Last February I headed north for the Coldsmoke Freeride at Lost Trail Powder Mountain on the border of Montana and Idaho. I ended up driving a day early because a huge storm was hitting and I didn’t want to drive through it. So I figured I might as well ski the day before the contest, with 5-10 inches forecasted it would be a fun day. Only it wasn’t 5-10 inches, it was 25-30 inches because of frigid temps the night before.

I showed up with the fattest skis I had, the 118mm underfoot InThayne, the snow was so light I was shredding up to my chest in pow. There’s a reason they call it “Powder Mountain”. To top it off, I stayed at a hot spring close by, barely waited in any lift lines, and only paid $50 for a lift ticket. Everyone was absolutely losing their minds over the snow, hooting and hollering from every chair as you skied by, pure joy and stoke.

Lost Trail isn’t close to any major population centers, so it’s much more down to earth than anywhere I normally ski. No scene, no hotel, no glitz and glamor, just unadulterated skiing. Can’t get much better than that. Can’t wait to get back there!