A Whitefish gap year program and its founder are featured in a video series with the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development.

Former professional skier Billy O’Donnell and founder of RIDGE Mountain Academy are the subject of the latest installment of The Sky’s the Limit series.

O’Donnell was approached by a film company who heard about his background and the school and asked him to tell his story. He said he was excited that the video focused on RIDGE and may inspire others to come to Montana.

“I really moved to Montana and chose to locate my business here because I believe so much in the great things in Whitefish and Montana,” O’Donnell said.

The video on RIDGE, labeled Training Ground, opens with O’Donnell riding the chair lift at Whitefish Mountain Resort and then coming down the ski hill with views of the Flathead Valley below. It moves on to RIDGE’s students training and learning on the ski slope while O’Donnell explains the academy’s focus.

“To make an outdoor classroom you have to have a great environment,” he says in the video. “And that’s what we really found right here in Montana.”

The Sky’s the Limit is a series of short films that feature Montana as a premier travel destination through the stories of real people. The videos are designed to inspire travelers to pursue their own winter adventure in Montana as the films feature the journey of different people realizing their potential in Montana and following them as they explore the possibilities, according to the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development.

RIDGE is an American Gap Association accredited gap year enrichment program that focuses on mountain sports and education with college credit from the University of Montana. RIDGE athletes train in a variety of areas, including skiing, snow science, mountain sports coaching and health and nutrition.

The school currently has nine students, but is looking to grow by 10 to 20 students in the future. For now, the smaller group provides an opportunity for greater learning for students of all levels not just elite athletes, O’Donnell said.

“We give a lot of individualized coaching,” he said.

RIDGE is the only accredited gap year program in Montana and one of just 15 programs accredited by the American Gap Association, which defines a gap year as an experiential semester typically taken between high school and college in order to deepen practical, professional and personal awareness.

Founded in 2014, RIDGE is designed for male and female student athletes ages 16 to 22 looking to learn while strengthening their training in mountain sports.

When O’Donnell was looking to open the academy, Whitefish fit his requirements of a town that was close enough to the ski hill for students to travel back and forth every day, but also had the other support necessary to begin the program.

“Whitefish Mountain Resort was so great and welcoming me,” he said. “It was great that we could hire qualified staff that already lived here. The terrain on the mountain also provided what we needed to travel up hill, down hill and in the backcountry.”

O’Donnell is a professional skier, a former international freeride competitor, and was team manager for Obermeyer.

For more information, visit www.ridgeacademy.com.

Watch the video: http://www.visitmt.com/campaign/montana-tv/episode-10.html