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.

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.

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.

mumsey and pops are in big sky for a visit. i have a lot of winter adventure photos to wade through, but not now. there's a hot tub outside and a glass of malbec with my name on it.

"an adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered." -g.k. chesterton
i need a pick-me-up. it's february.

some photos from the last few weeks.

our one bedroom condo with three roommates,
two cats and sometimes a dog.
learning to ski in the trees.
learning to bake at high elevation.
more truck than i can handle.

monochrome life

sisters in winter wonderland.
and then a bar made out of snow.
this winter is better than most.

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

sister is on a greyhound bound for montana.isn't that swell?

it was a good solstice year. a summer solstice hoedown in the forest, and on a bridge, and in a river. some winter solstice glühwein, an epic eclipse, 2am snowshoeing in snow up to our necks.

and now we have more daylight to look forward to, thank treesus.

(big sky on a point-n-shoot)

i'm having a hard time taking pictures in the winter. if i take off my gloves, i will lose my fingers. and besides, i don't trust myself with a more valuable camera in tow. i'm not that great of a skier.

so my photos this winter will by grainy and blurry, and they will not do justice to this INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL PLACE.

i'm staring to love this town, despite a boring job and a condo that could be on an episode of "hoarders." i've thrown myself into skiing, sink or swim, on a pair of ugly old rentals i scored dumpster diving at work. there are 5,512 skiable acres in big sky...an average of two skiers per acre on the resort's busiest day. madness. and you can ski right off the PEAK at 11,166 feet.
finally! a way to get down mountains that is as exciting as climbing them! montana is paradise for an adrenaline junkie.

i got exciting mail from Mumsey yesterday, from what is quite possibly the best website on the internet. i walked home from work with a glorious package full of lebkuchen and spätzle and doppelkeks and wild mushroom soup packets...... all the fixins to create a little german christmas magic in my strange Big Sky apartment.

these photos are from last december in freiburg. a very different winter from the one i'm living now! this season i'm enjoying my lebkuchen with a cold PBR :)