The last two days of our trip were devoted to downhill skiing. We were advised against our original plan to go to Jackson Hole, since it is supposed to be too dangerous and too crowded. Instead, Big Sky, Montana, a small ski resort below a huge mountain located just west of Yellowstone, should be our choice. So it was.
We arrived on Friday night, staying 10 miles from the resort in the Big Sky
village. Outdoor spa at the hotel was a pleasant diversion after two days of camping. On
Saturday, we rejected leaflet advertisement and asked locally for a ski rental place. The
result was a small local shop with good equipment and prices 40% below the resort rental.
There were no clouds, beautiful sunny day. Perfect beginning of the day.
The resort covers two mountains, both with excellent trails. We started with the
groomed ones, just to get back in shape after two years without skiing. Soon we changed to
black-diamond slopes to test our abilities. The culmination came after the lunch, when we
took a lift all the way up to the peak from which only extremely steep slopes (double
black diamond) lead down. 
The views were amazing, one could see Grand Teton in a distance. We took
the easiest possible route down, which was still far steeper than anything we did
before (however, far not as difficult as a famous "Couloir run", which went down
a steep and narrow gorge on the vertical site of the mountain - almost nobody attempted
that). We managed our descent well, without even a single fall.
Sunday turned out to be as beautiful as Saturday and thanks to the Super Ball, even
less people were on the slopes. 
Perfect skiing all day long. At four o'clock in the afternoon, when the
slopes closed, we returned our skies and set out for our trip home. We drove till
about 9pm, stayed overnight at a motel and continued on Monday. Later in the afternoon,
when we got into the range of Minnesota Public Radio, we learned that an ice storm is
coming from the south to Minnesota. Despite all our calculation tweaks, it was obvious
that we will get stuck in the storm for about the last 100 miles. And so it happened.
Fortunately, the roads did not freeze up and we were able to get home safely - we just had
to slow down considerably.
Another great trip...
