Service to Sleeping Giant helps area kids learn to shred powder

Posted 1/15/19

As a big yellow bus pulled into Mr. D’s parking lot, the headlights cut through thick fog, illuminating blurry-eyed parents and energetic children with a head of steam. This isn’t a …

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Service to Sleeping Giant helps area kids learn to shred powder

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As a big yellow bus pulled into Mr. D’s parking lot, the headlights cut through thick fog, illuminating blurry-eyed parents and energetic children with a head of steam. This isn’t a normal school bus — it’s Powell’s ski bus.

Every Saturday, when the snow is right, the Powell Recreation District’s ski bus collects local skiers before sunrise, taking them to Sleeping Giant Ski Area on the North Fork for a day of fun. For $3 the kids are picked up and dropped off about 10 hours later.

“It’s becoming really, really popular,” Powell City Councilman Scott Mangold remarked at a meeting last week.

But Powell isn’t the only community sending youth up to Sleeping Giant.

“We’re pulling them in from all over,” said James Patrick, acting general manager of the ski hill. “They’re here from as far south as Thermopolis and north from Fromberg, Montana.”

The bus service fits right in with the nonprofit ski area’s mission statement: To provide safe, affordable and educational recreation opportunities that enhance the quality of life.

“The way you do that is by getting kids skiing young,” Patrick said. “We have the best ski school in the Big Horn Basin and the best mountain in the basin in my opinion.”

Sleeping Giant is Wyoming’s oldest ski area, first opening in 1936. The facility has 810-feet of vertical drop, 184 skiable acres and 49 runs to test your skills. “We’re small but diverse. We have everything from green to double black diamond runs,” Patrick said.

Ski instructor Will DeFord said to start them young.

“It’s all about getting young people to ski; I started when I was 4,” DeFord said. “It’s fun watching kids enjoy what has been a passion of mine for so many years.”

The bunny hill was packed on Saturday with children and adults receiving lessons from a large group of instructors. Some are on skis, others on snowboards. But most were laughing and smiling — even as the backside of their ski outfits met the groomed runs.

Cheri Weaver, of Cody, is teaching her kids to ski herself. She used a ski harness to make sure her daughter GiGi didn’t get away from her while zipping down the hill.

“The earlier they start, the better,” Weaver said. “Adults are more cautious, but the kids are fearless at this age.”

“We taught them the basics ourselves and then we put them on the [Absaroka Ski Association] ski team. My kids are all faster than me at this point,” said Weaver, who has been skiing since moving to Park County five years ago. The coaches on the team are all certified with the United States Ski Association.

But for many of the parents, hiring instructors is easier than training their children by themselves. Children don’t feel they can get away with as much when it’s not their parent, a group of parents observing the class commented.

“They don’t whine as much with [the instructor],” said a parent who didn’t want to be named.

One way Sleeping Giant has been encouraging children to get involved is offering free season passes to all fifth-grade students, no matter where they live, according to Patrick.

While you’d be hard pressed to find enough snow in Powell to make a miniature snowman, Sleeping Giant has more than enough.

“We have the same amount as we got last year, but this year it’s lighter and fluffier,” Patrick said.

Powell’s ski bus has been running for the past seven years, said Colby Stenerson, director of the Powell Recreation District.

“We have six or seven sponsors who help us out to keep the costs low and Sleeping Giant helps us with advertising,” he said.

The bus has been averaging about three dozen kids a week this year — nearly a full bus. You can buy tickets at the bus stop, but it’s better if you buy them in advance at the rec district to ensure your children get a seat, Stenerson said. Lessons, lift tickets and equipment rental are not included in the ski bus service.

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