Sometimes a ski vacation turns into a chance to try something new, even (gasp!) something that has nothing to do with the sport.
Earlier this year at a Montana guest ranch, I got my powder runs in but I also got my cowboy on. On a ski trip, I never expected to be trotting through ponderosa pines on my trusty steed or yelling “Yee-haw!” on UTV rides along bumpy logging roads or even pondering the rod-bobbing meditative appeal of ice fishing.
Dare I say it? A winter escape to the Ranch at Rock Creek was more fun than just another ski resort holiday.
The 6,600-acre homestead feels like it’s in middle-of-nowhere Montana. More accurately, this Relais & Châteaux property is in ranch country where people are few and far between but cattle are many.
The 6,600-acre homestead has turned historic barns and outbuildings into five-star sleeping quarters.The Ranch at Rock Creek/Supplied
A 90-minute drive from Missoula airport takes visitors past homesteads on hilly ranchlands coated in snow and dotted with herds of black cattle. Jackleg fencing goes on for miles and miles. Your driver might point out Kelly Clarkson’s ranch and likely tell you that the TV drama Yellowstone was filmed on just the other side of the ridge.
The Ranch at Rock Creek is a working ranch (wranglers look after a herd of cattle and more than 70 horses) where historic barns and outbuildings have been revamped into five-star sleeping quarters. The decor inside my log cabin blends a Wild West feel with a boutique-hotel vibe. A log-frame canopy bed is draped with supersoft linens, the bathroom has a deep soaker tub with mountain views and a marble shower where the floor is embedded with smooth foot-massaging pebbles. In the living room, antler chandeliers and cowboy-boot lamps don’t seem odd with a Stagg pour-over kettle and Nespresso Vertuo coffee machine in the kitchen.
I wished I’d packed plaid shirts and cowboy boots so I could look the part. This city girl was ready to get a little country.
The 10-minute walk from my log home (one of nine) to the Buckle Barn – where hearty breakfasts on white linen log tables are served – is breathtakingly quiet. Nothing but mountain ridges, grazing cattle and deer leaping back into the forest. One morning I even came across a big horn sheep, his baleful stare making it obvious I should put away my camera and leave him alone.
But while I was wowed by the ranch, fresh snow had me snapping on my ski boots soon after breakfast.
In winter, the Ranch at Rock Creek all-inclusive package includes ski gear (new Rossignol boots and skis, snow pants and mitts if you need them), lift tickets and private transfers to nearby Discovery ski hill. “Disco” (as the locals call it) is a family-run operation on national forest land with a great mix of runs and glades on three faces of the mountain. It’s a local secret – 2,000 acres, no weekday lift lines and a 2,388-foot vertical drop. Intermediate and steep double black runs are found off the back side of the mountain, while on the front, even the easier descents are long, leisurely and scenic. The sun shone and the powder was boot deep, I happily blew through it before settling into the slow, meditative chairlift to do it all over again.
Disco’s ski lodge dining is charmingly old-school. The Ranch runs a tab when you need to refuel – don’t miss the lodge specialty: scone-like chocolate chip cookies. On Fridays, Rock Creek staff bring a gourmet touch to the slopes and set up an alpine barbecue. My fireside picnic in ski boots included champagne served in a pretty mason jar, grilled chicken sandwiches on fresh brioche buns, with thermoses of fancy teas and rich hot chocolate. Wines chilled in snowy ice buckets.
Returning to the slopes with a full belly was tough, but that is why I’d come all this way. Or was it?
The more I learned about the ranch’s winter activities, the more I thought maybe it was time to get on horseback again? To finally give ice fishing a try? Or skeet shooting? Or fly fishing? When in Montana …
Which is how I found myself straddling Hank, a Belgian/Quarter horse cross, the next morning. I joined three others on horseback and followed a wrangler into the countryside.
Eventually, I learned to handle Hank’s lead and maintain my balance while also taking in the serenity of the icy creek we followed and a family of deer fording it. Riding through this picture postcard landscape was magical. Later that day, with other ice-fishing first-timers, I set out for nearby Georgetown Lake. The great expanse of white flashed in the sun like it was covered in diamonds. The scenery made me a bit giddy as we trudged out to the tents – I spun in circles taking in the pointy peaks of the Pintler mountains to the south and Flint Creek range to the north. Our guide brought me back down to earth when he explained that, in this protected forest, ice fishers must drill new holes daily. I kept my eyes on my feet after that to avoid getting stuck in yesterday’s not-so-frozen-over fishing hole.
But even out here in the middle of a frozen lake, Rock Creek does nothing halfway. Inside the tent we found ice holes predrilled, camp chairs set up, fishing rods prepped, an underwater camera to watch for trout and a blazing propane heater to keep us warm. We baited and waited. And waited. Then my line jumped.
“Don’t jig him too quick,” Jay von Heeder, my Montana-born guide coached. “Let it fight a bit, as anglers that’s what we want.” I wasn’t sure it’s what I wanted but I followed directions and gamely posed with my wet, wiggly, 17-inch rainbow trout. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to slip it back into the lake.
On another day I skied in the morning, then spent the afternoon in the one-stoplight mining town of Philipsburg, about 20 minutes from the ranch. The area is renowned for sapphire mining and this very Western town looks lived in, full of bars, gem stores, cafés, an old-timey candy shop and an overstuffed antique store – where I bought a vintage Wrangler shirt. I wore it that night to Rock Creek’s Silver Dollar Saloon. I straddled the saddle-seat bar stool and ordered a drink. I may have looked ridiculous. I didn’t care. I was having fun.
If you go
The Ranch at Rock Creek is a 90-minute drive from the international airport in Missoula, or just over an hour’s drive from Butte’s regional airport.
The guest ranch offers an all-inclusive experience. Book a log cabin, bespoke barn room, glamping tent or a traditional hotel room in the main lodge. Fine dining, daily outdoor and indoor activities plus any gear to take part is included in the starting nightly rate of US$2,100 for two people. (At these rates, expect the Ranch to throw in extras too: During my visit that meant slopeside cookouts and a sommelier-led tasting of $800-a-bottle vintages from Napa’s Bond winery.) theranchatrockcreek.com
The writer was a guest of the Ranch at Rock Creek. It did not approve or review the story before publication.
