February 2011

Ice Moon Ski

The Beartooth Ranger District of the Custer National Forest will join the Beartooth Recreational Trails Association in hosting the “Ice Moon Ski” on Friday, February 18, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Red Lodge Nordic Center.  Ski along the shadow of the aspens, then relax by a warm fire with a bowl of chili or a hot dog, cornbread, and hot cocoa.  Feel free to contribute cookies or dessert goodies and bring your own preferred beverages.

The Ice Moon Ski is the second “Walk by the Light of the Moon” event in the 2011 series hosted by the Beartooth Ranger District.  Each month near the full moon, a different interpretive walk is scheduled to discuss the natural and cultural history and resources of this amazing area.  The featured speakers for this month’s “Ice Moon Ski” are: Mike Schilz and Jim Northcutt, Red Lodge area ice climbers, and Chad Chadwick, from Billings, who has spent a lifetime climbing in the Beartooth Mountains and who has many first ascents and descents to his credit.

4th Annual Nordic Fest Coming to Red Lodge Nordic Center

Come to Red Lodge Nordic Center on February 19th and take part in classic, skate, and kid’s classic and skate races! This year, the course has changed.  The starting line will be near the new hut with the finish line near the parking lot.  The best spectator area will be the parking lot where you will be able to see skiers start, fly down the perimeter hill, and finish. If racing is not your thing, the “Far Side” will be open for public skiing all day. Registration is one hour before each race.  Place of registration is the new hut straight west of the parking lot. Race times are as follows:

5K and 10K Classic:  10:00 a.m.

Kid’s Classic and Skate:  11:00 a.m.

5K and 10K Skate: 12:00 p.m.

Maps will be available for participants showing the race courses and spectator areas.  We ask that all children have adult supervision.  Parents will be required to sign a waiver on their child’s registration form. As usual, skating is not allowed if you are registered in a classic ski race.

This is guaranteed to be a great time!  Hot drinks and burgers, of the meat or vegetarian kind, will be provided.  See you there!

Backcountry Film Festival

As part of Red Lodge Mountain’s Winter Carnival events, the BRTA is hosting the Winter Wildlands Alliance (WWA) Backcountry Film Festival on Friday, February 25, 2011 at the Elks Club in Red Lodge.  The festival showcases inspirational and thought-provoking films from grassroots filmmakers that will invigorate, inform and leave you dreaming about the bliss of winter adventures. Tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for children 14 and under.   Tickets will be sold only at the door.  Films will begin at approximately 7 pm, after the Cardboard Classic parade.  Food and beverages will be available for purchase at the Elks.

Films include Teton Gravity Research’s cut of “Deeper”; a film about legendary snowboarder Jeremy Jones and other top riders as they forsake helicopters, snowmobiles and lifts to venture deep into untouched terrain under their own power.  “Desert River”, a beautiful ski adventure into Alaska, and “Whitebark Warrior” which chronicles the decline of thousand-year old whitebark pines due to climate change and efforts underway to save these iconic high alpine trees.  for children 14 and under.   Tickets will be sold only at the door.  Films will begin at approximately 7 pm, after the Red Lodge Winter Carnival Cardboard Classic parade.

Kids’ Ski Lessons Produce Great Skiers

Over 30 kids participated in the free ski lessons to improve their skills and more importantly, have fun! They played games, practiced skills and even found Valentine treats in the trees all while on skis. A special thanks to Elise Fouts for organizing the lessons and all the instructors and assistants for making this possible. This is a great group of young skiers that are sure to continue improving so watch out! One of them may be overtaking you on the trail.

Nordic Center News

We have had over 1,600 skiers sign in at the Nordic Center this season! Grooming has been great and so has snow fall. Our activities have been fun and well-attended. Only the wind and fluctuating temperatures have been difficult (hmm, that sounds normal).

Lots of volunteers keep us running (we are an all-volunteer organization), and we thank you! We appreciate your feedback so chat with a groomer, a BRTA Board member or other volunteer so we can continue to improve operations and to implement new ideas.

Member Spotlight

Ray Masters has been a snowboard instructor at Red Lodge Mountain for the last four years.  Previously Ray was a wildlife technician in Northern New York’s six million acre Adirondack Park.  He had visited Red Lodge to ski and backpack and now lives there full time.  He is a board member of the Beartooth Recreational Trails Association (BRTA), Red Lodge City Parks, on the vestry of the Episcopal Church, Red Lodge, Carbon County Search and Rescue, and volunteer at the Carbon County Historical Museum.  He enjoys snowboarding, Nordic & alpine skiing, photography, hiking, and local history.

How Much Snow Pack?

SNOTEL Sites are automated recording devices placed all over the mountain west in watershed headwaters to help calculate snow pack and predict water supplies downstream. This information is also helpful for recreationists and tourists in our winter backcountry. If you know exactly where a site is located, you can research to see what the weather is doing there, helping plan that ski or snowshoe trip.

The SNOTEL recorder sends data to your computer via VHF radio signals bouncing off a band of meteors about 60 miles above the earth. (Yes meteors! don’t ask me more.) The data usually (some sites are use more technology than others) includes snow depth and water content, air temperature (incl. daily high & low), wind speed & direction, all of which have cumulative and past several days data. Data is updated every three hours.

So maybe you want to go skiing at Red Lodge Mtn. and you are up early and want some weather and snow information before their report. You look up the Cole Creek SNOTEL site and find the temperature and snow fall overnight, and no snow fell and it’s 20 below and windy so you decide to go to Cooke City where it’s dumping and +20. Or you have rented a Forest Service cabin at Crystal Lake in the Snowy Mtns. so you check the SNOTEL site there and it is very cold and snow is four feet deep, so you bring more appropriate gear.

You find the Sites by going to www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel. Keep clicking and exploring the Site to find the type of data you are interested in. These Sites are provided by the Natural Resource Conservation Service. There are over 90 Sites in Montana.

[Much of this information was gleaned from an article by Emily Stifler in EXPLORE magazine.]

Forest Service Updates

Call or stop in at the Beartooth Ranger District office in Red Lodge for current information on trails and roads in the Beartooth Mountains, 446-2103.

Beware that the road from Silver Run turnoff to the gate (a ½ mile) is not plowed and is difficult in deep snow; the same goes for the Lake Fork road from Highway 212 to the gate at Lions Camp. Lots of snow on all the trails!

Quote of the Month:

“Skiing is a dance, and the mountain always leads.”  ~Author Unknown

Always consider yourself welcome at BRTA monthly Board meetings, second Wednesdays, at the new RLACF building, (12th & Oakes, across from Post Office), 6:30 pm., or call your favorite Board member to learn what’s up with BRTA.