If you’re traveling west on I-90 toward Montana, you’ll see a lot of flat expanses, few trees, and sunflower and wheat fields… until you reach the Crazy Mountains. They’re your first encounter with the Rockies, and they jut out of the farm and ranch land like they’ve been misplaced by God. There is no build-up, they just appear. Also, they’re incredible.
We decided to ski there Saturday by climbing up the Big Timber Creek Drainage, and into the heart of the relatively small range. Big Timber Creek was a draw both for the skiing and to get an idea of the kayaking in the near future. It’s a sacred place that many class 5 kayakers (which I’m not… yet) look on with a mix of fondness and great respect, and like the mountains it’s impressive. There are some videos of kayakers running it on American Whitewater.
Our journey took us past the meat of the creek and up the eastern ridge. While making our way up, conditions quickly changes as the snow reacted to the increasing temperatures. The freeze/thaw cycle had consolidated the first 2.5 feet of the snow, but left a week layer about 6 inches deep right near the bottom to bear the load. Our tests gave some cause for concern, and similar slopes showed wet snow point-releases. We decided to retreat from the possibility of a wet slide after 4 hours of skiing and climbing. Live to ski another day.
~Sconnie
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