Varsity alpine ski season wrapped up rather early–on February 16 this year. Members of the Cook County/Silver Bay alpine ski team weren’t ready to quit, so 17 ski team members, parents and siblings took a trip to the mountains near Bozeman, Montana during winter break February 19-24. Snowboarders were invited and even some of the team members and parents were seen on boards.
Expectations were high as Montana reportedly had six feet of snow pack, more than they had all of last year. Three vehicles caravanned for a marathon 19-hour drive from Grand Marais to Bozeman. Accommodations were at a former horse barn converted to a facility designed for reunions, complete with bedrooms and an industrial kitchen.
Everyone was up early on Sunday to ski Bridger Bowl, a non-profit ski area with first class runs and lifts. This day proved to be a good introduction to mountain skiing. The altitude is not as high as other western ski resorts, but there were plenty of challenging runs. Some “yard sale” wipeouts were reported from those testing out the double black diamond runs.
On President’s Day, the caravan headed to Big Sky Resort, which claims the second largest drop in elevation in North America at over 4,500 feet. It is awesome to see the craggy peak of snow and rock that towers above the well-developed resort complex of condos, stores and parking lots.
The long drive down to Big Sky was well worth it, as two feet of powder snow had fallen the previous night. Twelve youths explored the miles of ski runs as a group, with one run over six miles long.
The powder made the bumps on the long runs forgiving, and somewhat slower. This made for some very enjoyable skiing for the adults, who could attack the easier runs and make it seem like they were expert skiers, or at least not novices.
The third day of skiing was voted to be at Big Sky by unanimous consent. So much snow was being deposited by wind over the peak that all morning the summit was closed as the ski patrol set off dynamite to clear the peak of avalanche danger. Tree runs were the order of the day for the youth. Falling in the deep powder made for some humorous recoveries, many of which included swimming in the snow. There were many tired legs on this, our last day. Regardless, most wanted to take advantage of this amazing opportunity and skied or boarded until closing.
Back home safely, the skiers find that the ski season is still under way. Many of the mountain skiers participated in the Junior Race Championship on March 6 and the altitude training paid off for these skiers as they all raced extremely well. Lutsen Mountains is open for another month, and then it’s back to summer sports and training for another ski season.
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