[outdoors]
MOUNTAIN HIGH
T
he white rooms in the backcountry are steadily filling with fresh and puffy Rocky Mountain snowfall. Many riders are already jonesing to rip it up, eyeing the NOAA online weather forecast hourly, pressing the refresh button and hoping a new storm appears on the radar. But there is another website to get cozy with: missoulaavalanche.org. Currently there isn’t enough data (i.e. snow) in the West Central Montana Avalanche Advisory to tell you how safe or dangerous backcountry conditions are, so in the meantime brush up on your skills and attend the
Avalanche Awareness lecture co-sponored by the University of Montana Outdoor Program and Missoula Avalanche. This one-hour lecture is a great opportunity to take in a refresher about the dangers and joys of backcountry skiing and boarding, not to mention hang out with other like-minded powder hounds. —Jason McMackin The Avalanche Awareness Lecture takes place Wed., Nov. 28, at 7 PM, in North Underground Lecture Hall on the UM campus from 7–8 PM. Free. Visit missoulaavalanche.org.
Photo by Chad Harder
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 22
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24
Before you gobble up Grandma Nell’s famous oyster stuffing this Thanksgiving, strap on the running shoes for Bozeman’s 6th annual Huffing For Stuffing Thanksgiving Day Run. There are 5K and 10K races, as well as a kids’ run and an un-timed 5K Fun Run/Walk. All events start and finish at the Museum of the Rockies. $20 to register but the kids’ race is free with a canned food donation. All the proceeds benefit the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. To register, visit huffingforstuffing.com. Forget the goose it’s all about the turkey at the Gobble Wobble 10K and 5K run at the Anaconda Country Club, 1521 Country Club Road, in Opportunity. This is the first year for the event, so ditch the fam and say you were there. 8:30 AM. $25. Register at anacondarunningclub.blogspot.com. Don’t be a turkey this Thanksgiving Day. Instead, strap on your skis and take a slide down Big Sky Resort’s slopes on opening day (weather permitting). Also, be sure to seek out a local and learn the locales of some of Montana’s best-hidden smoke shacks, or just take in the views from the Huntley Lodge. Visit bigskyresort.com. Do the Turkey Day 8K and 3K Family Fun Run before you do that voodoo that you do so well to your stomach at Aunt Jim-jam’s pad. The run begins at Toole Park (at the end of S. Fourth St. E.) and follows the Kim Williams Trail. The 3K family fun run is free (bring a canned food item, yo!), for a full list of rates for the 8K visit runwildmissoula.org.
Just don’t run on a full stomach during Run Wild Missoula’s Saturday Breakfast Club Runs, which occurs every Sat. at 8 AM at Runner’s Edge, 325 N. Higgins Ave. After the run/walk, you’ll grab breakfast with other participants. Free to run. Visit runwildmissoula.org.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23 Active outdoor lovers are invited to the Mountain Sports Club’s weekly meeting to talk about past glories and upcoming activities at Bigfork’s Swan River Inn. 6–8 PM. Free.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25 Closing day for fall hunts of black bears, mountain lions, bighorn sheep, moose, mountain goats, deer and elk.
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 28 UM’s Dr. Mark Hebblewhite talks big critters and collaborating with the Montana FWP during the Montana Natural History Center’s Evening Lecture, Carnivore-Ungulate Management in the 21st Century. 120 Hickory St. 7 PM. $4 suggested donation. Before you head out to the backcountry brush up on your snowpack knowledge at the UM Outdoor Program’s Avalanche Awareness Lecture. UM North Underground Lecture Hall. 7– 8 PM. Free.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29 Big time water enthusiast and one of Outside magazine’s “top ten ‘game changers’ in adventure since 1900,” Doug Ammons presents Riverscapes: The Geology and Human Culture of Rivers. though photos and personal experience Ammons explains how rivers shape our culture. Ravalli County Museum, 205 Bedford St. 6–8 PM. Free. calendar@missoulanews.com
missoulanews.com • November 22 – November 29, 2012 [33]