Big Sky, Montana
It is February 11th, and Wade and I are in Big Sky, Montana for a wilderness medicine conference.
I knew nothing about Big Sky before we got here, other than it's a ski town and, as such, stupidly expensive. We're here with Wade's sister Samantha and her husband Ray, as well as Wade's sister Laurel and her boyfriend Mike. Wade and I arrived in Bozeman late the night of the 8th. The airport is tiny, and our flight was the only flight arriving that night it seemed. The crowd milling around the baggage carousels was an odd mixture of the Aspen ski crowd, hippies, snow boarders and cowboys.
I've never been to Montana. Having just seen Brokeback Mountain last week, I was really looking forward to seeing a bit of the "real" Montana, before heading to the ski resort. I enjoy skiing, but there's something about it that seems sickly artificial. My main outdoor passions are backpacking (especially orienteering), and expedition kayaking. So it seems almost sacrilegious to be sailing over the treetops of a beautiful mountain in a mechanical chair. Strange, too to fly by on two sticks, never taking the time to take a breath and look around. Then there's the people. I see two types of people skiing. Those who love it, and those who like to be seen. Many more of the latter, it seems.
Montana is a Red state. I guess I knew that – and even though the people are very friendly, there are signs. Literally. Like the giant “Choose Life” billboard. And the Church of Christ signs everywhere. It’s a bit scary.
We stayed one night just outside of Bozeman near the airport at a scary Super8 that just happened to have such amenities as free wireless. Interesting. After doing some shopping at the Bozeman Target, Wade and I headed out to Big Sky. The drive was a bit scary – it was snowy for about half – but blessedly short. We were skiing by just after noon on Thursday.
I have never been so cold in my life as I was Thursday afternoon. It was in the teens, cloudy and WINDY.
The resort town is smaller than others. There are no high-rises except the short one we’re staying in. There's not a big "village" or town. It's just skiing. The one-bedroom condo we're staying in is high-end, but old. It's been updated, but the age of the appliances gives it away. The whole resort has the same good-but-old feeling. From the buildings to the ski lifts.
Thursday night the four of us stayed up until 2 a.m., despite being so tired we were almost incoherent. Wade was up and working at 7 a.m., and the rest of us slowly followed him up, bleary eyed, but still on East Coast time. We met Samantha and Ray on the hill and skied with them for the rest of the day. Laurel joined us for a couple of runs, while Mike took a snowboard lesson.
I haven't skied that much, so I don't have a lot to compare it with, but so far I am really enjoying the skiing here at Big Sky. I am recovering from a broken ankle, and the doctor told me no bumps and no blacks. Groomed greens and blues only. There are many wide, beautiful, groomed blue runs here, and the snow is kind of heavy. There aren't many people either, so by the end of the day, the groomed runs are still nice.
Yesterday we accidentally ended up on a very bumpy black run, which I handled pretty well. I just traversed very slowly, and sort of skidded my way down. I would have liked to actually ski it, but the doctor was pretty darned clear about his instructions. No bumps, no deep powder, no blacks.
Samantha and Ray both commented on our skiing skills. They both seemed really surprised about how much we have improved. Of course, they both look like pros. That just makes the complement really mean something.
It was still cold yesterday, but we were better prepared. I wore an extra fleece, and put hand warmers in my gloves (thanks Mom!).
Last night we stopped by the pub in the hotel and saw an act called Two Crazy Austrians. It was, in fact, two crazy Austrian brothers playing mostly Polkas and some Waltzes on a squeeze box and a guitar. It was actually a blast. And quite strange. We were by far the youngest people in the place. Our waitress told us she is in school for massage, and she is coming by tonight to practice on us! She is behind in her practice hours. What luck for us!
The conference starts tonight. What conference? The wilderness medicine conference we're actually here for. The sessions I plan on attending tonight includes "101 Uses for Duct Tape and Safety Pins."
Right now, Wade and Ray are off skiing together, and I'm waiting for the girls to get ready, so we can head out and rip it up!
I knew nothing about Big Sky before we got here, other than it's a ski town and, as such, stupidly expensive. We're here with Wade's sister Samantha and her husband Ray, as well as Wade's sister Laurel and her boyfriend Mike. Wade and I arrived in Bozeman late the night of the 8th. The airport is tiny, and our flight was the only flight arriving that night it seemed. The crowd milling around the baggage carousels was an odd mixture of the Aspen ski crowd, hippies, snow boarders and cowboys.
I've never been to Montana. Having just seen Brokeback Mountain last week, I was really looking forward to seeing a bit of the "real" Montana, before heading to the ski resort. I enjoy skiing, but there's something about it that seems sickly artificial. My main outdoor passions are backpacking (especially orienteering), and expedition kayaking. So it seems almost sacrilegious to be sailing over the treetops of a beautiful mountain in a mechanical chair. Strange, too to fly by on two sticks, never taking the time to take a breath and look around. Then there's the people. I see two types of people skiing. Those who love it, and those who like to be seen. Many more of the latter, it seems.
Montana is a Red state. I guess I knew that – and even though the people are very friendly, there are signs. Literally. Like the giant “Choose Life” billboard. And the Church of Christ signs everywhere. It’s a bit scary.
We stayed one night just outside of Bozeman near the airport at a scary Super8 that just happened to have such amenities as free wireless. Interesting. After doing some shopping at the Bozeman Target, Wade and I headed out to Big Sky. The drive was a bit scary – it was snowy for about half – but blessedly short. We were skiing by just after noon on Thursday.
I have never been so cold in my life as I was Thursday afternoon. It was in the teens, cloudy and WINDY.
The resort town is smaller than others. There are no high-rises except the short one we’re staying in. There's not a big "village" or town. It's just skiing. The one-bedroom condo we're staying in is high-end, but old. It's been updated, but the age of the appliances gives it away. The whole resort has the same good-but-old feeling. From the buildings to the ski lifts.
Thursday night the four of us stayed up until 2 a.m., despite being so tired we were almost incoherent. Wade was up and working at 7 a.m., and the rest of us slowly followed him up, bleary eyed, but still on East Coast time. We met Samantha and Ray on the hill and skied with them for the rest of the day. Laurel joined us for a couple of runs, while Mike took a snowboard lesson.
I haven't skied that much, so I don't have a lot to compare it with, but so far I am really enjoying the skiing here at Big Sky. I am recovering from a broken ankle, and the doctor told me no bumps and no blacks. Groomed greens and blues only. There are many wide, beautiful, groomed blue runs here, and the snow is kind of heavy. There aren't many people either, so by the end of the day, the groomed runs are still nice.
Yesterday we accidentally ended up on a very bumpy black run, which I handled pretty well. I just traversed very slowly, and sort of skidded my way down. I would have liked to actually ski it, but the doctor was pretty darned clear about his instructions. No bumps, no deep powder, no blacks.
Samantha and Ray both commented on our skiing skills. They both seemed really surprised about how much we have improved. Of course, they both look like pros. That just makes the complement really mean something.
It was still cold yesterday, but we were better prepared. I wore an extra fleece, and put hand warmers in my gloves (thanks Mom!).
Last night we stopped by the pub in the hotel and saw an act called Two Crazy Austrians. It was, in fact, two crazy Austrian brothers playing mostly Polkas and some Waltzes on a squeeze box and a guitar. It was actually a blast. And quite strange. We were by far the youngest people in the place. Our waitress told us she is in school for massage, and she is coming by tonight to practice on us! She is behind in her practice hours. What luck for us!
The conference starts tonight. What conference? The wilderness medicine conference we're actually here for. The sessions I plan on attending tonight includes "101 Uses for Duct Tape and Safety Pins."
Right now, Wade and Ray are off skiing together, and I'm waiting for the girls to get ready, so we can head out and rip it up!
posted by Ingrid at 6:17 PM
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