(Stats from our day and more photos are here:: https://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2018/01/skiing-m-stats.html)2017-2018 marks my 13th winter in Bozman, but
only the second time I’ve skied the M. Lack of snow at its low elevation and frequent
winds make good conditions on the M trail a rare treat. My first attempt was a socked-in,
wind-effected mess, and I have always wanted to hit it in good conditions.
~
The morning of our departure, I wake up in eager
anticipation, but the storm left a mere skiff of snow in town. Car windshields
are half covered so the little snow we did received has been scoured by the
wind. It’s freezing cold, only two degrees. Rob calls and we put ski plans on
hold and decide to meet up for breakfast to see what the weather does. Before
we hang out, the wind kicks in and it starts dumping snow.
After breakfast we are delighted to see the quick squall deposited
2-3” of snow. Patchy blue skies fill the landscape and it’s warmed considerably
but not enough to turn the snow to mush. We decide to go for it.
Rob and I arrive at the trailhead to find only four cars in
the parking lot. The sun has stayed out, it’s warmed up to about 20 degrees,
and there is little wind. We start our ascent at 12:30 hoping the weather holds.
As Rob and I follow the trail to the M, we discover a nubbin
and wind blown micro-gully about 300 feet above our skin track. We lap it twice
and could stay here all day. The M doesn’t look as well covered as this feature,
perhaps a bit wind effected, but we came to ski the M and we’re not going to
miss it.
After easy skinning along the summer trail, we take a short
cut through the trees following an animal track. Sun shines through the forest
and tree branches heave with files of fresh show. We pop out of the trees and
follow the switchbacks to the bottom of the M. Here we arrive at the bench, a
common summer stopping point, but coverage is excellent so press ahead.
It’s tempting to keep skinning as the conditions get better
and better. But there are also more trees and few open shots to ski. Rob and I
we find a log about 260 feet above the M where we have a snack, drink water,
and take in the views of the valley. We look for familiar landmarks in town and
see the mountains that make up our backyard. Our houses are down there somewhere
and it’s pretty sweet to be skiing right above town.
We begin our descent with a few turns in the trees hitting a
log or two, but nothing too bad. We try to keep the M gully in sight as we
don’t want to get too far to one side and miss the goods. Soon, Rob and I are
back at the bench and the consistently pitched run awaits.
Rather than launch the log that marks the edge of the summer
trail, we head to skiers’ right. Our first bunch of turns produces a potluck
stew of soft snow along with intermittent logs, rocks, and wind-effected snow.
It’s not too bad, but we don’t want to let our guard down. Rob heads to the
right as I watch and then I choose a line more to the left. We both find
conditions to be just okay, but we’re only about half way down.
A series of beautiful turns is followed by some junky ones. At
this point we’ve skied about over 1,000 feet and we’re almost back at the car
so we skin up one final time to the top of the nubbin as it is always good to
end on a positive note.
It’s 3 pm and getting cooler. The short days of late
December have the sun going down and turning the sky an inky indigo. We ski the
still perfect gully this time making more turns below our skin track. A barbed
wire fence marks private land and make a few more turns beside it. After a
small bit of sidestepping and bush-whacking, we duck under a tree and pop out
in a small opening. As Rob and I shuffle along we come to two payoffs offering a
handful of turns on each. I whack one rock but otherwise it’s a smooth cruising
right to the car.
The parking lot is only half-full with two snowboarders
starting the trudge to the top. As Rob and I take skis off, we chat with folks
who look at us big-eye and make comments backcountry skiers all heard when they
ski in an unsuspecting spot. “Did you really ski it?” “Was it hard?” “All that effort
for 30 seconds of turns.”
Actually, it was more than 30 seconds of turns as we spent
almost three hours out. But we don’t reveal that piece of information. It
sounds a bit boastful. And maybe bit obsessive. This ordinary summer trail has
just gotten a whole lot more interesting.
~
More stories about backcountry skiing: https://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/search/label/Backcountry%20skiing
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