‘After I lost my housing, my dog and I lived in a school bus – now we’re living our best life skiing mountains’

A young woman who lost her housing and ended up living out of a school bus in sub-freezing “brutal” conditions with her husky is now living her “best life” skiing and mountaineering with the blue-eyed pup as a duo who have become a viral sensation.

Court Long, 26, a marketing producer who lives in Almont, Colorado, USA, adopted her husky Loam, which she named after the mountain Ben Lomond in New Zealand, in November 2019.

At first, she said he was a “menace” – he was “rambunctious, high-energy, and full of life” – and she struggled to tire him out, despite exercising him up to three times a day.

When Court lost her housing through circumstances she wishes not to disclose, and moved into a school bus, she hit rock bottom – but the experience brought her and Loam even closer.

“It was honestly traumatising, it was awful… but I had made a commitment to this dog, and I knew that we could get through it,” Court told PA Real Life.

“Loam brought this light into my life, and having that consistency, having the responsibility of a life, it changed my life for the better.”

More than two years later, the pair are thriving – skiing and touring the Rocky Mountains together, with Loam running at speeds of up to 20mph next to Court on the snow – and they have even gone viral on social media, with a clip of the duo on TikTok in December receiving more than 18 million views and 6,000 comments.

Loam has become Court’s “training partner”, as she prepares for mountaineering races including a 40-mile competition called the Grand Traverse, and they ski up to 40 miles per week.

A typical day involves Court bringing her skis, boots, alpine touring bindings and skins, which attach onto her skis and allow her to climb up the mountain, and Loam will follow her.

Once they have reached their desired destination, Court will then adjust her equipment and ski downhill with Loam running next to, in front of, or behind her.

She said the best part of being able to ski together is “the connection that we have created”.

“We have spent years training, we know each other’s flow, we make eye contact throughout the entire time that we’re skiing, and if he weaves, I bob, and vice versa,” Court explained.

“It’s not an ignorant bliss thing for us, I take it very seriously… but seeing him so joyful and at his happiest is one of the best things about it.

“He has such a pure energy, and it does motivate me to see his excitement. It’s weird to say but he’s so passionate about it and it pushes me to keep going.”

Court grew up in Kansas, USA, and started skiing from the age of four – something she described as “a huge privilege”.

While studying Fine Art Photography at Colorado State University, she spent hours driving to the mountains to ski rather than “partying” – as she loves how freeing the sport is.

“Sliding on snow is a really unique feeling … I’ve never done a sport like it,” Court explained.

“Yes, there are times when it’s miserable, it’s cold, your gear is uncomfortable and your skis are heavy, but on a powder day, you really are just gliding and floating.”

She completed her first avalanche education course and later moved to Winter Park, Colorado, in 2019 to focus on her skiing, and that is when she started “exploring the backcountry”.

Court had grown up with dogs and had always dreamed of having her own one day, but she wanted to be “responsible” and give the pup “the best life that (she) possibly could”.

This led her to Loam, her “absolutely gorgeous” husky who is now four years old, in November 2019 after she graduated from university – but he was a challenge at first.

She would exercise him up to three times a day, taking him to dog parks and on hikes, and complete an hour of obedience training in the evenings, but nothing seemed to work.

Her “cute, frumpy little wolf” was always full of energy, ready to go outside, and did not want to stay indoors.

Court then lost her housing and faced having to move out of the town she loved, so she found a way to stay and was thankful for the support she received from her parents and the local community.

As a temporary solution, she bought a renovated school bus and moved into this in October 2021 – and this was “one of the most challenging times of (her) life”.

“It was so brutal and so cold,” Court said.

“I spent every evening in the dark, chopping firewood, and then I would refuel my fire every three hours throughout the night because I would wake up so cold.

“My water was frozen, every item of food that I had was frozen, I was living off of the bare minimum.”

To complicate matters, while living in the bus, Loam had figured out how to work the accordion door – and no matter what Court did to try to stop this, he would find a way to open it.

Court continued: “I’m waking up at 3am, it’s negative 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 27C) outside, the bus door is wide open, there’s snow filling the entrance, and my dog is gone.

“I used to wake up in the middle of the night and hear coyotes howling and I’d just think, ‘they’ve killed my dog’.

“There were so many times when I thought, I don’t know if he’s coming home, but every morning at 5am when I got ready to look for him, he’d always be asleep by the tire of the bus.”

By February 2022, Court had managed to find new accommodation and she sold the bus and used the money to send Loam to obedience training.

When he returned, three weeks later, she said “everything changed” as she could safely walk him off the leash and recall him around wildlife, such as moose.

She and Loam then started cross-country skiing together and ski touring with him off the leash but at a slow pace – and now they are out on the mountains every other day together.

“At certain resorts, you can tour up the mountain outside of operational hours with your dog, and we started doing that really slowly,” Court said.

“We’ve just continued to push, and we continue to get better and be more in tune with each other.”

Court stressed that safety is her utmost priority, and she would never put Loam in danger, only skiing on terrain that she has researched or knows is safe.

She uses Musher’s Secret wax to protect his paws and if ever he displays signs of being cold, such as shivering, which has only happened once, she will take him home.

Along with her own equipment, she carries a beacon, which is an avalanche transceiver, a shovel, a probe, an emergency sling for Loam, a first aid kit, a headlamp, snacks, and water.

For anyone wanting to try it, Court said: “I’d recommend that other people go to the cross-country trails near them, obviously checking dogs are allowed on those trails.

“Cross-country skiing is a really safe way to ski with your dog because the trails are maintained and they’re predominantly flat.

“If people want to pursue backcountry skiing with their dogs, I recommend that they first and foremost take an avalanche safety course, that they go out with people who know what they’re doing for the first few times, and start without their dog, and then slowly progress, making sure that their dog is 100% recall trained.”

Court said she will continue going on adventures with Loam and try to give him “the best life”, as he gave her a reason to get up in the morning during her most challenging times.

“I just want to keep doing what we love, just skiing together and having fun,” Court said.

“Between the skiing, the mountain biking, we camp every single week in the summer; playing in rivers and doing all the things together outside, that’s enough for me.”

To find out more about Court and Loam, search @courtlong10 on TikTok or Instagram.