There’s always snow in Cooke City. But a solid 4-to-6 feet in mid-December is pretty darn good for the Rockies even if your in the local snowbelt. Needless to say it was perfect conditions for breaking in a new hut system, and getting back into the touring mode.
Out of the Zimmer Yurt, which lies at the fringe of the Beartooths, we experienced knee deep butter runs and powder bowls next to blue ice. A long tour through a blizzard brought us to a cozy mountain cabin, and numerous laps in high alpine basins with sub-zero wind chills. Hopping over a pass, we dropped into long tubes filled with soft snow, which funnelled into a valley, past mining relics, and eventually spit us into Cooke City proper.
A day well spent…
