcat play-ers said they wouldn’t be able to diagnose the letdown until they got into the fi lm room.

The teams head into the playoffs poised to keep Montana football in the limelight. The Griz-zlies’ fi rst game is against a central Arkansas team, while the Bobcats bring it home against New Hampshire. The Cats could potentially face No. 1 Sam Houston State in the second round.


Cats, Griz head for playoffs after wild fi nishESPN snubs, backtracks on decision not to air games on TV

PHOTOS BY MIKE COIL

Varsity VolleyballTeam Cumulative GPA = 3.03Academic All-State Selections:Sarah Baccetto – 3.81Tehya Braun – 4.08Gabrielle Gasser – 3.75Julia Schelle – 3.82Kaela Schommer – 3.59

Varsity FootballTeam Cumulative GPA = 3.17Academic All-State Selections:Griffi n House – 3.95Quinn House – 3.83Trevor House – 4.04Winter Madden-Pattison – 3.5Justin McKillop – 3.94Ben Michel – 4.0Micah Robin – 3.95

Anthony (Tony) Savoy – 4.0James (Tate) Tatom – 4.08Tommy Tosic – 3.74Tucker Shea – 4.04All-Conference Player Selections:Tucker Shea Matt Becker Tommy Tosic

All-State Player Selections:Tucker Shea

Selected to Class “C” 6-Man Senior All-Star Football Game in June:Matt Becker (Defensive Line/Offensive Center and Deep Snapper)Tommy Tosic (Free Safety/Wide Receiver/Kick Returner)

Ophir School Distric athletics schedule

Ophir MS Girls’ Basketball Vs. Anderson, Dec. 6, 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Ophir MS Girls’ Basketball vs. Manhattan Christian, Dec. 8, 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Ophir MS Girls’ Basketball 7/8 St. Mary’s Tournament @ St. Mary’s, Dec. 9-10

LPHS Basketball @ MT. Ellis, Dec. 10

LPHS Basketball @ Harrison, Dec. 12

Ophir MS Girls’ Basketball vs. Monforton, Dec. 13, 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

LPHS Basketball @ Ennis, Dec. 16

Lone Peak High School 2011-12 fall athletic teams academic and athletic accomplishments

December 2, 2011 21

Big Sky Weekly

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OUTDOORS

After driving 10 hours south from Montana, we turned off the highway onto a rambling dirt road that ran across a dry sagebrush wasteland.

The snap orange colors of the scrub oak that dotted the northern hills were gone. We were heading to the put-in of Desolation Canyon on the Green River, Utah. We left Montana as it was transitioning to fall and preparing for winter.

I pulled over on a sand drift along the road to secure the raft, hoping not to repeat what our friend Eric experi-enced earlier when a dry bag was jetti-soned from his boat and then creamed by an 18-wheeler. All contents were recovered, less his daughter’s swim-suit, long underwear and a recent issue of Fancy Dog magazine—a diffi cult extraction during 5 o’clock rush hour on a four-lane interstate north of Ogden, Utah.

After I bomb-proofed the gear and changed into fl ip-fl ops and shorts, my son Kjetil climbed onto to my lap and took the wheel. It’s what we do when we drive the dirt roads leading to trailheads and river put-ins; he drives and we listen to bluegrass or Notori-ous B.I.G.

The temperature rose as we snaked through the vast, rolling dry land. Oilrigs bobbed up and down in a slow eerie rhythm.

One year ago we made a similar so-journ to the Green River. That trip was a reunion of friends and families for an adventure down a beautiful desert river.

Every river trip is arguably a celebra-tion of life, or possibly a celebration of being away from your life—as in

turning off cell phones and engaging in your surroundings. But this year was different. This was a celebration of life in the truest sense.

On day three of last year’s trip, after returning from a four-mile run along a fresh water tributary of the Green, my wife Suzy began to complain of nausea and dizziness. The treatment at the time seemed simple: rest, shade and hydra-tion. With four EMTs, a paramedic and a former ski patrol director along, we felt confi dent in our fi eld diagnosis.

By midnight Suzy was in a virtual coma and had lost control of all faculties. At fi rst light, after a night furiously trying to stabilize and treat her symptoms, we made a satellite phone call to an emer-gency room doctor and friend, Dr. Jim. He diagnosed Suzy with hyponatremia, and without treatment, he said, this would lead to cerebral edema, which was potentially fatal. Her condition was worsening and was irreversible in the fi eld. She needed to be evacuated.

Suzy had essentially fl ushed her body of all necessary salts and minerals, and also had an unknown staph infection. In an attempt to bring balance and retain as many essential minerals as possible, her body had shut down all its borders. Excess water began to swell up and pool, and with nowhere else to go, it began to swell around Suzy’s brain. The clock was ticking.

More than 40 miles of river lay down-stream, including some whitewater. It was hard to decide whether I would accompany my wife on the helicopter and leave our two young children with friends, or send Seth, a friend (more

like family) and a paramedic. We ulti-mately chose the latter, which meant Seth had to leave his wife Nikki and their two kids.

With the help of a blue jean-clad river ranger and his astonished sidekick, Suzy and Seth headed downstream to meet a helicopter en route from Grand Junction, Colo. In what looked like a

Viking funeral, Suzy’s body was strapped to a raft and pushed

out into the current.

When they met the helicopter, Seth and the fl ight medic had a showdown of emergency medical bravado, which won him entrance onto the helicop-ter—something not typically allowed for non-family members. This may go down as the single most critical event in the eventual saving of Suzy’s life, not excluding Eric’s satellite phone and our ER doctor on speed dial.

An hour later, we heard the helicop-ter. It’s hard to describe how I felt as

it fl ew over the river, carrying my wife lying in a coma. Our two kids watched by my side, bemused by the site of a helicopter, not fully compre-hending.

The fl ight medic was convinced that a simple injection of intravenous fl uid and glucose would bring Suzy out of what he thought was hyperglycemic shock, and directed the pilot to head for Salt Lake City. If Seth hadn’t been there to explain her symptoms and condition, Suzy would have been mistreated and very likely would have died. The helicopter re-routed back to Grand Junction, the nearest medical facility.

Back in the canyon, our group carried on with necessary bravery, maintain-ing an air of confi dence in an attempt to keep scared and puzzled kids enter-tained and distracted.

We received two updates on Suzy’s condition, both of which reported she wasn’t improving, and that complica-tions were starting to present them-selves. I cried as we fl oated down the river, thinking that was the last time I would see my wife alive. I fell asleep that night under the stars with my two kids under each arm.

How quickly our lives can take a turn. Suzy went for an afternoon run and by evening was having seizures and lay in a coma.

By sunrise we made contact with the Grand Junction ICU and heard great news. Suzy had drastically improved and was conscious. The doctors said if we’d waited another half hour, re-covery might have been impossible.

On day three of our “do-over” trip, we hiked to petroglyphs along the creek where Suzy had run the year before. After the walk, our daugh-ter chased lizards, and our son dug tunnels in the sand. Suzy climbed onto a paddleboard and headed downstream. We’d closed the circle, made peace with the past. The river asked nothing of us this time, but in return we gave it respect and the celebration of life.

Alex Hassman writes from Big Sky.

BY ALEX HASSMANBIG SKY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTOR

Celebrating life on the Green River

Wren, Alex, Suzy and Kjetil

How quickly our lives can take a turn. Suzy went for an afternoon run and by evening was having seizures and lay in a coma.

22 December 2, 2011

Big Sky Weekly

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BUSINESS

Montana’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percent for the second straight month, ending at 7.6 percent in October. The U.S. unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percent to 9.0 percent.

“Montana’s economy has seen slight growth in employment, personal income, and gross domestic product,” said Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly. “The recent unemployment declines are encouraging, and I hope that job growth continues through the holiday season.”

Total employment, which includes payroll, self-em-ployed, and agricultural workers, gained about 2,200 jobs over the past year.

Total employment hit a low in December 2009 and has been trending upwards during 2011 after little change in 2010.

Strong private sector growth across most in-dustries has offset job losses in the govern-ment sector. The manufacturing industry continues to experience slow job losses, while the construction industry has stabi-lized with little employment change in the last two quarters. Preliminary employment estimates for October indicate continued job growth of about 1,800 payroll jobs.

Prices declined in October, with a 0.1 percent decline in the seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index for All Urban Con-sumers. A decline in the energy index off-set small increases in the food index and all items less food and energy index. The index for all items less food and energy (also called core infl ation) increased by 0.1 percent.

Unemployment rate down for second straight month

Will Swearingen, executive director at Montana State University’s TechLink, was honored with the 2011 Economic Leadership Award during the Prospera Business Network’s annual Business Excellence Awards this November.

Prospera Business Network works to support the Gallatin County economy by pro-moting technology and clean industries. TechLink, located on the MSU campus, has been working with the Pentagon in trans-ferring technology to the private sector since 1999.

MSU NEWS SERVICE

TechLink’s Swearingen receives business award

9.8% 9.0% February 152,635,000 138,093,000 14,542,000 9.5% 8.9% March 153,022,000 138,962,000 14,060,000 9.2% 8.8% April 152,898,000 139,661,000 13,237,000 8.7% 9.0% May 153,449,000 140,028,000 13,421,000 8.7% 9.1% June 154,538,000 140,129,000 14,409,000 9.3% 9.2% July 154,812,000 140,384,000 14,428,000 9.3% 9.1% August 154,344,000 140,335,000 14,008,000 9.1% 9.1% September 154,022,000 140,502,000 13,520,000 8.8

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2011 U.S. Unemployment Rate

2011 Montana Unemployment Rate

All Big Sky Chamber of Commerce business members are invited to the December After Hours, hosted by Gallatin Alpine Sports in the West Fork Meadows, on Thursday, Dec. 15 at 5:30 p.m. This is a great networking op-portunity and also a fun way to enjoy the holidays and connect with your Big Sky colleagues and business associates. Grab your co-workers, some business cards and your holiday spirit, and join us as we eat, drink, mingle and meet.

BY MARNE HAYESBIG SKY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Gallatin Alpine Sports to host December Business After Hours

December 2, 2011 23

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ENVIRONMENTAL COLUMN

From copper mines in Butte—which made Montana the world’s biggest copper producer during the late 19th century—to coal fields in the Powder River Basin, Montana has always been a home for the extractive industries.

The Treasure State has always been a supplier of other people’s needs. Mining and drilling projects wrest underground minerals from deep beneath the earth’s surface, usually for sale to points of consumption far outside of Montana.

Montana’s mines have fed demand in other states and countries, which either lack deposits of their own, or are unwilling to shoulder the health, safety and environmental impacts of mining and drilling their own lands.

Now Montana may face a new wave of extraction, in the form of oil and gas drilling along the Rocky Mountain Front. Giddy from the recent oil boom in North Dakota,

oil barons are eyeing central Mon-tana. If they find black gold along the Front, Montana will have some tough choices to make about devel-opment and resource extraction.

But if the oil boom comes to the Front, it will raise serious questions about the safety of today’s drill-ing practices. Oil extraction from the Bakken shale has been made possible only by new technological advances, including the controver-sial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”

Oil companies are already snatching up permits to explore on state and private land along the Rocky Moun-tain Front. They’re hoping to fi nd that the Bakken shale formation, which is feeding oil development in North Dakota and eastern Montana, extends westward to the eastern fl ank of the Rockies. Oil specula-tors say they can drill more cheaply along the Front than in the plains to the east, making the area even more attractive for exploration.

Fracking involves injecting water, sand and synthetic chemicals deep

underground at high pressure, to break up shale rock and release oil and gas trapped inside. Though it’s an effective way to get at gas and oil that would otherwise be impossible to extract, fracking is an exception-ally messy process.

Chemicals used for fracking, as well as methane gas released from underground shale, can leak into nearby groundwater. Ozone emis-sions from fracking in Wyoming contribute to smog formation, with the result that some rural com-munities have poorer air quality than Los Angeles. Studies showed earlier this year ozone levels near Wyoming fracking sites were two-thirds higher than what the national Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for health.

Air pollution is only part of the story. In England, where frack-ing has also taken off, the practice has been linked to earthquakes and increased seismic activity. In Colorado, communities living near fracking operations report they can now light their well water on fire. Public indignation over river fires

helped spur passage of the Clean Water Act and other federal envi-ronmental legislation. At the same time, Montanans, disillusioned by decades of degradation in Butte and other towns, were passing some of the strongest state-level environ-mental reforms in the nation.

State and federal environmental laws have served Montana well, cleaning up areas that were once toxic wastelands. However, this new technology has introduced new public health challenges, and thanks to a loophole in the 2005 energy bill, fracking operations are exempt from federal clean water protections.

Fracking for gas and oil on the Rocky Mountain Front could bring short-term prosperity to Montana towns—just like the copper mines of Butte did in the late 1800s. But Anaconda’s once-mighty copper empire left us with the Berkley Pit. Similarly, fracking on the Front will surely have long-term con-sequences which Montanans may later regret.

BY NICK ENGELFRIEDBIG SKY WEEKLY OPINION WRITER

Fracking on the Front

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24 December 2, 2011

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Finding love can be difficult, especially in small towns like Big Sky.

Winter is here, and new faces will be swarming the ski areas, bars and restau-rants. Among the hustle of racing to the tram, après drinks and busy work schedules, companionship may get lost.

Lisa Hagen knows this better than anyone. A seasonal worker by trade and new Big Sky local (she’s lived here for a year and plans to stay), she’s bounced between seasonal positions for the past six years.

Now she’s settled full time in Big Sky as a Moonlight Basin ski patroller and summer raft guide. Hagen knows how difficult it can be to make friends, or even find love within the seasonal sector.

This summer, Hagen launched seasonallove.com, a dating site for those just passing through.

“I know from experience that seasonal workers need a service like this,” Hagen said.

Hagen noticed dating sites like match.com and eharmony.com don’t have categories for “outdoorsy types” and those who move seasonally.

Those sites are great for working professionals who are settled, she says, but not for people who seek jobs at resorts or in adventure-based industries.

New dating website focuses on outdoor, seasonal lifestylesBY ABBIE DIGELBIG SKY WEEKLY EDITOR

December 2, 2011 25

Big Sky Weekly

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Last winter, Hagen discussed her idea with friends in Big Sky, who encouraged her to take action. She launched seasonallove.com in October 2011. Hagen used a basic dating software platform and specialized it for people with outdoor interests.

Creating an account is easy. Facebook users can use their existing accounts, or create a separate Seasonal Love account. From there, users can post updates, interests and browse possible connections. Eventually, there will also be a Craigslist type of market on the site.

“The site is targeted toward larger [resort] areas like Summit County and Ta-hoe,” Hagen said, but anyone can create an account.

“I want Seasonal Love to be a place where people can fi nd someone they want to be with for awhile,” Hagen said, not just for people to meet quick “hookups.”

Hagen has found luck herself. She met her boyfriend while working at Spanish Peaks, and they’ve been together for almost a year. seasonallove.com

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Hagen and her boyfriend found love in Big Sky.

26 December 2, 2011

Big Sky Weekly

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December 2, 2011 27

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

As winter wraps our world in a glit-tering white blanket of snow, many feel the effects of the seasonal change as they begin to hibernate from their normal lives.

Seasonal affective disorder, or hiber-nation syndrome, is a type of depres-sion that affects many people who live far north or south of the equator during the winter.

SAD is a result of changes in daylight and alters biochemical processes in our bodies. In Montana, we experi-ence approximately nine hours of light per day during December. These long nights and shorter days limit exposure to sunlight, resulting in a drop in serotonin, a neurotransmit-ter that contributes to happiness. As serotonin levels drop, people experi-ence mood changes.

Decreased exposure to sunlight also results in in-creased mela-tonin. Some-times called “the hormone of darkness,” melatonin is responsible for our bod-ies’ circadian rhythms. As our biological clocks, circadian rhythms help determine when we’re awake or asleep, as well as infl uenc-ing other biological, physiological and behavioral functions. Increased melatonin can result in oversleeping or fatigue, two common symptoms of SAD.

These symptoms can result in feel-ings of isolation, trouble at work or school, and suicidal thoughts, and may lead to substance abuse.

If you have a family history of sea-sonal depression, your risk is greater. Women are more likely to report symptoms, while they’re typically more severe in men.

If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms, don’t wait to seek help. A physician or other health care provider can help establish an effective treatment plan.

Light therapy is one of the most pop-ular and effective treatments for al-leviating SAD. Since lack of sunlight is the major cause, exposure to light can help you feel like yourself again. Full spectrum light boxes and dawn

simulators mimic natural sunlight, and studies have shown light therapy can be as effective as pharmaceutical treatment.

While it may seem silly, sitting by one of these devices for a prescribed time period helps stimulate serotonin production, regulate melatonin levels and increase vitamin D production, all of which contribute to a happier, healthier life. Light therapy is most effective in the morning. Common doses are about 5,000 lux per day.

There are also many lifestyle rem-edies to keep SAD symptoms at bay.

First, make your daily environment sunnier. This is Montana—not Alas-ka—and we do have sun in December. Pull back the curtains, spend the morning hours in the sunlight, get outside, and exercise regularly.

Add a regular yoga and/or medita-tion practice, or indulge in the well-document-ed benefi ts of massage therapy. Eat a diet high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fi sh and nuts and are essential for healthy brain function. And fi -nally, make sure you establish a

social support system and socialize regularly.

If the winter blues are affecting you, a friend or a family member, remem-ber that seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression. However, it’s treatable, and there are many options available to chase away the symp-toms.

So, on the next sunny day try to get outside, enjoy the scenery and take advantage of one on the many great activities here in Southwest Mon-tana.

Source: American Academy of Family Physicians

Erin A. Bills, MPH, studied arctic health issues in Scandinavia prior to working with the Montana Offi ce of Rural Health/Area Health Education Center at Montana State University. She lives in Big Sky and is dedicated to improving the health of Montana’s rural populations by developing effec-tive preventive health policy. Follow her blog at projectbagbalm.wordpress.com.

BY ERIN A. BILLS, MPHBIG SKY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTOR

A SAD time of yearSeasonal Affective Disorder

Additional symptoms include:

Feelings of hopelessnessAnxietyLoss of energy A heavy feeling in arms and legsSocial withdrawalLoss of interest in activities once enjoyedAppetite changesWeight gain Diffi culty concentrating

Nordic Hot TubWe service what we sell!

Spa sales to fit your budgetPool and spa care after the saleCustom maintenance plans

Spa covers and custom liftsLots of accessories for your spaSpecial orders available

(406) 995-4892 • [email protected] Gallatin Rd. • Big Sky, MT 59716

www.BigSkyHotTubs.com

This is how Big Sky getsinto hot water.

Nordic Hot Tub

Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned—even on vacation. That’s why Bozeman Deaconess Pharmacy at Big Sky is here for you.

We offer a full range of phar-maceutical items includ-ing bandages and OTC medicines and creams for aches and pains. And,

should you have forgotten your medications, we’re happy to assist you in getting what you need to fully enjoy life under the Big Sky.

Whether you’re here for the week or a lifetime, we want to help you enjoy a

smooth ride—on and off the mountain.

Sometimes life doesn’t go as should you have

When the ride down isn’t as smooth as the ride upWE’VE GOT YOU COVERED

28 December 2, 2011 explorebigsky.com

EVENTS PLANNING AN EVENT? Let us know! Email [email protected] and we’ll spread the word.

BIG SKYFRIDAY SKI CONDITIONING CLASSEvery Friday until Dec. 16Ophir School old gym6 – 7 a.m.

MONDAY SKI CONDITIONING CLASSEvery Monday until Dec. 19Ophir School old gym6 – 7 p.m.

YOGA WITH ANNAMondays 6:30 – 8 p.m.Tuesdays and Fridays 8:30 – 10 a.m.Yellow Mountain Center for the Arts

VINYASA FLOW YOGA WITH JILLTuesdays and Thursdays 6:30 – 8 p.m.Yellow Mountain Center for the Arts

YOGA WITH CALLIEWednesdays6:30 – 8 p.m.Yellow Mountain Center for the Arts

FREE SKIING FOR FREQUENT SKY CARD holders at Big Sky ResortThrough Dec. 4

$20 DAY – ALL LIFT TICKETS ARE $20 AT BIG SKY RESORTDec. 2

MOONLIGHT BASIN’S PRAY FOR SNOW PARTY AND RAIL JAMBig Sky Town CenterDec. 2, 5 p.m.

TOWN HALL MEETINGBig Sky ChapelDec. 7, 1 p.m.

LPHS BOOSTER CLUB BIG HORN SPAGHETTI EVENINGOphir School gymDec. 7, 6 – 8 p.m.

BIG SKY RESORT HOTELS OPENDec. 8

CROPDUSTERS LIVE AT CHOPPERSDec. 9, 9 p.m.

MOONLIGHT BASIN SEASON PASS HOLDERS OPENING DAYDec. 9

BIG SKY CHRISTMAS STROLLMeadow Village and Big Sky Town CenterDec. 9

BIG SKY SKI EDUCATION FOUNDATION FUNDRAISERBuck’s T-4Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

MOONLIGHT BASIN OPENING DAYDec. 10

320 STEAKHOUSE & SALOON WINTER OPENINGSleigh rides also begin320 Guest RanchDec. 10, 4 p.m.

DAN DUBUQUE LIVE AT CHOPPERSDec. 10, 5-7 p.m.

PANCAKES WITH SANTASimkins Hallin showroom at Big Sky Town CenterDec. 10

EDUCATOR APPRECIATION WEEKEND AT BIG SKY RESORTDec. 9 – 11

OPHIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMDec. 13, 7 p.m.

LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH NORDIC TRAILS AND SLEIGH RIDE DINNERS OPENDec. 14

THE DINING ROOM AT LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH OPENSDec. 15

OPHIR MIDDLE SCHOOL AND LPHS HOLIDAY PROGRAMDec. 15, 7 p.m.

TURKEY FOR A TICKET AT MOONLIGHT BASINDec. 16

BOZEMANVISIT AND TAKE A PICTURE WITH SANTAGALLATIN VALLEY MALLEvery day, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.

IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMASTHE ELLEN THEATERDec. 2 – 23, 7:30 p.m.

M-BAR-T PASS SALESBozeman REIDec. 3, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

FRIENDS OF KGLT’S FIRST MUSIC SWAP GALLATIN COUNTY FAIRGROUNDSDec. 3

BOZEMAN CHRISTMAS STROLLDec. 3

BOZEMAN ICE CLIMBING FESTIVALDec. 7 – 11bozemanicefest.com

WAXING AND TUNING BASICSBozeman REIDec. 8, 6:30 p.m.

CABIN FEVER GUN SHOWGallatin County FairgroudsDec. 9-11, 5 p.m.

SANTA STUMBLEDowntown BozemanDec. 10, 7 p.m.

SNOWSHOEING BASICSBozeman REIDec. 12, 6:30 p.m.

BOZEMAN SYMPHONY HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSEDec. 13, 4 p.m.

“BEYOND LEADERSHIP: ARE YOU REALLY AN ENGAGING LEADER?” virtual seminar sponsored by Hopa MountainDec. 14, 10 a.m.

WEST YELLOWSTONE

IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMASPLAYMILL THEATERDec. 2 – 3, 7:30 p.m.

NORTH AMERICAN BIATHLONDec. 10 -11

NATIONAL GUARD BIATHLON CLINICRENDEZVOUS SKI TRAILSDec. 14 – 18

CHRISTMAS FOR THE CRITTERSGRIZZLY AND WOLF DISCOVERY CENTERDec. 15 – 31

WEST ENTRANCE TO YELLOWSTONE OPENS TO OVER-THE-SNOW TRAVELDec. 15

WEST YELLOWSTONE CHRISTMAS STROLLDec. 15, 5 p.m.

SLED DOG RACESRODEO RUN 2011Dec. 15 - 17

KIDS AND SNOW EVENTDec. 15 – 17Kidsnsnow.org to register

PARADISE VALLEYTHE MAX ROCK AND ROLLChico Hot Springs ResortDec. 2-3

BETSEY WISE AND BRITT SMITH (FOLK)NORRIS HOT SPRINGSDec. 3, 7 p.m.

HOLIDAY FARMERS’ MARKETLivingston Civic CenterDec. 3, 9 – 4 p.m.

21ST ANNUAL OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS FAIRLivingston FairgroundsDec. 3, 8 – 4 p.m.

HOLIDAY CARD MAKING CLASS AND COOKIE EXCHANGEMammoth Community CenterDec. 4, 3 p.m.

YELLOWSTONE ASSOCIATION BOOK SALE AND XANTERRA RETAIL’S YEAR END CLOSEOUT SALEMammoth Hotel Map Room Dec. 6, 9-1 p.m.

VIRGINIA CITY CHRISTMAS STROLLDec. 10, 3 p.m.

ELI MADDEN AND LUKE FLANSBURG (ACOUSTIC ROCK)Norris Hot SpringsDec. 10, 7 p.m.

NUTCRACKER TEA PARTYLivingston Depot CenterDec. 10, 3 p.m.

BLACK WATER ROCK AND ROLLChico Hot Springs ResortDec. 10 – 11

LITTLE JANE (ACOUSTIC COUNTRY)Norris Hot SpringsDec. 11, 7 p.m.

Save the date for annual Madrigal DinnerFestive holiday event returns to Buck’s T-4 Dec. 5

The Arts Council of Big Sky is hosting its 15th annual Madrigal Dinner, Monday, Dec. 5, at 5 p.m. in the Buck’s T-4 Lodge Ballroom.

Tickets include a three-course dinner prepared by the chefs at Buck’s, as well as festive music by the MSU Montanans and a finale by the MSU Chorale.

The evening begins with a no-host bar at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 p.m., then the ceremonial procession of the Lord and Lady of the Manor and their guests. Olde English customs are the theme throughout the evening. The dinner closes with the audience joining the musicians in singing familiar carols.

The Arts Council of Big Sky is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing musical and artistic performances to the Big Sky Area. Call 995-2742 for ticketing information or visit bigskyarts.org.

AVALANCHE COURSES

Introduction to Avalanches w/ fi eld courseBridger BowlDec. 3, 9 a.m.

Avalanche Awareness 406 BreweryDec. 6, 6 p.m.

Avalanche Awareness REI, BozemanDec. 7, 6:30 p.m.

Snowmobiler Introduc-tion to Avalanches w/ fi eld course, Livingston Park County Courthouse, Cottonwood CanyonDec. 7, 8, 10, 7 p.m.

MBA Avalanche 1 CourseBell Lake YurtDec. 9-11(406) 995 3880 for details.

Snowmobiler Introduc-tion to Avalanches w/Field CourseWest YellowstoneDec. 15,16

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ENTERTAINMENT

Kris Clone got caught trying to sneak into a Garth Brooks show in East Lansing, Mich., when he was 16.

He’d hopped on the side of a tour bus that was backing underneath the arena. The bus drivers saw him, stopped, and he was escorted out.

At the same arena a few years earlier, Clone and his dad saw Johnny Cash play, and also the Highwaymen.

Those experiences left a mark on Clone, who is now the lead singer of the Bozeman-based country band 10 Foot Tall and 80 Proof. Clone and Josh Heins started the band in 2006, and they’ve since recorded two albums and toured nationally.

“We can play in Wilsall, Mont., to a ranch rodeo crowd, or take that same exact set and play downtown San Francisco,” Clone said. “[Peo-ple] see us differently even though we play the exact same songs.

Their foot-stomping ‘roots rock country’ music also has jazz, southern rock, blues and blue-grass infl uences. The band—which consists of

a stand up and electric bass, guitar, keyboard and drums—hired a new lead guitar when Heins left a couple of months ago. 10/80 now plays more than half original material, but still throw oc-casional Johnny Cash covers into sets.

The band now stays local and plays regular gigs at The Eagles in Bozeman, Stacey’s Old Faithful Bar in Gallatin Gateway, Chico Hot Springs, and also drives to Missoula, Great Falls and Billings.

“Small town Montana is a lot of fun to play in because people are really appreciative to get live music in their little bar in their little town,” Clone said.

When 10 Foot Tall and 80 Proof played at the Longhorn Saloon on Halloween, the rest of the Hebgen Lake community was essentially boarded up. A shuttle ran from downtown West Yellowstone, and people rallied to Heb-gen to party down.

The band plans to release their third album by year’s end. With the new lead guitarist, the mood is a little more electric than their previ-ous work.

“I’d say we’re country,” Clone said. “People in San Francisco said we were ‘hicksters.’”

Ten Foot Tall and 80 Proof – Montana Roots Rock CountryPlaying at Choppers Dec. 17BY EMILY STIFLERBIG SKY WEEKLY MANAGING EDITOR

30 December 2, 2011

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g r e a t t u r n i n gh e a l i n g c e n t e r

g r e a t t u r n i n gh e a l i n g c e n t e r

C H I N E S E M E D I C A L P R A C T I C EA c u p u n c t u r e • H e r b a l M e d i c i n e

www.greatturn inghea l ing .com | 81 W. Kagy B lvd , Bozeman, MT | 406-922-2745

S p e c i a l i z i n g i ns p o r t s i n j u r i e s • c h r o n i c p a i n

m i g r a i n e h e a d a c h e s • s t r e s s

m a n a g e m e n t • c o l d & f l u

d i g e s t i v e d i s o r d e r s

bigskytowncenter.com

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GRAHAM CRACKER LEMON PIE

Preheat oven to 325°

CRUSTMix well and press into pie plate:

20 graham cracker squares crushed to crumbs. (I use large a mortar and pestle, but a rolling pin will also work)

1/4 c butter (1/2 stick), melted1/4 c sugar

FILLINGMix and pour into graham cracker piecrust:

2 egg yolks, well beaten (set the egg whites aside for the meringue)1 can condensed milk 1 lemon rind, grated

1/2 c lemon juice

MERINGUEBeat the two remaining egg whites until stiff, gradually adding, while beating, four tablespoons sugar, 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar and a dash of salt. The more sugar is beaten, the less the meringue will weep. Top the pie with meringue. Bake until meringue is lightly browned (10 to 15 minutes). Chill and serve.

Torie Bentley is owner and director of Bentley Bodies, a premier mind-body wellness boutique committed to healthy lifestyle choices. Locations are in Big Sky and Bozeman. bentleybodies.net

My grandmother wrote and published two cookbooks back in the ‘70s. She dedicated the fi rst, The Bentley Farm Cook-book, to me as a torch-passing gesture across generations. This pie recipe, which comes from that book, is my favorite in the whole world. As kids, we begged her to make it. It’s defi nitely not low-calorie, but is a great dessert to share. -Torie Bentley

Holiday recipes Time to splurge

FOOD & DINING

Holiday hint:

Forget choosing between wine and beer. A 4 oz. glass of bubbly is only 85 calories. That’s about 15 calories less than a 12 oz. bottle of light beer or a 4 oz. glass of wine. And let’s be honest, the average glass of wine is usually at least twice that size.

The CJB is an energetic and fun Reggae Rock outfit from Salt Lake City, Utah. If you are a fan of artists like Sublime, Slightly Stoopid and Passafire, the Codi Jordan Band will blow you away. CJB has played the Mandalay in Las Vegas and Sundance Film Festival.

Located on the banks of the Gallatin River on Hwy 191

Shuttles at 12:30 and 1:30 a.m.

More information:406-995-2928 or 406-993-9666

Tickets

$15Saloon Doors open 9:30 p.m.Party favors, champagne toast, fire spinner and bonfire

New Year’s Eve Dinner 6-9 p.m.available in the dining room with reservation

32 December 2, 2011

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Noun: wild or rough terrain adjacent to a developed area

Origin: shortened form of “back 40 acres”

For the Big Sky Weekly, the Back 40 is a resource: a place where we can delve into subjects and ask experts to share their knowledge. Topics include regional history, profiles of local artists and musicians, snow and avalanche education, how-to pieces for traditional or outdoor skills, and science.

It’s a beautiful winter day, sunny with a hint of wind. The pristine mountain slopes unfold before you, freshened by an overnight dump of snow. You’ve navigated the throngs of skiers and snowboarders clamor-ing in the lift line, zipped to the top, and decided to leave the resort and ski the sidecountry with a friend.

You exit the gate, glancing at the skull and crossbones on the sign, indicating that sidecountry re-ally means backcountry. Fields of

sparkling powder fill your vision, tugging your attention away. Your friend drops off the ridge, and you watch him start to descend. Two turns later, a crack shoots across the slope, the snow gives way, and your friend is sucked out of sight in a powder cloud.

What are you going to do now?

Avalanches happen. They’re a

powerful force of nature that can be hard to predict. Weather, slope angles, slabs, weak layers and the proper trigger are all part of the puzzle. The best way to avoid them is to stay out of avalanche-prone terrain.

However, most backcountry rec-reationists in Montana, including skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers, ice climbers and snowshoers, often find themselves in terrain capable of avalanching.

Be prepared with func-tional rescue gear and know how to use it.

Uninjured survival rates for buried victims plummets from 90 percent at 15 minutes to 50 percent at 30 min-utes. As a rescuer you want time on your side, and having proper equip-ment facilitates a faster rescue.

Three pieces of gear are absolutely essential when entering avalanche terrain:

• Avalanche transceiver (a beacon)• Shovel with a metal blade• Avalanche probe

These give the rescuer a way to find and dig out a buried individ-ual, given that the buried victim is also wearing a functioning trans-ceiver.

With this equipment, plus training and practice, any backcountry user can be an effective rescuer. The ideal, however, is to not get caught in an avalanche to begin with.

Take an avalanche course (or two), check the forecast center’s daily advisory, watch the weather, carefully select terrain based on current hazard, and always watch for bulls eye data (i.e. changes in weather, increasing wind, obvious clues of instability such as recent avalanches, cracking or slope col-lapsing/whumphing).

Having rescue gear in the back-country is worth almost nothing without the smarts on how to use it. Practice often. Pull it out regu-larly to ensure everything works. Probe cables can erode and break, shovels get bent, transceivers wear out and batteries die.

Make sure your partners know what they’re doing and their gear is functional. Remember, they’ll be the ones saving your ass if you get caught.

BY MARCIE HAHN-KNOFFBIG SKY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTOR Transceiver (aka beacon)

Beacons work by transmitting flux line signals, which are tracked by a beacon turned to receive mode.

Avalanche transceiver technolo-gy has become more user friendly in the past 10 years. Many new beacons have digital directional displays and triple antenna tech-nology that direct rescuers quickly to a buried transceiver. Some have systems for dealing more easily with multiple burials.

There are many kinds of beacons out there. The best kind is the one you know how to use well.

Warning: If your transceiver re-quires an earpiece to function, is not 457khz frequency, or is older than snowboarding, donate it to a museum or use it as a conversa-tion piece, but don’t use it in the backcountry. The frequency on these old beacons tends to drift, and most aren’t compatible with modern rescue gear.

Avalanche probe

Once the victim’s transceiver sig-nal is pinpointed, the probe is set up and poked carefully into the snow in a spiral until the victim is struck. The probe is left in the snow to mark the victim and indicate burial depth. Practice setting up your probe. It should take less than 15 seconds.

Shovel with a metal blade

Once the victim is located with a probe strike, shoveling becomes priority number one. Shovels should be easy to assemble, and the blade should be large enough to excavate a good chunk of snow on each scoop.

Metal bladed shovels are far superior to plastic ones due to the extremely hard nature of ava-lanche debris. Plastic shovels can break, particularly in the cold.

Digging in debris is hard work and tiring. Learning and practicing strategic shoveling techniques—which have recently been studied and refined—makes excavation faster and more efficient.

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? An avalanche rescue gear primer

HOOPLAHULAHOOPS

Having rescue gear in the backcountry is worth almost

nothing without the smarts on how to use it.

December 2, 2011 33

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December 2, 2011Volume 2 // Issue #21SPECIAL SECTION: GIFTS & GEAR

Wizbang caps p. 38 PHOTO BY PIPER PLATTE

Mystery Ranch packs p. 42

Osprey duffel p. 35 PHOTO BY EMILY STIFLER

This is a collection of gear reviewed by local experts and gift suggestions from our editors

Travel...35

Clothing & Accessories...37

Outdoors...40

Pets...47

Chico Hot Springs package p. 35 PHOTO BY MIKE MARTINS

HattieRex Jewelry p. 37 PHOTO BY TESSA BURNETT

West Paw Dog Toys p. 47

34 December 2, 2011

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Located just south of Four Corners on the way to Big Sky

81720 Gallatin Road • Bozeman406-587-7503

Join us!

Cowboy Christmas Saturday, Dec. 17th9am - 6pm

Four Corners Saddlery

Holiday Sale Raffles Chili Feed

Western & English Boutique:Fine Tack, Gifts, Housewares & Apparel

Under Montana state law, gift cards and gift certifi cates from individual merchants don’t expire.

Gift cards that can be used with mul-tiple sellers of goods or services (from a Chamber of Commerce or shopping center, or prepaid credit cards) are not considered gift certifi cates.

Gift cards or certifi cates for a single store or merchant:

• Never expire, regardless of any date stamped on them

• No inactivity fees can be levied

• Redeemable for cash when their value falls below $5

Gift cards or certifi cates usable with multiple merchants/pre-paid credit cards:

• Good for at least fi ve years

• If the card expires and there is unspent money, a replacement card must be furnished at no cost

• Fees for inactivity can only be levied after 12 months of dor-mancy and only if such charges are disclosed on the packaging of the card or certifi cate

Gift cards don’t expire in MontanaOFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

$49 TRY OUR NEW

VALUE CARDa season full of discounts plus the fi rst day of skiing FREE

moonlightbasin.com | (406) 993-6074

Purchase by 12/16

December 2, 2011 35

Big Sky Weekly

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GIFT GUIDE: TRAVEL

I wouldn’t live in Big Sky if I didn’t love the snow, but usually we need to defrost at some point during the winter. My favorite local vacation spot is Chico

Hot Springs’ Winter Getaway special.

The healing hot springs and soapstone fi replace are just the beginning of the magic that warms from the soul out-ward. It continues with the generous and recognizable staff, dinner in a cozy nook of the award winning restaurant with a glass of red wine, and fi nishes with the orange fl ambé.

Breakfast and a morning soak make it difficult to leave, but don’t worry—you’ll be back.

If Santa’s reading this, Katie would like a Chico Hot Springs gift certifi-cate because she’s really cold and it’s only December.

The packages are available Sun-Thurs, Jan. 3- April 26 (excluding holidays), and include a room with private bath, dinner, and breakfast. Add massages for $135. chicohotsprings.com $189-$234

BY KATIE MORRISONBIG SKY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTOR

Weekend getaway: Chico Hot Springs

I take this bag everywhere. I have the 95-liter size, which isn’t too big and defi nitely is not too small.

I’ve taken it on an expedition to northern Canada, to Dallas to visit my grandmother, and left it in the back of the truck in a rainstorm on the way back from B.C. last winter. It still looks brand new and my stuff even stayed dry.

The dual end pockets are good for long trips—put your crayons in one side and your makeup in the other. The top pouch on the lid is where I keep my leatherman and notes from my mom.

The QuikCarry™ harness system lets you carry it like a backpack, which is good for carrying more than one piece of luggage. It disappears into one of the end pockets, when you’re not using it.

The only issue I have with this bag is that when the zip pocket is open, it’s awkward to pick it up by the handle on the lid. Luckily there are handles on the side, so it always works out.

Also available in 75, 60 and 46 L sizes. The 46 is the maximum legal carryon size and fi ts perfectly in overahead compartments.

Sold at rei.com and backcountrygear.com, or check out Osprey’s dealer loca-tor at ospreypacks.com. $69-$99.


Duffel: Osprey Transporter

Inspired by old-fashioned European travel posters, Bozeman photog-rapher Travis Andersen created an appealing and colorful series of retro-style images for Big Sky, Moonlight Basin, Bridger Bowl and other Western ski areas.

Andersen studied historic travel posters, which he says were com-mon from the early 1900s to the 1950s, “when skiing was more romantic,” he says.

Based on posters from the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, Andersen’s skiers have wooden skis, leather lace-up boots, and white collars underneath ski sweaters. That post-WWII era was the beginning of American ski areas.

“I want them to be accurate to the places that they’re from,” he says. That’s easy for Sun Valley, which was built in the late ‘30s, but “it’s harder when you talk about Big Sky and Moonlight, because they didn’t exist.”

So he made silkscreen style prints that beautifully capture Lone Mountain’s moods and the nature of each ski area. Some of the images are stylizations of Andersen’s pho-tos, and others are based on com-missioned paintings.

Additional ski prints include Grand Targhee, Jackson Hole, Sun Val-ley, Alta and Valdez. In summer, Andersen has vintage fly fishing posters from the Gallatin, Madison, Yellowstone, Snake and Missouri rivers. E.S.

18x24” posters available at Moon-light Basin, Plum Logo in Big Sky, and at the Old Main Gallery in downtown Bozeman. Larger canvas artwork available at Big Sky Fur-niture and at whitecreekart.com. $25 for posters

Retro prints from White Creek Art

Moonlight Basin Value CardsLooking for a budget-friendly way to enjoy skiing this winter? Try Moonlight Basin’s new Value Card—on sale until Dec. 16. The $49 value card gives you the first day of skiing free, plus discounts all season long at Moonlight. Purchase online at moonlightbasin.com.

Big Sky Weekly

36 December 2, 2011

.49 CENT WINGS & 2 FOR 1 WELL

DRINKS AND DRAFTSduring all NFL & College

Football games

Now offering

NACHOS &QUESADILLAS!

OPEN DAILY AT 11:30 A.M.

LUNCH & DINNER

LOCATED IN THE BIG SKY TOWN CENTERbig sky, montana406-995-3830

December MusicFri. 12/2

DJ Bones 9 p.m. (Rail Jam / Pray for Snow Party begins 5 p.m.)

Fri. 12/9 The Tyler James Brigade 9 p.m.

Sat. 12/10 Dan Dubuque 5-7 p.m.

Thurs. 12/15 One Leaf Clover 9 p.m.**Fireball Whiskey Promo and Snowboard Giveaway

Sat. 12/17 Jeff Belino 5-7 p.m.10 ft. Tall and 80 Proof

Fri. 12/23 Bottom of the Barrel 9 p.m.

Sat. 12/24 Tom Marino 5-7 p.m.

Fri. 12/30 The Boozehounds 9 p.m. ($5 Cover)

Sat. 12/31 Eli Madden 5-7 p.m.“New Year’s Eve Bash” The Tom Cook Band and the Boozehounds 9 p.m. ($10 Cover)**Patron Snowboard Giveaway at Midnight

HAPPY HOUR*

MONDAY-FRIDAY 4:00-6:00 P.M.

*½ price well drinks and pints

NOW OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

APRÉS SKI

HEADQUARTERS

Open Mic Every Tuesday Night (Starting Dec. 6)

December 2, 2011 37

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In the ‘70s the world had Birken-stocks. In the ‘00s we got Sanuks. The U.S. based company has an eco-approach and over 50 styles of easy-going footwear. Sanuks, a comfortable slipper-type shoe with style, are foot friendly and bring and element of style missing from dated footwear choices.

With a variety of colors and pat-terns and from which to choose, Sanuks are equally equipped for cozy nights in the lodge or for trips

to town. Beware, these are not the best winter shoes as snow sticks to the bottoms like gum, but they are perfect when used as a casual run-ner or stumbler when pub crawling. The next morning, wear a pair to a meeting and still look presentable.

Our publisher Eric Ladd got his hands on a pair of Vagabond Mossy Oak, and hasn’t taken them off since. “After all,” he said, “who doesn’t love camo sandals?” A.D. sanuk.com $60 -$68

GIFT GUIDE: CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

Shoe: Sanuk

Give the gift of local and charm to a mother, daughter or pet. HattieRex is an artist-owned business located in Bozeman that creates personal-ized and custom pet ID tags, jew-elry, wine charms, keychains, and other handcrafted metal accessories. Working in copper, brass, alumi-num, and sterling silver, HattieRex creates one-of-a-kind goods at af-fordable prices to personalize, wear and enjoy.

HattieRex products have been featured in CountryLiv-ing, ModernDog, and CityDog magazines, as well as HGTV.com. HattieRex was an Etsy featured seller in No-vember 2009.

The Montana and Teton necklaces are made of copper and rose gold plated sterling silver/sterling silver. They’re also available in gold tones. Starting at $38.

The pet ID tags are made of oxi-dized copper. $14-$30.

The wine charms are 3/4” in diam-eter and made of aluminum. Great for party favors, weddings and gifts. $5 each, bulk discounts available.

The ‘swirly bird’ necklace is in sterling silver and features a name of the customers’ choice. $46

hattierex.com (406) 992-4641

Handmade Jewelry: HattieRex

Made in Northfield, Ver., Darn Tough socks have an unconditional lifetime guarantee that you prob-ably won’t ever need.

Rick Cabot started the company in 2005 in his family mill with a goal to make the best performance sock possible. For the three decades prior, the family milled hosiery for private label businesses like the

Gap, Banana Republic and Eddie

Bauer. When many of those customers sent produc-tion overseas, Cabot set out on his own.

An outdoors-man with socks

in his blood, Cabot had

an

eye for comfort, durability and fit. Testing different yarn weights and combinations, his team created a high-density knit that packed 1441 stitches of fine merino wool per square inch—more than any sock in the industry.

This means cushioning even after a long day walking or skiing, plus serious durability. The soft merino also wicks moisture, keeping feet dry and warm, and isn’t as stinky as nylon or cotton.

New this year to Darn Tough’s ski/ride line are the over the calf pad-ded cushion sock and the over the calf padded ultra light. The former is a perfect mid-winter sock, and the latter is for high-performance skiers with super-tight boots or for spring touring. A true seamless toe closure in the ultra-light helps eliminate hot spots and blisters.

Available at Livingston Mercantile, Freeheel and Wheel, Schnee’s Boots and Shoes, Montana Trout Fitters, and Shedhorn Sports, or through online retailers like backcountry.

com. $14-$25

Socks: Darn ToughBY EMILY STIFLERBIG SKY WEEKLY MANAGING EDITOR

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38 December 2, 2011

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A collection of Alpine Home Decor and Chalet Style Antiques

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Having lived in long un-derwear more than 150 days a year for a decade, I fi gured out what I don’t like. And I fi nally found what a love.

Since I found Patago-nia merino wool last summer—t-shirts, long sleeve shirts and long john bottoms—they’ve been my go-to base layers. I use them while skiing the resort and the backcountry, ice climb-ing, summer hiking, al-pine rock climbing, and chasing my boyfriend around hunting.

They don’t itch, they (hardly) smell, and they’re not restrictive. They don’t rip, don’t pill and I’ve managed not to shrink them in the dryer. The shirts are long enough to tuck into the pants, and don’t ride up under ski pants or a climbing harness.

Patagonia redesigned its merino col-lection for fall 2011. The new fabric is more durable and more environmen-

tally friendly than its pre-decessor, and is construct-ed from a blend of 80 percent fi ne chlorine-free Australian merino and 20 percent recycled polyes-ter. This blend gives the fabric high tear strength and helps garments keep their shape during wear and washing.

In keeping with its en-vironmentally respon-sible focus, Patagonia sources its merino from Australian farmers focusing on progres-sive breeding programs, sustainable land man-agement and animal welfare. And like all Pa-tagonia base layers, the woolies are recyclable through the Common Threads program.

Available in Big Sky at Grizzly Outfitters and online at patagonia.com. $65-$125


Patagonia merino wool

GIFT GUIDE: CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

Hats: WizbangA few years ago, Megan Paulson met an old Tibetan farmer along a remote part of China’s Yangtze River. She was part of an ex-pedition running a high-water descent of the river, and they’d just pulled up to camp.

“15 minutes after we docked, the farmer came walking down the hillside by the river carrying a 70-pound bag of yak dung for us [to use for a fi re],” Paulson said.

The farmer was worried they might be cold and hungry, and the next day he invited the crew up to his house, which he built from clay and rocks. He made fresh cream from yak milk, shared yak-butter tea, and the boaters let him look through their binocu-lars, which he’d never used before.

As with every other day on the 200-mile journey, Paulson was wearing her favorite hat—a pretty blue, white and green number from Wizbang.

When she got home Paulson couldn’t fi nd the hat anywhere, and was so bummed she called Liz McRae, owner and founder of Wizbang. At her studio in the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman, McRae was able

to make another identical hat. It still makes Paulson think of her farmer friend, who’d she like to visit some day with a gift of binoculars.

Wizbang hats are made with “love, grit and joie de vivre—just like the women that wear them,” said an apt description from the website.

Paulson now has six Wizbangs, and wears them every month of the year, loving their fun patterns and stretchy lightweight fabric. Check out this year’s collection, which comes with the option of cute brims. E.S.

Available at Grizzly Outfi tters in Big Sky; Bangtail Bikes and Gerty in Boze-man; Freeheel and Wheel in West Yel-lowstone; and online at wizbanghats.com. $22-25

Big Sky Weekly

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Things change pretty quickly these days in the snowboard industry. Tech-nology, tricks, and fashion trends are here one moment and gone the next. You need to have a solid product or be a innovator to survive.

Fortunately Boz- e-man’s Spark R & D offers both: quality splitboard bind-ings and innova-tive features/acces-sories designed for function and fun. The Blaze is a true backcountry workhorse.

I found it extremely comfortable, responsive and lightweight. Its 1,640 gram base plate is low profi le. Besides, it gave me one hell of a ride.

This season’s Blaze offered a variety of new performance driven features that I appreciated: custom highbacks with increased response, increased range of forward lean (25 to -5 degrees), rede-signed straps to save weight on the way up and increase support while riding,

and pre-curved latters that don’t snag while touring.

These features may not seem like much, but taken together over a sea-son (over hundreds of hours, thou-sands of steps, and countless turns) they make all the difference.

After a few days on the Blaze, it was

apparent that Spark had taken the results

from their research and riders’ feedback to heart. The result is one

of the most hard charging and progres-sive splitboard bindings I’ve ever rid-den. This one is a must for any serious splitboarder.

Spark bindings are available at GAS in Big Sky,World Boards in Bozeman, and online at sparkrandd.com

Erik Morrison is a long time Big Sky local who spends much of his winters exploring the mountains of Southwest Montana.

The Blaze splitboard binding from Spark R&DBY ERIK MORRISONBIG SKY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTOR

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GIFTS & GEAR: OUTDOORS

One of the hottest items in back-country snowboarding this year, the Compacter poles are part of Black Diamond’s new z-pole series. Made of aluminum and weighing in at 1 lb and 4 oz per pair, they’re lightweight but bomber.

For the hike up, BD’s standard FlickLock closure allows 20 cm of adjustability, and their ergonomic pole grips and straps are adjustable with or without gloves. A low-profi le grip lower on the shaft makes side-hilling or steep boot packing more comfortable. An internal tensioner mechanism al-lows the poles to stiffen and reduces the inevitable lateral wiggle.

For the ride down, the poles break down into three lengths held together with Kevlar cord, and fold into a neat package that snaps into the basket.

Because these poles have so many parts, make sure to dry them out at night so they don’t ice up.

They’re so fast to deploy, snowboard-ers may also fi nd a single Compacter handy for traverses or runouts at the resort. Also great for snowshoers or as an extra travel pair of poles for ski-ers. E.S.

Available in three sizes at Gallatin Alpine Sports and Grizzly Outfi tters in Big Sky, at Northern Lights Trading Co. in Bozeman, and online at black-diamondequipment.com. $119.95

Backcountry: Black Diamond Compacter poles

December 2, 2011 41

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N E V E R G O A L O N E

GOING OUT OF BOUNDS? Sharpen your skills, bring the proper safety gear and always bring a partner.

T H I N K R I S K , T H E N R E W A R DBSSAR.ORG // MTAVALANCHE.COM

42 December 2, 2011

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Mystery Ranch packs, the 10-year-old descen-dent of Dana Designs, is known for its big military contracts and bombproof backpacks. The Bozeman business—which employs 70 people and recently created a line of packs for wildfire professionals—keeps growing, even during hard times.

Now it’s made outdoor headlines for a new airbag backpack designed for avalanche professionals, specifically ski patrollers. Designer Kyle Chris-tensen worked with pros to create the trim, 42-li-ter top-loader that’s got all the bells you want and none of the silly whistles.

The basic premise behind an airbag pack is this: You’re in an avalanche, and you’ve tried every-thing to escape, but to no avail. You pull a ripcord and a big nylon balloon explodes from the lid of

your pack. Since larger objects with more surface area fl oat in avalanches and smaller ones sink, you’re more likely to stay on top.

With OSHA considering requiring airbag packs for avalanche professionals, the Blackjack—the only air-bag pack made in the U.S.—is particularly relevant. Aspen, Wolf Creek and other Colorado resorts ordered Blackjacks for their patrols this year.

The Blackjack is spot-on for patrol: The load capacity is signifi cant, but trims down neatly with compression straps; an external shovel pocket fi ts pro-sized shovel and probe; and a side zipper allows easy access to layers or explosives. With customiz-able shoulder and waist harnessing, and meant-to-be abused construction, it’s classic Mystery Ranch. The downside: it ain’t light (nor is is cheap). The whole kit weighs in at 7.8 pounds.

“The big picture is that airbags work and … ev-eryone should carry them,” says Mystery Ranch’s

Ben Noble. “I’d like to see them become as com-mon as beacons in the next five years.” He cites limited European research over the last decade that put airbag success rates in the 90th percen-tile.

This winter, Mystery Ranch is working on prototypes for smaller airbag packs designed for recreational users.

Available in Bozeman at Mystery Ranch and online at mysteryranch.com. Pro pricing avail-able. Lifetime warrantee. $975


Avalanche airbag pack: Mystery Ranch BlackjackBY EMILY STIFLERBIG SKY WEEKLY MANAGING EDITOR

Mystery Ranch Flat BagThese come in outrageous colors, are made from random material scraps and cost $5. They’ll hold art supplies, secret documents or lunch. Mine is neon pink, and I hope it will earn me entrance to the Pink Powder Posse, an illustrious and ex-clusive all-women’s ski backcountry ski team. Get one. E.S.

December 2, 2011 43

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A simple thing can save your life. Although there’s nothing simple in-side the Tracker 2 avalanche beacon, its use is easy enough to direct even a beginner to a buried buddy caught in a backcountry avalanche.

The tech heads at BCA took the Tracker 1, the most widely used beacon in the U.S., added a third antenna, and made a good thing bet-ter. The extra processor receives and

computes transmitter waves from another beacon and relays the info at real-time speed.The split-second speed increase is enough to make a panicked situa-tion a bit easier. The Tracker 2 still comes with directional arrows on top and reads off meter distances as you run, walk and crawl (signal search, coarse search, fine search) to your buried friend.

Of course, buying the beacon that currently boasts a 55 percent hold on the market won’t dig out your pal. BCA offers all the gear you need to prepare for the powers that be in the backcountry. Get yourself a shovel and probe, and enroll in an avalanche safety course, because if you don’t know what to do, you’re buddy’s as good as a cooked mallard. T.A.

Available at Grizzly Outfitters in Big Sky; in Bozeman at Chalet Sports, Round House, Northern Lights Trading Co., Summit Mo-tor Sports, REI and PhD Skis; and online at backcountryaccess.com. $289 to $335

Avalanche Transceiver: BCA Tracker


When one of the Weekly editors asked me to review an Osprey pack, it seemed logical to pick the one I like best: The Mutant 38.

I used this pack all last winter ice climbing in Hyalite Canyon, as well as on two massive mixed climbs in the Alps.

The Mutant is simple, strong and light-weight, with a design that serves exactly what it’s intended for, without any unnecessary frills.

On the schlep to the climb:It carries well even when loaded full with hardware. Its ice-tool-bungee attachment sys-tem allows for easy tool loading and removal if you just need a tool for a short step. The hip belts have gear loops that will carry ice tools, carabiners or ice screw carriers.

On route:Once on the climb, the Mutant 38 sleeks down so it’s not in the way. A great compres-sion system, along with reverse hip belt stor-age, makes accessing your harness easy. The frame system sits low enough that your head doesn’t bump the pack as you look around on route.

If the load is too heavy to carry while climb-ing, there are three rated haul points to pull it up the pitch. The materials are tough enough

that this kind of hauling won’t completely destroy the pack.

A quiver of one:This pack is designed for short alpine climb-ing adventures or multi-day mountain trips, but would also work for lightweight summer overnighters. “It’s like a quiver of one,” says Osprey’s Gareth Martins. For those looking for more backpacking friendly features, check out Osprey’s Kestrel 38.

Available in Bozeman at Northern Lights Trad-ing Co. $149

Sam Magro is a professional mountain guide and photographer based in Bozeman.

BY SAM MAGROBIG SKY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTOR

Pack: Osprey Mutant 38

Now that the snow is finally sticking, it’s time to hit the climbing gym and begin training for next season. However, your shoes are toast from a long season on the rock, so it’s time to go shopping. If you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for, but you don’t want to sacrifice comfort for perfor-mance, check out the Scarpa Vapor-V.

New this year, the Vapor-V is a shoe that should excite everyone. The opposing dual Velcro power straps allow quick on and off access, and wrap the foot for a nice snug fit. The suede/Lorica upper is very comfortable and will stretch if sized as a performance fit, as opposed to sizing-up for the all-day outings.

With its slightly down-turned last, the Vapor-V toes in on

overhanging walls, yet climbs vertical faces and slabs like no other shoe out there. The thicker 4 mm X-Grip sole will survive abuse from beginners as they de-velop footwork and strength, but won’t sacrifice perfor-mance for intermediate and advanced climbers. Indoor or out, the Vapor-V climbs ev-erything—sport routes, long traditional routes or boulder-ing in the gym.

The Vapor-V is a must have shoe for winter season train-ing, and a great holiday gift for any climber. Find it at Northern Lights Trading Co. in Bozeman and scarpa.com. $139.00

BY BRANDON SMITHBIG SKY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTOR

Climbing Shoe: Scarpa Vapor-V

44 December 2, 2011

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NORTHWESTMANAGEMENT, INC.

Flathead Lake Historic Timber

Northwest Management Inc. is salvaging century-old submerged logs from Flathead Lake with the aid of scuba divers. Numerous logs date back to the early 1500’s. These logs, steeped in the history of western Montana, are uniquely beautiful with bri l l iant coloring and have been customed mil led into f looring, paneling and rough cut lumber to be used as bar tops, mantles and doors.

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December 2, 2011 45explorebigsky.com


This classic American com-pany’s newest addition is their outdoor collection. For those who like the nostalgic feel of the old-fashioned Zippo pocket

lighter, the top-selling hand warmer has a sleek design similar to the classic lighters.

The warmer, with tough metal construction will be your best friend when working in an early morning chill, starting your car, snowmobiling, ice climbing, winter fishing, or for warming your hands after a run down Lone Peak. It could also be a helpful addition to an emergency survival kit, which

are recommended by the Big Sky Fire Department for households in Big Sky because of its remote location.

The process of setting them up is unique and fun: Fill the bottom

half with lighter fl uid, light the burner and slip in your

pocket for 12 hours of warmth. The price is right at just under 20 bucks, so it’s cheaper than using the packets, and it’s also odorless, a bonus for hunters.

Purchase online at zippo.com or select

outdoor retailers. $19.95

Zippo hand warmerBY ABBIE DIGELBIG SKY WEEKLY EDITOR

Zippo emergency fi re starter kit

A perfect stocking stuffer for a backcountry enthusiast who likes to camp in cold temperatures for long periods of time, Zippo’s emergency fire starter kit doesn’t rely on fuel to get a fire started.

Starting a fire is easy with the water-resistant waxed tinder sticks. They come in a compact case with a built-in flint wheel for lighting the sticks. Make sure to also purchase a couple of campfire starter cedar pucks, which will start a fire in a cinch, even when wet.

The kit can be used to start four fires, is made from 100 percent recycled materials, and gives off a western red cedar aroma.

Don’t forget to throw these inex-pensive tools into your pack and emergency survival kit, as well. You won’t regret it. A.D.

Purchase online at zippo.com or at select outdoor retailers. Fire Kit $19.95 Cedar Fire Starter $1.49

Light: JetLiteWorking long days leaves little daylight for biking or skiing local trails. The solution comes with the A-51 Series from JetLite, a powerful LED system that throws out 700 lumens (standard headlamps give out anywhere between 35-80 lumens) to guide you through the night.

The overall system may seem bulky at first, said creative director Mike Martins, “But as soon as you strap it onto you handlebars or helmet, the A-51 becomes a seamless extension.”

The battery life of the 7.4v Lithium Ion 4500 has plenty of juice to last for your entire three-hour ride. Martins’s tip: Squeeze every ounce of power from the battery by setting it on low for uphill and high for downhill.

A great gift for the biker in your life, Jetlite also offers various mounting sys-tems, so runners, skiers and hikers can enjoy night adventures. The JetLite A-51 Series is lightweight, customizable and puts out plenty of beam for the fastest riders of the night. jetlites.com $199 A.D.

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46 December 2, 2011

Big Sky Weekly

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TO BIG SKY

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December 2, 2011 47

Big Sky Weekly

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Boots doesn’t know that the line over the u in her Būmi is called a macron. But, she does know how much she loves fi ghting over the toy with her pal Lefty. A cow dog mutt and a gold-en retriever, they try their best to tear the bright green, rubbery, s-shaped toy apart. But they can’t do it.

West Paw Design, a 15-year-old Bozeman company, manufactures eco-friendly dog and cat toys, pet beds and dog apparel (sorry, kitties—none for you).

A play on the word boomerang, the Būmi is part of the zogofl ex line, the company’s most popular. The toys are made of a top-secret propriety material and have a one-time warran-tee. Less than 1 percent are returned, according to Westpaw’s Ryan Buck.

Westpaw, which employs 47 people, sells pet accessories in Montana, across the U.S. and internationally. Most of the beds are fi lled with 100 percent recycled material, and some have organic or recycled fabrics. The zogofl ex toys are made of 10 percent recycled content and are themselves recyclable.

Buck says his dogs love West Paw’s newest toy, the Twiz.

While Boots and Lefty can’t put a ding in their Būmi, their owners have an issue with it: Throw it too high in the backyard, and it gets stuck in a tree.

The Būmi comes in two sizes and three colors (blue, green and red)—plus a lim-ited edition red for the holidays. E.S.

Available in Bozeman at Dee-O-Gee, Barkenhowel’s, Bridger Feeds, Ace Owenhouse, Heart of the Valley Humane Society, the Co-op, Rosauers and Sola Café, and in Four Corners at the Bozeman Dog Co. or online at westpawdesign.com. $11.88, $16.06

Dog toy: West Paw Bumi

Not going to lie—I’ve never really met a treat I didn’t like. Well...except for that dried pig ear that didn’t sit too well in the ‘ol tummy and the ping-pong ball I ate that I wasn’t supposed to. But that’s when I was a pup. Now I’m a year-and-a-half old, and I love adven-ture, hunting, sticks, swimming, birds, ski touring, rafting, sticks, fetch, birds, soccer balls, footballs, birds, baseballs, sticks, birds and nordic skiing. Did I mention sticks and birds?

I’ve grown to have an adventurous palette, but when it comes to treats, I know quality when I taste it. Too many places these days sell crap bones that just throw in all the nasty leftovers. Sure they might seem tasty at the beginning, but they don’t give me the energy I need to get through my day of activities, and the aftertaste... gross.

So, when I heard about these new Brewies—a homemade treat made in Bozeman out of leftover beer hops, I was skeptical. Partly because I had an organic treat before and it tasted like dirt, and partly because I’m not old enough to have beer yet.

To my surprise, my parents let me have some Brewies the other day. I was blown away by the fl avor explosion in my mouth. Not to mention the chewy texture. So good. After six of them, they made me quit, but I wanted more. Once I start it’s hard to stop.

I had so much energy after eating them, and my mom said they’re even good for me—all organic ingredients, olive oil to help my shiny coat, fl axseed oil for regularity and peanut butter!. Best of all, I didn’t even get in trouble for hav-ing a beer snack with them.

Brewies are my new favorite treat, and I’m pumped they’re here for ski season. Après ski will be so fun. Dear Santa, if you’re reading this please fi ll my stock-ing with Brewies this year!

16 oz. cups of Brewies Pale Ale treats, Amber Ale treats and stocking stuffers available in Bozeman at Great Harvest, Sola Café, Barkenhowel’s, Dee-O-Gee, Bozeman Dog Co., Heebs, the Co-op and Bozeman Angler, and online at brewiesbiscuits.com. $7.99, $6.99, $2.

BY GRADYBIG SKY WEEKLY K9 CONTRIBUTOR

Dog treat: Brewies

Credit Cards accepted for subscriptionscall or email us today 406-995-2055 | [email protected]

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We mail our publications around the world.Subscribe today—$75 for 26 issues of the Big Sky Weekly and 2 issues of Mountain Outlaw magazine delivered to your doorstep.

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GIFT GUIDE: PETS

Boots and the Bumi

48 December 2, 2011

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Creighton Block

Rob AkeyGreg AlexanderJim BarrettDiana BradyLynn Cain

Todd ConnorJerral Derr yberr yFlavia Eckholm Edd Enders Thomas English

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Todd Connor“Protector”36” x 24”

ARTIST PROFILETodd Connor was born in 1964 and raised in Tulsa, OK. He began painting in pastels and oils at

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in Pasadena, CA. He briefly worked as a colorboard painter for Universal Studios in Japan before

making the leap to full time painter in 1999.

Todd Connor has met with much success in venues including the CM Russell show and auction in

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influences include Impressionists, Asian calligraphy, and early American Illustrators. His exceptional

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