Skiing Old Faithful

Regular readers of this column will know that although I certainly enjoy downhill skiing, cross-country is a particular passion of mine. Here's a quick reminiscence about one experience that fired that passion; call it my private Yellowstone.

Throughout the first half of the 19th century, fur trappers returning from the Wyoming wilderness told tall tales of wooded mountains, wild rivers roaring through deep canyons and valleys carpeted with hell holes spouting boiling water 200 feet in the air. In 1872, just one year after the first official expedition confirmed that the trapper's tales weren't so tall, Congress set aside 2.2 million acres of this wilderness wonderland as the world's first national park.

The establishment of Yellowstone National Park marked a milestone in mankind's relationship with nature. Instead of being turned over to private developers, the natural wilderness would forever be preserved for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations.

Ideas about how to preserve wilderness have changed over the years, but Yellowstone remains a showcase of nature's wonders. Centered in an ancient volcanic caldera, the park contains some 10,000 hydro-thermal features, gushing geysers, boiling hot springs and bubbling mud pools. Elk, bison, bear, moose and, now, wolves freely roam the vast preserve.

Yet, with more than four million human visitors each year, many who arrive from April through October find crowds and traffic jams similar to what they left at home. Even more disheartening, fewer than 5 percent of those visitors ever venture further than a few hundred yards from their vehicles.

But, as I discovered several Februarys ago, for those who appreciate gliding across a spectacular, steaming, snow-deep valley can still experience Yellowstone's solitary majesties.

Yellowstone encourages visitors to come when the snow is deep. The Hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs on the park's northern boundary is kept open in winter. No other roads are plowed, but a fleet of 20 funky but functional Bombardier snow coaches carrying up to ten passengers provide regular shuttle service into the park's interior and its major points of interest, including the Old Faithful area and its venerable Snow Lodge.

On our trip, my older son, a friend and I flew from Pittsburgh to Jackson, Wyo. and took a one-hour bus transfer to Flagg Ranch, an overgrown motel at the park's south entrance from which the snow coaches depart each morning. Unfortunately, the scheduling of the flights make it impossible to arrive early enough in the day to catch a ride, necessitating an overnight at Flagg Ranch.

From there, it was a bumpy but beautiful 40-mile snow coach journey to Geyser Country, near Old Faithful. There are comfortable accommodations at the venerable Old Faithful Snow Lodge, a well-run and recently renovated establishment, which is staffed largely by young people who appreciate world class cross-country skiing.

The cross-country ski trails in Geyser Valley lace around and through the world's largest concentration of thermal features, roaring geysers, bubbling hot springs and opalescent steaming pools. They pass elk and bison grazing in the Firehole River. This is a magnificent tour in any season, but winter's cold certainly enhances the steaming, thermal effects.

Unfortunately, armadas of snowmobiles regularly charge through Geyser Valley, destroying the silence. While it's easy to resent their intrusion, their presence is also easy to escape.

For other well-marked trails of varying length and difficulty, head up into the hills that surround the valley, far from the maddening, motorized din of the park's main road.

The six-mile slog up to Mallard Lake trail was some of the steepest, most demanding skiing I've ever done, but the still chill of the silent frozen lake remains as fresh in my memory as if I were there yesterday. Howard Eaton trail leads up through a forest of fire- spindled trees to a clutch of less visited geysers.

One adventurous afternoon, we took the trail up over Grant Pass, cresting the Continental Divide at 8,000 feet, where the snow pack was dozens of feet deep, burying the forest to the treetops. The snow coaches also provide shuttles to other superb ski touring spots, like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

I experienced myriad magical moments on that trip, but standing in the shimmering darkness as Old Faithful did its dance of the ages only for me is one I'll never forget.

For information on seeing Yellowstone in winter, call 307-344-7311 or visit www.travelyellowstone.com.

My Oct 8 column prompted Randy Horbal, a reader who lives in Johnstown, to write about his collection of 400 to 500 snow domes. An avid snow dome collector for the last decade, Horbal became a creator when he was unable to find domes with Western Pennsylvania themes.

So far, Horbal has designed five different snow domes and had them manufactured. His first two efforts, one commemorating "Punxsutawney -- Home of the Groundhog," the other, "The Ferris Wheel -- Invented in Pittsburgh," are high-quality, glass globes manufactured in Vienna.

The three other globes, "Pittsburgh -- Pierogi Capital of the World," "The Whiskey Rebellion" and "The Pennsylvania Canal," are less expensive plastic models.

If you're looking for unique, collectible Christmas presents, all five of Horbal's snow domes are available at Topiary, on Castle Shannon Boulevard in Mt. Lebanon, 412-561-0406, or from a California company, Global Shakeup, 323-259-8988 or www.snowdomes.com.