sibhusky

We used to hike a bit, but after my husband got attacked and mauled by a grizzly he lost interest in hiking. I mostly garden. We've also sold the boat. Since Covid, the tourist situation has gotten pretty bad. The reservation system at the Park has resulted in more people in town and in the remaining state and national forests as well. I keep hoping they will go back to video games. Now my daughter and son-in-law are avid four season mountain bikers. Whitefish has an extensive trail network in the area plus the stuff at the resort. They live down in the Bitterroot, which also has plenty of trails. He hunts in the fall. There are lakes, rivers, golf courses, galore. Really, you need to ask what isn't here: Sports teams, malls, an interstate, not many museums.

Saw that recently and saved it for the next time someone said, if you're going to Big Sky why don't you go to Whitefish while you're at it. A few years ago a high school classmate told me she was going to be in Denver and how about meeting up.

No RFID here. Real lifties using scanners and generally being friendly to everyone. You know. How it used to be before you were just a number. They actually address you by name occasionally.

Day 35.

We get little bits maybe 5 out of 7 days a week. Big dumps are unusual. The bigger point is, bring your flat light goggles. Sunny days are a gift.

Siblet was just at Kicking Horse. The place looked huge. They did a lot of hiking. Gorgeous pics.

Day 32

Absolutely phenomenal day. Sunny and no crowds. Perfect 12°F at 11 AM. Day 31 Canyon Creek Ridge Run North Bowl Face and the Ant Hill Ptarmigan Bowl

Me neither.

A friend of mine ran into your group at the hot tub. He's here from NC.

Freshies here. Unfortunately I spent the morning meeting people who didn't all want to meet up at the same time. 10:00, 11:00, 11:30 (with a late appearance, so take a run and try again at noon). Like I'd like to move to another lift, not keep coming back to the summit.

They all have names, but since those names have changed over the years, it's easier to just call them by their numbers. There's a couple that are called by their area in the resort on occasion. It's easier to call something "chair 1" than "Glacier Chaser", or whatever the latest name is. (Looked it up, now "Big Mountain Express", a real mouthful.)

Chair 3 would drive me nuts. SSSLLL000WWW and gets you 441(?) feet of vertical per ride. I guess it's better than 9.

Apparently it's improving Thursday, March 2, 2023: 10:30 a.m. update: We're cruising around on 2-3 inches of new, low-density snow with variable depths stacked off-piste. I blasted through some pillows for a quick taste of the white room out there. Visibility on the lower mountain is improving. The upper mountain remains in storm mode with light snowfall, moderate winds and gusts, and very low visibility. 8 a.m. update: Snowfall has tapered off and we've picked up an inch or so in the village since this morning's report! The upper and lower mountain currently has incredibly low visibility (even by Big Mountain standards). We're talking full on sonar conditions. Trust your gear, trust the slope and trust your feelings out in the abyss!

Looks like a very slight improvement. I'm fine down to "two chair", "one chair" is a NO. The problem is, once you find out it's that bad, you still need to get down.

I was supposed to ski today, but two different groups I was planning to ski with decided to bag it due to visibility, so I did as well. Looks bad. I wonder if momskeeztoo is skiing?

Lucky her! It looks like she's having a wonderful inversion day!

Sorry, don't read this in the AM. The trees have been getting less and less spaced out over the years. There's the "tree farms" either side of George's Gorge, but they've gotten pretty dense. East Rim Face used to be nice and may be tomorrow if we get what is forecast, but ever since they put in chair 5, it's been pounded. There's some okay trees left side of Hogan's East. A bit steeper ones left side of Outside Road. Easiest to dip a toe in and then exit at any point is Good Medicine. Quite spaced in the middle. But, increasing steepness AND they face South, so snow is sometimes not so great. The good thing is you can traverse out to the right at any point. Number one thing is, ski with someone who is going to really keep an eye on you. Remember, if you go into a treewell and they are downhill from you, they are going to have to posthole UPHILL, possibly in snow up to their crotch, while you could be suffocating. Don't go in the trees with someone who plans to "meet you at the lift" or get carried away by the powder. (You might as well go by yourself, they would be useless. And, being by yourself, you'd be more careful.) Try to look for the path taken by others before. The snow will be more compacted. Straying 6 inches off that line could have you waist deep very suddenly. Don't become the next statistic on my list of deaths in tree wells here. If you've found that special, reliable partner, the trees in Big Timber (unlabelled, to the left of Ridge Run after Outside Road and before its final pitch) are really nice.

Does anyone see her? Ambassador tour forming up at 10:30. Ambassadors are the ones in yellow. Altho, another tour also starts in the base area.