Beautiful Skies

Here is a sunset shot from the other night. This is a great time of year. There is enough moisture in the air causing great evening photo opportunities and great lapse rate for flying.

Balsa Root(?) on Mount Sentinel

Here is another video from my flight with Jeff yesterday.

Enjoying Time on Mount Sentinel

Been flying a lot lately from Mount Sentinel and enjoying the great sunsets. It is awesome to have such a great place at the edge of town. Here is a half ass video I put together from flying Sentinel recently. My patience and speed of my computer don't match well so this is all I could handle.

Big Sky Montana

Wednesday I found myself driving to Big Sky Montana with my buddy Justin to try and climb Beehive Peak. We strategically parked the car and bivied between a bar and a breakfast joint. Yes, this comes from years of experience. We passed out from all the beer and delightfully woke up with coffee and breakfast sandwiches literally only 30 feet from us.

Beehive Peak

The drive to the trail head is simple; through neighborhoods filled with some of the most expensive property the state has to offer. After gawking at a few homes (some had chair lifts directly to them) we were at the trail head.

The approach is easy. A few miles with very little elevation gain. Once we got to the basin, weather started moving in an we decided it would be best just to ski rather than climb. Luckily we approached in our ski boots and packed the climbing boots making this option possible. As we approached the peak, we could see that the routes weren't even in condition, but found the snow to be great. Justin and I boot-packed up a coulior to the left of the peak and found skiing down it to be great. We had so much fun with the turns that we decided to lap it once again.

Coulior we skied

The ski out took us an hour and we were at the car by 3:00. Rather than spend another night in Big Sky, we headed for Missoula where we could enjoy a more lively night life.

Skiing and Skating

Weather here has been crappy for the last few days, but there is always something to do. Despite horrible looking conditions, Dave and I headed to Snowbowl yesterday to make some turns. The ski hill is closed, but they let people skin up in the off season while snow is still around. We got to the summit after 2 hours of approaching and found much better than expected conditions. The recent storms had left about 8 inches of new powder. Dave and I skied two different bowls before skiing at the resort back to the car for a total of around 5,000 feet. Not too bad for leisurely afternoon.

Dave

Today the weather has been great so far. Nick and I went to the skate park for a morning session. Skating has been fun, but we're still just easing our way back into the summer season. This afternoon's forecast isn't looking too good for flying so I'll probably head to the Bitterroots to climb in the sun. Maybe some pics from that later.

Nick

Myself in the cradle

Summer is Approaching

The weather is becoming great around here; warmer temps, blue skies, and beautiful sunsets. Its an awesome time of year where just about every recreational activity I can think of is an option. Temps are warm enough to begin summer activities yet there is still snow in the high county to ski on. Just can't beat living in the mountains.

In the LZ

Setting up at launch

Last week Jeff and I ventured to Tarkio in hopes of finding dry enough rodes to make it to launch. After a few tries we made it and found a nice dry launch site. Conditions appeared to be great; a slight west wind with nice cycles moving through launch. After a quick set up I was standing on launch. A few powerful steps and I was in the air for the first time this year. Everything came back to me and it felt great to be in the air again. Conditions turned out to be more difficult than expected so after 15 minutes I headed to the landing zone. The wind direction was blowing 90 degrees cross from what we saw earlier and with barely enough altitude, I squeaked in a nice approach and landed. Moments later Jeff landed rather than fly around by himself for an hour.

Beth

Eric spotting me

The temps have been wonderful for rock climbing also. Not so warm as to get all sweaty but not so cool than your fingers get cold. I've put in a few days at the local crag and am pretty motivated to try and climb some routes. Its just a matter of staying motivated which can be a difficult thing when my head is in the clouds. Just have to wait and see.

Levi

Eric

Knolle's Party

Last weekend about 10 of us went skiing for Patrick's bachelor party. We headed into the East side of the Mission Mountains for four days and brought enough gear to be more than comfortable. The weather was stormy so visibility was poor and skiing options limited, but we all had a blast. Clint summed it up was he said, " I just can't stop smiling." It was great to spend time with friends I see often and those who I seldom see. Hopefully we can all do it again sometime.

Base camp

Randy

Some of the posse

Jeff and Kris

Patrick

Kris

Poor Patrick

More Skiing

Wednesday brought beautify weather which stuck around for Thursday and with nothing better to do, I went skiing. A posse of us went out Wednesday and tracked up the mountain. The turns were so good and conditions so stable that I had to head back the next day for seconds.

It was nice to group up the first day, but there is something special about being in the mountains all alone. Its quite intimidating, but the silence and scenery are breath taking. The first turn is a lot like a trust fall...

Bob skinning up the ridge

The South bowl once we finished with it

The group on the summit

Karl cresting the summit