I know I say this all the time, but.. life is so incredible isn’t it?

I don’t know what took me so long, but something in my life here in montana finally turned the corner and I am getting all kinds of invites to do incredible things and my dance card is mostly full. I’m getting back to the way my calendar was always full of adventures with awesome people in oregon. I’ve missed it, but the nest part is that now I have all the time in the world to take off to do any and all trips I get invited on! (hello, middle fork of the salmon!!) it might sound stupid, but I feel like I have been working on my rad skills for a few years now and I finally feel comfortable with my radness level. lol. especially compared to everyone else. I always belittle my abilities and experience.

it’s been awesome skiing this season when I can literally feel how strong my legs are. I surprise myself often. I feel how strong of a skier I’ve become and it actually blows me away. when I was down climbing the top pitch into the icy entrance of the mullet on the last day of skiing at big sky in a whiteout blizzard, I found myself calm and gathered, in complete control. all the while Ted staring up at me from the top of the couloir, waiting, and I was wondering what he must be thinking of me. it says a lot about a person who is willing to stick to the mission in those conditions and still enjoy it. I realize now it’s horrifying to most and I can’t take just about anyone back there. and finally have accepted that not everyone’s skiing/billy-goating abilities are exactly matched here.

I don’t know how to really put it down into words, but I have always knows that my badassness usually is a notch above the general public and even those who venture out into the wilderness. but now I finally believe it. maybe I have been putting myself out there long enough that it seems a lot of people in my life now have the mentality that if they’re doing something awesome: Tiia will go.

lessons learned in cooke city deliver a stout knowledge that bozeman amateur hour gathers there and I shouldn’t meddle with little boys with sleds who don’t know what they’re doing. and that I actually know better. I never appreciate my own guiding abilities but when you’re suddenly tossed into a group without any genuine mountain experience, it makes me realize how good I am at it. idiots. that was hilarious, interesting and retarded. lol.

I am living my best life. I am laying in bed this morning after trying to get my work done before turning off my computer and signing out to spend the next 5 days skiing in the tobacco roots. Bell lake yurt! got my best friends in town!