Beartooths, Day 2

We awoke Saturday morning to a glorious warm sun glowing through the tent fabric. It was a beautiful day, full sun and very warm very early.


Matt was busy cooking a hearty mountain man breakfast with plenty of Meat Shoppe bacon, eggs, cheese....mmmmmmm.


We headed up the hill in short order. Once on top of the pass we parked, and got out on the road with our thumbs out. A truck stopped immediately and with 4 other skiers, Steph and I piled in the back. The dude driving rallied up to the drop off point, through these 20 ft snowbank walls....


This is the hike up to the top of the ridge for the Gardiner Headwall, the most popular spot up here to ski and ride. It is like 2 minutes if you hitch up the road like we did.


The posse on top getting prepped to drop in. It was super warm and nice out. No jacket required. That is Wild Bill on the left, B Nugs in the middle, and Steph on the right. She had never been up here and was appropriately exited about it!


View of the Gardiner Headwall, some good little lines to be had in there....


B Nugs is strapping in, ready to shred some spring slushness.


This dude knows how to rock the Beartooths....what a rig! Note the Grateful Dead was emanating from inside this bus.....it was probably permanently mounted in the tape player. I am sure it was a tape.



Matt didn't ride snowboards today but brought his KLR down for the weekend. He cruised up to check out the action in the afternoon after spending all morning trying to fix the flat on Pauls KLR....note the use of TRYING. Doh!


This is the parking lot scene up there. It's like tailgating for a football game, but for skiing!!! Much cooler, in my opinion!
Everyone just chills out and shoots the shit after riding.... totally relaxed, and you can look out and watch whoever is still out riding the headwall. There is a ton of people from Bozeman up here. It is a ritual every year.


Back at camp, relaxing is going full swing! The Missoula contingent showed up with a barrel of Bayern Dragons Breath dark hefewiesen...and the fire was well tended by P Furls. Note the presence of women around the fire. This was unprecedented in the history of Opening Weekend. Stay tuned for further developments....


Bill: I want to get in the hammock!!
Matt: Dude, that's my bed.....
Wild Bill decided to get into Mengs' hammock, and apparently was having some difficulty!





As darkness came on the fire was built up strong and many sausages were cooked. I think I ate 4 sausages that night! People were feeling the vibe and the Bayern was flowing freely, along with other choice libations.


This is fire coming out of Stephs mouth. Known as the Flaming Sambuca Shot, this was learned in Canada, of course, and now brought to the Beartooths. It was a huge success and everyone wanted to try it. Of course, not long after this it was bedtime. Another successful day.