The Mountain Ear, November 2025

Sometime in early 2024, I stopped being fun. It wasn't permanent, and it didn't come about because I woke up one morning and decided that I didn't want to have fun anymore. It was subtle and insidious, but it happened nonetheless.

To be clear, I still did fun things. I just didn't plan them as often, and when invited to do fun things, I seemed to have a fairly serious case of the nopes. When a dear friend with whom I had done an annual backpacking trip suggested scheduling that year's instance, I didn't say "no," I just neglected to find a time slot on my calendar that would work. In some instances when I made plans that should have been fun, I was tired or grouchy and didn't have as much fun as I should have and even took away from the fun of the people I was with.

I wasn't trying to avoid fun things or the people in my life that I typically do fun things with. I was just busy. Work was particularly demanding during this period, and I had convinced myself that over-indexing on work in the near term would have a payoff later on that would make the sacrifices worth it. I was wrong. The cost was what I didn't get to do. It was all paid for with something I can't get back: my time. I will never get a do-over for the concert I attended tired and cranky or the backpacking trip I was too busy to schedule.

With just a few weeks left in the summer, I found myself suffering up a climb on the Seven Summits mountain bike trail in British Columbia. It was August, and the last time I had ridden my bike was in June. My lack of cycling fitness was a painful reminder of what I had not prioritized. The only reason I was here at all was that months earlier, while skiing in BC, my buddy Alex had suggested we come back in the summer to ride bikes. I had agreed. One of Alex's many great qualities is that he is immune to the nopes, which forced me to carve some time out of my schedule and make the trip happen. It was glorious, lack of fitness notwithstanding. We rode amazing trails. We went birding. We ate at Tim Horton's and shopped at Canadian Tire. We swam in the Columbia River. Then we finished the trip by driving to Glacier and meeting up with other Rocky Mountaineers for the Kercher Glacier Classic.

While I was in the mountains and out of my normal routine, I had time to reflect on how I was spending my time. I questioned the point of doing anything if I wasn't making time along the way to do the things I love with the people I love doing them with. I remembered some wisdom Alex had shared with me years earlier: "The only thing any of us really has is time. The secret to life is choosing what to do with it."

Go outside and be kind.

-Mark

The Triple Crown

On Tuesday, 11 November at 7:00 p.m., Lauren Peruffo will be presenting about her experiences hiking the length of the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails. Totally nearly 8,000 miles, they’re collectively known as the Triple Crown. In this presentation she’ll share her photos, stories, the logistics of planning a hike, and some of the culture surrounding the long trails. The event will take place at Freestone Climbing Center, 1200 Shakespeare St, in their upstairs meeting room. We are excited to hear about Lauren's adventures, and we hope to see you there!

Benefit Screening of "Ski" at The Roxy

On Tuesday, November 18 at 7:30 p.m., the Rocky Mountaineers will be hosting a screening of "Ski," a film about ski mountaineering by Nikolai Schermer. The club will be sharing the proceeds from the event with the Western Montana Avalanche Center. Tickets can be purchased directly from the Roxy box office. In addition to the screening, we will be raffling prizes from Gull Ski, the Trailhead, Montgomery Distillery, and more!

TRM Gear Closet

Our ‘exclusive to member use’ Gear Closet continues to grow. We recently added some BCA 2-way radios along with some CAMP alpine ice tools. This gear is for YOU to use at no charge. If you’d like to check something out of the Closet send an email to Mark.

A complete listing of all the gear we currently have available in the Gear Closet can be found on our website.

Upcoming Trips and Activities

Monthly Presentation - Tuesday, 11 November - "Triple Crown"
Monthly Presentations begin at 7:0o p.m., and will continue taking place every second Tuesday of the month until April.

"Ski" Screening at The Roxy - Tuesday, 18 November
Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased from the Roxy box office.

Roundtable - Tuesday, 2 December - Ice Climbing
We will look at gear, cover basic climbing techniques, talk about great places to go in western Montana and discuss the upcoming Bozeman Ice Festival. Climbers or all experience levels are encouraged to attend to share what they know and learn from the local ice climbing community! Event will run from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Freestone Climbing Center

Monthly Presentation - Tuesday, 9 December - "Avalanche"
Anna Matire will tell us about her experience as an avalanche survivor.

Ski Season Prep - Thursday, 11 December - Skin and Wax Party
Wax your skis, glue your climbing skins, and otherwise prep your backcountry gear for the season ahead. Event begins at 6:30 p.m. at Tom Statz's house.

Winterfest! - Saturday, 24 January - Lolo for snow!

Please visit our event calendar for details on these events!!

TRM Merchandise

We have merchandise available for purchase at our presentations, quarterly business meetings, and special events.  Please contact Elizabeth at heyartemisoutside@gmail.com if you’d like to purchase something for local pickup.

Beanie $25	Pint Glass $10	Keychain $5
T-Shirt $20	Trucker Hat $20	Buff $5

Ongoing Call for Photos and Videos

If you have some photos or videos you'd like to share that we can use for social media, event promotion, sponsor videos and our newsletter please email Elizabeth at heyartemisoutside@gmail.com or upload to this google photo/video link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/173AgLc4wrkYofvWA

Quarterly Business Meeting Minutes from 23 September can be found here.

Club Officers

President- Mark Albrecht
Vice President – Francis Horton
Secretary- Carson Ramsden
Treasurer- Tom Statz
Website- Kyle O'Connor
Archivist- Julie Kahl
Newsletter Editor / Social Media – Elizabeth Smith