Winter 2016-17

Up & over Fawn Pass. Wolves. At first I mistake them for any other variety of large mammaly creature that might be wandering around Yellowstone at 4:30am in the dead of winter. Their sheer height throws me off. You…

Spark R&D celebrates ten years. Bozeman is home to quite a few reputable outdoor brands: Schnee’s, Mystery Ranch, Oboz, Kenetrek, and other high-end, high-profile businesses that have sprung up over the years. One…

A Yellowstone ski tour. In February of 1974, I embarked on an 18-day ski trip through Yellowstone that coincided with a strong La Nina weather event, producing some of the deepest snow in decades. My skis were waxable…

Two decades of the BIF. In 2016 the Bozeman Ice Festival turned 20. It has grown from a rag-tag effort to sell a few pairs of crampons over Christmas to one of the largest and most innovative ice-climbing event in the…

Small-town skiing and old-school environs at Maverick Mountain.  Unloading at the top of the double chair, we hang a right and run into a patroller. He hollers something I can’t hear, but apparently he wants us to follow…

Bozeman Ice Fest clinic areas. Hyalite holds a lifetime of ice and mixed climbs to discover. Ice Fest clinics take place at just four of the core venues: Genesis, Mummy, Amphitheater, and Unnamed Wall. Although I recommend…

Hyalite Canyon plowing timeline.A drive up Bozeman’s beloved Hyalite Canyon provides locals and visitors with a smorgasbord of winter-activity options. Each winding curve reveals pullouts and trailheads packed with skiers…

Winter fun in Cooke City and Silver Gate.  If you like your fun in the frozen, slippery form, Cooke City has the powder. Take your pick: backcountry or cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice climbing, snowmobiling, or…

Strategy in the skintrack.  As a backcountry skier, nothing is more irritating than following an inefficient, poorly-set skintrack. But as a guide, setting a good track is even more important; it allows my clients to ski…

It does the body good. After a long day of skiing, you’re probably ready to kick back and ease into the couch. But before you do, follow the lead of athletes who use cannabidiol (CBD)-infused products to stave off some of…

Dislocation in the Cooke City backcountry. Some people love their birthdays—I’m not one of ’em. But my bad birthday mojo hasn’t stopped me from trying to have a great time, and last winter, for my big 3-5, I decided to go…

By the numbers. With the high probability of a La Niña winter for 2016-17, we thought it appropriate to take a look at some snowfall numbers throughout the years. Here’s what we found. 91”: Annual snowfall in Bozeman15”:…

Saving your fishing universe. One weary late morning in the duck blind, as ducks flared high above my decoys, I daydreamed about the patterns in the clouds, and how flies were a lot like clouds. They were impressionistic:…

Learning from a (way) better skier.  Let’s get one thing straight, if only to save my own ego: I’m no slouch of skier. My ski education took place at Missoula’s Snowbowl, widely known for its single green run, ongoing…

Improvising in the wilderness. A few winters back, I eagerly planned a week-long road-trip to the Escalante canyons of southern Utah. I ordered a pile of custom maps and a mountain of new trekking gear, but just before I…

A Grand Targhee road-trip.  Last winter, with an early-season snowpack about as shallow as a roadside mud-puddle, I decided it was time to search for snow someplace else. The plan: load up the car and head south to Targhee…

Winter ailments in dogs.While the cold of winter presents a host of dangers to us humans, it also threatens the health and wellness of our canine companions. In light of that fact, there are specific ailments that are more…

Getting older sucks. I slide in above the slot, fresh snow hissing down the steep gash like sand from an hourglass. Below the four-foot-wide entry, there’s a small cliff and then the line curves away from an enormous left-…

Skijoring with canines.Picture yourself on a hike with your dogs, trying to keep up with them. Much to your chagrin, you can’t. Your dogs become one cohesive blur as they vanish around the next turn. Streamer-like tongues…

Skiing the Millie burn. It’s oddly quiet as we skin between sooty trunks, split and seared by flame. No pine boughs rustle. No branches squeak. No birds chirp. It’s still—too still, with stiff, blackened snags standing…

The red fox & great grey owl.Southwest Montana’s snowy winters are great for humans who love being outdoors, but they can be brutal for animals simply trying to survive. Some species get by living under the snow, and…

Tips for winter running. Let’s get one thing straight: running is a summer sport—at least for normal people. But we all know many outdoor enthusiasts who are far from normal, and the craziest of them all might just be…

Plowing pros & cons.Hyalite is arguably the most treasured recreational resource in the region. But is plowing the road necessarily a good thing? Undoubtedly, ice climbers and backcountry skiers revel in the easy access…

Five tips for staying warm. In these parts, it takes negative temps to qualify as extreme weather. At least a few times each winter, the mercury falls and doesn’t go back up for days at a time. When that happens, a trip to…

Shooting the winter landscape.Winter’s here and some photographers are retreating indoors. And that’s not surprising, as winter is the hardest season to shoot outdoors. However, for the brave few, winter can offer…

Winter on the Missouri.Each winter, the watersport party venue Canyon Ferry Lake becomes the ice-sport capital of Montana. The 25-mile long reservoir on the Missouri River is just over an hour’s drive from Bozeman, off Hwy…

O/B's downhill dos and don'ts.  Ski areas have their own rules, and while we won’t publicly advocate breaking specific ones, there are always shades of grey. Some rules are sacred, though, and we all know a few jerks who…

Keep 'em sharp. When preparing for ski season, you’ll want to think about the condition of your skis, especially the edges. You need your edges to be sharp enough to grab onto that cold, dry, Montana snow that we know and…

Smoked elk roast. Every fall, hunting season means the possibility of game on the table come winter. No other cooking technique brings out the awesome in an elk roast like smoking, and a good cherry-wood smoke requires a…

When the weather changes, so do we.“Freedom is something that dies unless it’s used.” —Hunter S. ThompsonWhen snow is falling, the world changes in ways real and perceived. Our streets hush as normal life forfeits to the…

Books for the season. Around here, winter is reserved for skiing. Skiing gets us up early, keeps us occupied throughout the day, and sends us to bed early, in anticipation of doing it all over again. At O/B, the one thing…

Fat-biking around Bozeman.Last winter, my husband had a near-catastrophic Nordic “yard sale” while skate skiing out of Sourdough. In addition to his hat and glasses flung far and wide, one pole had somehow separated from…

A guide to XC skiing.As outdoor enthusiasts, people are always putting us in boxes. Dirtbags, trout bums, sledheads: the list goes on and on. Though occasionally annoying, labels can help when trying to determine…

The Revision Plan after a year.The initial year of Forest Plan Revision is coming to a close with the release of the Assessment of Existing Conditions for public review. The Assessment document is a snapshot in time of the…

Injury prevention in cross-country skiing. Nordic skiing is a great way to enjoy the outdoors in winter, and while it has a comparatively low injury rate, overuse injuries can occur, due to repetitive stress. These…

Your feet are worth the investment.The reasons people need professional help fitting their ski boots are simple: performance and pain. Getting a precise fit—in which the shape of your foot is matched exactly by the shell…

Jump-turn technique.If you spend time in places like Bridger Bowl's Madman’s, Hidden Gully, or the 4th Finger, you already know how handy it is to execute a turn within a tiny patch of real estate. A good hop turn can get…

Crazy Mountains geology. The shorter days of winter have once again settled in, providing extra time to reflect on options for next summer’s adventures. We live in an outstanding area surrounded by many tantalizing…

DIY ski storage. If you’re a skier, keeping your abundant pile of gear organized and accessible can be a challenge. For years I just tossed my skis in a corner at the house, and I needed a simple ski-rack solution to get…

These days, it’s all about progress. But it’s tough to know where to go if we forget where we’ve come from. Here’s a look at some important dates in Bozeman’s skiing timeline.  1900 – Michael Langohr, ranger for Hyalite…

Target-shooting in Hyalite.For as long as most people can remember, Bozeman has been hard to define. Cow town, college town, ski town, tourist town, New West yuppie town—just what is this place, anyway? The answer, of…

Charted Territory: Friends of Hyalite releases new map. Being that Hyalite is in our proverbial back yard, you’d think a map of the place would be redundant. Not so. With all the new trail development happening in the…

Southwest Montana's newest trail advocates.Before 2014, Montana and Wyoming did not have representation within the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA). In February 2014, IMBA realigned their regional boundaries…

Haynes Pavilion adds ice.For several years, hockey players and ice skaters in Bozeman have waited for a second sheet of ice at the Haynes Pavilion. Now, that hope has finally become a reality. Through tireless fundraising…

Ski hill showdown.“How can you compare Bridger to anywhere?” you might ask. “You’re not being loyal to Bozeman!” you could criticize. “This one’s a no-brainer,” you’ll probably assume. However, while Bridger Bowl will…

A guide to skiing lingo. In the shop, lodge, or liftline, there are words being thrown around at ski areas that, frankly, don’t exist. Seriously. Skiers and snowboarders just make shit up all the time. It’s ridiculous. So…

Charging burly lines demands burly apparel, and the Berreta line from Dakine offers just that. The jacket and bib both utilize three-layer GoreTex, meaning you’ll be dry and comfortable in even the heaviest conditions. But…

ChromaPop, meet the I/O. This season, Smith is adding their patented sunglass lens technology to their goggles, making for an even better winter experience. The I/O still sets the bar for interchangeable-lens models, and…

I’m in the mountains a lot, running a trail, bagging a peak, or shooting a grouse. Typically, my dog Seamus is with me, but rarely by my side. His off-trail adventures generally leave him thirsty and me short of water—but…

As much as I picture myself a hardcore skier—the kind that searches for powder stashes well beyond ski-area boundaries—I know that I’m not there yet. I can handle myself in most situations, but when it comes to going out of…

Digital three-antenna beacons with marking functions are the baseline standard in transceiver tech—and the Ortovox 3+ performs very well (more on this in a sec). But Ortovox’s patented “smart” antenna means theirs are the…

If you’re looking for a good Ridge-hiking pack that can also handle hitting the sidecountry, look no further than the Kamber 22 from Osprey. With a diagonal attachment for carrying skis and a vertical option for snowboards…

Baby, it’s cold out there—which is why I’ll definitely be wearing my Chill Toque from Bozeman-based Sauce while ski touring this winter. The soft fleece keeps my ears warm when the wind is biting, and the expandable hole at…

Yes, we know, every Bozemaniac worth his or her salt should be able to start a fire with a match—and ladies, beware the bumbling bloke who can’t—but sometimes you want a big flame right away, so you can move on to more…

These days, versatility is the name of the outdoor-gear game, and Bozeman-based Stone Glacier has nailed it with their new pack, the Avail 2200. Designed primarily for backcountry skiing and ice climbing (at which this bag…

I have a heck of a time with ski pants. Since I put a lot of days in, durability is a huge factor, but since I ski primarily in the backcountry, so are weight, venting, and range of motion. Last year, I went through three…

My ski season usually begins with a week or two of sore thighs and aching knees. At the ripe old age of 31, I can’t recover as quickly as I used to. This season, I’m using Joint & Muscle Cream from Lost Remedy. The CBD-…

Snow gods forgive me For I have lusted After your supple powdery pillows Know that I have parted Your perfect drifts With skis unwaxed And my edges grippeth not For I have failed to file them. Gods lead me not Into total…

mountain sheep graze the cold winter grass high above our indecency

The ancient ritual is unknown to all but a chosen few, the strong, the bold, and the exceedingly brave who tempt fate upon the frozen wastes where death awaits in a final, terrible, dead-frozen grave.  Light-footed they…