Sports

There may be no snow in Big Sky but that didn't stop the Freeride Ski team from practicing their tricks in a whole new way and place. The team made the journey to Salt Lake City, Utah last week in order to go to the U.S. Olympic Team’s training venue which is located there.

Q: Hi Pat! Sam, here. I have been reading Mountain Grit since you started with the LPL. I appreciate your ‘real people’ common sense approach to this aging thing. Your 7S Buckets resonated with me, and I would like to report that I am doing my darndest to keep them ALL full and robust.

Play ball! The Montana state champion Belgrade Bandits 12U baseball team traveled to Meridian, Idaho to play in the Pacific Northwest Regional on July 22-25. The Bandits were on the heels of their thrilling 4-1 win over the Gallatin Outlaws in the state championship game on July 11.

It was race day in Big Sky this past weekend. Over 250 racers participated in Big Mountain Enduro’s mountain bike race in Big Sky on July 24-25. This year marked the third time that Big Mountain Enduro’s tour has come through Big Sky. Last year, Big Sky’s stop was one of the only one’s on the tour during their COVID riddled season.

Q: Hi Pat! I just hit 40, and registered for a Spartan 10K / 25-obstacle mountain race a year from now, on my 41st birthday. My three kids are in school full days, and my business as a website designer allows for a flexible schedule. What’s my incentive? To test myself, to see if I can finish in one piece, with a respectable time.

“We just kind of show up and play,” is how Dounia Metje describes the impromptu volleyball at the Big Sky Community Park. Every Tuesday around 6 p.m. dozens of people flock to the beach volleyball court in Big Sky. Anywhere from 20 to 70 players show up every week to participate.

For Big Sky, it was a weird July 4.There were no fireworks throughout Big Sky due to the Big Fire District fire ban put in place before the weekend. The weekend truly was like no other. However, one sense of normalcy for the community was the July 4 5K fun run.

Q: Hi Pat! I recently started training again, (yeah, again) at a local gym in a small-group setting with a coach. The first day, the coach welcomed me, then asked about my training experience, and any muscle-joint, MEDs or issues that she should be aware of. Next, she popped THREE big questions: Why are you here?