Old School
IT’S STILL DARK AT 7 A.M. when Randy Elliott climbs onto a snowmobile outside the ski patrol locker room at Bridger Bowl, Montana. Riding up from the base area, the air has that dry, it-hasn’tsnowed- in-a-week bite. He parks beside the Bridger Lift’s bottom terminal and waves to lift maintenance as he loads the triple chair.
Halfway up, the steep wall of the Bridger Ridge glows blue-white above him in the pre-dawn. The chair bumps over the sheave wheels.
“This is my favorite time of day,” says Elliott. He rides to the Ridge every morning before patrol to assemble explosives for avalanche control. “It’s the quiet time, more or less. And it’s a privilege.”
Elliott, 62, is a transformative leader for Bridger Bowl, the nonprofit ski area 17 miles north of Bozeman. He started working here as a volunteer ski patroller in 1975, during his sophomore year at Montana State University, and they officially hired him in 1977. His wage was $2.50 an hour, with an extra 25 cents per hour
