2012 Montana Conditions, Stoke and Whatev Thread

[telefreewasatch]

Montana maggots, retired now and looking to move away from the shit show of Salt Lake.
Spent a bit of off season time in the north country, but none in winter.
Looking for a small town, or near one with a ski area kinda near, touring options, and nordic skiing in the winter.
Hiking in the off season, and gravel biking; don't care so much about mtn. biking.
I hear the Pioneers, Lemhis, Lost River Range, and Bitterroot in Idaho don't get much snow. Would you all agree on that?
Looking for a valley somewhere between the White Clouds / Pioneers in Idaho to the Big Horns in N central Wyoming.
Gonna be road tripping checking this part of the country out; been 40 years since I've visited some of these ranges.
Pretty big zone, eh?
Ideas? Ready...go!
Fortuitous for me that this post is the page topper, no?

[byates1]

Good for you man. I've enjoyed roaming around these parts.

[Bunion 2020]

You could always drop in on Howie at Polson? Or the Alta/Bird compound up near Schweitzer?

Pioneers, Lemhis, Lost River Range, and Bitterroot in Idaho don't get much snow. Would you all agree on that?

Yes with one exception, Ex-Canyons patroller friends are living over near Darby, they report the Bitterroots as great skiing, lots of snow, long approaches.

[Norseman]

....

[byates1]

Lost trail is a great mellow vibe. TFW is a fellow vanner so can hit a bunch of places etc..

Almost everything is overpriced like 2-3x in MT imo.

[anotherVTskibum]

Montana maggots, retired now and looking to move away from the shit show of Salt Lake.
Spent a bit of off season time in the north country, but none in winter.
Looking for a small town, or near one with a ski area kinda near, touring options, and nordic skiing in the winter.
Hiking in the off season, and gravel biking; don't care so much about mtn. biking.
I hear the Pioneers, Lemhis, Lost River Range, and Bitterroot in Idaho don't get much snow. Would you all agree on that?
Looking for a valley somewhere between the White Clouds / Pioneers in Idaho to the Big Horns in N central Wyoming.
Gonna be road tripping checking this part of the country out; been 40 years since I've visited some of these ranges.
Pretty big zone, eh?
Ideas? Ready...go!
Fortuitous for me that this post is the page topper, no?

Red Lodge could fit the bill, if you'd rather have less of a shit show in exchange for less snow. Backcountry options nearby aren't huge in number but, particularly if you're willing to earn your access, the A-B Wilderness isn't small. There's also the option of skiing in Yellowstone, which makes for a long day but is a damn cool experience.

There is a local Nordic center, and they groom one of the multi-use seasonal roads (which tends to hold a little more snow than the actual Nordic center).

Red Lodge Mountain is feast or famine--snow is sometimes incredible, but it can take a while to actually show up. When everything is open, the terrain off the back (Cole Creek chair) is pretty sweet and (unlike the main front side lifts) the chair is quick. It's not that long of a drive to Bridger or Big Sky, though.

If you want ungroomed Nordic skiing, get to higher elevation or drive to Cooke (when the plug is plowed, or via sled when it's not) and you can probably get 8-9 months a year without getting particularly silly. I skied year round with turns on the pass, but I'll admit that later July through September were usually on the silly side.

Town does get busy in the summer time, but it's a different scale than SLC. The two big event weekends (rodeo and Harley gathering) aside, it's not crazy. Bighorns aren't that far away, and the Winds are about a one-day drive, but there's also plenty to explore in the Beartooths.

Billings is about an hour away and has a pretty decent spread of medical care.

The big downsides in my mind are:
a. way less snow than Big Sky or Bridger
b. groomer options are pretty limited and get boring in a low snow year (especially since the snowmaking isn't exactly huge and will take a while to get to full coverage)
c. like most of the Rockies, water is limited and fires are a thing. Red Lodge doesn't seem to have water issues yet, but the long-term trend with more people and less water seems likely to become an issue eventually. Outside of city limits, it's more of an issue (not unusually so for the area, but water rights matter if you want to buy property)
d. not a lot of employer variety
e. also like most mountain towns, real estate has gone way up in the past five years

[homemadesalsa]

Speaking of Red Lodge, we got weathered out from Line Plateau today. Anyone want to give (or sell) us a shuttle tomorrow?

Pic of the Beartooth Rec loop(thanks @hick )for full credit.

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[SUPERIOR]

Hello Telefree, I too have scoured the West looking for little gems of towns, and I’m here to tell you that you must seek them out. There’s nothing that gives me greater pleasure than cruising rural Montana and Idaho (dare I say Washington?) and finding “secret” ski towns. Good luck!


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[BFD]

Montana maggots, retired now and looking to move away from the shit show of Salt Lake.
Spent a bit of off season time in the north country, but none in winter.
Looking for a small town, or near one with a ski area kinda near, touring options, and nordic skiing in the winter.
Hiking in the off season, and gravel biking; don't care so much about mtn. biking.
I hear the Pioneers, Lemhis, Lost River Range, and Bitterroot in Idaho don't get much snow. Would you all agree on that?
Looking for a valley somewhere between the White Clouds / Pioneers in Idaho to the Big Horns in N central Wyoming.
Gonna be road tripping checking this part of the country out; been 40 years since I've visited some of these ranges.
Pretty big zone, eh?
Ideas? Ready...go!
Fortuitous for me that this post is the page topper, no?

if I wasn't retired and living in the San Luis Valley I would probably be in Montana.

[swimmy]

For all the shit that Bozeman gets, there is no other place I'd rather be (I live just outside of city limits.)

If you dig the mtn lifestyle, there is no better base camp in the country.

[byates1]

^ certainly valid. Beautiful place. And vanning just outside of town is peaceful free and beautiful.

Fkin hot though, pretty sure I'm going to be literally on the Pacific coast june-sept next year.

[toast2266]

The issue in Montana isn't finding snow, it's getting to the snow. Lots of valleys with cool little towns, nice mountains, decent snow in the winter, etc. But getting to that snow usually involves a fair amount of screwing around with a snowmobile or a long approach. If you're good with that, you have a lot of options. If you're looking for more efficient / quick access, that cuts down your search by quite a bit.

[romeo tango]

dare I say Washington?

the best skiing in Washington
is in Idaho ....

.

[swimmy]

Fkin hot though, pretty sure I'm going to be literally on the Pacific coast june-sept next year.

You could do worse. I lived in Western WA for 5 years and the summers are bomb.

But I love June in SW Montana. One of, if not my favorite months.

And while the heat/smoke get annoying, July/August is alpine-hiking season. That is something my wife and I enjoy doing together.

Of course living in a van down in the valley is a different game. I assume you have no a/c which would make life uncomfortable.

[byates1]

It's pretty easy to control w shade, and I basically leave town from 1-8 everyday, it's 10-15 deg cooler in he shade at bbowl. Still, 65 deg high w an ocean breeze all summer is going to be hard to beat .

[SUPERIOR]

the best skiing in Washington
is in Idaho ....

.

Or in Canada


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[Norseman]

the best skiing in Washington
is in Idaho ....

Or in Canada

fake news

[swimmy]

This rain feels great.

[byates1]

Totally. Just drove into town from the bridgers the lightning was/is insane.

[gaijin]

Take a hard look surrounding Bozeman. In my college years we skied every weekend on those long approaches with tents in the Crazies, Bitterroots, Beartooths, Sawtooths, often being jealous when we would get passed by snowmobiles. Big Sky and Bridger both shred. Easy access to Jackson, Targhee, and the pass. Easy access to Idaho. Easy access to Canada. World class fly fishing. World class hunting, and pheasants one state east.

Prices really seem to have gone up, though. The secret is out. I'd still consider moving back.

What's the housing:lifestyle situation in north western MT?

[Trackhead]

Congratulations on leaving the Wasatch, I guess? I left 11 years ago but still miss the consistent snow and access despite the crowds. I wish I hadn’t sold my house in Broburbia 1 mile from LCC, I think?

Leaving Utah is hard, you’re also effectively leaving the desert. Now it takes us two days to get to Moab or St. George, also a bummer.

I like rural affordable Montana but the access is shit in comparison to Utah and the snow kinda sucks unless you like continental, shallow, buried weak layers.

I guess at my age all of that is balanced out by rural lifestyle, quiet mountains. But you’re definitely giving something up leaving Utah.

[SUPERIOR]

Gaijin -

There does seem to be a stall or lag in the price gouging that’s happening in Bozeman these days.

Rents are potentially lowering and the rental supply is up.

House purchasing is still largely unaffordable in Bozeman, unless you’re selling a home for a million somewhere else, and buying something for $800K here.

Livingston and Butte are still lower priced possibilities. I’d live in Livingston hands down over Bozeman.

The obvious difference between Bozeman and other smaller cities in Montnana is that Bozeman is actively trying to attract wealth, while many other small towns are trying to repel it.

[toast2266]

the snow kinda sucks unless you like continental, shallow, buried weak layers.

To be fair, the snowpack sucks less the further west you go. The bitterroot / whitefish snowpack is nothing like the Bozeman snowpack.

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[Bunion 2020]

@ Superior, all very true points. They are throwing up crappy apartments all over the valley in the name of affordability. Buddy of mine just had his rent for a 1 bdrm go from $1400.00 a month to $ 1600.00 with a guaranteed increase in January to $2K.

Bozeman is on track to be the next Boulder and I don't see SFH prices ever going back to normal.

Leaving Utah is hard, you’re also effectively leaving the desert. Now it takes us two days to get to Moab or St. George, also a bummer.

Yup

[Foggy_Goggles]

Good luck TWF! That sounds like a goal worth pursuing. That said, it is the ultimate "TGR/Powmag Fourms on Repeat".

The place I live with tons of snow and cool mountains is too busy, I'm ready for a change. Where are the places with snow and cool mountains but without the shit I don't like at the busy place.

The struggle is real. Having skiing be a big part of choosing where to live exacts a pretty high price. Having a nice rural life near a small ski area (or no ski area but snow) sounds nice. For me the A+ skiing experience has been relegated to a handful of day and the local place (when the starts align to keep to crowds down), vacations to amazing places (some on my IKON) and touring.