Montana Snow Sports

The avalanche danger is high in the mountains of west-central Montana for those venturing into the backcountry on New Year’s Day.
An official avalanche warning expired at midnight Monday, but the danger was expected to remain high.
“This is a tricky snowpack right now,” Steve Karkanen, director of the West Central Montana Avalanche Center, said [...]

Copyright David Marx
“Tight turns,” photographed on Friday at Whitefish Mountain by David Marx. David is a professional ski photographer and digital photography instructor. You can see more of his work at www.davidmarxphotography.com

“Empty slopes,” photographed by Sarah Nielsen at Snowbowl on Friday. Sarah is an artist and photographer. You can see more of her work at [...]

Hey Snow-goers:

An avalanche warning was issued Friday for the mountains of west-central Montana.
The warning area includes the Bitterroot Range from west of Hamilton north to Lookout Pass and the Rattlesnake Mountains, including Sheep Mountain.
The danger is high, meaning natural and human-triggered avalanches are likely.
The warning expired at midnight Friday, but the danger will remain considerable [...]

Well, we must have been pretty nice this year in western Montana because St. Nick has left plenty of presents early in the mountains. This week’s series of storms has most ski areas operating at full tilt. The holiday break has already started for many and resorts are expanding their operation times. Here’s a roundup.

Snowbowl [...]

Copyright David Marx
“Fresh powder at Whitefish Mountain,” photographed
on Saturday by David Marx. David is a professional ski
photographer and digital photography instructor. You can
see more of his work at www.davidmarxphotography.com

The wind was whipping the snow around at the summit of Lookout Pass on Saturday as ski patrol members helped a crew install chairs on the new Northstar lift. After the lift undergoes load testing and insurance and government papers are filed, it will start running around the first of the year, one patrol member [...]

A press release from the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest:

FIVE INCHES OF FRESH SNOW AT CHIEF JOSEPH PASS

WISDOM, MONT., Dec. 14, 2007—Chief Joseph Pass, west of Wisdom,
got five inches of fresh snow this week. There are now 36 inches
of snow at the popular cross-country ski area.
Volunteers from the Bitterroot Cross-Country Ski Club groomed
the ski trails on [...]

While snowshoeing in Yellowstone National Park this last Sunday, I noticed several others recreating at the Slough Creek trail entrance – a cross-country skier, another snowshoer and even a family of four in full powder suits sledding on a hillside with a view of the bison below – but that was not what caught [...]

Whitefish Mountain opened on Saturday and judging from this YouTube video posted on its Web site, skiers and snowboarders were ready to go.

The search for three missing snowboarders near Crystal Mountain in Washington has been called off, the Seattle Times reports.

Great Falls Tribune reporter Erin Madison embarks on a hiking adventure at Showdown Ski Area.

Yellowstone [...]

Trail groomers found two feet of fresh snow at Chief Joseph Pass, west of Wisdom, reports Jack de Golia of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.
There’s now over three feet of snow at the pass, which is a popular cross-country ski area. Tracks were set on the high elevation trails near the warming hut. The pass has [...]