Sunday - February 16th - Lost Trail Powder Mountain - 5 inches new snow

On Sunday, it was time for more Lost Trail. James now accompanied Weston and I, while Chris decided that a day off wouldn't hurt while he waited for his luggage to be delivered. Derek had contacted me and said that he'd be heading up to the mountain with Yvette, so hopefully we could run into them as well. The next storm was on its way, and although the clouds were coming in, no precipitation had started yet. The forecast included a winter storm warning for the Bitterroots with 6-12 inches of snow lasting into Monday, and fortunately Northwest Montana (i.e. Big Mountain) had its own winter storm warning with the same amounts. This bode well for our Monday excursion to Whitefish and Big Mountain the next day.

As usual, the addition of James to our lineup meant that our chances of spotting wildlife had just skyrocketed. Not only is he good at spotting animals from years of hunting and just generally roaming around through the woods, he brings extra luck that just seems to make the animals come around. He spotted some elk up on a hillside near Sula, but the real magic was realized when we came across a flock of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep right on the highway. There were probably 20-30 ewes, all watched by one big ram and a couple of subordinates. Not surprisingly, it was my biggest sighting of sheep in the area. James shot some video and got some stills, and I'm pretty sure Weston was happy to see some wildlife during his trip.

If you'd like to look at a map of Lost Trail Powder Mountain and follow along while you read the report, click the icon below to open a high resolution image in a new window.

Last year, none of the guys on the trip got to ride chair 4, or even chair 3 for that matter, so I was eager to get James over to Saddle Mountain as quickly as possible. We followed the usual route via Main Street. We could immediately see that with no new snow and more wind, many surfaces from the previous day had become windpacked. Fortunately, the wind sheltered areas offered up some powder turns as we worked our way to the bottom of Chair 4.

We headed down the Ripper for our first run, and unlike the previous day where the surface alternated between wind-packed snow and powder, the powder had been blown away and just the packed snow remained. Weston commented that it was actually easier to ski because the surface was more consistent, but once we got down into the trees below The Ripper, it was a different story. In the trees, possibly due to less wind, the surface was generally breakable wind crust. This stuff was incredibly difficult to ski, since you varied between cruising on top and busting through to the powder below. A few moments after we had entered the trees, we heard a shout from the lift and spotted Derek. As soon as he unloaded, he rushed down to join us. We all continued to poke through the woods, finding some powdery sections where the wind hadn't penetrated, but finding mostly firm snow that had been blasted.

Although we appeared to be wandering aimlessly in a maze of unexplored, tree-filled terrain, Weston and I did in fact have a plan. We were searching for entrances to some of the steep open terrain that lay to the skier's left of Hollywood Bowl and Brophy Point. Just like Hollywood Bowl itself, this terrain faces south, and can be beaten pretty hard by the sun and wind. However, there are a lot of beautiful steep open snowfields and tight slots between rocky crags that looked to be worth the trip. It's some of the most promising terrain on the mountain, but it was still a fairly large black hole in our mental maps of the ski area. On the other hand, since Chair 4 has only been open for a few short weeks, many lines were likely unknown to anyone and we would be pioneering some fun stuff. Eventually during our poking around, I realized that we were moving pretty slowly and decided to give Derek a radio so he could catch up with Yvette while staying in touch with us. Yvette was testing a demo pair of Rossi Double Xs, and it seemed like Derek should spend some time with her as she checked them out. We bid Derek adieu as he headed back to the bottom of Chair 4, and then we continued on into the unknown. Although we didn't find any really good snow, we did eventually stumble onto some of the open areas we had been seeking. With a bit of crusty snow they weren't primed for ripping, but our recon had gained us valuable information that we'd be able to use when the snow got better. If we only knew the kind of skiing we'd be doing the following weekend, we probably would have been up at night in anticipation.

At some point in the middle of the morning, it began to snow. It wasn't just a simple showery type snow either, it really started to DUMP! It had a few fits of starts and stops, but by the end of the day the snow surface would be transformed into beautiful powder. For now however, let's get back to the adventures of the morning.

I decided we'd done enough exploring; it was time to get James some real powder. It would hardly be a day at Lost Trail Powder Mountain without the powder. With the way the wind and sun had acted, I suspected that some of the very best snow on the mountain would be on the north side of the Bear Claw Ridge. The Ridge itself had been closed the previous day, and even if it didn't open today, I could get the guys to good terrain that would be out of the danger zone. We worked our way over to the ridge again, and I was about to bring the guys on the south side of the ridge again when Weston had a great idea. Instead of going on the south side of the ridge to stay out of the roped area, he suggested the NORTH side. I hadn't really tried this with the ridge roped off, but it worked great. Within just a minute or so of traversing, we were in deep powder that had been left alone by the elements. Finding the best snow of the day thus far, we shot a bunch of good video, all the while giving everyone the deep light powder they'd been looking for.

We'd nailed some great turns, and now it was time to refuel with a bit of lunch. Heading back to the lodge would also give us a chance to meet up with Derek and Yvette. From Chair 4, I decided we could head back to the lodge by Oreo, but I had a bit of an idea on how to get us some potentially great steep and deep turns. At the big sharp left switchback of Oreo, going straight should bring one into an interesting area of terrain. It's an area of about a hundred yards in width, just below the ridgeline, that is devoid of trees and very steep. I'm not sure what natural events have prevented the growth of trees (perhaps the steepness?) but for about a hundred vertical feet the trees are gone, and a long continuous field of powder is available. I'd been in the lower reaches of this area before on a previous scouting trip, but in the absence of Chair 4 this terrain was never accessible without a hike. It was only an idea, but as we continued on straight into the woods at the Oreo switchback, it became a reality. We traversed a little ways, and found ourselves atop a segment of the big powder area. Weston, James, and I were standing atop a sweet looking snowfield angled at around 35 degrees, and it had probably not been touched all season. We knew it was going to make for some great turns, and some great video. The snow was raging down from the sky, and it was actually tough to set up the headcam in the tempest, but finally I got the lens to an acceptable level of cleanliness. James and Weston hit the snow first and the powder flew everywhere. James finished his run with a classic hip splat into a powder pocket he'd seen below the trees. It was hard to see exactly what had happened due to the slope and snowfall, but judging by Weston's shouts, James had gotten pretty deep. Finally, it was my turn. James scouted for me, and I chose a path on the right side of the area that would provide a jump off an old jumbled mass of logs. The cameras were rolling, and I headed down. The snow was deep and light, and flying all over the place as I headed down the steep incline. By the time I landed off the log, all I could see was white. The snow was so deep that it brought me to a dead stop after my jump. I reassembled myself, and finished the run down to the others. In a few short minutes we were back at the lodge talking with the others about our new stash, and eating a well-deserved lunch.

Outside, it continued to dump. If Derek and Yvette had considered leaving after lunch, I think the snow convinced them otherwise. We all decided that Chair 4 was in order, and the snow was so intense during our trip up on the lift, that another 2 inches must have accumulated in just that amount of time. It was after 3:00 P.M., and we knew that this would be our last run on Chair 4. The great thing about the lift closing down was that everybody, and I mean everybody, had left the Chair 4 area for other parts of the mountain. We had joined up with our friend Jenny, and now the 6 of us had the area to ourselves. The snowfall had put down a rich layer of powder, and the group proceeded to rip up almost two thousand feet of virgin snow along the lift line and the Two Dot trail. Nobody wanted to stop during the run, but there was a strong desire to express the amazement at the conditions with the group. Even Yvette, who is normally quite reserved in her enthusiasm for skiing, was starting to get very loud. She was experiencing the float of the Double Xs, and the freedom of hundreds of acres of powder shared with a few friends. It was one of the most memorable runs of the season, not because it was the deepest snow, but because it was one of those unexpected sessions that comes out of nowhere. You can't really plan these sorts of things, and when they happen you realize how special they are. We were all in the right place at the right time, and the feeling was sweetened all the more by the fact that we knew it was our last run of the day on Chair 4.

There was no way we were going to top our last run on Chair 4, but we did decide to take advantage of our remaining time with one more run on the main mountain. We hit the steeps of Outlaw, and although it was good, even the steep slope couldn't match the groove we'd just had on simple blue slopes. That evening, we headed out to Nap's, our famous local burger place, and prepared for our trip to Big Mountain the next day. Based on the way the storm was coming in to Lost Trail, we were hoping that we'd get even more of the same on Big Mountain's 3000 acres the following day.