Early ski in Yellowstone

--- GR wrote:
Is there reliable snow around Thanksgiving in
Yellowstone for XC?
What is the quality of said snow?

I have only been there once, two years ago, and it was
a "bad" snow year. Everyone was commenting on how
unusual it was not to have snow. Usually you can ski
right out the hotel door and onto the Rendevous
trails. The trails are very smooth. The year I went
there was no snow when we arrived. We rollerskied a
couple of days. Then the New Englanders, seeing lots
of white on the higher hills, drove way out on the
"plateau" road and found some good skiing at about
8500 ft of elevation. Then it snowed. We did one
more day of skiing on the plateau. Then it snowed
more and we were able to ski on the rendevous trails.
So even in a bad year I got it plenty of skiing.

Other advice:
Bring warm clothes. It can easily go below zero.
Visit the "Wolf and Bear Discovery Center". Worth the
whole trip.
Eat lunch at the "Free heel and wheel".
Bring a camera.
Don't bring kick wax - between Swix and Toko you
should be able to get free wax jobs everyday :

Rob Bradlee


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Rob Bradlee
Java, C++, Perl, XML, OOAD, Linux, and Unix Training