missoula

[CarvCanada]

okay, next year is a "study abroad" year for University, which is pretty sweet since I can go anywhere and still pay McGill admissions :)

I can't decide between Anchorage and Missoula, and whichever one I choose I'll probably end up staying

I have a question about Missoula: It seems that literally the backyard of Missoula is Mt. Sentinel and a few more mountains... it looks to be about 2000 vertical feet up to 5200 ft? Does it get enough snow to hike up and snowboard into town, and does it have enough terrain to make this awesome? From pictures it looks like there's plenty of nice lines, and you have the option of a wide open treeless, constant fall line, or a hairy fall line full of trees!

Is it really easy to drive to the big resorts? Also, is that new resort in the Bitteroot mountains going to happen?

Thanks.

[Guest Randy S.]

I'm sorry, but Montana and Alaska are not "abroad" if you are Canadian. Heck, those are probably two of the most Canadian-like states we have (plus MN and maybe ME). Go to Grenoble or something. You can still ride and they even speak a different language (albeit similar to one you hear a lot around McGill). Or maybe somewhere in Austria or even Switzerland. Dude, the US is not another country from Canada, despite what you've been told.

[FTA2R]

I could not agree more with Randy. Trust me on this. I spent a semester in Madrid in '99 and then backpacked through Europe. This was the best time of my life- it was amazing. Whether or not you can snowboard should absolutely not be a factor in studying abroad unless you only have a choice of destinations that offer riding. The purpose of being abroad (which was undoubtedly the best time of my life) is to experience and learn things which are new to you, see how other countries live, etc. You will always have snowboarding. I highly recommend Madrid (or any other great European capital) if you can. The opportunity to travel during college (and hopefully backpack) is somethign that can have a profound impact on a person and the destination should be considered carefully.

===

Barry

[kinpa]

YES!!!!! Come to Missoula, I'm lonely here!

I've lived here about 3 years now. I live in a town called Stevensville which is in the Bitterroot - about 30 min south of Missoula. I work in Missoula and during the winter I teach at Snowbowl. www.montanasnowbowl.com Snowbowl is pretty much the "local" mountain for Missoula. It's a nice mountain, but not really great for carving. Well, I wouldn't say it's very snowboarder friendly in general (some long flat sections that just are NOT fun!). Also, there are several runs with double fall lines. More of a freeride kinda place. BUT, I got a new alpine board at the end of last season and plan on riding it hard and putting it up wet this year! I have seen a few other guys at Snowbowl in hard boots, but I wouldn't really call what they were doing carving. From what I could tell, they both seemed to just point the board down the hill and go fast!

Missoula is about a 3 hour drive to Big Mountain which is a nice resort. Much better to get up there during the week, if you can. And about a 5 hour drive to Big Sky which is also a BIG resort. There are a ton of Mom and Pop kind of mountains within a 2 or 3 hour drive. Lost Trail www.losttrail.com is a nice place about 2 hours south of Missoula. I haven't tried my board there because I take my 3 year old daughter and usually spend the day on skiis with her. BUT the nice thing about Lost Trail is that they always seem to have snow. Even last year when most of the mountains sucked. And for a $25 lift ticket, you really can't beat it!

I'm really not sure how the new Bitterroot Resort is going to come together. www.skibitterrootresort.com From what I read in the newspaper they will be offering skiing this year using cats to get up the mountain. Of course, many of the locals are fighting it. It would drastically change this valley, but I wouldn't mind having a big resort about 15 minutes from my house!

If there is any way you end up here, PLEASE find me. And if you have any questions, feel free to email me. I did not come to Missoula as a college student, so I don't know much about the University.

Kathy

[kinpa]

I spent a year in Germany in a high school exchange program. I did get to snowboard some at Garmisch. That was back in 1989 and I was on my Burton Performer Elite and had a horrible time on the T-Bars there!

I too had a great experience even though I felt lonely and isolated. I would reccomend it to anyone who might get the chance to go to europe. I was lucky that I had already graduated from high school so even though I had to go to school, I didn't really need to study too much!

[kinpa]

I re-read your post only to realize that I never even answered your question.

Mt. Sentinel: I've never seen or heard about people hiking it in the winter, but like I said, I'm not really a part of the University crowd. There are many bare hills around, that I thought would be great to have wide open terrain, but it doesn't seem to really appeal to people here. Also, with a winter like last year, there isn't always enough snow. The drive to Snowbowl from town isn't too far, but the last 5 miles are on a skinny dirt road which can be a little scarry at times. I'm driving a Subaru now so we'll see how it does. Last winter the mud was worse than the snow on the road up there. The drive up that dirt road takes a good 15 minutes. There are areas where I know people hike from the top of Snowbowl, but I've never done it. Some of that area is open. If you like riding trees, I know there are many places to hike, I just haven't done it! Snowbowl does have some snowmaking on the lower moutain. Last year the top was fine, but the bottom half of the mountain was pretty bad. I downloaded on the chairlift MANY times.

[CarvCanada]

thanks, got to decide soon and both places look extremely enticing, I can't wait!

I was thinking that if that little range got above 200 inches a year, I could snag powder IN BETWEEN CLASSES all on foot! The university buildings are the ones backed right up to the mountain.

[patmoore]

Kinpa - this is timely. My wife and I are doing a "Northwest Passage" at the end of September to try to identify places we might want to retire in. The four we're focussing on are Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell, and Sandpoint over in Idaho. We'll probably spend two days at each location getting a feel for the community and maybe look at some real estate. We're still six years from retirement but we want to start planning now.

What are the plusses and minuses of Missoula? Does Montana Snowbowl have a race program for adults? (I race on skis and board).

If anyone has some thoughts on the other three towns I'd love to hear them.

Much obliged,

Pat

[Jack M]

Funny, I was in Missoula for a wedding this weekend when you wrote that. Seems like a real nice town and a great place to play, if a bit "crunchy". Snowbowl is 15 minutes from town, has 2800' vert, and 85% expert terrain (not sure what that means for carving). And then in the spring there's whitewater nearby and legendary fly fishing.

[bartron]

I agree with Randy, although I'm not upset about it. :-)

I think you should use your opportunity to go outside North America -- Munich, Turin, Geneva, etc. Once you graduate and you want to relocate, then include North America in your search.

I'm currently in that situation, although I graduated years ago. I'm trying to get out of here by summer 2006. I've been looking at Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Montana (in particular, Missoula), and Alberta. I just went to Seattle this weekend for an interview. I found that Seattle is too big and would be a move sideways from Montreal.

There aren't too many places on the planet were you can work in hitech and live by the mountains (there are several other factors that make my search difficult). I guess it's time to change careers. :-)

[kinpa]

What are the plusses and minuses of Missoula? Does Montana Snowbowl have a race program for adults? (I race on skis and board).

First off, Missoula is a college town. Some could take that as a good thing, other's might think it's bad. Yes, I do think Missoula would exisit without the University (I went to Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania or State College, PA.... Don't think that town would have ever been there without the university!!!), but the university does have a strong presence.

As far as Snowbowl.... There is a very strong Children's race program there, but I don't know how much there is for adults. You might have to go to one of the bigger (aka MORE EXPENSIVE) places for that... Big Mountain or Big Sky. I do know that they have something during the week called "The Gate Club" which is for anyone who wants to practice in gates. It's set up on the Sunrise Bowl which is a great hill, but serviced by a T-Bar which makes it not so great on the snowboard. I did run the gates a few times one year on my snowboard and the coaches didn't seem to mind, but I didn't really get any coaching either. However, that could have been because I'm an instructor there and didn't pay to run gates anyway! There was going to be a snowboard race, so I though, that I was going to enter only to find out that it had been cancelled due to lack of interest the year before. They still did the slopestyle and big air, but no GS. Figures. I think Big Mountain has NASTAR, but other than that, I haven't really heard of any snowboard races around here. If anyone know of any, let me know. I'm not a speed demon, but it does help my riding if I can get in gates from time to time. Pat, if it is important to you to live near a big resort area, I wouldn't think Missoula would be the place for you. Try Whitefish or Bozeman. (Bozeman is also a college town, just not as big). Both towns are experiencing tremendous growth and real estate will probably be quite expensive. I'm sure the same could happen here in the Bitterroot Valley if that new resort goes in.

Jack, yes, Snowbowl if 15 minutes from town, I guess..... That is if you are counting from the base of the dirt road that goes up the mountain!!!! Comming from the mid-atlantic area of the east, the road was pretty scarry for me the first winter or two but now I'm used to it. I only slid off the road once or twice and it was ALWAYS on the uphill side! WHEW! There is plenty of challenging terrain there, but like I said before, I think it's more suited to freeriding than for carving.

I thought more about that mountain right behind the university. I don't think there's been enough snow on it to ride it all the way into town in the 3 years I've been on here. So, I wouldn't count on it. Missoula is nicknamed "The Garden City" because of the mild temps in town. (Nice if you don't like to shovel and commute in the snow!)

As far as Missoula as a ski town, there was an article in Skiing magazine the year before last about how great Snowbowl is. Really is not so great as a beginner/intermediate hill though. If you haven't already, take a look at the photos on their website. www.montanasnowbowl.com Even after 3 years, the view still takes my breath away.

And who know how things around here might change if that new resort ever gets open.....

Hey Pat, drop me a line when you get into town.... I don't know if I could answer all of your questions, but I could sure give it a try!!!

Jack, what do you mean by "crunchy?" Dry? yes, it is dry here in August. And every year brings the threat of wildfires. This year they haven't been to bad... not yet, at least.

Kathy

[Jack M]

Jack, what do you mean by "crunchy?"

hippies.

[kinpa]

Yes, that is true. There are a lot of hippies around Missoula, BUT I live 30 minutes south and don't see to many around here. I think goes a lot with a college town in an easy going, laid back, kinda place. They were around quite a lot at Penn State too.

[bartron]

Kinpa - this is timely. My wife and I are doing a "Northwest Passage" at the end of September to try to identify places we might want to retire in.

Pat

If you haven't already, you might want to check out findyourspot.com . I've used it a few times, and it's great ! You answer a bunch of questions about your lifestyle and what you're looking for in a neighbourhood and it will give you a list of the top 20 towns in the U.S. that are best suited to what you're looking for.

My places were pretty much all in Colorado, Utah, Washington and Montana. Go figure. :)

[patmoore]

First off, Missoula is a college town. Some could take that as a good thing, other's might think it's bad. Yes, I do think Missoula would exisit without the University (I went to Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania or State College, PA.... Don't think that town would have ever been there without the university!!!), but the university does have a strong presence.

Small world - three of my wife's four degrees are from Penn State. We're heading there this weekend for the game with USF (ironically my alma mater). Thanks for the very detailed writeup! We're looking forward to visiting the area.

______

Bartron - findyourspot.com is the reason we're looking in the northwest. I stumbled on that great site about three years ago and it selected Durango for my first choice (a little too pricey for us). I then compared the other nineteen with an article from ski magazine called the 18 Best Ski Towns and found one community on both lists - Bozeman! That got us looking into Montana and ultimately Idaho.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions!

[bartron]

... an article from ski magazine called the 18 Best Ski Towns and found one community on both lists - Bozeman! That got us looking into Montana and ultimately Idaho.

I hadn't come across that list of 18 best ski towns. Thanks for the link. Funny how Bozeman didn't make my findyourspot list, but Missoula and Great Falls did.

[patmoore]

I just took a closer look at the writeup for The Bitterroot Ski Resort

"Upon approval of a lease of U.S. Forest Service land, the vertical descent of

Bitterroot Resort would be the greatest in North America at 5,342 feet."

Wow!!

Obviously they've already started cutting trails.

[kinpa]

Pat, don't count your chickens before they hatch!!!! You see that road at the bottom of the picture that you posted? That's Route 93 and I drive that everyday to and from work. I can even see those trails that are cut from my parking lot at work in Missoula. I first saw those trails that you see about a year ago. They are cut on land privately owned by the man who owns the ranch there. The peak behind it, Lolo Peak, is a heavly used recreation area (lots of trails and such). And of course, many people who fight any development on it. Last winter was a bad winter so maybe it's hard to predict, but those trails are going to need snowmaking. And lots of it! ($$$$$$) It's different here than in the east. WATER is a valuable thing. I guess the owner wants to use his water rights that he already has during the winter to make snow instead of during the summer like he currently does to irrigate his fields. And of course, there are people who are fighting with that water usage right and left. I don't think the owner has it in too good with the forrest service right now either, so I really don't expect to see anything happening there anytime soon. The local papers report that it could be awhile before anything happens because the forrest service has some stuff that is up for review over the next few years and the rules would have to be changed before anything could go in there. I think the whole thing is just an attempt at real estate and the potential for a ski area is just the by-product. It will be interesting to see what happens with it.

[kinpa]

Oh yeah, something else.... As being an instructor, I'd love to see that field right at the bottom turned into a nice beginner area. It's hard to see in the picture, but it does have some slope to it and good, big, beginner areas are hard to find around here. All the ones I know of near by are pretty small with a rope tow! I never even used a rope tow until I got out here! Not fun on a snowboard and the T-Bars are even worse!

[kinpa]

Of course, I always think of more things to add after I already submit my reply....

THE WEATHER

Missoula has this weather thing that goes on during the winter called an inversion. It happens quite often, don't know all the details why, but the clouds and such settle in the valley. There aren't many sunny days during the winter because the fog just hangs in the valley. There were many days my first winter here that I'd be in town at work just and really didn't want to head up to Snowbowl. It gets just gloomy and awlful. BUT when I got up to the mountain, I found I had a wonderful, sunny day. From the top of the mountain you can look down into town and see some of the peaks comming from out of the fog/clouds. I've heard that people in town seem to get depressed during the winter due to lack of sun. Just another reason to get out of town and up into the mountains!

Also, I hear the saying quite often in my first year here, "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes.... it will change!" And it seems true. Lots of fast moving storms that come through. And at this time of year, often the air quality isn't so good depending on how many wildfires are in the surrounding areas.

[Daneille]

Missoula has this weather thing that goes on during the winter called an inversion. It happens quite often, don't know all the details why, but the clouds and such settle in the valley. There aren't many sunny days during the winter because the fog just hangs in the valley. There were many days my first winter here that I'd be in town at work just and really didn't want to head up to Snowbowl. It gets just gloomy and awlful. BUT when I got up to the mountain, I found I had a wonderful, sunny day. From the top of the mountain you can look down into town and see some of the peaks comming from out of the fog/clouds. I've heard that people in town seem to get depressed during the winter due to lack of sun. Just another reason to get out of town and up into the mountains!

The same thing happens in Reno. Also, it can be very sunny here and a blizzard on the mountain.

Daneille

[Guest FlyinSolo]

inversion layers happen in all mountainous areas. seen em in SoCal too. cloudy and weird down, and sunny and perfect up.

[kinpa]

So, what's it going to be CarvCanada? Have you made a decision where you are going to go to school? If you make it to Missoula, don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Pat, have you made your tour of the Northwest yet? I think you said the end of September? What did you think of Missoula?

Kathy

[Mellow Yellow]

Yes, that is true. There are a lot of hippies around Missoula, BUT I live 30 minutes south and don't see to many around here. I think goes a lot with a college town in an easy going, laid back, kinda place. They were around quite a lot at Penn State too.

Kathy's a hippie! Kathy's a hippie!

[patmoore]

Hi Kinpa,

We're doing a whirlwind tour of the "Northwest Passage" and spent two days in Bozeman where we checked out Bridger Bowl, a day in Great Falls, two days in Missoula (a nice town and we drove up to the base lodge of Snowbowl.) two in Kalispell (drove to Big Mountain), and we're in Sandpoint, ID until Monday. The weather was great until today. The rain is torrential tonight. We're attending an Oktoberfest at Schweitzer tomorrow if the rain lets up.

Glacier National Park was incredible. Here's a shot I took.

The people are incredibly friendly. I'm envious of you folks who live here full time.

Pat