(photo by Kt Miller)

wolf in the skintrack

On a solo tour the other day, Dr. J had his skin-track poached by a wolf.!  

Imagine a cartoon of him noticing this.  (S and J you follow me here :).  

 It'd probably have been a mix of wide eyed awe and appreciation at the Yellowstone's rich ecology, but also a bucket of realization- that there was likely a pack of wolves sizing him up throughout the day! 

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Into a snowstorm

Quintessential ski tour with Dr. Jesse Logan earlier this week.  
We took to the bison trails and ridgelines, south of the Lamar Canyon.  Our route and discussion, revolved around the obvious abundance of wildlife, but also the human prehistory our immediate landscape, and how our day's route was likely the common course of Native Americans traveling up river to the Lamar Valley (specifically taking into account river fords).  We observed an ermine and a coyote in close proximity, and had excellent tracking conditions/  fun skiing conditions following the overnight snowfall.  

Great to be out in Yellowstone 'as always'.

A foot of fresh snow in the mountains around Cooke City last night, with more on the way.!

Mammoth ski update

Great x-country skiing to be found around Mammoth at the moment.  Kt and I were out for a nice tour this morning, to scout conditions, and opportunities abound, especially when we pick up a bit more snow. 

Town Hill coyote

Sunset ski

general snowpack observations

A relatively good snowpack is shaping up around Cooke City and the Northern Yellowstone region.  It's still November but above 9,000' the coverage and stability are pretty good.  

For snow stability, there's been no collapsing, nor recent avalanche activity noted.  Minor cracking experienced along the exposed ridgelines however (on the heels of big east wind event).  The snow depth ranges from about 40cms to 100cms.  In general the snowpack structure is fairly weak (due to cold temps / faceting),  but current stability is OK.    We're off to a relatively good start here though, especially around Mammoth and Tower.

Hello and Welcome!

Hi, thanks for stopping by the new website!

The aim of this webpage will be to keep anyone interested, up to date on:  the weather, snowpack, wildlife, and skiing associated with Yellowstone Ski Tours.

Expect local landscapes, and adventure ski photography (with an occasional short story).