Helgi Olafson's Vision

Starting the winter of 2017 and through the summer of 2018, Helgi Olafson lived and worked in the Big Sky area while training for his first Triple Crown of 200s. He had the opportunity to work as a hiking guide on many of the trails which are now the Big Sky 300.

Adventuring in these remote and wild areas took great care and preparation and quickly became Helgi's favorite thing to do. Real backcountry adventures where every decision counts is a great way to train for long distance adventures.

Helgi hoped to one day share the beauty of this portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with the ultrarunning world. But how does one accomplish this without physically destroying the natural beauty with human footprints, waste and course markings being thrown around all over the beautiful course? How can our participants keep this haven for the epitome of the Rocky Mountains' greatest wildlife at large?

Visions Align

When creating the route and reaching out for permission from the United States Forest Service and the Gallatin Ranger District, Helgi learned that commercial events were disallowed and organized events with more than 15 people on these beautiful trails (at the same time) were also disallowed. These restrictions are specific to the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area and the Hyalite Porcupine Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area.

Helgi began creating the adventure around 15 slots with each day finishing at a campground. This was an opportunity to keep these trails safe from the lasting impact that larger group sizes and organized races may leave on them. The runners would run the route in 7 stages over the course of 7 days in order to mitigate the amount of time runners would be on trail in twilight hours.