JACKSON HOLE

It snowed again today its great to have this much snow but it is better if comes in overnight.
We skied the mountain at Teton village today and it is a real challenge certainly somewhere you would'nt bring a new skier on the whole mountain there is less than 10% beginner runs most of the terrain is advanced and I have never been anywhere in America or Canada where they have double blues( a blue being equal to red in europe) never the less a good place the only drawback is that Jackson town is a 16 mile drive , I did not realise this at the time I was organising where to stay if I had known I would probably have ended up with something at the bottom of the slopes and missed the uniqueness of Jackson I am glad I did'nt know.
Jackson is a fascinating place it would make any english council planning department wake up in a cold sweat, its as if someone took all the properties pieces on a monopoly board shook them up then threw them down and where ever they landed a property was built to suit the piece, hotels next to breweries, houses stations shops pubs car parks town hall restaurants all thrown together combine that with every building being different it makes for a an interesting perspective and somehow it works. At first I thought this is awful but now having walked round and had a good look its not awful its just not what i'm used to and thats strange coming from someone who was brought up in London where practically every building is different. Unfortunately my camera seized up today as a result of the cold so I can't show any pictures maybe tomorrow.
We ate this evening in The Wort Hotels silver dollar bar which is legendary locally and has a history nearly as old as Jackson itself, the place was packed with people wearing stetsons, cowboy boots, bootlace ties, Roy Rogers shirts and full beards ( only a few of the women had beards). We had'nt realised until the band struck up that Friday night is music night we were treated to an extravaganza of country & western from Tammy Wynette to Kenny Rogers and back again culminating with dueling banjo's the Whooping and Yeehaaaing really got going at that point to, a degree that I could'nt resist the odd whoop and yeeehaa myself. All in all we had a great evening and I just can't wait for the line dancing tomorrow!!!!!!!!. My brother in law would have loved it.

BIG SKY TO JACKSON HOLE

Big Sky is in Montana and Jackson Hole Wyoming although both states have common border the quickest way for us to get there was to go via Yellowstone park and Idaho we were hoping to go to Yellowstone but it was closed due to the snow although highway 191 passes through it, and that in itself gives you some idea of the whole magnificence of the place. Given America has a population of circa 260 million whats suprising is that in the entire state of Montana the population is only 900,000 which would explain that apart from the towns we saw no more than 30 cars the entire way maybe the weather had something to do with it the roads were real skating rinks especially going over the Teton Pass.

My first impression of Jackson Hole is that if you don't wear a cowboy hat and have a beard and moustache that you could stuff a mattress with, your underdressed, it seems every American takes on the persona of the old west the moment they arrive we've heard plenty of whooping already, I'll be interested to see how they cope with the sandwich fillings given the amount of facial hair there is about.

Just before we arrive in Jackson I fueled the car it took on a tad over 16 gallons ( approx 72 litres) for $48.35 ( about £25.00 ) makes you sick does'nt it.

Well we are off out now to get fitted up with our 10 gallon hats or in Angus's case a 7 gallon we've also booked for whooping lessons so eeyaaa later.


CROSSING INTO IDAHO

YOURS TRULY DRIGGS IDAHO

MOONLIGHT BASIN & BIG SKY FINAL DAY

We finally made it to Moonlight Basin a nice place some good runs but it is north facing no sun and today was really sunny so we only stayed a couple of hours before we made our way back to Big Sky.

The weather was so good we decided to go up to the peak. the only way to get up there is via The Lone Peak Tram in Europe we would call it a cable car. The ride up is spectacular almost vertical for the last 100 metres the views from the top are breath taking well worth standing in the only queue we have seen this week unfortunately the photos don't give you the full impact however they give you the idea of scale.( getting down was the hard bit)

We skied our final run at Big Sky this afternoon and I have got to say this is a really great resort and I am glad to say it has lived up to all its publicity,and has some of the most challenging terrain I have seen, so this one will go down as good choice.

The nice thing about having a car is that packing becomes less important so we should be off sharp. Tomorrow we are hoping to stop off at Yellowstone Park but I am not sure because of the weather any way we'll see.

So this is the end of my mutterings on Big Sky thanks for a great experience B S.

LONE PEAK TRAM FROM THE BOTTOM

LONE PEAK TRAM FROM TOP

ANGUS ON THE EDGE

VEIW FROM PEAK TOWARDS TETONS

FINAL SHOT OF LONE PEAK

BIG SKY DAY 2

Guess what it snowed all day today, the skiing has been superb its been warmer about -8c much better than minus 17c yesterday we decided against going to Moonlight Basin as the snow was bad on the mountain roads we will probably go tomorrow.

Its been a great day one of the wonderful things about skiing is the amount of different people you meet. Today whilst having a hot chocolate we met a chap from Sydney who is a pharmacist and owns a whole chain of discount pharmacies around Australia he is the same age as me and it turns out he is doing much as I am he's still got 23 days to go and is off to Colorado tomorrow. We had a good chat Cricket he boasted, Rugby I boasted, Football we both looked at one another enough said, now any time I'm in Sydney I've got somewhere to stay. Amazing I've only known the bloke half an hour and we exchanged our details ( not a bad bunch the Aussies).

Later riding a lift we met an old couple from Oregon who asked what we were up, to when told they could'nt stop telling us what we should see and where to go in the places we are off to, did you know that in Jackson Hole at this time of the year there are 1000s of migrating Elks (one for you Mike).

Tonight we popped out for something light to eat I decided on a pulled pork sandwich(what ever pulled pork is) with all the fillings anyway after taking the first bite I was wiping the mayonaisse off my left ear lobe and I noticed the chap opposite cleaning cranberry sauce off his glasses, eyebrows and wifes jumper this got us all laughing they were from Florida and after chatting for about half an hour we now have somewhere to stay the next time we are in Florida.

The one thing I always forget about when you live at altitude there are a few side affects sleeping is difficult, there's loss of appetite (which in my case is not an all bad thing) and your nose seizes up but the plus side is you must take on plenty off fluid so on that note I'm off to the hydration station COME ON ANGUS!!!!!!.

ANGUS ON A CRUISER

ANGUS ON A STEEP

BIG SKY

We finally skied today and it was great Big Sky is one hell of an area, today was cold but beautifully sunny the locals were telling us that they have not had so much snow over such a short time for many years lucky for us. It seems every where we have been so far people keep saying the last time it was like this was 1963 etc I hope it keeps up. The photo's below show how cold it was but also how beautiful check out the view from the restaurant window.
We ate out last night and I have come to the conclusion that within the next 10 years the Americans will have forgotten how to use a knife and fork. Virtually everything on a menu is designed to be picked up and is generally so big that the moment the first bite is taken 50% of the contents shoots up towards your right ear down the chin and fills the palm of the hand. The only places that offer a proper sit down meal seem to be very expensive, but overall the food is good albeit a bit samey( is this a real word).
The one thing I could'nt beleive is that I can't use my mobile here there is only one mast and my provider and their partners are'nt so I am relying on email and this blog to keep in touch with Lindsay and the girls .Tomorrow we are off to Moonlight Basin hopefully it will be it bit warmer.
Just read Mike's message very interesting can't wait to get to Utah and let loose all those facts in a bar somewhere your right about Janice maybe me and the Goose could get her out for a drink.

SERIOUSLY COLD

LONE MOUNTAIN

EASY GREEN

VIEW FROM MOUNTAIN BAR

CALGARY TO BIG SKY

So this is the final leg from England and you would think to be the quickest and simplest so did I but what I over looked was US customs, immigration, homeland security and finally the weather. The first three were a real pain, forms you really had to start on the last question and fill them in backwards, but they were nothing in comparison with the weather a two hour delay in the flight and when we landed in Bozeman snow up to the gunnels with sixty mile drive in prospect. Fortunatley we had picked a good car to hire and that really got us to Big Sky tonight with no hassle, however it is seriously cold here but the forecast is sun tomorrow.

So now we start to do what we came for ski , Angus and I cant wait now it really gets going.

Its hard to believe that the journey we have just taken took up to four months for those that came here to pioneer the West and that does.nt include their passage from Europe ( stout hearted folk) amazing.

HIGHWAY 199 ROAD TO BIG SKY

BOZEMAN AIRPORT

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Well the big day has arrived after a week of gales rain and plane crashes not that we were nervous of take off and landing, although when we stopped next to the stricken plane at the end of the runway waiting to go, a few things crossed our minds. As can be seen by our photos you can see we were pretty cool about the flight, our 1st stop is Calgary overnight and tomorrow we head down into Montana to Big Sky the weather here in Calgary is very cold and snowy hopefully we will get off ok. A short entry tonight cos I'm cream crackered and we have an early start.