SKIING WHITEFISH MOUNTAIN

We went up to Whitefish, MT for a little skiing and to attend a Special Forces function.  We were the guests of Ike and Brenda at a function where the Montana Chapter sponsored young Special Forces personnel and their families on a week vacation of skiing or dog sledding all paid for by the chapter. What a great thing it was to see the smiles on these families faces in anticipation of learning to ski or riding in a sled pulled by dogs.  We went up a few days early to do some skiing before they got there.  The day they arrived, there was a great buffet where they met with many of the Chapter's members.  It was very nice and Connie and I had a great time.    And we really enjoyed skiing Whitefish Mountain as it is now called.  For years it was called "Big Mountain" and it lives up to that old name.  Lots of runs all over the place and lots of fast chair lifts.  I  would love to have been able to ski powder but there was none.  I WILL be back to do it one of theses days.

On our first day of skiing, we spent the morning just looking around and skiing a few runs.

Had a little lunch and refreshments while waiting for some of the Special Ops guys to show up at noon and take us around to some of their favorite runs. 

Here we are stopped at the famous statue of Jesus at the top of one of the runs.

These are some of the members of the MT Chapter.  And let me tell you most of these guys can really ski.

Connie, Brenda, and a daughter of one of the guys.

 

The statue of Jesus.

In the late afternoon we stopped in at the summit lodge and watched the end of the Seahawk - Vikings game.  The lodge was full of folks supporting their favorite team.  

A panorama of the summit.

The next day we skied with Kelly (wife of one of the guys we skied with the day before), Annette and Shawn from Missoula, Ike, Connie, and Brenda.

Connie coming through the trees.

Headed to the bottom at the end of the second day.  In the background you can see some of the lower ski area runs.  It is a big ski area.