This year we were blessed once again to be able to take a ski trip out west to Big Sky, Montana. The trip consisted of five couples; Pat and Beth Cleary, Derek and Karlene Griggs, Gerald and Sara Undem, Mark and Christine Anderson, and Heather and myself.
We drove out in two cars, grouped together were the Griggs and Undems in one car and the Cleary's and Oppels in the other car. Mark and Christine flew out from Chicago two days later. We left on Sunday, Dec. 28th at about 5 pm. We drove to Jamestown that evening and stayed in a Super 8 that Sara had got a special price on due to a call in deal for the Summer 2008 Olympics where Super 8 was giving away rooms for $8.88!
Monday, Dec. 29th
We got up early the next day and drove the rest of the way to Bozeman, all told about 15 hours of driving from Minneapolis, where we bought groceries before driving up to our rented house in the meadows at Big Sky. We got there around 8 pm and did some unpacking before we ran to a liquor store to stock up. We had coney's for dinner and all went to bed pretty early so we were fresh for the morning powder.
Tuesday, Dec. 30th
We started out skiing the greens on Andesite Mountain which was actually a little tough due to a crust on top of the powder. I think most of us managed to fall at least once on our first run. Things got better as the day went along and the snow softened up. We only took a break for a packed lunch. For the afternoon we split up. Heather, Pat, and I skied the bowl on Lone Mountain a number of times. That was basically the end of skiing day one.
We all went back and enjoyed a well earned hot tub and sauna. We went out to dinner at our favorite pizza and wings joint called Milkies. Delicious as always!
Group picture from Milkies.
The girls being goofy, hey wait a second...that was my bed!
Mark and Christine arrived that evening after dealing with some delays back in Chicago. We had a few drinks and rearranged the rooms to make way for an air mattress that Mark and Christine were using to sleep on. After falling asleep for about 10 minutes we were awoken to hear a loud hiss of air as the air mattress burst from a hole caused by a warm baseboard. Oops! We rearranged again so that only one person had to sleep on the floor that night.
Wednesday, Dec. 31st
New Years Eve we were up early again and got out on the mountain at rope drop. We skied until lunch before taking an hour break. We all skied the bowl a number of times before Heather, Pat and I decided it would be a good day to take the tram up to the peak and then ski down the double black Liberty Bowl. Strangely the lines weren't very long and we got up there in no time. We stepped out of the tram area and quickly realized why there was no line. The peak had a consistent 50 to 60 mph wind consisting of blowing ice chips! It felt like we were being sand blasted! Heather had all she could do to keep from blowing right off the top. We quickly decided to take the tram back down instead of skiing. After aborting that trip the three of us joined up with Mark and the rest called it a day. We skied down some interesting runs we hadn't experienced before and finished around the normal mountain close of 4 pm.
Once back to the house we took a hot tub and started prepping for a steak and shrimp feast. The steaks consisted of beef and caribou. The caribou steaks were provided by Pat from a hunting trip he did a few months earlier up in Canada. The dinner turned out excellent! We finished the night drinking and playing games. Most all made it to midnight, minus Heather of course who took a little nap!
Thursday, Jan. 1st
New Years day started out a little slow for most folks. Mark and I got out pretty early and decided to go skiing again. We went immediately to the bowl and skied it a bunch of times which was probably the best skiing he and I had during the entire 4 days of skiing because the powder was deep and no one was out there. They must have all been sleeping it off! We skied most of the day. While we were doing that, Derek, Karlene, Pat, Beth, Heather, and Christine went to the wildlife center at Yellowstone. Gerald and Sara stayed around the mountain doing some shopping and checking out some of the local establishments.
Pics of wildlife. We also saw moose, elk, deer, antelope, buffalo, rabbits, hawks, and a couple of golden eagles.
We got back and did the normal hot tub to loosen up the stiff muscles. We all had some drinks, played some games and generally relaxed. Uncle Donald's spaghetti was the menu for the night, Heather did a great job and all enjoyed the meal. We went to bed reasonably early that night so we could enjoy the last day of skiing.
Friday, Jan. 2nd
We were all up early the next day and got out to the mountain at 9 am. Lone Mountain was closed due to slide potential so everyone was skiing Andesite Mountain. We ended up skiing the entire morning on Andesite since the swift current lift up Lone Mountain didn't open up until the afternoon. I had one hiccup around 11am while going down a black diamond mogul run with Pat and Mark. I was carrying a bit of speed and tried to stop my momentum at the base of a mogul when my ski slipped on some ice. As my knee flexed I felt an all too familiar pop with a shooting pain up my leg. I knew right away that I tore a ligament in my knee. I managed to ski the rest of the way down to the lift putting my weight on my good knee while being protected from other skiers by Pat and Mark. When we got to the bottom of the run Heather and Beth were waiting for us. Heather unknowing made an all too accurate statement of "that run must have hurt a bit". We rode up the lift again since the chalet was at the base of the other mountain and the only way to get there was to ride up and ski down to it. My plan was to ski down the next run on one leg but I changed my tune when realizing I would have to skate ski a bit to get to the main medical area. So instead I stopped at a small medical area at the top of Andesite and checked in with the ski patrol. I was hoping that I could get a ride down on a snowmobile, however, due to liability reasons they had to follow procedure and immobilize me on an emergency sled. I was so embarrassed and of course I think someone got a photo! Fortunately, I don't have a copy of it so it isn't going to be posted here!
That ended Heather's and my day of skiing. The good news is that it happened on the last day instead of the first. I have since found out that it was a torn ACL which I will be having surgery for on Feb. 5th. This is the second time I have torn the ACL in that knee. Yuck.
Everyone was back to the house by about 5 pm. We had happy hour, game time, and a dinner of Mexican fiesta to round out the evening. We got to bed early that night as well since we had to get up the next morning early in order to pack and get on the road.
Saturday, Jan. 3rd
The next morning went smoothly with time to take some group photos before getting on the road at 9 am. Mark and Christine spent one more night in Bozeman before flying out Sunday morning. The rest of us drove most of the day getting back to Jamestown around 9 pm. A quick dinner and then night number two at the Super 8.
Group photo before we headed home. L to R - Derek, Karlene, Gerald, Sara, Christian, Heather, Christine, Mark, Beth, and Pat.
Sunday, Jan. 4th
We got up early the next morning and drove the final leg into Minneapolis arriving about noon.
All had a great trip and hope to do it again next year. I think it is a testament to friendship when 10 people can be in close quarters for a week with no issues! Big Sky 2009/2010 here we come. Only 12 more months of counting down!
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