RED LODGE — Thursday was a rainy and gloomy day in Red Lodge and elsewhere in the area, but on the road up to Red Lodge Mountain, it was a winter wonderland.
"Every October, we tend to get this big wet snow dump," said Red Lodge Mountain marketing manager Jack Moore on Thursday.
It’s a true sign of the seasons in Red Lodge. Every year like clockwork, the town sees its first coating of white.
Moore moved to Montana to do what he loves most.
Ski.
And he loves the early snowfall.
"It’s a great ski town, the people here are fantastic, the scene is awesome, the mountain is fantastic," he added.
The drive up the mountain Thursday offered a chance to experience fall.
And then winter within 10 minutes.
"Recreating is open to the public up there. It is very much so, ski and travel at your own risk and travel up to the mountain right now. It is pretty slick headed up ski run road so we’re not recommending travel right now," added Moore.
While Red Lodge Mountain won’t open until late November, the first snow of the season already has many dreaming of the fun to come.
"The first snow of the year, our equipment’s ready but we’re trying to catch up. We advise not going to the mountain today. Tomorrow will be a different story," said Jeff Schmidt, the general manager of Red Lodge Mountain, on Thursday.
Schmidt said many residents will be anxious to hike up the mountain side to hit the slopes back down as the fresh powder approaches two feet.
"In the back country, first snow, people get excited and want to get out but extreme caution," added Schmidt.
And in the not-to-distant future, a rainy October landscape in the town of Red Lodge will be transformed into a wintry landscape of its own.
"It’s really coming down up there. It’s been coming down about an inch an hour since last night throughout the night, but no snow in town, but we’re getting pumped up for ski season for sure," said Moore.
