Montana Snow Sports

By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
KALISPELL – Avalanche danger is extremely high throughout western Montana and could remain elevated throughout the winter, as the worst of the instability is buried deep in the snowpack.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that is the reality,” said Steve Karkanen of the West Central Montana [...]

Wax your skis and dust off your snorkels, Nordic skiers – Chief Joseph Pass is open for business.

Around 16 inches of new snow fell last week, giving cross-country skiers 34 inches of snow and 24 kilometers of ski trails. Trail groomers set the tracks on Dec. 27, and described snow conditions and skiing as “excellent.”

The cross-country trail system is open free [...]

Avalanches killed 36 people last year in the United States, most of them backcountry recreationists. Advice on how to play safe in the winter is available in most Western mountain communities. For a link to your local avalanche center, drop by http://avalanche.org. For a virtual tour of avalanche terrain, check out [...]

Montana Snowbowl’s Andy Morris surveys a snowmaker for proper operation at the Missoula area on Sunday evening. With favorable sub-zero temperatures, Morris can channel nearly 4,300 gallons of water through each machine every hour. Recent natural snowfall has greatly helped Montana Snowbowl–they plan to reopen for full operation on Thursday, December 18th.

Record low temperatures and blizzard conditions in northwest Montana should make for an eventful weekend, so if you go out and play, send your condition reports and frostbite photos to tscott@missoulian.com.

Seriously, though, wind chills by Sunday morning will be in the 20-below range throughout western Montana, so bundle up.

National Weather Service forecasters say the Missoula and Bitterroot valleys can [...]

By Will Moss
Ravalli Republic
Is it possible to alter the weather using the raw power of the mind?
Skeptics say no, but local powder hounds might want to test that hypothesis this weekend by willing a much-hyped winter storm a little further south towards Lost Trail Powder Mountain.
According to Peter Felsch, a Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the [...]

Forecasters in Jackson Hole, Wyo., had this to say about the hopes and expectations of our friends and neighbors:

http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=3983

The Missoulian’s Arthur Mouratidis put together a helpful slideshow on nordic ski waxing, featuring Dan Dahlberg over at Open Road. Here’s the link: http://www.orbicycleandnordic.com/publish_to_web/index.html/publish_to_web/index.html

The Lolo and Clearwater National Forests will restrict traffic on sections of four snowmobile trails in the Lolo Creek area this winter to separate log haul truck traffic and recreational snowmobile traffic.
The trails are on Forest Service roads that Plum Creek Timber currently is using for winter logging operations on their privately owned land, which [...]

Discovery will open this Saturday and Sunday after 18 inches of snow fell at the summit this week.
“We got some snow this week, and even though it’s still early-season conditions, we wanted to get things running,” said Ciche Pitcher, resort director.
Pitcher said 35 percent of the mountain (two of six chairlifts) will open this weekend [...]