Montana - Bridger Bowl and Big Sky

After getting our fill of fun in Wyoming, we headed north to Bozeman, Montana.  Our first two ski days in Montana were a little... character building.  On our first day, rain was predicted in the afternoon.  We could ski for free at Bridger Bowl from our Stevens Pass passes so... why not?  I try to ski in the rain at least once a year to stay tough.  Shannon is not so amused by this philosophy.

When you think about it, it's just liquid snow.

As our road trip approached the Pacific NorthWest, the snow pack began to decline dramatically. Things were pretty grim at Bridger:

Do ya think it goes?

Still we had a great day and saw the potential for Bridger.  It's a very open, mellow ski area ideal for powder days.

The next day we went to Big Sky and had a fun day just cruising around getting familiar with the resort.  Big Sky is huge and definitely had better coverage than Bridger probably due to elevation.  It was overcast and nothing really special, but we had a fun day ripping around.

We waited out a weather day and finally, finally, the rain turned to snow.  We woke up to 4" of new snow at Bridger.  Glorious!  The new snow went a really long way to improving the coverage and the resort was deserted so we had a great full day of charging around in mellow powder.  The snow was pretty heavy which really made the 4" count.  Surprisingly, Shannon proclaimed a love for schmoo (wet, heavy snow) over Rocky Mountain blower.   PNW representing.

Zoooooom

The views opened up too...

Towards the end of the day, Shannon would get a little over-ambitious while we were scouting some fresh snow and charged ahead of me only to face-plant two turns in.  With a banged up elbow, she would go on the mend for a few days... a bummer of a way to end a great pow day, but we focused on the fantastic morning.

I spent our last day in Montana back at Big Sky.  They received the same fresh snow a few days before and the sun came out to play.

I skied off the top of Lone Peak enjoying a great run down the Lenin  Chute (one of the well lit ramps on the left side of the peak in the photo below).

Shannon and I met up for lunch and she scheduled a very well earned pedicure in the afternoon so I skied until the closing bell guilt free.

We finished our time in Montana with Shannon's first trip to Outback Steakhouse.  Sure, it's a chain, but I re-discovered my love for the restaurant as well.  Bloomin' Onion?  I do believe so yes.

The next day on our way out of Bozeman, we visited the Museum of the Rockies which has a pretty interesting dinosaur exhibit (lots of triceratops types in this area apparently) and a cool planetarium where we saw a film on black holes.

And then it was time to make the journey back to Seattle!