Article by Stephanie Hobby |  Photo courtesy of Silver Run

Since its inception in 1939, the Silver Run Ski Education Foundation has been cultivating its core values of community, perseverance, integrity, and responsibility among its coaches, athletes, their families, and supporters. What started as an informal social ski club in Red Lodge went on to play an integral role in developing Grizzly Peak Ski area, the precursor to the modern-day Red Lodge Mountain, which opened in 1960 with one lift and three runs.

Today, that enduring partnership continues: Red Lodge Mountain is home to one of the oldest continuously operating ski clubs in North America, and there, every spring, Silver Run hosts the White Stag, the longest-running citizens’ ski race in the country.

Silver Run Ski Education Foundation Board President, Tanner Woodcock said that what started out as a social club for local skiers has greatly expanded its mission over the years. Today, the team has roughly 100 athletes, aged 6 to 86, who train for downhill or cross-country racing, snowboarding, or freeriding. 

Head coaches and sisters Pam Tucker-Kopp and Bridgett Tucker Stiegemeier’s family roots with the team go back to 1985, and today they are raising the next generation of racers. Both women started with Silver Run at age 5, went on to join the elite Rocky Mountain College ski team, and are passionate about passing on their love of the sport. 

“I’m so proud of the name that we’ve kept and the culture that we’ve created, not just in the community of Red Lodge, but that ski culture within Red Lodge Mountain,” Tucker-Kopp said. “We are inclusive, and we make sure that everybody has a chance to be part of our program, and we try to offer ways for people to join any program while limiting those barriers to access.” 

To that end, Silver Run leaders are mindful of the costs of the sport and are dedicated to ensuring expenses are not a barrier for youth athletes. Silver Run has built a library of gear that can be rented at low cost for the duration of the season. Scholarships are also fundamental to the program. “Last season, we provided scholarships to 49 athletes. This year, we are also providing $100 discounts to new families, and we are offering multi-athlete families $50 off per additional child,” Stiegemeier said. They are also developing a championship fund to help offset the costs of travel to championship races for their older students. 

Developing athletes into responsible, trustworthy individuals is a natural side effect of the program. Ski racers have to be early risers, keep track of and maintain an above-average amount of gear for a youth sport, and be willing to pitch in with coursework and the arduous task of rolling and unrolling b-net, often on steep slopes in freezing temperatures. 

“My bosses at a previous job in Boise were never hesitant to hire a kid that was part of this team because they knew they would have the work ethic and drive. They don’t just wait to be told what to do. They are all motivated to get things done, and that’s something that ski racing teaches you,” Tucker-Kopp said. 

Stiegemeier, an elementary school teacher, agreed. “They learn accountability because it’s such an individual sport. If you mess up, it’s on you. The failure, especially in alpine skiing, is so quick. You go down a slalom, and if you mess up in one flush, you’re out. So it’s just learning how to fail and persevere, and learning to set goals and accomplish them.” 

Many of the athletes are school-aged from first grade through high school, but Silver Run caters to an active adult population, too. 

With roughly 30 adult athletes, the Master’s program is one of the largest of its kind in the country and offers a range of opportunities, from strictly social to perfecting ski racing techniques. Woodcock’s father, Jim Woodcock, a longtime photojournalist with the Billings Gazette, is a regular at the mountain and an avid Master’s skier. As a high school racer for Silver Run in the early 1970s, he loved the sport, but eventually turned his attention to career and family. It wasn’t until 2008, when he was covering the Cascade Fire that threatened the ski area, that he realized how much was at stake, and vowed to buy a pass the following season if the mountain withstood the inferno. 

“The fire made my dad realize the value of this place. We almost lost it,” Tanner said. “He did the Town Series races, and he had so much fun because it was something he did as a kid. He was calling me every week and telling me how much fun they were having, so I bought a season pass the next year. It’s definitely something that we do as a family.” 

“I was really looking for someone to help teach me,” Jim said of finding the Master’s program. “It exceeded my expectations for training, because I’m dealing with 1970s muscle memory and technique.” Woodcock is going on his 15th year with the program, with no plans of slowing down. “Ski racing makes you feel young… When I put my poles over the starting line, I still get butterflies, and nothing else in life does that for me, and then the camaraderie and friends.” 

If you are interested in checking out Silver Run, coaches can be reached at silverrunski@gmail.com. This month and next, the cross-country team is hosting the Penguin League, which introduces youth as young as 5 to the sport in a fun, non-pressure environment. Registration for that is now open on the Silver Run website at www. silverrunski.com. 

Originally printed in the January 2026 issue of Simply Local Magazine

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