Thanks for your votes, comments & spreading the good ski bum word last month. I made it as a top 10 finalist out of 300+ people in the 2012 Ultimate Ski Bum Contest. A $30,000 dream three month ski trip in BC.
They require the top 10 “ski bums” to make a 90 second video saying why the Kootenay Rockies tourism board in British Columbia should pick them to be their “ski bum” this year.
Check out the video we made for the contest. I would love to have you check it out! After all its a social media contest. If you would please send this out to family, friends, co-workers, etc… that would be great, but I totally understand if you don’t.
The Associated Press even did a brief on me. Making it to main stream media as a ski bum. WOW!
WHITEFISH, Mont. (AP) — A 32-year-old Whitefish man is in the running to be named the “Ultimate Ski Bum,” a title that comes with a prize package worth about $30,000.
Craig Moore recently became one of 10 finalists for the title that’s being sponsored by the Kootenay Rockies tourism board in British Columbia. Moore has skied at least one day every month for the last four years and beat out about 300 other wanna-be ski bums through online voting.
His next step is to submit a 90-second video showing him at his ski-bum best and why he deserves the title. A winner will be announced Dec. 14. The winner receives a pack of eight season passes to ski areas in British Columbia, along with helicopter trips, lodging, gas and a rental car for three months.
“It would be a pretty regimented winter,” said Moore, a member of the Flathead Nordic Backcountry Ski Patrol. “I would have to take a three-month sabbatical from Whitefish and spend three months up north, which I would have absolutely no problem doing.”
Moore skies about 150 days a year, about 70 at Whitefish Mountain Resort and another 80 in the surrounding backcountry. That was part of his plan to see if he could ski at least once every month within about 100 miles of Whitefish.
“I was just curious, ‘Is this something I could do?’” he said. “I figured it would be a good personal project.”
This month he reached 48 months in a row, during that time skiing throughout Glacier National Park, as well as in the Swan range and Whitefish range.
Yesterday my good friend and I Sonny headed up Logan Pass for a September 1 ski day. We have skied many of days from deep December powder to icy summer stuff. This year we were blessed with 3″ of smooth butter snow! It was a great way to ski my 46th month in a row of skiing year round within 75 miles of Whitefish. Who knows what this years La Niña holds…
Looking up Bird Woman Basin in Glacier National Park.
Bird Woman Falls – all 492 feet of her with a fresh coating of snow.
Logan Pass got it’s first 3″ of snow on September 1, 2011 with the famous the Going-to-the-Sun Road in the back left.
Logan Pass visitor center with 3″ of September 1, 2011 snow.
Logan Pass finally opened Wednesday July 13, 2011 the latest we have ever had to wait for the entire Going-to-the-Sun Road to open. It took road crews longer than normal following our epic winter snow pack and cool snowy spring in Northwest Montana. As always its wild to see all the tourist in flip flops playing in the snow. We headed up for some July skiing and hit 44 months in a row of skiing year round within 75 miles of the Flathead Valley.
Snowy Logan Pass with the upper section of Going-to-the-Sun Road in the middle left.
High Line trail and Going-to-the-Sun Road.
The Going-to-the-Sun Road has 30 foot high snow banks in sections.
I just got back from a week in Big Sky, Montana. The weather gave us a little bit of everything from sub zero temps, 90+ mph winds to dead calm bluebird powder days off the tram. I meet up with two local good friends Joe Turner and Brad Biolo for a few days of telemark madness at Big Sky Resort and a sunset tour in the Beehive and Middle Basin.
Kyle Taylor was in town for a few days over Christmas and we skied the resort and hiked some. Zak Anderson with Montana Ski Company came along the day we skied Skookoleel to Seven Sisters. We had some great weather during the holiday season at Whitefish Mountain Resort “Big Mtn” Oh and some great side country access.
Kyle making some big turns in the soft snow.
Kyle booting up Hellroaring.
Kyle digging through the new Blackjack pack by Mystery Ranch.
Dropping in Hellroaring.
Zak coming down Skookoleel.
Kyle at the bottom of Skookoleel before the Seven Sisters.
Last June Dan, Jason and I headed out to bike, hike and ski Divide Mountain. The summit is on the boarder of Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. We were planning on skiing the north face of the mountain but the snow pack didn’t hold up to much so we skied the chutes on the northeast side back towards the plains. Divide Mountain is so named for a couple reasons, its summit exactly straddles the border between Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and partly due to the rather unusual division (or dividing) of ownership and management of the mountain itself. The Blackfeet Nation owns and manages, 25.89% of the mountain; the U.S. Forest Service manages 50.0% and the National Park Service manages 24.11%.
Getting ready at the truck. We decided not to ride our bikes since the mud was so thick.
Jason working his way up towards the ridge.
Jason gets another layer on before heading out to scout our line.
Jason checking out what’s below this roll over.
Jason and I went higher up to see what we could ski towards the north east.
Jason goes up the ridge searching for a ski line.
We scrambled up the ridge towards the summit but since the snow was so thin on the north side we turned around and skied the northeast side.
Divide Mountain’s summit, the north face is on lookers right. We skied the east side.
Jason and I head back to the old lookout to find Dan before dropping in. It’s pretty cool looking out from Divide Mountain and seeing miles of flat land.
Jason and Dan get geared up before heading out to ski down Divide Mtn.
Dan making some turns in the lower open area below the lookout.
Dan goes flying by towards the plains. The next set of hills are some 2,000 miles east towards New England.
Our ski lines in the lower open section below the Northeast side of Divide Mtn.
Dan and Jason make their way back towards the truck after skiing Divide Mtn.
A few of my Mystery Ranch Backpacks and gear dry off in the front yard after I hosed the mud off them following our June ski.
