LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH - Preview - Feb 3 through 8, 2025

I began my regular running program more than 30 years ago in order to be ready for trips like this one - five days of cross-country skiing in the high country of Montana. Before then, when I was in my 20’s and 30’s, it seemed like there were more opportunities to just head out into the mountains when there was good snow. 

Getting a job and starting a family has a way of making you readjust your priorities (all for the better, in my case). With ski time becoming less frequent, office desk time increasing steadily, and age 40 creeping up, running became the way to stay in shape for any ski adventures that might pop up. Over the years, I’ve had many great day ski trips with Karen, Alison and Stephanie. And I’ve even managed to occasionally get away on some longer trips with my buddy, George Blakely.

George introduced me to cross-country skiing back in 1971. Over time, we somehow managed to teach ourselves how to get around in the backcountry on the ‘skinny’ skis. With our wooden Bonna 2000 skis and three-pin Troll free-heel bindings, we figured out how to use our backpacking stoves to heat up the skis enough to apply pine tar to the base. Through a sometimes exasperating process of trial and error, we learned the difference between hard wax and klister - and when (and when not) to use them for changing snow conditions. 

A lot has changed over the past 50 years in terms of  both equipment and the popularity of ski touring. And even though I’m not as agile as I used to be, I still get pretty excited when I get the chance to get out on the ski trails.

This week, instead of hibernating in a down sleeping bag for 16 hours a night in a tent in the backcountry, I’ll be sleeping in a nice warm cabin every night. Karen and I will be at Lone Mountain Ranch, where they will bring fresh hot coffee to Karen every morning and where I can ski every day on the 85km network of groomed trails at the resort.

NEXT: Getting there during a winter storm watch