sibhusky

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.

It appears as if the cloud layer is above your head at 10:38 AM.

It's called Glacier Park International but it's not in the park. It's between Kalispell and Whitefish.

Sunday. You must have seen all the Ten Commandments on people's front lawns as you came north. The reason I ski Sundays is normally people go to church in the morning.

Generally speaking, chair 2 trails are under the cloud layer. Chair 11 trails are narrower and face a different way than the rest of the mountain, so the light and shadow needed to see the surface area is better. The problem is, to get to 11, you have to head down the Ant Hill. The flattest light will be on those trails whose surface is perpendicular to the position of the sun. Skiing next to trees that would throw a shadow on the trail if the sun were out is the better side of the trail to pick. AVOID TONI MATT IN THE FOG. ALSO MOE-MENTUM.

How come you flew into Missoula? Cheaper? Usually for me there's been no $ difference. Airport is only 25 minutes from the ski area.

Pardon me for butting into your thread. Chair 4 down again today, resulting in long waits at the HSQ's. Fixed grip were ski right on. High winds meant that 21°F was quite cold. Hopefully fewer people this week, but I think last week with the closures means there is pent up demand. A woman on the chair told me they'd extended their trip because of having skied so little last week.

Another frigid day after 3 days with no upper lifts open. Most of the mountain still not open. -2°F

You are so lucky you didn't come sooner. Most of the lifts have been closed for days now. Wind chills around -45 to -50. It's warming up tomorrow. I skied today but that was the first time since last Thursday.

But wait, there's more!

Skiing with friends from New Zealand.

Sibby doesn't do mountain tours anymore. As it is, from doing that for various forum members for 15 years, I have a calendar full of returners every year all season. Several I have to duck all week because there's no WAY I'll ski with them again! Fortunately, there's Ambassadors who give tours twice a day for free. End of February is usually ideal for tons of fresh snow. Bring your yellow or rose goggles.

And was that actual temperature or wind chill? ... Looks like that was ambient prior to opening. Pretty nippy.

How long did you last? Was that ambient or wind chill? They wouldn't even run the upper lifts here for a -29°F ambient because the wind chill would be like -50°F. So it's been maybe 10 years since I skied that low, but even back then 4 runs would have been my limit. With all the high tech chairs they've put in, cold weather has become an issue. The old fixed grips were hardier. I got 3.5 hours in yesterday before I went from fine to suddenly NOT fine after riding this one slow, shady, lift. If I'd stayed on the front I might have lasted longer because the wind was at your back. Still, got a good amount of runs in before heading to the locker room (where pain set in). I noticed the new 6-pack was down again as I headed back. Gotta be the 4th or 5th time this season?

You should use that on your Tinder profile.

No, I was fine with just some boot gloves. I will add over mitts tomorrow. My down mittens weren't up to the task.

Day 18. -12°F