For years, cross country skiers in the Flathead stopped by Kalispell’s Rocky Mountain Outfitter to get tips from employee Stormy Good. Or they just checked out her series of guide booklets. Loyal followers would eagerly await each booklet.
While Good no longer works at RMO, she’s not about to stop dispensing advice. In fact, she’s taken her guide booklets to a new level. Compiling all of her booklets from over the years, along with new information, Good recently announced the publication of her book called “Nordic Dreams: Flathead Valley Cross-Country Skiing and Snowshoe Guide.”
The 140-page book is Good’s second full-length guide, following her “Day Hikes Around the Flathead,” which is in its ninth printing. Good said “Nordic Dreams” is the only guide of its kind specific to the Flathead.
“The main reason that I published it is because I want people to get out and enjoy themselves,” said Good, who splits her time between Banff, Alberta and Whitefish.
Good began cross country skiing in 1992. After dabbling in it for a couple of years, she said: “I really got into it in 1994.” Then a few years later she took up skate skiing and shortly thereafter started publishing the first “Nordic Dreams” booklets, which she dispensed out of Rocky Mountain Outfitter and other locations.
During that time, she worked as RMO’s soft goods buyer. Customers would often ask about locations to cross country ski and she generally ended up sending them to the same places. So she began branching out to find new ski destinations.
“I got creative,” she said.
This creativity, and relentless exploring, provided the impetus for the “Nordic Dreams” series. For the most part, she skied close to home, which is reflected in her book. While she has a section on U.S. Forest Service cabin rentals, the destinations in the guide are generally suitable for day trips. The farthest point, she said, is Marias Pass.
The trails cut through Flathead, Kootenai and Lewis and Clark national forests, as well as Glacier National Park and Great Bear Wilderness, among other areas.
“I tried to keep it in the Flathead Valley,” she said. “There are lots of places to get out for a couple of hours and breathe some fresh air and enjoy the natural beauty right here in the valley.”
“Some are trail-breaking and some take you the entire day,” she added.
There are sections for both groomed and un-groomed ski areas, specifying which ones allow dogs. Many of the trails are well-known destinations, such as the Glacier Nordic Center at Whitefish Lake Golf Club, which Good calls the “single most popular groomed cross-country skiing area in the Flathead Valley.”
Other big names like the Izaak Walton Inn, Stillwater Nordic and Round Meadows are featured as well. “Nordic Dreams” also offers more exploratory, un-groomed ski areas. But Good said the majority of the book’s ski areas are considered easy or moderate, with only a handful labeled difficult. She doesn’t want to send people out to areas with high avalanche dangers.
“I don’t feel comfortable putting people in that exposure, out there in over their heads,” she said.
The book reminds skiers to always check current avalanche conditions beforehand and provides information on the Glacier Country Avalanche Center.
Along with giving pertinent specifications on each trail, “Nordic Dreams” also includes information on resources, safety and other tidbits. There are detailed maps, primers on cross country skiing and snowshoeing, a guide to trail etiquette, suggestions for dog skijoring and tips for winter backcountry recreation.
Even for Good’s most loyal followers, some of this information is new. But much if it will be familiar from her series of guide booklets, which date back to 1999.
“This book is 10 years in the making,” she said.
“Nordic Dreams: Flathead Valley Cross-Country Skiing and Snowshoe Guide” can be purchased at U.S. Forest Service locations, Rocky Mountain Outfitter, Bookworks in Whitefish, Sportsman Ski Haus, Outback Ski Shack and the Toggery. For more information, log on to www.flatheadguidebooks.com or e-mail Good at [email protected].