Sheep Mountain Ski Weekend

I just got back from a mini-retreat ski weekend at Sheep Mountain, about 2.5 hours north/northeast of Anchorage. The owner of the lodge has this annual event with a bunch of her girl friends, whom Stephanie knows, and I got to tag along! We had a blast and it was well worth the somewhat scary road conditions through the mountains to get there.

I went cross-country skiing for the second time in my life (nearly 15 years after the first time) and managed to stay upright almost the whole time. It was a perfect ski day—bright sun, fresh snow, no wind. We also had an amazing view of Matanuska Glacier from the trail, especially as the sun started to sink below the mountains in late afternoon.

It was also a nice surprise to share the trail with a dogsled team who were training for the season and passed me several times back and forth!

After skiing, we cooked up a ton of amazing food in the lodge restaurant kitchen (which is closed for the season) and then walked it off under the bright full moon. It felt about zero degrees that evening, which we estimated since the insides of our nostrils were freezing. But after a time in the sauna and hot tub, we had to get back outside to cool off in the snow.

Who wants to come next year?