By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
As Big Sky gears up for another season of winter recreation, a new organization hopes to make life-saving training more accessible to residents and workers.
Connor Goodwin began Mountain Safety Group, a nonprofit organization that aims to address accessibility of CPR and first aid training by providing local classes, after learning about the obstacles for Big Sky residents needing certifications.
CPR/AED courses in Big Sky are few and far between, though the Big Sky Fire Department offers resources and instructional materials. Usually, employees and any interested community member will travel to Bozeman for courses that cost $100 or more, according to Goodwin. He remembers directing his employees of the outdoor adventure program at the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club to Bozeman for costly courses so that they could lead recreational activities.
“I got sick of trying to source first aid classes, CPR classes, first aid classes,” Goodwin said. “There should be a measure of accessibility, both geographically and financially for certifications.”
He said that knowing the restraints of a limited income of the recreational workforce gave him the kick to start MSG, which will have a “no cost, low cost” model making the courses free for Big Sky residents and at a low cost for organizations wanting to get members and employees certified.
Connor Goodwin’s background is in outdoor recreation, having spent more than a decade in search and rescue organizations including volunteering with Gallatin County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue. When he started MSG, he collaborated with Christine Thomas, who has volunteered with GCSSAR in Big Sky for a year, to begin planning for programming.
“Trying to keep things centralized and local is the goal,” Thomas said. In the winter, MSG plans to roll out CPR courses for the community and by the end of the summer, the MSG team hopes to have a wilderness first aid schedule lined up for the summer.
“Information and knowledge is exactly what a recreation destination like Big Sky needs,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin hopes that in its beginnings, the organization can also connect people to further courses like avalanche safety after they get their basic training, as his team knows resources in the region.
“Optimistically, I expect to see people from all walks of life jumping in for this, whether it’s people who are retired, living in Big Sky, that are just trying to brush up on some of their backcountry aptitude and knowledge, or whether it’s seasonal liftys who are coming out saying, ‘Hey listen, I’d like to have a little bit more accessibility to this,’” Goodwin said.
Goodwin said he feels confident in the community’s interest in the courses.
“I’ve met very, very few people who don’t go out and recreate and who wouldn’t benefit from this knowledge,” Goodwin said.
