Space Available in March Ski Education Sessions!

Participants have a good time learning to ski and skiing to learn

If you are looking for a fun, educational, and covid-conscious activity for your child this winter, Crosscut Mountain Sports Center has a few spots left in our Ski Education Session Programs in March! These half-day programs are designed for homeschool and remote learning students in grades K-8 and meet once a week for the whole month. 

We currently have availability in our Monday afternoon session and Thursday morning and afternoon sessions. 

Check here for more information and to register or email us with questions at skieducation@crosscutmt.org. 

Sign your child up today to experience nordic skiing and place-based education in the Bridger mountains!

Diving into Nordic Ski Racing with Dani Aravich

Written by Dani Aravich, Team Crosscut and USA Paralympic Athlete

Dani racing at Soldier Hollow this January

Racing can be intimidating.  Racing in a sport that you only started a year ago is more intimidating. And being new to a sport at the age of 24 is overwhelming.

But lucky for me, I have Team Crosscut.

I arrived at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center on January 1, parked my car, and walked into the stadium feeling completely and utterly disoriented and out of place.  There were so many people testing skis, club teams taking jogs around the parking lot, and dozens of wax benches set up.  I looked around in a panic hoping to find Coach Seth.  After spotting his silver truck, I hustled over and felt relief as I asked him and the other Crosscut members a million questions.

“What is the course for tomorrow?”

“Do I leave my skis with you or should I take them with me?”

“What type of wax are you putting on?”

“What is a technique zone?”

“How early do I need to be here before the race?”

“What is a ‘feed’?”

“Am I going to finish last in this race?!”

Let me give some background as to why I am clueless in this nordic ski world.  I am a Paralympic hopeful track & field runner suddenly turned nordic skier.  As a former college cross country and track athlete, I started training full-time to compete in Paralympic sport a year and a half ago.  As I was training for track & field, a Team USA Paralympic Nordic ski coach invited me to try out the sport at a developmental camp in Breckenridge, Colorado last winter.  I stepped on those narrow little Fischer skis and was hooked.

Now just a year later, I am training at Crosscut Mountain Center and with the Paralympic National Nordic Ski team.  I was not able to ski a lot last winter due to my track & field season and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Nordic skiing is a lot to process, and it is a very technical sport.  There are two different techniques to learn, there is a significant amount of equipment involved, and a lot of maintenance/care for said equipment. 

I am still learning.  But luckily, I have some incredible individuals between Team Crosscut and the US Paralympic Nordic staff helping me through the learning process.  

Over the race weekend at Soldier Hollow, fellow teammates Felicia, Ingrid, and Anna previewed the course with me, explaining what their race plan would be at certain turns or hills.  Coaches Seth and Cully answered my one million questions.

This was my third ski race EVER, and the first time without the Paralympic staff and athletes there.  I had never raced able-bodied athletes, let alone some of the best collegiate and pro skiers in the country.  And guess what?  I did get last in my sprint race.  And that is okay.  Because I am new, I am learning.  Without the support of Team Crosscut, I may not have showed up the following day for the distance race.  I was provided valuable feedback and encouraged, and guess what? I beat someone in the distance race on Sunday!

Beating a single person in a race of 80 people may not seem like much, but it was something.  I am so appreciative to have the opportunity to learn and grow in this crazy sport of Nordic skiing with the support of Team Crosscut.  

Vincent Bonnaci Checks In With an IBU Cupdate (cup-update!)

Written by Vincent Bonnaci, Team Crosscut Athlete

This December, I was selected to race on the IBU Cup for the US Biathlon Team, and I just wrapped up the first two rounds of racing in Arber, Germany. This year, the participation quota for IBU Cups was increased so each country could send more athletes to the races, making these some of the biggest races I have ever done; some of the races have more than 160 competitors, making the experience that much more fun. I have been focusing on learning as much as possible from each race, and slowly trying to make improvements from day to day. I was incredibly happy to cap off my time in Arber with my best sprint race to date, hitting 8/10 targets and skiing smoothly, but I still know I can definitely improve in some areas which gets me excited for the races to come. 

The next round of racing is the Open European Championships in Duszniki, Poland, and so far I am loving the course and range here. The snow is fast, the terrain skis very well, and everyone is psyched to be here.  The first race is the 20k individual, which is by far the longest biathlon race I have done, but I am going into it with no expectations and just a few simple focuses and I will see how it goes.

If anybody has any questions they would like to ask me about biathlon, I can be reached easily through my social media channels, ig: @vbonacc, or just Vincent Bonacci on Facebook.

Sacagawea Classic Event - Rescheduled for 2022

POSTPONED This Year. RESCHEDULED for February 12, 2022

With cautious approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and a desire to host a premier ski event, we’ve decided to postpone this year’s Sacagawea Classic. The event and suite of races will now take place on February 12, 2022.

Join us in thanking and acknowledging our sponsors, notably our title sponsor First Security Bank, Excel Physical Therapy, Bank of Bozeman, Tanoshi, Dee-O-Gee, Hilton Garden Inn, Bangtail Bikes and XC Ski and Townsend Collective, and our volunteers and community members who have already put so much into hosting a great event.

You can read more about what we’ve been planning here.

Check back for details as they progress. See you in 2022!

Max Durtschi Checks In From the World Cup

by Max Durtschi, Team Crosscut and US Biathlon Athlete

*Written on Dec. 24, 2020

Greetings from Ramsau, Austria, the home of US Biathlon for the holiday break. Having just finished the first four World Cups in Kantiolahti, Finland and Hochfilzen, Austria we are looking forward to some recharging before heading to Oberhof, Germany for World Cup 5!

US Biathlon's season began with a pre-season World Cup camp in Vuokatti, Finland. We spent two weeks in Vuokatti skiing on their tracks and taking advantage of their ski tunnel and other World-Class facilities. I personally enjoyed getting on snow and practicing technique in some softer conditions. Because much of the World Cup season takes place in central Europe, being confident in wet, soft snow is very important.

We finished off our camp with some training races against national team biathletes from Ukraine, Finland, and Bulgaria. These races were a great way to wake up the body as I had not raced on snow since last March in Minsk, Belarus. I felt good on skis and solid in the range, cleaning the sprint race and shooting well in the individual.

After our training camp, we traveled to the site of World Cups 1 and 2 in Kantiolahti, Finland. This venue was fantastic with some challenging hills and a range that often sees strong wind. The conditions were pretty soft which made the steep hills even more challenging. The range conditions oscillated daily and this gave us a great chance to practice wind shooting!

In Hochfilzen, we finally experienced consistent sunshine which was wonderful after spending nearly a month in the darkness of northern scandinavia. Snow conditions were good as well with a little more natural snow mixed into the track.

So far, the biggest change to this season has been the COVID-19 protocols. Overall, I have been very impressed with the efforts made by both US Biathlon as well as the International Biathlon Union (IBU). Using protocols put together by our medical staff, we travelled overseas and have done our best to mitigate risk while in hotels. As a team we have made some sacrifices including subdividing into pods in order to prevent potential spread within our team, but have found ways to enjoy each other's company nonetheless!

In addition, the IBU has done a great job keeping us athletes safe! These measures include: frequent testing (roughly every 4-5 days), restricted hotels, charter flights, and (unfortunately) prohibiting fans at the venues. For our time at the venue our sponsors Maloja and Sunlight have provided us a team RV which we can use to safely relax, while maintaining strict protocols.

I wish everyone safe and healthy holidays! We hope that Crosscut has some great conditions!

Dog Days, Night & Uphill Skiing

We've received enough snow for daily grooming, setting classic skiing tracks on most trails and launching community favorites like Dog Days, Night and Uphill Skiing. Read more in detail, below and remember to always check the daily grooming report for trails that have been groomed that day.

Dog Days
Day Ticket and Season Pass Holders are welcome to ski with dogs after 3pm on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays.  Dogs must be under control from their humans and, of course, the humans are required to pick up after their dog.  Bow-wow-wow!  Read more here. 

Night Skiing

Night Skiing on the Lighted Loop is open Mondays and Thursdays, from 4–8PM. Day pass, season pass, or night skiing pass required for Night Skiing access.

Uphill Skiing 
Uphill tickets must be reserved by everyone whether you're a season pass holder or not. This is in order to comply with requests by Search and Rescue and Bridger Bowl during the pandemic. Crosscut will allow a maximum number of ten uphill skiers allowed each day. To maintain this number, non-season pass holders can buy an Uphill Ticket up to 48 hours in advance.

Purchase of a Season Pass includes uphill ticket access at no additional charge, but you must call the Nordic Center (406) 586-9690 or stop by the ticket window in order to reserve a ticket. This reservation can also be made up to 48 hours in advance. Please know there will be random patrols/checking of tickets in order to confirm reservations. All uphill skiers should be prepared to show proof of reservation while skiing.   Thank you for your cooperation!  

Read more about Uphill Skiing Access and purchase your ticket here. 

US Paralympics Nordic Ski Team Race This Saturday, 1/9/21

Team USA Paralympics Nordic Skiing will be hosting a race at Crosscut on Saturday morning. The course, highlighted in the map image below, will be closed from 9am - 11am so please plan your outing from Lots A, B or C accordingly. You can find a full trail map here, or on mobile apps Trail Forks and Avenza. Use caution when crossing over the race course.

Due to COVID-19 spectators are not allowed. If you are on another trail and see the racers on course, we welcome your cheers!

Thanks for your cooperation!

Crosscut Season Opening - Delayed

Due to unseasonably warm temps the past few days, Crosscut will not be able to open to the public on December 12, as we originally planned.

At this time we do not have another proposed opening date as it is entirely dependent on conditions.  We will keep you posted and be in touch when we have more information to pass along.

Season pass holders may still recreate at Crosscut.  Be prepared for extremely variable conditions on the lower trails ranging from icy hard pack surfaces to dirt.

Anticipate having to hike across bare patches to reach the upper trails.  No grooming will be done until we get more snow.  As a reminder, you can check grooming and conditions here. 

You are welcome to hike and dogs are welcome Monday through - Friday only.  Please, NO Dogs allowed on weekends until Crosscut formally opens.  Then, dogs are welcome Monday, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons after 3pm.   Athletic teams will continue to train on weekends and we can not allow dogs to run onto the Biathlon Range during practice sessions.  Arrrf!

At this time, we will not be offering online day pass purchases, uphill tickets, private ski lessons or rental equipment reservations.  These tickets and services will become available after Crosscut is officially open for the season.

In the meantime, you may continue to sign up for our lesson series in January and February, and you may also purchase gift cards online.  Find more here.