A Late Spring Ski Tour in America's First National Park

Over most Memorial Day weekends, you can find me skiing on Beartooth Pass (BTP). Between the abundance of road side skiing, challenging terrain, the camaraderie among skiers, and the chance to take an early season drive through Yellowstone National Park, it is always a great weekend. Mike and I headed down there this past weekend and took Lukas along for the adventure. While we did ski BTP, an unexpected, temporary closure of the pass on our drive over allowed us to explore the ski possibilities near Dunraven Pass in the park.

Early Mornings & NPR - They Just Go Together

While I'm not much of a morning person, I can rally for an early morning wake up if there is a compelling reason - a 6 a.m. flight, early starts for spring skiing, etc. To get the chance to see a live broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition ranks highly on the list of compelling reasons to leap out of bed before sunrise, and on Friday, the alarm want off at 4 a.m. for just that.

Luck & Powder on the Sphinx - 4.16.16

Sometimes a day in the backcountry comes together just as you want it to. When the outing is a ski tour in late spring that includes a long approach and it  works out perfectly, you are incredibly lucky. Mike and I must have had some good karma coming our way as our trip to ski the Sphinx couldn't have been better.

Update: I was able to rework this story into a piece for Ascent Backcountry Show Journal. Click to read "Solving the Riddle of the Sphinx."

Skiing with the Brits - Step Two, Teach Them the Lingo

Once again, I was surrounded by Brits on my most recent ski tour. in the Alps. As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the delights of traveling and ski touring abroad is the opportunity to pick up new words and lingo. My three European ski tours have taught me a lot of British lingo and as a member of guided trips, I am able to share American mountain town lingo with the group. Other than one American guide leading a trip, I've been the only American on all of the tours I have completed so it becomes my responsibility to serves as an ambassador for American mountain town culture.

A Typical Day on A European Hut Tour

Grand Combin as seen from Rhêmes Notre Dame

Note: This entry is copied from the journal I kept during the trip.

First Impressions of Chamonix

So this is Chamonix I thought as I stared out my hotel room window at the tall and jagged mountains outside. Wow! Huge, rocky, icy, rugged, dramatic. So many superlatives and that was only one side of the valley. It was a "So this is Yale" moment for sure.

From the Front Porch to Center Stage: Robert Earl Keen & Lyle Lovett in Concert

Note: This is a work in progress! Concert reviews are harder than I thought! I have more thoughts, which I may jot down some day. The show was a few weeks ago so I want to get this review posted before more time goes by.

Marcy 18, 2016, Wilma Theatre

Gran Paradiso Hut Tour, La Dolce Vita

At Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele

If there is such a thing as paradise for backcountry skiers, I am pretty certain I found it in Italy’s Gran Paradiso National Park.

Missoula Road Trip: Montana's Urban Paradise

To me, Missoula has long ranked as one of Montana's most dynamic and lively towns.  I have always felt it has a certain je ne sais quoi making it feel like a much more urban place than Bozeman. While it is bigger (69K people compared to Bozeman's 41K), I don't think the population difference is enough to give it a more urban feel then Bozeman yet it certainly has one. I got to experience the vibrancy and urban-ness of Missoula once again as Mike and I made a quick trip there this past weekend.

Discoving a New Author: Liane Moriarty

While I read regularly, sometimes I am at a loss for what to pick up next. I'm not very good about keeping a running list of books to check out so often I scramble to find  my next read. I love it when I enjoy a book by a new author and discover that he/she has written several more. This is always a great moment as I know I won't be short on reading material for a while. Thus is my recent experience with the work of Liane Moriarty.

Skiing with the Brits - Step One, Know the Lingo

As I prepare for my third European ski tour, I am reminded that although Americans and the British both speak English, the two groups use different language when talking about skiing and gear.

(Part two of this series is here: https://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2016/04/skiing-with-brits-step-two-teach-them.html)