Skiing At Red Lodge

Today's post is all about the fun weekend we had skiing in Red Lodge, MT! We made plans a long time ago with friends of ours from North Dakota to meet up for a ski trip and Red Lodge was the perfect place because it was more or less meeting in the middle for both of us.

Jeff and I drove down on Thursday night last week, after I was done with school. We stayed at the Pollard Hotel, which is right on Broadway in the center of town. It was a neat, old historic hotel that had been restored, with an excellent bar and restaurant on site. We ate in the restaurant on Friday evening. I had a really good dish of clams in a chorizo broth and Jeff had a steak. Great food!

Saturday evening, Valentine's Day, we enjoyed drinks at a lovely wine bar called Bridge Creek Backcountry Kitchen and Wine Bar. We had actually stopped there for wine and appetizers before dinner the first night, too. We had the cheese plate, which was good, but the tuna steak tartare was outstanding! The wine we had each time was really great, too. Even though our dinner at the Pollard was really good, after discussing it later, Jeff and I both agree that we sort of wish we had made our full dinner reservation for this place instead. They had some really interesting looking dishes on the menu and again, the wine selection was great, too. Next time!

Our main dinner event on Saturday night for Valentine's Day was reservations at Carbon County Steakhouse.  I noticed on our way in to our table that this place was a Wine Spectator award winner. It definitely lived up to expectations! We enjoyed appetizers of cast iron seared mussels with drawn butter, which was perfectly cooked and so, so delicious. Then, we each chose a beef entree for our main course. Jeff had a steak with crab and hollandaise sauce, I had beef strogonoff, and our friends shared a Delmonico.  Everything was outstanding! I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Red Lodge, and I can't wait to go back myself!

I didn't take any photos of the food and wine portion of our trip because I wanted to enjoy dinner and our company without pulling out my cell phone. You'll just have to click on the website links to get an idea of what they have and imagine it for yourself! 

I did get a few photos of our skiing adventures, though! 

Standing at the summit of the mountain!
The ever-flattering ski photo... 

The weather while we were in town was unbelievably warm-- in the 40s and 50s! And sunny! Definitely spring skiing conditions. I'll admit that I was really skeptical that the snow would be any good while we were there, but it far exceeded expectations. The snow was soft and fun, easy to ski! 

Jeff and I both worked on a lot of skills to continue getting better at skiing. He's now much more of a daredevil than I am, taking on black diamond mogul runs. I did get better at maneuvering around bumps this time, which I am proud of, but not as confident as he is. I still find that I love to fly fast down groomers more than anything else! I think over the course of the two days, I'm most happy with how I continued to regain confidence and skill on my skis. 

Clockwise from top left: Tyler and Shannon riding the chair ahead of us, Jeff after pounding out a black diamond mogul run, view over the side of the mountain, Valentine's day sign, and ski selfie!

The most unfortunate part of the skiing was that about half the mountain was closed due to lack of snowfall. We would have loved to have been over on those faces to check out that terrain, but the mountain was big enough to keep us entertained over the course of two days, especially as our skills and confidence continued to grow. They desperately needed snow at Red Lodge and we did have to be pretty cautious as we skied to be on the lookout for rocks, grass, dirt, and bushes poking out. All the same, as I mentioned, the snow conditions far exceeded my expectations and the overall lack of snow did not keep us from having a great time! 

Having a great time!

What really made the weekend great, more than the skiing and the excellent food and drink we enjoyed, was spending time with our friends Tyler and Shannon! We have been really lucky to meet them through our involvement with Farmers Union and this was the perfect way to get to know them even better. We had some great conversation and some really fun times, whether chillin' at the chalet on the mountain, at the hotel, or over a delicious dinner. It seems like we are all compatible travel companions. When you find people you travel well with, you should hold on to them! Just too bad we don't live closer together! Although, Red Lodge makes a pretty fantastic meeting place! 

Left: Jeff and Tyler skiing down a long run. Top right: Jeff starting his hockey stop. Bottom Right: Shannon cruising on her snowboard!

Our Red Lodge weekend was definitely a success and a lot of fun on many levels. Now, Jeff and I are not sure if we'll have another chance to go skiing this winter. Things get pretty busy for us as we are heading into calving season. There may be a chance to sneak down to Showdown one more time-- you never know. For now, we're not packing up the skis for the winter yet! 

How was your weekend? Any highlights?

Jeff had flowers and chocolate delivered to our room on Saturday afternoon.
Big surprise when I walked in and saw them!