Beyond the Obvious - My Favorite Backcountry Ski Spot Near Bozeman

This story has been floating around for a few years - a tale that runs through my mind on long approaches while backcountry skiing. I decided to get it down in writing and put it "out there." When I have time one day I'll refine it by adding sensory details, more thoughtful reflection, and all of the other writerly details. If only I were retired...

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My favorite place to backcountry ski close to Bozeman is a bit like Eastern Europe; a touch scrappy and rough-around-the-edges, but it rewards those who are willing to go beyond the obvious and explore deeper.

After hearing about this area for a few yews, I first skied it in early 2014. Exploring solo, I slogged along the open meadow to a roadbed I was familiar with from biking. Beyond this, the terrain was unknown.

In this ski spot, like in Eastern Europe, there are signs of those who came before and not all of them are pretty. Above me was a clear-cut hillside scarred with stumps and fallen trees. It could be a perfect ski run if humankind not left its mark.

I headed upward through the trees, some of them marked with jagged blue swaths of paint, a cryptic language left by those who logged the land. Soon, I arrived in a relatively flat, open windswept area where the skin track had been erased by the winds. I was on my own now.

Upward I continued. Route finding was easy and soon, I arrived at a point where I could see the top a few hundred vertical feet above. To the east was an open mellow slope.

I opted for the mellow run since I was by myself. Here, I skied untracked, perfect conditions before it flattened. Through the trees in front of me I noticed a few openings but no tracks, and curiosity got the best of me. I pushed ahead into more unknown territory.

After shuffling through the forest, the area opened revealing a hillside with nicely space trees. I linked a few turns, traversed, a handful more turns, some navigating wind-swept terrain. Lumps of snow-covered stumps waiting to grab the unsuspecting skier littered the run like the land mines that linger in the Bosnian countryside long after the war. 

This mellow area offered an abundance of effortless turns, and I kept arcing my way down until I got to terrain leading into another drainage. I started the slog back to the checkpoint where I transitioned to ski mode and made my run out. 

On the descent, I passed a few walkers and a pair of cross-country skiers but otherwise I hadn’t seen anyone all day. Bitter temperatures kept the snow soft and pristine. How could this be here and I’m just discovering it now, after almost a decade in Bozeman? I was certain I was in love.

But my favorite ski spot is changing just as Eastern Europe is. More people. More crowds. Neither was a huge destination when I first visited but both are becoming more popular each year. 

I have gone back to both Eastern Europe and my favorite ski spot many times. Both continue to delight. I never get bored. I always hope for new discoveries and almost always find them. 

What I once thought of as places of my own I now share with a lot more people. But I still have my spots. I still have places where I feel I’ve lost the crowds.

~

Other backcountry ski adventures

Springtime: http://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2021/06/skiing-sepulcher.html

Tootling: http://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2021/02/nothing-to-strava-about.html

A ski traverse: http://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2016/01/girl-vs-mountain-evening-score.html

Eastern Europe

Wild East: http://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2015/06/reflections-on-wild-east.html

Contemplating Wild Beauty: http://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2015/06/contemplaing-wild-beauty.html