It was a cold rainy day in the Northwest so there wasn’t much outdoor exploring which is what led us to a cool and unexpected discovery…the Missoula Smokejumpers. It was closed for the season but there was a number to call “after hours”. We did. They said they’d be there in a minute outside the visitor center. We though we were just going to be let into the tiny “museum” but instead we got a tour of the entire training facility. It was pretty awesome! Thanks Clint.
I think the coolest thing was walking into what you could tell was a seasoned smokejumper named Boyd Burtch. You could tell he was Native American and looked straight out of the movies. He was drawing and sewing a prototype for a rope holder that smokejumpers carry. I didn’t quite understand it even after asking a few questions…but by the end the tour it all made sense and realized that Boyd really was a BA double S like I originally thought.
“They’re all men” Isabella said. Not so much a surprise as to the job of smokejumping…but that they were the ones sewing, cutting, measuring, and really making all of their own equipment, bags, etc… The parachutes are made by a different company, but they make ALL their own gear in the off season. There are currently 5 female smokejumpers out of 70 who work during the season.
They jump with about 110lbs worth of gear. The plane sends down another cardboard box that carries their water, food, sleeping bag, axe, and any other gear they may need for the next few days to weeks fighting the fire. In their pack they carry an extra parachute. They wear a helmet with a front guard and do have a spare parachute. The other important thing they carry is 150ft of rope so that if they do land in a tree they are able to tie a harness one-handed and repel themselves down a tree. This is when we realized that this is what Boyd was working on. A new prototype to carry the 150’ rope so that it doesn’t all fall down into a big jumble in the bottom of their large ankle pocket.
Of course I asked what is the competition smokejumpers go for and it is the number of jumps, but really the number of fire jumps. This again is where Boyd’s name came up…he is currently the oldest smokejumper on the team and has racked up over 150 fire jumps. 162 to be exact. He is due to retire in a year. Mandatory retirement age for a smokejumper is 57.
We had lunch at the Highlander Brewery. Great nachos, ok pizza. But they did have a tip jar to buy a beer for a smokejumper…so we added to the bin.
We continued on and slept at the RV park next to Fairmont Hot Springs, which was a super nice resort with a large indoor pool and large hot tub and then a large outdoor pool with hot tub. The outdoor hot hot tub had about 50 people and still was not full. They also have a large 3 story water slide which unfortunately out of service and opening back up for the weekend.
