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The Future of Big Sky

Lone Mountain Land Company’s Matt Kidd sat down to discuss the difference between development and nurtured growth, capacity and sustainability, and maintaining a sense of place while supporting the economy.

When it comes to the Big Sky community, there’s good news, tough news, and inarguable news. The inarguable news first: The word is out. Big Sky’s vast beauty, world-class skiing, four-season recreation and proximity to Yellowstone National Park have sparked growing visitor demand. The tough news: Big Sky has historically lacked certain infrastructure and services to meet the needs of those visitors, including services for a yearround community and workforce. The good news, says Matt Kidd, Managing Director of Lone Mountain Land Company (LMLC): “There’s no need to drastically change Big Sky to accommodate those new guests, sustain the economy, and expand services for visitors and locals alike. As it goes from 65 percent build-out today, to 100 percent build-out in the coming decades, the goal is to nurture everything that the community loves about Big Sky, including open spaces, majestic sightlines, and the shared experience that brought us all here in the first place. The trick is viewing growth not as a problem, but as a means to address longstanding challenges the community has dealt with since its inception. That’s where the nurturing comes in. Today, we’re in a unique position to be able to do that. Instead of squabbling and infighting, all the major stakeholders—landowners, resort operators, developers, and community advocates—are aligned. We can take a holistic approach to community building. That’s incredibly unique. No other resort town in North America has had the luxury of a shared vision. We do.” Here’s a look at how Lone Mountain Land Company envisions some of the near-term and longterm developments that will create the Big Sky of the future. It’s a work in progress, and one that will grow out of Big Sky’s commitment to listen to and serve this exceptional community.

News You Need To Know 2023

A Few Highlights in Big Sky

TAKE ON BIG SKY BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON
THIS WINTER, AFTER THE LIFTS CLOSE, the groomers will head straight to Andesite to buff out the snow for night skiers. Except it’s not the type of night skiing you might remember from childhood with splotchy stadium lights on one run and skiers flying at top speeds. Instead, groups up to seven can book a private guided session of—1,000 lumen headlamp skiing. Night skiers, says Stacie Mesuda, Big Sky’s public relations manager, will be spellbound by the otherworldliness. “The stars are super bright up here,” says Mesuda, who likens looking up from the heated Ramcharger 8 bubble lift to viewing the galaxy from the cockpit of a Star Wars ship. Unlike traditional night skiing, which can have a freeway vibe, headlamp skiing is also a more solitary affair—the experience fits with Big Sky’s wilderness ethos. If you go, bring extra layers, but if you get cold, Everett’s 8800, the restaurant at the top of Andesite Mountain, will be open to serve dinner, drinks, and hot chocolate.

BIG SKY UPS ITS GAME
THE GAMES ARE ABOUT TO CHANGE for the Big Sky School District as they move to Class B for volleyball, basketball, track & field, and tennis. (Soccer will remain Class A and football remains at Class C.) According to John Hannahs, Athletic Director for Big Sky School District, class distinctions often correlate with student enrollment. Since most schools in Montana have fewer than 100 students they are placed in Class C. That doesn’t mean it’s a lower level of play, just fewer players on the field. With football, schools need different enrollment numbers to change from 6 to 8 to 11 man teams. Big Sky currently fields an 8 man team. The jump to Class B is the result of growth. It kicked in when enrollment numbers moved to 126. Says Hannahs: “Anytime you go up in class size it helps to get our kids on the map a little more. There will be some difficult teams in our district. We’re still learning the landscape, but we’ll be able to compete.”

SECONDHAND GOODNESS Big Sky Thrift Store
MEET EMILY BURKE: During a stint in Aspen, Colorado, Emily worked at a local thrift store and fell in love with philanthropy. Flash forward to 2022, and Emily, now a Big Sky local and working for Yellowstone Club Community Foundation, is the driving force behind Big Sky Thrift. “We’re trying to help everyone in the community from the person needing an affordable coat to the second homeowner looking to build friendships through volunteering,” says Emily. The all-volunteer nonprofit accepts donations of homegoods, gear, clothing, books, and toys to redistribute to the community. It’s not just a local affair, Big Sky Thrift will partner with River Elk Exchange, a mobile thrift store serving American Indian reservations in Montana, to upcycle donated items and help communities in need.

Great Escapes: Big Sky’s Soaring Arrival on the Luxury Ski Scene

Located in southwest Montana, about an hour’s drive from Bozeman, Big Sky is a choice year-around getaway for outdoor adventurers thanks to its captivating landscape, consisting of mountain peaks and winding rivers.

Big Sky sees an average of more than 400 inches of snow a year. Big Sky Resort is the third largest ski resort in North America and offers more than 5,850 acres of skiable terrain and 39 lifts. It caters to all levels of skiers, but daredevils can try their turn on the Big Couloir, a triple-black diamond run with a 1400-foot drop and 50-degree pitch.

Golfweek’s Best 2023: Top 200 Residential Golf Courses in the U.S.

Welcome to Golfweek’s Best 2023 list of top residential golf courses in the United States.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final, cumulative rating. Then each course is ranked against other courses in the region.

This list focuses on the golf courses themselves, not the communities as a whole or other amenities. Each golf course included is listed with its average rating from 1 to 10, its location, architect(s) and the year it opened.

The 8 Best Ski Resorts in the U.S.

Not everyone wants to spend a winter vacation skiing or snowboarding. But what makes the U.S.’s best mountain destinations so spectacular is that there’s so much else to do, meaning you never have to fasten planks to your feet if you don’t want to. Whether you’re interested in designer shopping, a see-and-be-seen après-ski scene, locavore dining, or exploring historic towns and villages, the best ski resorts in the U.S. have got you covered. Oh, and don’t forget the exceptional views and cozy, bucolic surroundings.

Big Sky Brings the Big Winter Fun

For uncrowded slopes, laid-back mountaintop meals, and a little Wild West-inspired shopping, head to Montana.

Montage Residences Big Sky Debuts The Inn Residences

Montage Residences has unveiled The Inn Residences at Montage Big Sky. This debut is an opportunity to own a luxury Residence in deeded, one-quarter ownership interests. Located just steps from Montage Big Sky, approximately one hour from Yellowstone National Park, owners of The Inn Residences will receive privileged access to Montage Big Sky’s luxury amenities and services, as well as ski-in, ski-out access to Big Sky Resort and membership benefits at Spanish Peaks Mountain Club.

Framed by the Spanish Peaks mountain range amid the rugged beauty of Montana’s Big Sky country, The Inn Residences includes a limited collection of only 32 three- and four-bedroom floor plans, ranging in size from 1,910 to 2,672 square feet. Inspired by a timeless palette of locally sourced wood and stone, residences come fully furnished and feature well-appointed luxury appliances, fireplaces in multiple living spaces, contemporary kitchens and dining areas, lock-off bedrooms, and more.

The Inn Residences are connected to Montage Big Sky via an underground pathway, and owners can conveniently access all of Montage Big Sky’s facilities and amenities including ski-in, ski-out access to Big Sky Resort’s 5,850 acres of terrain; six dining venues featuring inspired flavors shaped by Montana’s rich heritage of agriculture and wild game; a 10,000-square-foot Spa Montage, offering an array of alpine-inspired services and expansive relaxation areas; Compass Sports; and Paintbox, Montage’s signature children’s program.

Montage Big Sky and The Inn Residences are located within Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, offering access to a private Tom Weiskopf championship golf course; a members-only clubhouse, with a dining room and bar; Fishcamp, a riverside outpost; a mid-mountain winter dining venue; tennis and pickleball courts; miles of trails; golf and ski shops; a snow tubing hill; and a year-round calendar of special, member-only events and experiences.

In addition to the amenities offered through Montage Big Sky and Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, owners have access to the Inn’s private amenities including an après ski lounge and terrace with fire pits, a lobby bar, ski lockers, fitness center, outdoor hot tubs, and concierge services for the exclusive use of residential owners and their guests.

Designed by Poss Architecture, The Inn Residences were developed in partnership with Lone Mountain Land Company, the development affiliate of CrossHarbor Capital Partners.

For more information on Montage Residences Big Sky and The Inn Residences, visit www.montageresidencesbigsky.com or follow @montagehotels and @montagebigsky.

Here They Are: The 23 Best Places To Travel In 2023

f you’re wondering where you should visit next, you need to ask a professional. I consulted with OvationNetwork to find out which destinations the company is recommending for travel in 2023.

“After a year of unprecedented demand for travel, our travel advisors are recommending destinations that are new alternatives to old classics,” says Sunil Mahtani, executive vice president of OvationNetwork. “They’re places you can celebrate, reconnect and curate lasting memories.”

Here are the 23 best places to travel in 2023, according to OvationNetwork’s list of the top leisure destinations, compiled exclusively for FORBES.

1. Queenstown, New Zealand
2. Marrakesh, Morocco
3. Big Sky, Montana
4. Alentejo, Portugal
5. Svalbard, Norway
6. Naoshima, Japan
7. Paros, Greece
8. Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
9. Perth, Western Australia
10. Provence, France
11. Antalya, Türkiye
12. Lecce, Italy
13. Menorca, Spain
14. Lausanne, Switzerland
15. Megève, France
16. Siem Reap, Cambodia
17. Valletta, Malta
18. Shimla, India
19. Lake Louise, Canada
20. Colca Canyon, Peru
21. Pereira, Colombia
22. Doha, Qatar
23. Paso Robles, California

Big Sky Dining and Adventure

FIVE MEALS THAT WON’T DISAPPOINT

From a simple Mexican street taco and cold cerveza, to a hearty bison steak,

to an immersive Japanese dining experience and more, Big Sky’s culinary scene

is blossoming this winter. Here are five can’t fail dishes, plus drinks!

Above: photograph by Justine Jane. Below: photograph by Kelly Gorham.

Blue Buddha Omakase Experience

Since 2019, Troy, “Twist” Thompson and Blue Buddha, Big Sky have been serving up not just the freshest sushi in Montana, but the freshest sushi in the Mountain West. An hour and a half after the sashimi planes touch down in Denver from Japan, the Blue Buddha order is on its way to Big Sky. Because they’re able to source delicacies directly from Japan, Blue Buddha now offers an immersive Omakase experience in which Omakase Chef Jaison LeRoy decides what you eat.

Signature Experience: Because no two Omakases are identical, we can’t list a single dish here. But know this: In the two weeks (ideally) between your reservation and your arrival in the driftwood and cherry-blossomed “Electric Tokyo themed” Omakase room, chef Jaison is sourcing rare ingredients from Japan for your unique 10- to-17 course meal that goes down small bite by small bite over two to three hours. The selection starts off light (low fat content fish) and progresses to Blue Buddha’s legendary bluefin tuna selections. Here’s just part of the menu from a recent threehour affair; with our translations where necessary.

O-Toshi Japanese cucumber itogaki. | Translation: the Japanese equivalent of an amuse-bouche (fun bite) this O-Toshi is a dehydrated flaked fish with cucumber.

Madai and Kanpachi Sashimi with lemon juice and lime zest. | Translation: Madai is a bright and delicate plum-fed sea bream. Kanpachi is a lower fat amberjack—a cousin of hamachi.

Hamachi Sashimi served with serrano and duck bacon. | Translation: Hamachi is yellowtail (fatter from colder water). The duck bacon is from Montana.

Akami and Ikejime Hirame Nigiri | Translation: Akami is a leaner cut of bluefin. Hirame is a nearly translucent cut from young flounder. Ikejime is a humane technique used to reduce a fish’s stress levels before it’s eventually filleted.

Shima Aji and Hotate Sashimi with Truffle Ponzu | Translation: Shima Aji is a light and nearly clear mackerel. Hotate is a prized scallop from Japan’s north island of Hokkaido. Ponzu is a citrus based sauce.

Chu and O-Toro Nigiri with Caviar | Two more cuts of Blue Buddha’s acclaimed blue fin, Chu features moderate fat levels while famous O-Toro is full fat.

Togarashi Spiced Elk Medallions served with ginger sweet pot purée and shiitake jus broccolini. | Translation: Togarashi is a Japanese seven-spice. Here, it’s dry rubbed on Montana elk medallions and quick seared. “The elk is to remind the guest that we’re in Montana,” says Omakase Chef Jaison.

Aperitif or Night Cap: In August, Twist opened the Drunken Monk adjacent to the Blue Buddha dining room. The offerings? “High-end cocktails and low-end ramen,” says Twist. The atmosphere? “It’s based on a small restaurant culinary scene in the heart of Tokyo where eateries that seat maybe 10 to 15 people line an alley,” says Twist. It’s here that mixologist Joe Messreni will make you an Iron Toad: Japanese whisky, lemon, honey, green matcha, a hint of chocolate bitters, and frothed egg whites finished with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Photograph by Kelly Gorham

Mi Pueblito Taco Bus (AKA, the Taco Truck)

For the past three years, owner Victor Montaño and his family have been serving up Jalisco, Mexico, style street tacos and entrees from the Taco Bus on Lone Mountain Trail. This is skier food, but in summer, workers flock here too.

Signature Dish: A torta is a Mexican sandwich that traces its roots to Jalisco, where Montaño’s family has been making them forever. The original version featured so much salsa inside of a round bun that it resembled a sloppy joe. Montaño’s take features grilled ham and pepperjack cheese, topped with shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, tomato, and onion on a telera roll.

Chase it With: You can eat inside (or outside in summer), but most folks get their food to go and pair their tortas, tacos, and tamales with a Modelo and a lime.

Photograph by Zakara Photography

Spanish Peaks Mountain Club

It’s reserved for members—if you know one try to get an invite—but the dining and atmosphere at the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club is like nowhere else in North America. Bode Miller calls it a “European experience without any European pretense.” It’s here that, after a long day in the alpine, you can kick back in a warm lodge and enjoy food prepared by chef Jan Pfeiffer, from the best local ingredients—including standout hydroponic produce from nearby Bozeman and Jackson Hole.

Signature Dish: Trust us, a cozy mountain lodge on a cold night makes food taste better. Not that Chef Pfeiffer’s 16 Ounce, Dry Aged Bone-In Bison New York Steak needs any help. It’s common to get properly dry aged beef in New York and Chicago. But believe it or not, it’s tough in the Mountain West. As for hitting that mark with bison—good luck. Not so at the Club, where Pfeiffer’s bone-in Bison steaks are dry aged as a whole primal cut for 42 days at 36 degrees temperature and a relative humidity of 70 percent, before they get butchered. Says Pfeiffer: “We cook our steaks inside a CVap oven (a specialty oven we have) under sous vide conditions to 115 degrees for one hour for additional melt in your mouth tenderization and then finish them off with fresh ground Tellicherry black pepper and Maldon sea salt in a hot cast iron pan with some grapeseed oil to get a beautiful caramelization going. The steak gets its final touch through European Butter basting with a sprig of fresh thyme, rosemary, oregano and a smashed garlic clove. Voila!” That star item is accompanied by crispy garlic-parmesan frites seasoned with sea salt, fresh finely minced garlic, chopped Italian flat leaf parsley, and parmesan oil made from the Club’s leftover Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rinds. You can choose between classic sauce béarnaise, sauce bordelaise, or chimichurri.

Around the Fire: A Spanish Peaks Mountain Club staffer concocted this refreshing drink for après. Fittingly, it’s called the Alpenglow. Envision a layered drink with dry gin, elderflower liqueur, grapefruit juice, and finished with a pomegranate juice float. “The Alpenglow is simple to make, but complex in taste,” says Assistant Food and Beverage Manager Alejandro Mendoza. “The gin brings nice botanical flavors that complement the elderflower. It all gets balanced out by the bright acidity from the grapefruit juice. The pomegranate juice adds a nice splash of color and subtle flavor. It’s a great cocktail to have after a long day on the mountain.”

Photograph by Kelly Gorham

Lotus Pad

A child of the American melting pot, Lotus Pad chef and owner Alex Omania grew up with a Russian mom and a Filipino dad. She developed a taste for Asian food at a young age and pursued her passion in culinary school, and later, during a year abroad in Thailand, she studied local cuisine. Early on in her Big Sky days, Omania hosted Thai themed dinner parties that were such a smash the Lotus Pad—six tables—was born in 2007. They moved into their clean, bright, and larger location in Big Sky Town Center in 2017.

Signature Dish: Pad Kee Mao is loosely translated to “Drunken Noodles” in English. Except there’s no alcohol here. The dish gets its name from the spice—double black diamond on Lotus Pad’s scale. “It’s so spicy that you have to drink with it to tamp down the heat,”says Lotus Pad General Manager Marsha Barker. (Don’t worry, you can tone it down.) Think wide rice noodles in a sweet, dark, infused soy sauce, accompanied by red bell peppers, broccoli, green onions, basil, and topped with lime, cilantro, and peanuts. And oh yeah, Thai chilis. The pro move is the fried egg on top, the yoke of which blends with the soy enriching the housemade sauce.

Extinguish the Fire With: An ice cold Sapporo (the Japanese company dates to 1876) is the easy choice here. But a pinot gris takes this classic Thai street fare a bit more upscale.

Photograph by Jonathan Finch

BYWOM

It started as a deli in the ’90s, but BYWOM (By Word of Mouth) has been serving up the area’s best burgers ever since. The classic BYWOM Burger—an upscale Big Mac complete with two patties and special sauce—is a must.

Signature Dish: Inspired by the art of burger cooking, BYWOM’s new Chopped Lamb Steak is the restaurant’s latest standout. Here, an eight-ounce ground lamb steak is topped with goat cheese and a house-made tomato jam that carries a bit of sweetness and spice thanks to ginger. Then it goes under the broiler for that melt before being served with a mint chimichurri sauce and potatoes.

Before Dinner: The Dirtbag Daze martini—Bulleit Bourbon, Amaretto, Cointreau, lemon juice, and orange bitters, is a tribute to how most Big Sky locals (70 percent of BYWOM’s clientele) set their roots down. “We were all dirtbags once,” says co-owner John Flach.

Photograph by Kelly Gorham

Photograph courtesy of Michaelangelo’s

Michaelangelo’s Big Sky

Michaelangelo’s chef and co-owner Michael Annondono spent his formative years cooking under a master chef in Italy’s Piedmont (the town of Acqui Terme to be precise.) Later, he and his business partner opened a restaurant in Cleveland celebrating northern Italian cuisine. In 2016, they opened Michaelangelo’s in Big Sky. The menu is extensive. The atmosphere is fine dining with a warm casualness—wood floors, ceilings, tables, posts and beams, and a hearthstone fireplace. “It’s a bit more elegant than the rustic Italian style,” says restaurant manager Emily Annondono, Michael’s sister and the sommelier. “But it’s just as relaxing.”

Signature Dish: Sacchetti Al Tartufo is without question Michaelangelo’s most popular dish. “We try to never run out of the ingredients, but when we do people are crestfallen,” says Emily. Sacchettti, literally “little purses,” are delicate handmade pastas shaped as drawstring pouches. Here they’re stuffed with ricotta and truffle and served with a black Tartufata cream sauce. Breaking from the northern theme, Tartufata originates from the southern island of Sardinia—it’s a mix of still more truffles and olive oil that the Italians use to spoon into sauces. “It’s a unique flavor, especially here in southwestern Montana,” says Emily. “That’s why it’s so loved.”

Pair it With: You can go two ways with this one. A light bodied red from the Piedmont like a Nebbolio complements the truffle. Or an acidic white from the same region—Soave is the standard—will help cut the heavy cream. But don’t be afraid to expand your palate. The wine case behind the bar is impressive.

Knowing the Mountain by Heart

Jacob Smith is legally blind. That hasn’t stopped this teenager from skiing the toughest lines at Big Sky.

In the summer of 2014, when Jacob Smith was eight years old, he started bumping into furniture and having trouble reading. His parents figured he needed glasses. Then his eyesight began to deteriorate rapidly.“In less than two weeks, it went from ‘he needs glasses’ to ‘wait, something is really wrong,’ ” says Jacob’s dad, Nathan Smith.

They made him a doctor’s appointment near their hometown in North Dakota, where the Smiths run a farm. (The family spends winters in Big Sky.) The doctor found optic nerve bleeding and a tumor in his brain, a meningioma the size of a baseball behind his eye socket. Jacob was immediately taken by ambulance to Bismarck, then airlifted to a children’s hospital in Minneapolis. He underwent a 15-hour emergency brain surgery, and doctors told his parents he would have permanent vision loss. Jacob has undergone another eight surgeries since, as well as countless radiation treatments. The tumor has been fully removed, but Jacob is legally blind.

“He just keeps on keeping on,” says his dad. “We have a kid still here with us today who has, yes, lost his vision, but has not lost his love for life.”

Stem cell research has a chance of restoring some of Jacob’s vision at some point in his life, but for now he is left with his altered view of the world, one that lacks focus and precision, one that has no depth perception or peripheral vision. He can’t see color, either. Imagine skiing on the most socked in, vertigoinducing storm day you’ve ever experienced, where visibility is zilch. That’s every day for Jacob.

The Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind gave Nathan a pair of glasses to try on that would mimic what his son sees as he goes about his day. “It was like the glasses were smeared with petroleum jelly,” says Nathan. “The biggest thing I noticed when I had those glasses on was my depth perception was way off. It made my balance zero. I could walk, but taking a step forward wasn’t easy. That’s the kind of thing Jacob has completely adapted to. He has points in his vision that function, but some points are zero.”

Above: Jacob’s line in Lone Peak’s Big Couloir. Below: Jacob skiing by feel.

“Racing is groomers and gates. Freeride is cliffs and powder. To me, that’s a lot more fun.” — Jacob Smith

Jacob and his three siblings learned to ski at Big Sky as toddlers and skiing is a huge part of the family’s life. There was no way Jacob was going to give up skiing after losing his eyesight. Most visually impaired skiers learn to ski through an adaptive sports program, where they’re dressed in a bright orange vest that reads “BLIND SKIER” and they’re tethered to a guide who offers verbal commands. That didn’t work for Jacob: No guide could ski fast enough for him.

“Other people who are visually impaired ski, of course, but not at the level that Jacob does,” says Bozemanbased Kerri Norick, an outreach consultant for the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind, who has worked with Jacob in the past. “His awareness of where his body is in space is incredible. His other senses, like touch and hearing, become heightened. He really has to listen to his body’s sensations.”

With help from his siblings, Jacob set about learning every inch of his home mountain by heart—his dad skis nearby offering auditory commands. “I rely on my feeling senses more than any of my other senses,” says Jacob. He has essentially memorized all of his favorite runs at Big Sky: He can’t see what’s ahead of him, but he can feel it. “It’s all about memory and timing,”says Jacob. “When I’m at Big Sky, I know the. whole mountain. I’m just skiing.”

At age 11, Jacob joined the Big Sky Freeride Team. “I was racing before that, but once I was old enough, I switched to freeride,” he says. “Racing is groomers and gates. Freeride is cliffs and powder. To me, that’s. a lot more fun.”

He began competing on the Junior Freeride Series, a sequence of big-mountain competitions for the under-18 set. Never mind that he can’t really see the venue—the cliffs, rocks, and trees that make up the steep slope at a different ski resort each contest. While his peers do what’s called a visual inspection, Jacob and his dad discuss the route he’ll take, with Nathan helping to identify landmarks. During his run, they’ll use a two-way radio while Jacob skis down for auditory guidance as his dad calls out commands like “take four large turns, then head left.”

He’s held his own at those competitions, skiing at legendary mountains like Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Taos, New Mexico; Snowbird, Utah; and Grand Targhee, Wyoming—all places he hasn’t memorized, so he has to ski by feel. “It’s amazing what he can do on skis,” says his brother, Andrew. “It really blows people’s minds. He really shows me what people can accomplish.”

In 2019, when Jacob was 12 years old, there was one line at Big Sky that he hadn’t done yet: Big Couloir, that steep, foreboding chute that drops 1,400 vertical feet off the top of Lone Peak and requires checking in with ski patrol before you drop in. They waited for the right weather window, and by early April, the day arrived. Nathan skied first, then radioed up to his son to describe the conditions.

When Jacob dropped in, he says it all clicked into place. “I knew I could do it; it was just a matter of when,” says Jacob. “I was pretty nervous, but once I started skiing it was full send.”

On the radio, as Jacob dropped in, Nathan called, “Straight fall line. You got it!” He became the youngest legally blind person to ski the Big Couloir.

Jacob, who’s now 15, has skied the Big Couloir four times now. No big deal, he shrugs. Next up? He wants to hike and ski off the exposed Headwaters Ridge.

“Jacob is a tough kid,” says Nathan. “And skiing has given him a lifetime sport.”