My name is Mario Carr and I have enjoyed skiing in Big Sky for more than 20 years. For the last five winters, I have been a snow reporter for Big Sky Resort. This winter, I am endeavoring to not just write reports that the resort would like me to write: I am endeavoring to be the people's reporter, and I am going to need your help. It seems everybody in Big Sky is in somebody's pocket, but it is my goal to represent and to be a voice for the people.
My goal is to provide the members of SnoFax with in depth, comprehensive, HONEST & ACCURATE --- Daily snow reports that have ZERO marketing bias. And this is where we have to come together. I am by no means the absolute most knowledgeable skier when it comes to all that Big Sky has to offer, but TOGETHER, we can help ensure that every SnoFax member is armed with the knowledge that they need to make the most of every day on the mountain. Whether you're a die-hard every day local, a weekend warrior, a Bozeman commuter, or a once a year vacationer, you deserve to know everything there is to know about the conditions of the mountain, so that you can make the most of the hard earned money you spent on your pass.
SnoFax will be a place where you can connect with other Snow enthusiasts, share your knowledge about great conditions AND especially potential hazards and dangers. And as your host, it will be my pleasure to represent the skiers and snowboarders of Big Sky, and to give you a place and opportunity to contribute the information that only you can provide. I cannot be everywhere on the mountain every day at once, but we all can, and the more support that I have from YOU, the more time I can invest to personally investigate the conditions and the reports from other SnoFax members and create even more content.
Together we can put an end to the endless rumors that float around ski resorts across the world. This is my call to action to Ski Patrollers, and Lift Operators and Mechanics in Big Sky. We don't expect to have the exact answers to all of our questions immediately, but the public has the right to know when they've paid for a pass and let's say a lift is in need of repair, or there's been an avalanche that has swept all of the snow out of a chute.
SnoFax is not about marketing, it's not about pleasing any higher-ups, it's about spreading the TRUTH about what is happening on and around the mountain in Big Sky so that you can be PREPARED and even WARNED. At the end of the day, I believe that ~250word, marketing based snow report, designed only to highlight the biggest numbers and the best conditions-- this is not enough information for people to be SAFE and to make the most of their day on one of the largest most variable and most expansive resorts in all of North America or even the world.
For just $5 a month, with enough of you signed up, I can provide these daily reports, and invest the time needed to be knowledgeable of the mountain and how it is changing as the season goes on. That come's out to $30 for the whole season, which is the going wage for about 1.5 hours of work in Big Sky these days. I have personally met hundreds of people over these last 5 years that have been nothing but appreciative of my snow reports, and I thankyou for this support and want to ensure you that through your support of SnoFax, I can provide you all with so much more than what I have been able to provide through the support of the resort.
And lastly, and importantly, this is not a dig at the resort. I've enjoyed every day I've been able to write a snow report for Big Sky, and I've understood that the role that they have in mind for their resort, could never be enough to support me and my growing family. For three seasons, 2021-2023, I was able to only miss about three days of skiing at Big Sky due to my position as a snow reporter, and I am so thankful for that opportunity. Now, as a husband and a father, and changes in how the resort would like their snow reporters to operate, my only hope of continuing to make skiing and reporting in Big Sky my livelihood, is to rally the support of the amazing community that is the skiers and snowboarders of Big Sky.
When I was initially hired as a snow reporter for Big Sky in 2019, I was told that I would become the face of the resort. I loved my job and I told them that if possible, I would continue to write snow reports every year for the rest of my life. All of that still rings true, but as the resort has grown over these last five years, the roles and responsibilities of their snow reporters have shrunk. This resort, and the community around it is filled with incredibly hard working people, doing their best to do their jobs well. As a snow reporter then and now, I've believed and continued to believe that it is my responsibility to ski as much of the mountain as possible, to familiarize myself with the conditions, and to get to know the hard working people that are out there making it all possible, as well as the hard working people that are out there free-skiing, because it is their unwavering support of skiing that makes the existence of a ski resort possible. More than being the face of any resort, it is my desire to be a servant of the people and someone who facilitates communication and understanding. By joining SnoFax, not only would you be supporting my dream of making snow-reporting in Big Sky my vocation, but you would be supporting my vision of magnifying the voices of this community.
Thankyou, and pray for snow.
