Girl vs. Mountain: Girl 0, Mountain 1

Came and saw but did not conquer

I bet you’re wondering why I'm writing on a Saturday afternoon. If you live in Bozeman, all you have to do is look out your window and you’ll know the answer. It’s 45+ degrees outside with grey skies and it has been drizzling rain on and off all day. My plan was to ski tour from the Chestnut Mountain trailhead to the Goose Creek trailhead. While I have skied Goose Creek often, I have never approached it from the opposite end. It seemed like a good objective, and I was keen on skiing something new.

Skiing Near Big Horn Peak in Yellowstone

Quite, Beautiful, Windy

Making It to the Top & More Random Thoughts About Snow & Skiing

Our Valley So Sweet, as seen from the Little Ellis area

Today I took a look at the stats for my blog, which revealed that this post out performed the "Where Tito Once Roamed" post from 2013. While I think the Tito post is much more interesting, I am not surprised that my Types of Snow post moved into the top position. It is winter, after all, so it is little wonder it is showing up on web searches and people are checking it out with great enthusiasm.

Musical Inspiration for 2015

The new year is upon us so I wanted to post this year's holiday card.

When Harry & Sally Met Seinfeld for Dinner

That was us minus the groovy clothing

Over the weekend, Mike and I hosted a sub-section of Bozeman’s A-List for a dinner party. I always love entertaining in my home, especially when I find the motivation to serve a real meal. Potluck gatherings and bring-your-own BBQs, which are extremely popular in Bozeman, tend to get old so assembling this group for a sit-down meal was a refreshing change of pace. Call me old-fashion, but there is something really nice about sitting around the table to share a meal.

Thoughts on Gymnastics Part Two: Reading & Viewing Primer

I wanted to follow up my review of Chalked Up with links to a few books, videos and thoughts about gymnastics.

Readings on Gymnastics: Chalked Up Book Review

Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, & Elusive Olympic Dreams An memoir by Jennifer Sey

(Wow. Book reviews are harder than I had imagined. The second book review in the series proposed in my previous post is below.)

I first read this book when it came out and reread it on a boring November afternoon this past off-season. Competitive gymnastics was a huge part of my life for years and played an important role in shaping who I am today. While I no longer follow the sport closely, I do enjoy reading about it and watching it during the Olympics.

Off-Season Survival Plan - Read More Books, Part One

Winter has been slow to come to Southwest Montana and right now it feels like we're entering the sixth week of November. Ugh! Mike and have gotten  to do some backcountry skiing over the past two weekends but it is just a survival tactic at this point. Really more tootling than actual worthwhile ski touring but much better that walking up The M in mud and ice.

I am thankful for the extra time to take care of some neglected home projects and catch up on reading.  Below is the first of what I hope will be a series of book reviews.

A Recipe for the Thankful Season

Wow! November came and went. Between four work holidays, a long weekend in San Francisco and two sick days (A first for me. Ugh!), the month just flew by. Thanksgiving is always such a great holiday and proved to be the perfect way to close out November in style. Between laying low to recover from being stick to socializing to skiing it was a memorable long holiday weekend.

Summertime Done, Come and Gone, My Oh My!

(Post title courtesy of the Grateful Dead, U.S. Blues)

Ross Peak, Northern Bridgers

Finally! It is starting to feel like winter in Bozeman. Each year I hope to make my first ski turns in October but that didn't happen this year. October came and went. While early November brought some unusually cold weather and snow, the month passed with little additional snow and unusually warm weather. November is often the worst month of the year with hit or miss ski conditions and increasingly muddy and icy trails that make hiking and biking no fun.

Thoughts on Dumping Your Bucket List

Where will this path take you?

With all of my enthusiasm for travel and outdoor adventure, you’d think I’d have a bucket list lined up and ready to tackle. In reality, I’m not a big fan of the concept. If someone asks me what's on my bucket list I respond, "Everything." Who doesn't want to see and do it all in a lifetime?