Winter 2019-20

That’s the scandalous question. There is nothing like a long Montana summer. The air smells sweet when the combines run, the birdsong fills the morning and evening light, and the rivers are open to wade or float or cast in…

An interview with Joe Josephson. In 2006, Joe Josephson was an avid ice climber, pioneering routes in Hyalite Canyon. By 2018, he was tackling some of the most complex land-management issues facing southwest Montana. How…

What goes into the daily GNFAC forecasts. If you’re a backcountry traveler, every morning, all winter long, a life-saving tip arrives in your email inbox. You open it, review its contents, take note of its particulars,…

The ascent of cross-country skiing. Push, glide, kick. Push, glide, kick. Repeat. At its roots, cross-country skiing is as simple as that, a discipline born of function, a mode of transportation more than a concoction of…

E-skiing gains traction. Have you always wanted to backcountry ski, but been turned off by the amount of backcountry skiing that it requires? A new Bozeman-based electric-ski company may change all of that. You’ve probably…

Cooking a better burger. Few things are more satisfying after a long, cold day in the mountains than a juicy hamburger. Whether you’re using local Montana beef or meat you bagged yourself, it’s the perfect way to replenish…

Climbing tips & tricks. Once the domain of hardened alpinists, ice climbing has come a long way in its evolution and now virtually anyone (thanks largely to modern equipment and Gallatin County snowplows) can enjoy a…

And avoiding other winter hazards. For outdoor enthusiasts and their pets, Montana winters are magical. However, they’re also filled with hazards, especially as temperatures drop. Frostbite is a common problem, and one we…

A first date to forget. So there I was, leading the second pitch, the crux pitch, of Guinness Gully. Normally grade 4 but today in grade 6+ condition. There was a thin veneer of ice spit over the rock. More frost than ice…

Tips to enhance your Nordic season. Bozeman is a world-class Nordic skiing community. Trust me—after four years on the road with the U.S. Ski Team, I am looking forward to a winter playing in the snow around this town. If…

The joys of a long, mellow ski tour. Not long ago, I did what many Bozeman backcountry skiers do—I focused on challenging tours with steep slopes and demanding terrain. My days centered on elapsed time, vertical feet, and…

Tips for winter stoke. Are you new to town? Welcome to Bozeman! We have a long and storied ski culture, and while you may hail from Colorado or Utah or upstate New York, we do things a little differently here. Here are…

Winter's best-laid plans. Big horsepower, high speed, deep powder, and the ability to go virtually anywhere on the landscape: what’s not to love about snowmobiling? A far cry from the toy sleds of yesteryear, today’s…

Flat-light photo tips.  Outdoor photography in the flat light of winter can make a vertical world look, well, flat. Here in southwest Montana, we don’t see a great deal of sunshine during the winter months, but we can’t…

Classes & Courses around the Bozone. Some of us dream about days of endless turns in deep fluffy powder, effortlessly gliding down a steep backcountry slope while the winter sun glitters on the fresh snow. But that’s…

Kelsey Dzintars uses art to connect. Beauty abounds across the American West, but for local artist Kelsey Dzintars, nowhere is more a muse than southwest Montana. From the river valleys to the high peaks, local landscapes…

Making the White Christmas Martini. One of the many great benefits to living in southwest Montana is that we are almost certainly guaranteed a white Christmas (and often a white Thanksgiving, and even a white Halloween).…

Luck and patience combine in the winter woods.  The snow was deep, requiring snowshoes. The task ahead was not easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. Having hiked in under the cover of darkness, I was well concealed and…

December dust whips, piling in drifts, particulate tornadoes, burning my eyes. colder under cyan skies— I caught the blues, snowblind and frozen,clearing the driveway. more bitter than usual in the spinning chaos today.  I…

Tips & tricks for winter fishing. One reason Bozeman is such an amazing trout town is that the surrounding waters offer great fishing 12 months out of the year. On mild winter days, predictable fishing and nonexistent…

The knowledge we have is outdated. The experience we have, underrated. Our stamina, such as it is, goes ignored. Our desire to keep up, underscored. The young replace the old. An unkind process: but direct, obvious, and…

Winter biking around the Bozone.  Come winter, most people prefer two skis to two wheels, but avid cyclists aren’t “most people.” If they can’t push miles no matter the weather, they aren’t themselves. Luckily, the Bozeman…

Living with collective ski passes. In my decades at Big Sky, we did what we had to do to get a season pass. Forget a career, you just needed a job that provided the pass. It was a lifestyle of low-paying gigs you could…

Finding powder at the Mt. Zimmer Yurt. When my buddy Lewis asked me to join a hut trip at the Mt. Zimmer Yurt in the Beartooth Mountains, I did some quick calculations.  Would I have to skip some classes? Only one.…

Finding one’s place at the Yellowstone Rendezvous. “You should do the Rendezvous with me,” your sweetie says, before heading up Sourdough for a training run. “I don’t wear spandex,” you retort, as if that settles the…

Wild-game dog food. One of the most exciting parts of the hunt is not the hunt at all, but processing the animal you’ve worked so hard to harvest into usable pieces for the whole family to enjoy. Sadly, hunters seldom use…

Sacajawea Park’s winter waterfowl. With orange landing gear stretched forward and webbed feet spread apart, dozens of Canada geese, mallards, and wood ducks made their descent. Wings moved into a silent glide position as…

When the going gets tough, Montanans go skiing. Long before these days of “high-tech” fabrics and heated boots, there were rickety wooden skis, soaking-wet wool, and badass Montanans still itching to ski the steep and deep…

The American Legion’s Fatality Marker program. Après: it’s hard to picture skiing without it. For some, it’s the best part of the day, while for others it’s a social obligation, a custom, more habit than anything. While…

In winter, there's nothing worse. As the saying goes, “Preparedness is close to godliness,” or something like that. Who can be sure—we aren’t great with quotes. Or any words, really. Regardless, when it comes to outdoor…

Easing your kids into alpine skiing. It’s easy to embrace the love of skiing once you’ve mastered a few skills, but parents often face challenges when introducing kids to the sport. Here are five tips to help you out.…

Staying safe on the slopes. This year’s early snows got the powder hounds barking in collective anticipation, and a buzz of excitement spread through town for the season ahead. Now that winter’s here for good, it’s time to…

Exercises for injury prevention. Winter sports take us to the ice, the slopes, and the snowy backcountry for continued recreation. Pond hockey, skiing, backcountry hiking, running, and navigating icy parking lots require…

Destiny, faith, self & skis.   Some questions, by their very nature, tear at the fabric of what we think we know. They cause us to turn inward, to examine who we are and who we want to be. They lay bare our faults;…

Upgrade your skis—and your skiing—with this high-performance package. Whether it’s a daily workout, an upcoming race, or just an occasional foray into the winter woods, good ski gear makes all the difference. Last year,…

Whether you’re travelling across glacial crevasses or kicking ice in Hyalite Canyon, the La Sportiva Nepal Cube GTX is the lightweight mountaineering boot that will rise to the challenge. It features an insulating insole…

Made from 100% recycled material (60% cotton, 40% polyester) that has a great feel against the skin, the Mason Shirt Jacket by Toad & Co. is officially one of the best pieces in my winter wardrobe. The fit is great, the…

For as long as most climbers can remember, if you wanted crampons for multiple purposes, you bought several pairs—and dropped loads of cash on them. Petzl changes that with the Dart's interchangeable front points. Depending…

Whether it’s post-supper wood-chopping or heeding the call of nature at 3am, frigid high-alpine air can take all the fun out of a Forest Service cabin. Keep the cold at bay with a Selk’bag Lite 6G, a mobile, weather-…

Orvis’s Pro LT Hunting Pullover is a versatile hunting jacket, providing great protection from wind, rain, snow, and chilly mornings. The three-quarter zipper makes it easy to pull on, plus provides some temperature…

Our winters are cold and snowy—protect yourself with a pair of Alpha Range boots from LaCrosse. These muck-style boots boast 5mm of neoprene insulation and 14 inches of leg coverage, keeping all but the coldest weather and…

Storm skiing requires durability, function, and comfort, and Dakine’s Gearheart delivers all three. Three-layer Gore-Tex and taped seams keep you dry; wrist gaiters and hand-warmer pockets keep you warm; and a powder skirt…

In the sea of flannel, it’s hard to differentiate one shirt from another. Why not choose one that’s trying to make a difference? Orvis’s Flat Creek Tech Flannel is partially recycled oyster shells and plastic bottles. Yet,…

After last February’s record-low temps, it was clear I needed a warmer winter coat. Enter Patagonia’s Macro Puff. Synthetic insulation provides all the warmth I need to combat the coldest days, and a durable water-repellent…

To stay safe in the backcountry, you need a lot of gear. While it used to be that you dumped everything in a backpacking pack and called it good, Gregory’s Targhee 32 is proof that design has come a long way. The Targhee…

Salomon’s T STH2 WTR 13 binding has a low profile that keeps you close to the snow, ensuring more efficient power transmission edge to edge, and giving you a better feel for changing conditions when things are variable.…

Smith’s new 4D MAG goggles are a step forward for on-slope vision. They offer an advertised 25% more peripheral vision, and while I can’t verify that number scientifically, I do know that I can now see the tab of my chest…

Re-Review: The stuff we once loved and still do. Like everyone, we love our gear, and we love telling readers about items we’ve enjoyed. Problem is, we only have a few weeks—if we’re lucky, a couple months—to test the gear…

Winter gear & apparel from the Gallatin Valley. It could be argued that no season defines Bozeman better than winter. After all, what’s more iconic than the Ridge at Bridger, Big Sky’s Tram, or ice climbing in Hyalite…

Editors Traute Parrie and Jesse Logan brilliantly compile over 30 essays written by local authors and professionals in Voices of Yellowstone’s Capstone: A Narrative Atlas of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness (Absaroka-…

In a world obsessed with “technology,” societies are moving farther and farther away from the nature world. In his book The Eight Master Lessons of Nature (Penguin Random House, $27), Gary Ferguson reminds us that nature is…

Get ready to explore Glacier Country like you never have before with two men considered to be the “heroes of their era.” Derived from first-hand journals and historical photos and documents, First Rangers (Farcountry Press…

It’s time to saddle up for a ride unlike any other. Lady Long Rider (Farcountry Press, $16) follows the incredible journey of Bernice Ende, a long-distance horseback rider with well over 29,000 miles under her belt. Having…