Vacation Dispatch: Hi from Montana!

3.24 – 3.26 in Big Sky

Flying here was pretty easy and our drive from the airport to Big Sky was much easier than last time — when we arrived in December of 2022 it was something like -30F and it was a little scary.

This time the weather is far more typical and there is plenty of snow!

We spent all day skiing the past two days! On day 1 (Monday), everyone did a full day lesson/ski camp, including Josh and me. Our adult class was fun and went by fast. Day 2 (yesterday), Josh and I went off together while everyone else had a full day of camp again. I’m a very risk-averse skier, but went on some blue (and one double blue) runs and felt comfortable. I am sensing some improvement in form and confidence which is really fun even though I don’t ever see myself reaching expert status.

(My ski history: as a tween/teen I skied pretty frequently in the Poconos, even owning my own boots and Rossignol skis in the 1990s. I went on school trips — my middle + high school had a Ski Club that featured inexpensive day trips to the Poconos on a bus, usually with lesson included — or with a friend’s family as my parents have never skied. Then I went only a couple of times in college, maybe twice in my early-mid 20s, and then 0 times between ~2005 and 2023!! However, skiing is kind of like riding a bike in that the muscle memory seems to be stored somewhere.)

I did one treadmill run on Monday and was completely out of energy yesterday afternoon so napped instead 🙂 When I did run, I absolutely felt the altitude (~7500 feet at base). Hoping this means I will come home turbocharged . . . apparently the effects of altitude can last a while, though I’m not sure we will be high enough for long enough for it to be significant.

So far we have done really well on the eating front — dinner #1 was at the restaurant within our lodge building, #2 was at The Cabin (fancier/$) and we sat at the exact same table we had in 2022, which was fun. Last night we went for pizza at Ousel and Spur which was cozy and delicious. On the way we saw a ton of elk just hanging out by the road. We are definitely in totally different world from Florida which is part of the fun.

I have very few pix because it’s really hard to get your camera out with all that gear on!!! Hoping to get at least one decent group shot by the end of the trip.

There was absolutely some kid craziness (Josh and I find they are always the most challenging at the beginning of any vacation vs the end) but overall, so far so good! Right now the 3 kids are out on a brief shopping excursion in the resort a brief walk from our lodge — trying to give them a little bit of independence in safe settings and this seemed like a great opportunity.

AND today is our planned “relax” day between ski days. We made plans on a coffee cup!

Pictures below! Hopefully some more group shots to come. . .