The 12th annual Big Sky PBR opened on Thursday night at the Big Sky Events Arena, featuring 40 cowboys and a one-hour thunderstorm delay—a de facto tent party.
Through an afternoon of westerly gusts, the sun still beamed on the arena during the opening ceremony. Around 6:20 p.m., a ladder truck from the Big Sky Fire Dept. raised a grand American flag, and recent Lone Peak High School graduate Emily Graham sang the national anthem.
“We’ve been waiting 364 days for this moment,” said Eric Ladd, chairman and CEO at Outlaw Partners, in his introductory statement.
Cord McCoy, famed bull stock contractor, gave his own two cents.
“These bulls don’t know it’s Thursday night,” he said. “So it’s gonna be rank, it’s gonna be good.”
Montana cowboy Dakota Louis received a pair of special introductions, both during the opening ceremony and before his ride—when a rogue bull made a dramatic escape into Town Center at last year’s PBR, Louis was one of three cowboys who wrangled it on horseback.
