Avalanche!

We are now in Bozeman MT while skiing at Bridger Bowl as part of the annual Ski Hut trip.

This morning I had a lesson and my wife chose to stay in town. After the lesson I stopped at a mid=slope chalet for coffee and then went up for another run. I was so tired that I decided to ski back down to the base, have lunch, and then maybe go out again. This was about 11:30.

Some people in our group said that they had seen an avalanche from the lift and heard that people were in the area. Later Scott Neustel, owner of Ski Hut, came in looking distressed. He was on a nearby ridge when it happened and his group was told to stay put for a bit.

He had managed to take a picture of the avalanche and passed his camera around. Imagine the tree tops reaching to the bottom of an "e" in this text; the top of the avalanche cloud reached to the top of the "e". Some people said the snow was moving at 70-75 mph.

As of 4:43 MST, no one had been reported missing, but stories are circulating about close calls. The authorities are still checking by helicopter and snowmobile.

Anybody taking the lift to the high country is required to take a working transponder. But authorities never can be sure that somebody didn't take another route up.

When I drove back down, almost every turn out had people stopped and looking up at the mountains. I don't know what they could see other than a helicopter circling around.

Don't throw out the sports section!!

When we get the Sunday Duluth News Tribune, we separate out the glossy ads, the classifieds, and the sports section and put them into the recycling pile. We've been doing it for years, pausing at the sports section only if there is a human interest story on its front page.

For some reason a week ago I paused and said I should check for the Outdoors section on the last page of the sports section. Goodness, gracious, there was an article about Wes Neustel, former owner of Ski Hut and organizer of the annual Ski Hut trip to Bozeman MT. We know Wes, like thousands of others, and look forward to this trip.

Yesterday, I paused again before tossing the sports section on the recycling pile. On the Outdoors page was an article about Tim Bradach finding locked moose horns near his property in Brimson. Gosh, his and some friends' property is right across the road from ours. And double gosh, on Saturday I was musing on how long it was since we saw any moose tracks on our trails. The moose hadn't disappeared; we just hadn't looked hard enough.

I went to Wal-Mart today!

Here we sit in Bozeman MT ready to ski tomorrow as part of the annual Ski Hut trip. Tonight was the name tag party which was BYOB and BYOF, although there really was plenty of food.

So, we had to find somewhere to buy some drinks and food. From our hotel room we look out on a Wal-Mart and a huge parking lot. We checked at the front desk, and yes ,Wal-Mart sells beer and wine and can do so on Sunday.

What's the big deal about going to Wal-Mart? My regular readers know that I avoid going to big-box stores. I don't refuse to go to them, but if I can find a local store or restaurant, then I'll go there.

We walked out the front door of our hotel, through a gas station lot, down the street, and through the Wal-Mart parking lot. Inside was a humongous grocery store. We acknowledged the greeting of the big-box greeter and went on to get some of our usual super-fresh, super-nutritious stuff you can't get in a restaurant.

But I had no idea where the beer and wine was, and so I went back to the greeter. He graciously pointed out where they were. We added a six-pack of porter from a fifty-foot cooler with probably twice that many types of beer.

We pondered using the self-serve checkout but a neighboring cashier became free. She went on and on about having to put up with a smoker who just reeked of smoke even though he had no lit cigarette. We aided and abetted her with our sympathy.

The final indication of humanity in the midst of what many consider an impersonal monolith was the aforementioned greeter. He was busy helping some kids with a kid attraction by the door and thoroughly enjoying himself.

We probably will go back there a couple times this week. Not because Wal-Mart is a great place to shop, but because why should we drive all over town to learn where other shops are when we can just walk a few hundred feet?

See also "Why pick on McDonald's and Wal-Mart?"