staying with friends in helena, mt

the last from big winter...

i packed my life up in record time and said goodbye to Big Sky yesterday morning.
my hand seems to be healing itself (thank treesus) so i'm still planning on glacier in a week.
i'm relaxing in helena this week and very excited to see green grass.

it was just me and my new skis this week. we're in a relationship. there was fresh powder all day thursday, and it was magical. and then i flew through the air (with the greatest of ease!), landed on my thumb, and ended ski season with an unappetizing crunch.

was i having too much fun again? the universe needed to cut me down a notch?

so now i'm learning how to button a shirt with one hand. and the month of may, once so anticipated, is up in the air. shit.

(big sky on a point-n-shoot IV)

lately...
lots of april snow and a little april sun.
brand new fat-skis from the tax return fairy.
plenty of days off to rock said fat-skis.
several nights of debauchery with visiting girlfriends.
big montana burgers for a couple of (used-to-be) vegetarians.
only two weeks left to soak up the winterlove.

yes, i love winter now.
and yes, it is definitely still winter in montana.

it's blizzarding again, like every day this week. this morning i dug up some pictures of spring in freiburg, looking for relief from this monochrome. last spring was incredible. i don't think i have a spring to look forward to this year. montana jumps from winter to summer with insane rapidity. the snow melts around june, and summer is there underneath.

these people are obsessed with snow. pray for snow parties. never summer bumper stickers. spontaneous cheering around town on powder days. it's pretty damn infectious - i definitely cheered for this wednesday's epic snow.

i'm getting bolder on the mountain, skiing above the treeline a little, trying out some runs in the forest, and the payoff is spectacular. big sky has stolen my heart :)

march is busy in big sky.
working lots of overtime.
and all i want to do is ski.

(big sky on a point-and-shoot III)

underground dirtbag day last wednesday.
drink your breakfast.
don your oldschool skiwear.
ski through the trees.
sit in the snow.
watch braver souls hit the jump.
ski out of the forest and order pizza.

happy mardi gras!
these are from last fasching. i don't have plans yet for tonite, but i'm sure it won't be as colorful or as bizarre as last year!

send some positive energy to the parks budget, people.
it's no good when your livelihood depends on congress.

snowmobiling in yellowstone.
epic fun.

we rode halfway up the mountain on top of a snowcoach to eat dinner in a lovely yurt. ate by lantern light with anesthesiologists from new york city, served mashed potatoes and chocolate fondu by waiters wearing headlamps. fit on a sled with both of my parents and crashed into a snowbank.

it's a new family goal to eat dinner in as many strange tent scenarios as possible. a few years ago we ate christmas dinner in this circus tent in germany. i like the idea of dinners so strange we could never forget them.