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Show Touring, Downhill Great in Yellowstone ; Montana moose and elk clearly visible from the highway. Here is an area of meandering creeks and swift rivers, fed by snow so deep, that only the peaks of roofs on two-story homes are visible. This is a good time of the year to sample some of that snow. An early warm spell crusted and settled the top layers of snow pack and fresh, new powder has covered it, making the superb treeless skiing. Below that, runs flatten out and gently roll to the base area. From there, the Ramshead Chair rises 1,600 vertical feet, with excellent runs falling away below. Perhaps the finest piece of terrain if the Mad Wolf chair area, nearly 2,000 vertical of steep, wide open glades dotted with gnarled, massive fir trees. counter clerk for our sandwiches sand-wiches (he kept taking one off the tray because he had to hold it in order to ring it up on the register), we were eating as another employee began smashing and stacking stack-ing tables and chairs all around us. His suggestive glances that he was hoping we would leave soon worked. We soon left. Best bet at Big Sky, if our I , - v ' ' ' X. Between Big Sky and W. Yellowstone, the snow was melting. Piiitiliiilpi Gateway to the park: beyond is "three pin heaven." by John Harrington As winter begins its annual fade in a sea of melt and grime, there are those who may want to squeeze every drop out of the season they can. The place to go is Yellowstone Park and the surrounding Montana mountains. moun-tains. This easy-to-make trip combines the best of alpine and cross-country touring. From Park City to West Yellowstone, or any of the small town north of there, you can make the trip in less than seven hours on good roads. Once there, the possibilities possibili-ties are endless for the touring skier and for anyone waiting to try the slopes at Big Sky, Mont., the mountain moun-tain developed by Chet Huntley, the late NBC newscaster. All along U.S. 191 north of West Yellowstone, there are thousands of acres of prime ski touring areas, ranging from flats to steep (and avalanche prone) mountains. Wildlife is abundant, with ' touring effortless and fun, especially on the downhill. And, last week at Big Sky, light, dry powder was falling in abundance. This mountain, which is topped by the magnificent ridges leading to the summit of rocky Lone Mountain, is really three ski areas in one. Runs fall away steeply in the upper bowls below the Lone Mountain summit, providing pro-viding the powder skier with This bowl and the adjacent areas gave us some of the best powder skiing we have ever had and it wasn't a race to see who could track it the fastest. In fact the Sunday, March 6, crowd d'dn't appear too eager to test the soft, deep snow. Perhaps that is because many of Big Sky's visiting skiers come from Minnesota, the Dakotas, Manitoba and other plains areas of the U.S. and Canada. Powder, being what it is, seemed to repel many of these people. And that was fine. The $18 lift ticket price was well worth the return on that great day. There are some drawbacks to the resort, however. The base lodge, constructed of what appeared to be unfinished unfin-ished plywood, is crowded, tinsel-town and disorganized. disorganiz-ed. Avoiding the main lunch rush by waiting was a mistake. We went to the Ore House (not related to the Park City tavern) slightly before 2 p.m. By the time the diffident waitress deemed it all right to speak with us, we were told ttiatjthe cooks knocked Dffat2 pT.m., despite the fact the hostess told us we could still have lunch. We left and went to Uncle Ernie's Deli, which is about as close to a true t deli as 4a 0 VAft&,tfttttiri& the straneY experience was any indication, indica-tion, is bring your lunch and eat on the hill. Unlike Park City employees emplo-yees in general, the Big Sky workers did not appear to like their jobs. After the great skiing, but disappointing dining, we returned to West Yellowstone. Yellow-stone. The snow, falling heavily, lured us the following follow-ing morning to a tour on gentle Fir Ridge, a map-marked map-marked touring area inside the park. While we waited for word . that plows had cleared the pass back into Idaho for our return, we went one-mile north of the junction of 191 and Highway 287 to Ennis. Staying on 191, we parked at the top of the hill on the east side of the road and toured in. About two miles hence, we encountered a series of rounded, small mountains above a vast treeless snow-field. snow-field. The gentle, long slopes were easy to climb, but provided some tremendous Telemarking terrain. , And, snowmobiles are not allowed off their marked trails once in the park. We watched as off in the distance some 15 machines and their ridersaused at the Park boundary as the leader read the bad news: No Motorized Vehicles Permitted. Permit-ted. , ; . We ,were -in three-pin - v S Jicven.'M;Vi ''v,',-YF ''v,',-YF Uiatgkkt6 pis '46A?i ' " ; T - --"iimif-- nrtmiirail Hpi i uii.ihuim.ii -. ...... .... v . - - , ... . . . ""'''"'iiw'iri '''I1 !S ' ' r"1"" mr'' 11 ' 'n'"1"","'"' "llliaillitlllliaIMIJ v 4 . , , i r..i.yril-J rniilj.,.w iw fis-. ...m i '.. , 1 - .?.V 4,., -iii kT .7 Oal - - - ------- XN r '-v- The Caifolin RlCiVftWV Us R3rt.;cra er.trencc. . V v; More Yellowstone - Continued from Page 1 5A ,"V There are no fees to tour inside the park, but you must have a permit if you plan to camp. In addition, one of the great attractions to the touring skier in the area are the many hot pots, which provide an impromptu hot-tubbing hot-tubbing experience. Beware, the pots are often boiling and, if caught by a ranger, you will be slapped with an automatic $50 fine. Many locals working in West Yellowstone confirmed this: they were seemingly all $50 poorer. We opted for the cush life of a motel, the world-famous Weary Rest Inn, where our - small cabin was $33 a night. One thing, f . u canV handle the constant droning of snowmobile engines, stay out of this town in the winter. The streets (although thawed when we were there) are usually. snow covered and hundreds of the screaming machines pi their way about town. From the looks of it, good touring should be available through April. After th?t, the bears come out, and they are hungry. That generally marks the end of ski season and the start of fly fishing, according to locals. Driving time to West Yellowstone is approximately approximate-ly six to six and a half hours. J From West Yellowstone to I Big Sky is another hour. I This week, Nordic mara- I thon skiers will descend on ' the town for the Dannon . Rondevous leg of the Great American Ski Chase.' That race, coupled with the other attractions of the area could be the perfect excuse to head out. Have fun. -- |