I flew into Spokane on the afternoon of 2/26/14 and was picked up by my friend John who had driven from Seattle in his trusty Subaru. We had been thinking we would head up into BC, but after I read him the forecasts, I managed to talk him into a longer trip into West-Central Montana.
I took the wheel and John started making some calls for lodging. He booked us into the Sula Country Store, where, for $140 we got: (1) a small, heated cabin with two beds, (2) breakfast of two three-egg omelets, hash browns, homemade biscuits and all the coffee we could drink, and (3) two lift tickets. The blazing stars at night and views of the bald eagle fishing the river right next to our cabin in the morning were complimentary.
LTPM is only open Thursday - Sunday. It didn't snow Wednesday night, but it had snowed 14 inches since the lifts had last spun. The area is East-facing and lower-elevation aspects facing somewhat to the south were a bit sun-crusted. Almost everything else was dense powder with the exception of short stashes of lighter powder in the trees on the steeper, North-facing ridges that run down from the number 1 and number 4 chairs. Definitely not cold smoke, but it all skied very nicely.
The weather veered quickly back and forth from sunny to intense snow squalls most of the day. By mid afternoon, the base had warmed up to just above freezing and the locals had mostly split. We were told it was the warmest, heaviest day of the the season.
We skied to closing bell, and the place was not even close to tracked out. LTPM has a really family-friendly vibe, and everybody was happy to share information that made it fairly easy to seek out some of the best snow and terrain. LTPM skis much bigger than I expected it to based upon the stats and the trail map. The resort could use a little more steep and North-facing terrain, but the low skier density, apparently abundant snowfall, decent altitude and relaxed, friendly vibe would bring me back in a heartbeat. I also think it would be a terrific place to learn powder skiing basics.
I took the wheel and John started making some calls for lodging. He booked us into the Sula Country Store, where, for $140 we got: (1) a small, heated cabin with two beds, (2) breakfast of two three-egg omelets, hash browns, homemade biscuits and all the coffee we could drink, and (3) two lift tickets. The blazing stars at night and views of the bald eagle fishing the river right next to our cabin in the morning were complimentary.
LTPM is only open Thursday - Sunday. It didn't snow Wednesday night, but it had snowed 14 inches since the lifts had last spun. The area is East-facing and lower-elevation aspects facing somewhat to the south were a bit sun-crusted. Almost everything else was dense powder with the exception of short stashes of lighter powder in the trees on the steeper, North-facing ridges that run down from the number 1 and number 4 chairs. Definitely not cold smoke, but it all skied very nicely.
The weather veered quickly back and forth from sunny to intense snow squalls most of the day. By mid afternoon, the base had warmed up to just above freezing and the locals had mostly split. We were told it was the warmest, heaviest day of the the season.
We skied to closing bell, and the place was not even close to tracked out. LTPM has a really family-friendly vibe, and everybody was happy to share information that made it fairly easy to seek out some of the best snow and terrain. LTPM skis much bigger than I expected it to based upon the stats and the trail map. The resort could use a little more steep and North-facing terrain, but the low skier density, apparently abundant snowfall, decent altitude and relaxed, friendly vibe would bring me back in a heartbeat. I also think it would be a terrific place to learn powder skiing basics.
