Trevor's Birthday

Yesterday was Dec. 19. A few years ago in 1985, this date was a particularly memorable day. Out popped a big bouncing baby boy, with a shock of blond hair, and within minutes he was playing chess, kicking a soccer ball, serving aces and dealing Texas hold 'em.

OK, I exaggerate the speed of time, but it doesn't seem THAT long ago. What a way to celebrate a birthday...first ski day of the season. Temps in the teens, 3" of new fluff covering packed powder on a mountain that was still awakening to the swoosh of skiers on its flanks.

We managed to ski Swifty, Challenger, Lone Peak Triple, Ramcharger, and Thunderwolf (the colorful names of the Chairs here at Big Sky) on our first day, sampling a good section of the mountain. The cover is a bit thin in the glades, as might be expected in early season, but on the upper mountain, the cover is pretty good! And the snow quality is excellent. They're making snow like gangbusters in certain spots. The forecast has mother nature contributing her fair share daily over the next 2 wks of our stay.

Today, predicted highs on the mountain were somewhere around zero, so we opted to spend the day in Big Sky and make an expedition to Bozeman this afternoon.

A balmy 4 deg. C at the condo, I decided to venture out for a skate-skiing adventure. Here I am, taking off in style (I fell after posing for this shot).


Here I am really taking off, with our beloved Gallatin Mtn range behind. I lasted all of 5 minutes until I decided I definitely needed a facemask. The wind chill made it feel more like 10 to 20 below zero. Not wanting to risk frostbite, I dashed back to the condo to toss my still-moist facemask from yesterday into the dryer. I write this as I wait for it to dry, and then I'm back out there. Cheerio for now!