Bridger Bowl’s cutest employees sniff out safety

Editor’s Note: Descriptions of terrain using the word “backcountry” in this story have been corrected to use the word “ridge.” Bridger Bowl’s ridge terrain differs from backcountry terrain because it is patrolled and within the ski area boundary. Backcountry terrain is out of bounds and not patrolled.

Bozeman’s local ski mountain, Bridger Bowl, is renowned for its daunting ridge terrain. However, this comes with a higher risk of avalanche fatality and an even higher demand for patrol supervision.

But our ski community shouldn’t fret, because a band of local heroes — avalanche dogs — have our backs. According to Eric Mullen, the mountain’s Avalanche Dog program coordinator and a ski patroller, these furry employees have been saving lives on the slopes since the earliest days of Bridger Bowl.

Mullen, has worked as a patroller for fifteen years, and just began leading the Avalanche Dog program in the 2022-2023 winter season.

Mullen and one other program coordinator, Dewey Neighbor, oversee and enforce the program’s policies and procedures. They supervise dog training, support for dog handlers, and coordinate where dogs are positioned on the hill on a daily basis. Mullen discovered his interest in the program through years of patrolling as well as consistent activity with the Gallatin County Search and Rescue team.

Mullen is a dog owner and handler, meaning he owns and provides for his personal avalanche dog, which is employed in the field at the ski hill. His dog Bodhi is a rescue from Wolf Point Reservation. She's been training with and working for the avalanche program for five years, Mullen said.

These dogs typically spend two to three years training, learning obedience, how to board a ski lift and most importantly, how to detect human scent.

“The training process for a dog is essentially an elaborate game of hide and go seek,” Mullen said.

The dogs begin by learning to chase and find an exciting object, such as a rubber ball. The training progresses until a human subject, known as a query, hides in a pile of snow or a hole, and the dog is conditioned to seek them out and unbury them. The dog’s efforts are rewarded with an exciting game of tug of war between them and the query.

Once the dog’s skills are honed, they can be employed out in the field by exploiting the same training.

At Bridger Bowl’s training park, ironically titled the Kitty Litter due to the dogs' liking for scratching and sniffing around on its premises, the Avalanche Dog program performs training drills to condition both new and veteran dogs.

During one of those training sessions Sophie Hewitt, a Bridger Bowl ski patroller, acted in the role of the query. She was buried in a large igloo-like pile of snow, known as a quinzhee, awaiting rescue from Mullen’s dog Bodhi.

Mullen braced his zealous pooch with a few tugs at her collar, then sent her off. The border collie and terrier mix didn’t hesitate. She quickly trampled towards her target through a few inches of fresh snow and effortlessly unburied Hewitt in a matter of seconds.

Bodhi was promptly rewarded with a fun and intense game of tug of war. Hewitt made a point of sounding loud and excited.

“You should be super loud and high pitched, like a drunk girl at a party,” Mullen explained to Hewitt before the drill began, “If you’re not embarrassed, you’ve done it wrong.”

She did not disappoint. The query’s aim is to excite the dog by, morbidly enough, simulating the high pitched noises of prey being killed. However, the display was quite wholesome.

“It was super fun and exciting to see the dog come out successful and to be rescued so quickly,” Hewitt said, covered in snow.

Hewitt went on to describe her aspirations with the program. “I’m always happy to help with the dogs and be an assistant. Someday I hope to have my own dog. I think it's a super awesome program and there is always room for involvement,” she said.

Avalanche dog support is crucial for safety on the mountain. According to Mullen, before Bridger Bowl started mandating transceivers for access to ridge terrain, avalanche dogs were the best option for timely rescues — and they pull more than their weight on the mountain every day.

“One dog is the search equivalent of 20 rescuers in one-eighth the amount of time,” Mullen said.

While Bridger ridge enthusiasts can boost their safety by carrying beacons, avalanche debris can still spill over into lower-mountain terrain, where most skiers lack these safety devices. It’s in this scenario where the avalanche dogs are an especially invaluable asset because, without avalanche transceivers, dogs are the only feasible way of quickly detecting avalanche victims buried under the snow and saving their lives, Neighbor said.

According to him, it is for this exact reason that there is no avalanche dog stationed over near the Schlasman’s lift.

“You need a beacon to ride the lift so it's safe to assume anyone buried would be findable with a beacon search,” Neighbor said. “We would definitely send dogs that way if an incident occurred, but it isn't top priority for the dogs like it is on the lower mountain.”

Without these savvy canines, our ski community would be at far greater risk. “These dogs are just as much of team members as any of our other rescuers,” Mullen said.

Neighbor said the dogs also help with keeping terrain on the mountain open and safe for those in-bounds with no transceiver.

“Here at Bridger Bowl, we don’t like to sit on terrain,” Neighbor said. “The other day we were getting like three inches of snow an hour and we were able to keep the ridge open, which is great for us, and it would have implied far greater risk if it weren’t for the avalanche dogs being stationed where they were in the event that any avalanche debris slid down into in-bounds terrain. The dogs are an essential piece of the puzzle”

Neighbor said the dogs are more popular with the public than the patrollers. “People get a lot more excited when they see a dog on the slope than when they see some patrol guy with a beard,” he said.

The Avalanche Dog program is funded primarily through the proceeds of avalanche dog t-shirts, which can be purchased at The Jim Bridger Lodge, Chalet Sports, Round House and 360 Pet Medical.