2PM 11/26 Update: didnt take long to determine that the snow was too thin and too light to really be worth packing. The wait for more snow continues....
Just in time for the holidays, winter appears to be coming back. There are chances of snow throughout the week and while the 2" last night was a little surprising (I was expecting a dusting), we'll take it! For now, we will only be packing Sunset Hills. Expect it to be rough skiing as the purpose of packing right now is to start building a foundation for the snow coming later this week. As we start to see more snow, we will work on getting Bridger Creek and Highland Glen going as well. They both need a little more snow on the ground to get started; Highland is very bumpy and at Bridger Creek we need to protect the underlying golf course.
Please wait to ski at the golf course until we start grooming; if the weather develops as forecast, we will be getting out there this week. Remember, Bridger Creek and Highland Glen for that matter, are private property and we need to respect the landowners.
We are one week away from being able to groom on Forest Service land, stay tuned for updates there. I expect Sourdough will be up first and as always, we will have to put in a day just packing snow and clearing fallen trees before we really start grooming. Hyalite trails will follow later next week, hopefully.
And while Im on the Hyalite note, our friends at Friends of Hyalite (they raise the funds to plow the road) and the Bozeman Ice Festival are putting on a ski movie on December 13th:
Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison present the Dream Line, Skiing the Lhotse Couloir
Friday, Dec 13 7 pm
Emerson Theatre, Bozeman
$15 - get your tickets: https://events.ticketprinting.com/event/Friday-Speakers-Hilaree-Nelson-And-Jim-Morrison-35956?fbclid=IwAR0_vpxD3CeQdHDrrT51ex4UAKS_xxrK5jg2lv6MDjDaz0E8vgiXRNoL0sA
National Geographic 2018 Adventurer of the Year and North Face team captain Hilaree Nelson and North Face athlete Jim Morrison teamed up to attempt a ski descent of Lhotse, the 4th highest mountain in the world. The Lhotse Couloir is a 60+ degree, 1500 foot line off of the summit that spills into the Lhotse face. The combination of high altitude, fickle snow conditions, and incredibly steep terrain has turned back multiple expeditions and is part of the reason it is referred to as the dream line. Hilaree Nelson first climbed the line in 2012 when it wasn't in condition to be skied and had been working ever since to get back. Over the past two years Jim and Hilaree have teamed up to climb and ski difficult lines around the world all in preparation for a fall 2018 attempt at this mountain.
Extra motivation: This is part of the Bozeman Ice Festival, proceeds from which benefit Friends of Hyalite. Enjoy a great evening AND know that you’re supporting the plowing of Hyalite—so you can ski and we can get our grooming equipment up there.
