August really has been the perfect summer month with warm days reaching the 80s while nights descend in temperature and bring cool breezes and starry skies. Flowers continue to bloom at higher elevations and berries hang heavy on the bushes at lower elevations. Snow is still found in the high country and some alpine lakes will spend this summer at rest covered in ice. Read More »

I recently took a trip up to a very special lake high in the Elk mountains of Colorado. The fishing was great and the views were spectacular. The highlight was definitely my journey chasing after a magnificent mountain goat. I became savage and connected to the great spirit, and hunted the agile and quick mountain goat with my camera; I was on a mission to get close enough to the goat to photograph it.

The graceful beast led me on an inspirational journey up steep scree fields and across thin ridges to a high peak with spectacular views. I became one with spirit and goat and meditated through a thunderstorm witnessing a rainbow materialize and the magic of nature, our mother earth, and the great spirit that is all of life. I found a new passion for mountain exploration and big mountain skiing,and found my new mentor, the mountain goat.

Cloudveil Ambassador Nick DeVore romps in the Rockies, takes phat photographs and happens to be one of - if not THE - best telemark skier in the entire world. FInd him online at NickDeVore.com.

Stop by Cloudveil’s flagship retail store this week for for screamin’ deals and hip art.

First, pick up all the End of Summer Sale items of Inspired Mountain Clothing you can fit in your reusable bag, then peruse the inspired art created by skier artist Lynsey Dyer.

If you show up Wednesday between 5 and 7 p.m., you can also sample wine, cheese and Snake River Brews at Dyer’s art opening. Read More »

It’s been a crazy, eventful, long summer in Jackson Hole and we’re having a party in Teton Village to celebrate it! Starting Friday, we’ll have four days of live music, food, arts, movies, and sales!

Come out to the Village to see the tram construction, get screaming ski deals, look at art, take your pup through an agility course, play disc golf, listen to live music and eat BBQ! Ladies - come out for the Marmot Ladies Day!

Read More »

After Work Mountain Bike from Jed Zilla on Vimeo

In the book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, author Robert D. Putnam documents and laments the fact that Americans are getting together less in social and civic settings.

Well, here in western Montana we’re happily bucking that trend!

My “dirty” example is the After Work Mountain Bike Series that I put on each summer.

Each week, a hearty band of cross country and downhill mountain bikers converge to see who has “mid-season form” and who has been spending more time enjoying Missoula’s many rivers instead of pushing the pedals.

Cross country folks get together and race on Wednesday nights on a four-mile, 850 vertical feet loop. The entire spectrum of talent shows up from Sam Schultz of Subaru/Gary Fisher (smoked the course with sub 20 minute laps) and Zephanie Blasi of Kenda/Titus who are both pro racers racing all over the world to junior racers who are doing their first mountain bike race with their parents

Jed trying to figure out downhill timing.

Downhillers get their shot on Thursday nights on a 1,500 vertical foot run that has hip jumps, gap jumps and technical single track. All types show up to go up against the clock and one another. Last week saw full face helmets and 8 inch travel rigs to hardtails with front suspension that was state of the art back in 1998.

During these weekly get togethers, folks in the Missoula area mountain bike community visit and talk about their times in the events, biking in general and life updates. A local brewer, Kettlehouse, provides “barley pops” for the adults which helps lubricate the conversations after each event is done.

The set up for these events takes a lot of work. Trevor the head hand at the ranch has been to BC and spent a week with the folks from Gravity Logic who map out and make trails for mountain biking all over the world. Trevor is always polling the racers after the event to see what worked and what needs to be tweaked. Trevor and I spend a lot of quality time together on the trail rolling out tape and putting up directional arrows along each course. Thanks, Trevor!

Rider named Sam going fast.

The casual nature of this three week event helps introduce folks into racing letting them learn that not everyone needs to wear lycra to race and have fun. By going faster than you usually ride, your trail riding skill set improves.

So at the end of each event, mountain bikers leave the ranch with a smile on their face, some dirt on their clothes and knowledge that there are other folks in the community who have the same passion as them.

Jed is known around Missoula as “Jedzilla,” a nickname given him by campers when we was a camp counselor. Jedzilla has guided on the White Cliffs section of the Missouri River and on the Lolo Trail. He has also run fly fishing camps for guides and their clients throughout western Montana. He is a snowboard instructor and former assistant director (The Yes Man) of Snowbowl Ski School. In his free time, Jedzilla enjoys chili dogs and sunsets with Mrs. ‘Zilla and their two sons.

Pretty picture of the crosscountry course.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Hotel Terra and the new BeThree daily newsletter just announced their inaugural Women’s Eco Adventure Getaway.

It’s a girl-only thing and all it asks is for your first name, last name, email address and postal code. Then voilà, you’re entered to win three nights and three days in Jackson Hole, WY for you and three of your friends:

* Round trip air for winner plus three friends.
* Carbon offsets for your plane travel.
* Two rooms for Three nights at Jackson Hole’s new eco boutique Hotel Terra- on Travel + Leisure’s “It List.”
* Three days of skiing or snowboarding and riding the NEW TRAM .
* Organic spa treatments at the Chill Spa in Hotel Terra.
* A Hybrid Chevy Tahoe for your group to drive while in Jackson Hole.

The only downside, they say, is that the trip will come to an end. “But at least you’ll bask in heaven with three of your coolest girlfriends (all the while, not harming Mama Earth one weentsie little bit),” The ladies at Be Three say.

This is the same site with this Jackson Hole ad:

You can enter the contest as a Jackson resident, as well. Your carbon offset will be implicit in your presence in the valley already. Think about taking the START bus out to the Village before picking up the hybrid.

Sign-up for the Getaway sweepstakes closes on Sept. 30.

When Lauren contacted me about writing for The Mountain Culture Blog, I’m going to be honest here, I was a little nervous. What do I know about the culture of mountain communities? My pedigree in the world of “action/adventure sports” is in the fringe wing of a tiny sport; raise your hand if you know what C-1 slalom is.

As such, my interactions with more mainstream participants of sports like Mountain Biking, Skiing and Climbing, were somewhat few and far between. Not that I didn’t do these things, just not often enough to get a handle on them. However, I retired from Slalom in 2005, moved to Montana and began my career as a Weekend Warrior (a.k.a. “Gumby”) in all the sports I had neglected as a slalom racer.

I think that the distance with which I initially viewed the outdoor community allowed a more honest view of my subject. I had a stellar opportunity to judge with disdain and the high-minded purity that one can only attain by the feelings of superiority I had developed in Slalom, emotions which merely masked my insecurities in my new role as “novice.”

One of the first things I noticed, and the first subject upon which I would like to blog, is the ubiquitous Mountain Town Dog.

Remember, I said that I tainted my views with judgment, thus the real topic of this blog isn’t the Dogs, but the true brilliance of being a Mountain Town Cat owner.

I will freely admit that I once wanted a dog: a big shaggy drooling monster that would follow me on runs, hang out at the crag, tear up the skin track and be 100 percent devoted to me and only me. We all know the dog. The Aussie Shepherd/Collie/Cow-dog hyper thing, the pure bred (and insane) hunting breeds, and the big husky Newfoundland miniature horse bear-like dogs. Yes, they are nice and they are devoted but they are like toddlers that never grow up. A smelly, needy two-year-old that will never become self reliant.

Choosing the right dog is of paramount importance, you must get a dog that is the four-legged extension of your own self image. But, when it comes to cats, they choose you. My cats walked in the back door one afternoon and never left. Notice I said plural cats. I have two. I’m that proud. No one who sees my cats can play pop psychologist on me based on their breed, unless it’s something like, “wow, that guy sure is a Gumby, his cat has no tail.”

Ego aside, I can sum up the real reason I will never own a dog with two words: “Party” and “Bowl.” If a dog is a two-year-old that will never grow up, my cats are teenagers that I can leave with a $20 and instructions to order a pizza a day while I’m gone. Just like a teenager, my cats’ love isn’t unconditional; they are selective with their affection and lash out when the mood strikes them. This makes their love all the more special when I am deemed worthy of petting them. Plus, on a cold morning I don’t really mind getting sandwiched by the little buggers.

The Mountain Town Culture puts the dog on a pedestal, or at least in clear view in the back of a truck or Subaru. Dogs are the constant companions of every iconic Mountain Town Hero seen on the river, at the bar, on the slopes and at the bottom of the crag faithfully waiting for the master who is stuck on yet another day trip because he or she couldn’t find anybody to feed, exercise and cuddle the dog for the weekend. All the while the gumby warrior is out of town while his cats enjoy an empty house and a big fat party bowl of food.

After years of being a Whitewater Slalom geek, Chris Ennis is slowly reentering the outdoor community with weekly doses of gumby-like behavior as a chump climber and skier. For those of you who commit a little too fully, Ennis strongly recommends returning to the life of a weekend warrior. Incompetence is shockingly pleasant. The Missoula, MT-based weekend warrior is biding his time while he waits for his girlfriend/partner/sugar mama (”after 10 years, can we come up with a decent title?”) to finish grad school so that he can return, kicking and screaming, to Academia.