Montana
March 29 - April 2, 2007
» big sky
Our drive from Billings to Big Sky started in a snowstorm and we passed several cars who had slid off the road. After about an hour we came to the edge of the storm, it was like a solid canopy of gray clouds had been pulled over the area we were driving through and it abrubtly ended in the distance. The sun was setting so the sliver of clear skies ahead was a reddish orange and the mountain ranges on either side of the road formed jagged purple silhouettes. Normally it's about a 3 hour drive but I think it took us almost 4 hours due to the snow.
Our first day of skiing was mostly clear, most areas had crusty snow or ice but there were a few spots, hidden from the sun, that still had decent powder. On the second day they officially had 6" of fresh powder by morning and it snowed most of the day so there was about 12" of powder in the area I was skiing (off the Challenger Lift).
On the drive back to Billings there were stormy gray clouds all around which mostly obscured the mountains, just the rolling contoured and mostly treeless hills were visible.
Our drive from Billings to Big Sky started in a snowstorm and we passed several cars who had slid off the road. After about an hour we came to the edge of the storm, it was like a solid canopy of gray clouds had been pulled over the area we were driving through and it abrubtly ended in the distance. The sun was setting so the sliver of clear skies ahead was a reddish orange and the mountain ranges on either side of the road formed jagged purple silhouettes. Normally it's about a 3 hour drive but I think it took us almost 4 hours due to the snow.
Our first day of skiing was mostly clear, most areas had crusty snow or ice but there were a few spots, hidden from the sun, that still had decent powder. On the second day they officially had 6" of fresh powder by morning and it snowed most of the day so there was about 12" of powder in the area I was skiing (off the Challenger Lift).
On the drive back to Billings there were stormy gray clouds all around which mostly obscured the mountains, just the rolling contoured and mostly treeless hills were visible.
A cliff in front of the Spanish Peaks.
The view northwest from near the top of the Challenger lift. The contrast between these huge snowy peaks and the green valley below was pretty dramatic in person.
Lone Peak.
Moonlight ski area (also on Lone Mountain, next to Big Sky).
A steep slope in front of the Spanish Peaks.
Fan mountain and some other mountains ~30 miles in the distance.
A-Z chutes.
Lone Peak.
Spanish Peaks.
A rocky ridge in the Spanish Peaks.
A skier making his/her way to the South Wall.
Lone Peak.
Top of the Challenger Lift.
Clouds above the Spanish Peaks.
Fan Mountain.
Bare trees.
Fan Mountain from the top of Lone Peak.
Looking down on the A-Z chutes from the top.
Tram cables.
Cornice.
Village.
Lone Peak.
Tracks in the powder.
Andesite Mountain.
Mountains in the distance, to the northwest.
Fan Mountain.
» red lodge
Red Lodge is about an hour from Billings and we were lucky to have about one foot of fresh powder.
Red Lodge is about an hour from Billings and we were lucky to have about one foot of fresh powder.
A sliver of blue sky, between the high clouds and low clouds over the plateau, reveals the Crazy Mountain range in the distance.
Land wave.
Snow blasted trees up top.
Skiing into a cloud.
Luke and Al ripping up the slopes.
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Copyright 1995-2007 Lars Jensen | randomspace@umich.edu |