Summer Turns in the Beartooth’s

While most skiers hang up their sticks following their local closing day, Team Aztech member and Freeride World Tour athlete Ray McDermott continues to find snow well into the summer. This past Memorial Day Weekend Ray made the nine-hour drive north from Boulder, CO to the border of Wyoming and Montana to the secluded Beartooth Mountain Range for a long weekend of skiing, snowmobiling, and camping with friends.

 

 

The off-the-beaten-path Beartooth Mountain range is situated between the southern border of Montana and northern Wyoming. Only accessible by car in the summer, the Beartooth Highway is a 68 mile road that runs through the two states and leads into Yellowstone National Park at its Northeast Entrance. Along that highway, above 10,000 ft. you’ll find Beartooth Basin, a ski resort started in the 1960’s catering to die-hards in search of 12 months of skiing.

 

Beartooth Basin postcard circa 1964 and present day

 

Topping off at 10,947ft, the high-alpine highway is one of the only easily accessible skiable zones in the United States during the summer months. Depending on snowfall from the winter, plentiful options of terrain can be accessed via hike-to, touring and snowmobiling.

 

 

Days in the Beartooth’s are simple– wake up, hit the mountain, then return to camp to cook up a massive dinner to replenish the calories exhasuted on the hill. As the sun sets, campfire games are a must. “With little to no cell service at all in the region, spending time connecting with friends, in nature, in a remote zone, just hits the spot. Especially so after this weird year”, Ray says.