With more than 100 professional and another 140 volunteer ski patrollers on call, Big Sky Resort has one of the largest patrol staffs in the world, according to the mountain’s ski patrol director. That’s mainly because it takes so many people to cover the three mountains of the ski area – a total of about 5,800 acres. Spread out across all of those runs are 2,700 to 3,800 skiers on weekdays and weekends, respectively, on average. That’s more folks that a lot of Montana’s small towns. The ski patrol is responsible for first-aid treatment to injured skiers and snowboarders, as well as monitoring the condition of trails, evacuating lifts if there are any problems and providing advice to visitors as ski ambassadors.
Find out more about this dedicated, athletic group by reading my story online at The Billings Gazette at: http://bgz.tt/n6e9j
(Written by Brett French – Outdoors Editor for the Billings Gazette)
