I have completed posts for the season. To see how I spend the warmer months visit the ChoteauCam at
Ear Mountain Photography.

Montana Ski Report
Updated March 30, 2009.

Left: Photo by Jennifer Gruber at the 2009 American Birkebeiner race in Hayward, Wisconsin..

The weather forecast for Sunday was iffy. Rain, wet snow and poor visibility was expected. Nevertheless April, Jen, Ron and I decided to explore part of the big Fool Creek burn north of the Teton Pass Ski Area.

This ski is different than most the we do because we start up high and ski downhill first. We then have to retrace our route and climb back uphill to the starting point.

The past several days had been quite warm but Saturday night was cold. This then formed a firm and icy crust on the snow which made for some quick downhill running. The day began to warm and the sun came out so the snow softened and the skiing improved.

The area north of the Teton Pass Ski Area was burned in 2007 by the Fool Creek fire. The scenery was still quite interesting. Dead burned trees stood everywhere but we still got good views of the surrounding terrain. Our ski began way up on the hills in the background of the photo above.

Jen and Ron at the North Fork Teton Cabin.

Down along the North Fork of the Teton River there is a cabin maintained by the Forest Service. It is available for rent but we stopped there only for lunch. It was warm and toasty in the sunshine.

Clouds began to roll in so we decided to head back up the hill. We got a little snow shower but soon the sun began to peak through the clouds again.

The ski back up is fairly flat until we passed the West Fork of the Teton (above left). After that it was mostly uphill.

And getting back to the round snow formations, the above photo might help interpret how they form. On warm days when the snow is wet and soft some snow or rocks will fall off a steep slope and begin rolling down the hill. More and more snow collects just like when we build a snow man. Eventually the roll gets so big it falls over like the one at the beginning of this post.

Flattop Mountain
Posted March 18, 2009

The sky was clear Friday morning and the rising sun lit up the mountains as I headed to Marias Pass for a ski/snowshoe trip to the summit of Flattop Mountain.

The Rocky Mountain Front near my home north of Choteau.

I arrived at Marias Pass on the south edge of Glacier National Park before the plows got to the parking area. Fearing that drifting snow would block the entrance while I was gone I left my pickup on the side of US 2 at the pass.

It was in the 20s and there was several inches of new powder. This made for an easy uphill ski to the end of the Pike Creek Road. A few snowmobilers had done some "grooming" as well. Up high, near the end of the road, the wind and warm temperatures of previous days had put a pretty good crust on the snow. I decided to snowshoe instead of ski up the remaining few hundred feet to the summit.

The snowshoes worked well keeping me near the top of the snow where there was powder and provided good grip on the icy sections. Before long I was approaching the summit.

On top the wind had been scoured the snow into fascinating patterns. Looking around there were pretty good views into Glacier National Park as well.