Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/48532
Winter DONNIE SEXTON LIKE WINTER IN MONTANA? COMMENT ON DISTINCTLY MONTANA'S FB PAGE tana's oldest operating ski area. Montana winters have shaped George into one of the most interesting characters in the world of skiing. Whitefish, known in the summer as the gateway to Glacier National Park, transforms into a postcard from a Bing Crosby movie when the snow falls and the holiday decorations are installed, and serves up what may be the best please- everyone family ski resort in the country. But there is much more than downhill skiing and snowboarding. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking of Montana as one big cross-country skiing resort. No less than 2,278 miles of roads, fields, trails, and lakes are shaped into groomed Nordic venues each winter, on which thousands of happy gliders enjoy a sport that has been working more muscles than jogging or cycling for at least 7,000 years. In fact, the equipment that grooms much of the world's cross-country tracks is conceived and built by a man in West Yellowstone, Montana. Montana also boasts two enormous nature preserves that are perfect for visiting in the winter: Glacier and Yel- lowstone National Parks. Two of the most visited places in the country in the summer, they are virtually empty after being buried in 10, 20, or 30 feet of snow, but that does not mean they are any less accessible. Go to www.distinctlymontana.com/shape121 for more pictures of winter activities. www.distinctlymontana.com 15 Yellowstone's famous hot-spring-fed rivers stay thawed, attracting trumpeter swans, elk, deer, bison, and more all winter long. The roads, which follow alongside and are clogged with cars in the summer, "Once you get here, you never want to leave." HEATHER MCPHIE, OLYMPIC MOGUL SKIER, MONTANAN are abandoned DONNIE SEXTON save for specially built buses, called snowcoaches, come winter. These guided tours may be the most sure-fire way to see a sample of Yellowstone's wildlife, and those same roads are also open to snowmo- biles, cross-country skiers, and snowshoers. Some of the northern sections of the Park are still open to passenger cars, including the hotel and village at Mammoth Hot Springs. The luckiest group of people in the world might be those that have been tipped off to one of Gla- DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL DONNIE SEXTON MIKE HARRELSON DONNIE SEXTON