Greg Hill speaks

come get psyched for ski season opening day at The Big, or wherever your mind wants to take you, with an exciting (i should hope) presentation by
GREG HILL, legendary mountaineer, from British Columbia, and beyond.

i have tried to load this onto this blog, but it blogger is not that user friendly for attachments, so here are the details

friday, dec 3 at the Golden Agers (or WF community Center, next to the WF river, on 93N out of town)
7pm

$10 suggested donation
beer for sale, no idea of the price

this guy has done it all, and the show should be an inspiration. Plus, it is a fundraiser for Glacier Country Avalanche Center.

so, if you have not been skiing somewhere yet, it is time. the skiing is the best it has been in November since the mid 90's. nearly bottomless, reasonably compacted base, and so far, pretty stable. it should be a great opening day, or time to get in the bigger hills thoughout the valley and explore and ski powder.

and this event should only get EVERYONE totally psyched. hope to see you on friday

happy thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Hope you still have some leftovers if you are enjoying them, or they are done if not. Since this is the one weekend a year i eat turkey, i try to get in as much as possible. then it is back to my semi-vegetarian diet.

Finally the cold weather has left us be. We are going to get some cold snaps through the dark months (remember the record lows we hit last year in early October?), but this one seemed long, and with all the wind, extremely cold. and of course, with cold weather, we just do not seem to get much snow. But as the temps rose, so did the snowfall.

Finally yesterday I got up on the hill yesterday (medical reasons kept me away, as did some late season hunting. I did say semi-vege). The snow coverage is considerable, and full throughout the resort. It will be interesting to see how much they open up next Saturday. One could argue that they can open the entire mountain. I would be surprised, as that takes a lot of effort, but then again, so does closing runs with string lines and signs.

While the snowpack still needs some compaction, the warmer temps and new snow have helped settle the snow, firm up some bonding and hide some dangerous objects. Skiing with care can take you down just about any slope you want with ease and enjoyment. Or, of course, you can go balls to the wall and take your chances. This is usually the option for the young, and those that think they are. (you know who you are, right pp).

I am not surprised, what with all the early season snow, but I have not seen the mountain skied up this entirely before the lifts opened, well, ever. Sure there are endless untracked lines remaining, but there are indeed ski tracks everywhere.

So with 6 days left until the lifts run for the public use, keep on hiking, get in shape for what could be one of the top opening days ever.

We should start to see USFS avalanche forecasts starting next weekend, and the Flathead Nordic Patrol has added an observations page to its website, plus, i always welcome any and all input on this blog, of what skiers are seeing and skiing in their adventures. i know people have been out and about beyond the Big Mountain, so come on folks, share some knowledge to get this season off to a safe and incredible start.

cold front

just when it looked like a great weekend to go hike up the hill or perhaps somewhere else for some early season turns, the weather has taken a bit of a nasty turn. sure, some will still parade upwards, but i believe the majority of us are trying to find some more comfortable ways of enjoying ourselves.

word has it there is a pretty good snowpack in place, although likely to have some minor rain crusts. but with this and other wind, it may be that crust is somewhat isolated. i still have not gone, as other things continue to take precedence, and with this cold and wind predicted until thanksgiving, it is unlikely i will be seen up there until the weather turns. regardless, it sounds like a pretty good start, and all we can hope to do is add snow.

likewise for the weather, many a hunter was sure to be excited by the drop of a few inches of snow in the valley, and of course more up high. this snow will drive the beasts down towards the valley. add in that the bucks seem to finally have gone into their rut, and it spells out a perfect weekend for bloodying ones hands pulling the guts out of a fresh kill. but for me, this wind and cold makes the prospect of sitting still in a tree stand, or moving slowly through the woods not particularly attractive. am i getting old and wimpy? or old and wise? or neither, is it just me?

fortunately i have another convenient excuse, as i recuperate from a small procedure from which i am supposed to abstain from strenuous activity for another week. so if the weather changes by thanksgiving weekend, which surely it must, then it spells out a perfect time to break out the skis, take my gun for a walk, and enjoy the spoils of a store bought turkey freshly killed by our hutterite friends from the east side.

hope to start seeing more of you in the near future, and hearing from you about places you are finding some nice turns, and conditions to be aware of.

what will the weather do?

it seems ready to change, this weather, but some beautiful sunny and warm days melted away much of our lower snowpack, which is not surprising. so while we wait for real winter to come, i have been trying to get in a last few bike rides, some trail runs, and for the first time ever, i am going to hunt. i have learned that the best time to hunt for bucks is the latter half of november, as that is when they are in their rut, and easier to bring in for a close and safe shot. so even in this endeavor, i am waiting.

so as usual, it is a month of not that much to do. oh, there is firewood to finish up, and the last of the fall projects, and trying to get outside enough to not go insane, but really, unless you are hunting full time, or down in the warm sunny desert, november is not the best month around here. soon enough though, we will all be whooping it up in the mountains, and on the hill. ice will form, nordic tracks will be groomed and we will once again have more to do then there is time for.

no skiing for me

yeah, i missed out. i was planning to go on sunday, but woke to rain and medium temperatures, so decided to watch football and go for a bike ride. it is going to be a long season, so i don't feel the need to go just to go, but now with this warm and sunny weather, and watching the snowline creep up the hill, i have my regrets. but not as many as i am feeling this day after election day. if you side with last night's dominant party, then let's see some action and results, not just empty talk. but with separate parties in control, and a president set on his agenda, it could be two more years of bi-partisianship, bickering and the american public left holding the ruins.

but politics are not what this blog is about, so sorry for the degression. we are experiencing seoond "Indian Summer" so enjoy the sun and warmth while we have it, for as i said in the opening paragraph, it promises to be along winter.