MTN OUTDOORS: The Latest in Montana Sleigh Rides, Ski News, and Animals
[Music] welcome to MTN Outdoors welcome back to another episode and a new year of MTN Outdoors Christmas behind us have you figured out what you're going to do with that Christmas tree yet if you haven't I have a suggestion that is environmentally friendly that you should hear about and you know Christmas in that rear view it doesn't mean we can't stay in that Spirit I'll have some fun and winry suggestions for you and your family maybe even a date we come back for MTN Outdoors I'm Keith rence happy New Year gu do you have a case of the Christmas tree [Music] Blues you got to do something with it [Music] in Helena Scout Troop 214 has come up with a great use for those Christmas trees that you might be ready to get rid [Music] of those trees are going to go for a ride they'll be strung together and Dro from a helicopter into Canyon fairy reservoir for the Pines for purch program if you want your tree to sleep with the fishes you got to make sure all the ornaments tinsil and lights are taken off and then you got to get it out to the [Music] curb tree pickups are Saturdays from 900 in the morning to 300 let's make sure those fish have a merry Christmas too [Music] Jake Step Up slay ride season is starting up in Montana easy in a late morning stretch for the horses we round to the trail this pair will get to know well in the coming weeks they're fresh they won't be fresh come New Year's though all muscled up ready to go like many ranches in Montana the 320 has a long history it was h Ed as two separate ranches more than 125 years ago 1912 they combined them to form 320 Acres until the ranch became known as a 320 in 1936 Boseman Dr Carolyn McGill purchased the ranch she fell in love with this area on different hunting trips trips down into Yellowstone Park you might recognize Mill's name from somewhere else Caroline started the mum of the Rockies in bman was actually called The Mill Museum when it first opened up these guys are going to air out right it current owner Dave bass purchased the ranch in 1985 he bought it brought it up from a 20 guest capacity over 200 that we have today so what do guests see on their 1hour ride get cinnamon Mountain burnt Top Mountain we'll be able to see the Spanish Peaks when we go along the gallon here looking back you got a view of monument and the challenge with managing big Peron horses around guests our number one priority is keeping everybody safe so they always have to be constantly looking at the equipment as far as the people goes um probably the hardest part sad is kind of hurting them up get them on the S well I like um of course to drive and work with the horses but also meeting people from all around the world get to meet people from all different parts of life all kind of different places they're here vacations you get to kind of realize a little bit of people's life story it's pretty cool just to meet different people and the horses you're looking for good disposition you know um we we we're not looking for uh uh you know we're not looking for heavy pullers we're just looking for horses that are pretty docile and um easygoing horses they're they're not going to win any pulling competitions here but these work horses are no slouches 18 people no problem and these guys are big horses Mars says that translates to about 18 hands and nearly 2,000 lb each as the horses cool down after their workout Mars wipes them down and explains how these animals cope with the harsh Winters here you know those horses are on the uh hay you know uh free choice grass hay and water um they do pretty well we've got uh a lean to for them um to get out of the wind but for the most part you know they're pretty hearty animals it's late afternoon tending toward Dusk and the slays are all ready to go waiting for guests to make their way to the ride there's a lot of people that never seen a horse or been around horses so it's it's it's a it's a good opportunity to you know to introduce them to to the horses it's cool watching people fall in love with the horses that's why I kind of do this to see people fall in love with horses like I do I'm John sheer for MTN news at the 320 Ranch near Yellowstone National Park Clayton Perry a musher from Power Montana and his team are currently training 34 Alaskan huskies all named after cities in Montana in preparation for the upcoming sled dog season it it's a labor of love Yeah it it gets to be full-time just uh full-time dog care just something you do for for love in 2022 he won the Rocky Mountain Triple Crown Trophy for being the highest Place finisher across three races last year Perry took first place in the Idaho sled dog challenge stage race and also won the Canadian challenge sled dog race in the main event I started by running hound dogs chasing lions and started teaching him to pull sled to go in the back country to check trap lines and Chase lions and I just moved on to race dogs Perry also has two handlers that are part of his kennel along with handling and caring for the dogs they're also training and mushing themselves and will also be racing in some events this season my goals are just to have lifelong experiences with these dogs as far as these races go they're a big accomplishment to to even be a part of them but really it's all about the dogs so I don't really want to take too much credit for anything training begins in September with four-wheelers and then comes about 600 m in total of sled conditioning today the team is training in nart and will take the dogs 60 miles it's not complex cuz I mean we're just hooking dogs up on a onto a sled so you see from the outside but there's a bunch that goes into it I pretty much learn something new every day or at least I try to Perry and his team are going to compete in seven races over 6 weeks totaling over 2,000 miles of racing in multiple States and Canada it's a sport that needs support so come out and support us in nart Ana kummer MTN news you're watching MTN Outdoors we'll be right back we now return to MTN Outdoors people around these parts know how to take advantage of the cold and winter air because they can't get enough of Montana outdoor activities coming up we're going to have an inside look at how meteorologists around Montana can predict the wintry weather that way you might have an idea at when you can play a hookie from work to go skiing more ski mountains and trails are opening up take a look there's a lot more to my job than just telling you what the weather is going to be like on TV all of us here at MTN news at least the meteorologists do a lot more than you may think we forecast the weather we tell you about the weather and we update you in real time about the latest weather news and stories so take a look at what my day is like when you're not seeing me on your screen I start my day off looking at present weather it is important to know what's currently going on in the areas I'm forecasting for luckily enough there are countless National Weather Service weather stations Asos units and snow tells in our state at different locations and elevations they can exhibit a wide variety of weather data from temperatures due points precipitation totals and wind speed just to name a few satellite imagery also helps with seeing where weather systems and features are located then it's time to dive into the weather models to get a good idea of what the future holds there are several types of models each having its own advantages and disadvantages when making a forecast so it's critical to observe all and see how they compare and contrast in basic terms there are short medium and long range models the shorter the range the more detail the model can show so this can make forecasting fine details like snow totals and Exact Track of storms very difficult in the long range this is where I must use my education and instinct to make the best prediction I can once I have a good idea of what the weather will be like a 7-day forecast can be made I start with writing it down on paper to get my thoughts organized then it's time to import the forecast into our Graphics system after editing many more graphics and putting shows in order I can finally talk about the forecast with all of you it's time to get dressed mic up and hop in front of the green screen and now you're a little more weatherwise hey you skiers and snowboarders good news Mount Belmont at Great Divide is now open the Maryville mountain is slowly but surely packing on those inches of fresh snow to the base Mount Belmont is for folks that know what they're doing the Upper Mountain has ungroomed natural snow raring conditions and some tougher terrain that newbie skers might find a little harder to get through Great Divide is open every day until until January 6th that goes back to regular hours if you don't have any plans Friday nights you can ski until 9 at night every Friday see you out there guys unable project and trans Vision we're all honored to help execute [Music] well while we're talking about good news for ski do you want the good news or the bad news at the Big Sky Resort well I'll start with the bad news the bad news is the Explorer chair lift that has been running since 1973 it's on the way out the good news is that it'll be replaced by a state-ofthe-art gondola big sky leaders say the gondola will be way faster and way more comfortable they say this is just the beginning arew if you're sentimental about the Explorer lift it'll be around until March 30th the project gets started back in summer of 2023 and everyone at the Big Sky Resort is pumped to dramatically improve your experience all around there are so many people so many companies so many uh team members that that have to come together to be able to pull off something like this and we're extremely excited for you all to be able to see it and experience it what you'll get today on the other side of the gondola is sort of a sneak Peak Peak at what we expect will be North America's Finest Mountain Hotel uh and one of the finest hotels in the entire [Music] world the glacier Nordic Club in Whitefish is feeling the impacts of having little snow so far this season but that's not stopping them from skiing the glacier Nordic Club is a nonprofit that Grooms four Trail systems in the Flathead and operates a rental shop and Trail at the Whitefish Lake golf course but this year they haven't been able to open the trails at lower elevation due to lack of snow which definitely impacts our bottom line as a nonprofit um so most of the money that we generate comes from selling memberships and trail passes and having rentals go out of the shop and all of that allows us to groom the big mountain trail system and round Meadows and keep those fee free areas so not being able to have that income come in in here does impact um how we are doing as a nonprofit to keep those public resources open CrossCountry skiing is one of the many outdoor winter recreation activities in Montana and is an important activity for many to stay active in the cold winter months cross country skiing has a much lower cost of Entry than some of the other winter Recreation options um in the area so it's really important to us to be able to keep that cost of entry low and have that resource people in the area the glacier Nordic Club is working hard to keep CrossCountry skiing active in the Flathead with minimal snow and is still offering rentals waxing and training for the ski team and youth league the club is maintaining the big mountain trail system and round Meadow while waiting for lower elevation snow there's no snow down here but there is snow at elevation and the big mountain trail system is pretty awesome right now to be honest so we are trying to get some awareness going of that and get some rentals out so there are still great places to be cross country skiing right now for more on the glacier Nordic club and how you can donate to help maintain Trails you can go to our website in Whitefish Tiana Wilson MTN news you're watching MTN Outdoors hey that's my line okay we now return to MTN Outdoors Montana is one of the Premier places in North America for wildlife life hunting and fishing look at this guy he loves it we're going to take a look at some stories for you Hunters you Fishers and you Wildlife fados that you have to check out before you head out thank you for watching MTN Outdoors growing up as hard whether you're a human being or a big horn sheep sometimes life throws you a challenge and you're going to have to adapt if you're going to survive it's a pretty fascinating Critter here we've called him snail Horn uh he injured his growth plate when he was a young Ram maybe one or two years old sparring with an older Ram during the rut and that injury caused this Unique Kind of growth throughout his lives snail horn lived near Quake Lake and fwp and many Wildlife photographers knew him we actually captured this Ram in December 2016 as a part of a Statewide research project looking at um disease ecology in big horn sheep so we had him ear tagged never radio color but we had him ear tagged the horn growth also affected his eyesight though not as much as you might think I'd watch him sometimes I'd only get a glimpse of him a couple times a year he was pretty elusive he'd come down for rut and I could watch him uh uh just being a big horn sheep despite his uh injury which led to the loss of this uh this eye the the eye was still present but it was he couldn't really see out of the side big horn sheep Rams need those horns snail Horn's early injury was an obstacle an injury to the other would be his last March 4th 2023 he died roadside in front of uh Kelly Gallop slide in uh who who gave us a call we came down and possessed his carcass you can see where he' had an injury probably a road uh related injury and it was it had healed and he was still uh he was still functional except that there was probably systemic infection so you can see from this uh this didn't exist uh the year before this flat spot on his horn under which you can actually see a bone infection he also had a broken leg from that injury there's a DH Lawrence poem that says I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself and uh you know he just lived a normal big horn sheep life as much as he could with a really different and unusual horn development if you'd like to see snail horn he now lives at Region 3 headquarters in Boseman chit Layman MTN news as you can see behind me fo Lake in Callis Bell barely has any ice on it and this is the case for a lot of lakes in the Flathead I spoke with a local angler to discuss what fishing conditions are like in the area so definitely this year seems to be a little bit out of the norm um it'll come it always does usually I would hope probably by mid January we should be in pretty good shape um for some ice some of the smaller Lakes are Frozen with the recommended 4 in of ice needed to walk on but with the warm weather rain and constantly changing conditions Anglers need to be cautious when going out on the ice bring a rope bring your ice picks of course fish with a buddy um you know and just just watch the ice as you go out while ice is lacking so far this year Anglers are still getting out for the thrill of the catch and open water fishing until more Lakes freeze there are a lot of guys out boat fishing now though uh put in flat in the flatted lake um a lot of good lake trout fishing going on right now guys are fishing the river still for white fish and Cutthroat so that's all fishing pretty good on these nicer days get out and chase them in the boat no matter what the weather is there will always be Anglers casting a line and talking about their fish stories that's one nice thing about fishing is like it doesn't matter if you're 6 years old or 80 years old you know you have that stuff in common that passion for fishing so you can kind of see that when the kids talking to the older guys and the families and all that kind of stuff you have that kind of that that thing that glues you together because you have the passion for fishing if you plant gloud on the ice be sure to contact your local fishing supply stores to get an idea of the conditions before you head out and as always have the correct safety gear in Callis Bell Kiana Wilson MTN news there are elk living in the gadan valley sometimes they intersect with the people who live here in the G Aladin Valley Fish Wildlife and Parks continuing an effort to try to see what that looks like so fish wildli and Parks is uh capturing elk on the south side of Boseman here in the gon Valley to caller 8 cow elk uh so that we can get uh GPS uh coordinates in in locations uh for Elk as they travel around the valley the most notable interaction between elk and the people happens along Highway 191 but there are others other things we want to understand better is how are using a mix of public and private land uh so that that can inform things like habitat management uh and uh and other land uses uh here in the valley those callers will send data for up to 3 years as we all know a lot can change in the gadan valley in that time especially when it comes to the land the information that we gather from this effort can help inform processes that come into land use Planning Development uh and as well as uh conflict mitigation such as uh you know vehicle collisions on the highway uh and uh you know agriculture other things like that so it it's really just a a variety of benefits from uh from gathering this information all in the in in the reality of a growing human population in the gall Valley as well Fish Wildlife and Parks collored four elk last year and they're hoping to C her another eight this year because the information from that collar is provided through GPS it is available in real time throughout the life of those collar in the South End of the gadin valley CH Layman MTN news hey guys thanks for tuning in to MTN outdoors in 2025 it's going to be a great New Year we're going to hit the snow we're going to hit the mountains we're going to talk about animals and we're going to get out there we're going to get out there and we're going to do Montana like it deserves thanks for watching MTN Outdoors I'm Keith gence [Music] oh [Music]
2025-01-09 13:42
