Marysville Travel and Cruise Company - Marysville, Washington

A SKI ADVENTURE
– MONTANA STYLE

Abandon the ordinary with Marysville Travel and Cruise!

This is being written on our way home from one of the finest ski holidays we’ve had yet, and we’ve had quite a few.

This particular holiday began for most of our four-state group at Sea-Tac Airport, where

Ski Big Sky, Montana

we boarded our flight to Gallatin Airport near Bozeman, Montana. At Bozeman the remaining members of our group joined us from the east coast. In about an hour and a quarter we were approaching our alpine paradise, over 7,000 feet above sea level. Although the sky was overcast, the mountain air seemed to crackle with its frigid purity.

The condos we’d rented surprised us with their cleanliness, convenience, and sweeping mountain views. No matter where we looked there seemed to be jagged mountain peaks, groomed ski slopes and the latest in lifts. Our excitement grew as we explored the nearby hotel, with its shops, pubs and restaurants, as it became obvious that quality skiing wasn’t going to be our only pleasure.

The next morning we were up early to a homemade breakfast of bacon and eggs before heading for the slopes. A few of our heartiest were already in line when the lifts started, but most of us opted for a more civilized starting time, around 9 am. We had agreed to meet about 10 am at the bottom of the hi- speed quad chair near the hotel. At 10 our meeting verified that no matter where we’d skied, the conditions and quality of the runs were uniformly great. By our lunchtime get together at the mid-slope restaurant it was unanimous, even with such marvelous conditions it would take more than our four days to check out all the runs available. We might as well just relax and enjoy ourselves, so we did just that. The long runs started to take a toll on our quads by mid-afternoon, and one-by-one we started to call it quits for the day. By the 3:30 chairlift closing time only about a third of our group were still up on their skis and snow-boards. Another third was enjoying a good drink and good company in Dante’s Inferno bar. A great day was followed by a great dinner at the hotel, surrounded by friends.

On day two almost half of our group opted for a day of snowmobiling in nearby Yellowstone National Park. A shuttle took us on the hour’s trip to West Yellowstone, where we were outfitted with the proper clothing and taught how to operate our Snowmobiles. What a day we had! Miles of beautiful scenery, full of wildlife and Yellowstone’s geologic wonders filled the day. There were stops for restrooms and hot drinks, for wildlife photo-ops, and for the wonders of Old Faithful and the paint pots. We returned to West Yellowstone exhilarated by our adventure, but ready for our shuttle ride back to Big Sky.

The next two days were a blur of ski runs, spectacular scenery, good food and good friends. They went by far too fast. As we prepared for the return trip to our homes we took our usual vote to determine where our group will ski on our big annual trip next year. Never before have we voted to return to the same ski area two years in a row, but we did this year. Next February we’ll be back.

Get in shape, get your skis, get to Big Sky!