In the deep winter, when bones ache with cold, few want to spend their days in the snowy wilderness.
But for more than 50 years, that is exactly what Steven Fuller has done at Yellowstone National Park.
One of Yellowstone's official Winterkeepers, Fuller has raised two daughters in the home of bison and hot springs since he came to work for the park in the 1970s. He is the longest working Winterkeeper — and the longest-running resident — in Yellowstone.
From December to March each year, his job is to cut up the deep snow that falls on cabins and lodges. The snow routinely falls two and three feet deep, and left undisturbed, can become heavy enough to collapse roofs. Fuller and other Winterkeepers climb onto the roofs and cut freezer-sized chunks with a seven-foot toothed saw. Fuller pries the chunks away from the roof with a flat shovel so they can slide down and fall to the ground.
When the temperatures plunge lower than 20 degrees below zero, the rock-hard snow can't be cut and Fuller gets to rest. Yellowstone gets from 10 to 20 feet of snow in the winter.
Traditionally, it's a solitary job. But despite living alone in the wilderness, Fuller isn't lonely. He pursues his hobby of photography, and observes wildlife, building acquaintances from afar with certain bison and elk in his area. That can be an uncertain relationship since nature is unyielding, and in time, his favorites always fall to age, weather, or predators.
Modern Winterkeepers have an easier time than their predecessors. Snowmobiles and cell service give them some contact with the outside world. Even in deep winter, when a bit of fresh fruit may seem like a gift from thje gods, snowmobiles make the 70-mile trek to a store possible.
Fuller says he would not mind retiring from work, but his cabin, built in the 1940s, is his home. He wants to stay.
