YOGA & SKIING RETREATS
Big Sky, Montana
Mountain Meadows Davis Ranch
January 28-31, 2010 long weekend
March 7-12, 2010 5-Day
We're also offering a February long weekend of
Yoga, Chocolate & X-Country skiing in Bozeman!
NEW! Our all-inclusive yoga & ski retreats now blend alpine and cross-country skiing! This combo maximizes our winter fun, and connects both techniques to our yoga practice. This is an amazing active vacation for winter, come ready to put your muscles to work!
Mountain Meadows is nestled on a hillside in Big Sky, with perfect views of Lone Peak, the ski hill. The elegant yet rustic log lodge is an exclusive, cozy inn that we have all to ourselves! Our yoga will be inspired by majestic Lone Peak, as seen from the floor to ceiling glass windows surrounding our yoga space; we'll enjoy downtime by the fireplace, sitting in the sauna or just relaxing with a glass of wine at our mountain refuge.
January Long Weekend retreat: $1,295 per person per person based on double occupancy; $1,495 single occupancy. We will place you with a roommate if you do not have a travel companion. A non-refundable deposit of $500 is due to hold your reservation. We start at 5 pm on Thursday evening and end after lunch on Sunday, so please plan your travel accordingly. Let us know how we can help you with planning an add-on stay.
March 5-day retreat: $2,450 per person based on double occupancy; $2,750 single occupancy. We will place you with a roommate if you do not have a travel companion. A non-refundable deposit of $500 is due to hold your reservation. We start at 5 pm on Sunday evening and end after lunch on Friday, so please plan your travel accordingly. Let us know how we can help you with planning an add-on stay.
Please note that our yoga & ski retreats
are open to men and women.
What do yoga and skiing have in common?
Balance, flexibility and focus.
Yoga helps cultivate these qualities, so it follows that practicing yoga can help improve ski technique. Let's face it - we love alpine skiing for its adrenaline rush. But the other side of this coin is the potential for injury that can arise from common ski scenarios, like ending up on a black when you meant to stay on a blue, weather changes, crossing paths with an out-of-control skier, etc. Think of yoga as insurance against injury; it prevents injury by addressing your body’s imbalances and fostering both strength and flexibility.
Yoga also encourages a focus on the breath, which is the starting point for managing fear or a tense physical body. By being able to concentrate on your breathing, transitioning your movements with grace, and cultivating an awareness of body balance and alignment, any level of skier will get more out of their time on the mountain and be less injury-prone.
For Nordic (x-country) skiing, we'll use our breath awareness to keep it flowing steadily throughout this highly-aerobic activity. We'll take our flow and alignment work off the mat and onto the trail to create a balanced and flowing rhythm on skis too.
Our yoga for skiers program will focus on:
- warming up the muscles for cold weather
- creating proper body alignment
- breathing techniques to calm the mind
- core strength building
- increased flexibility in the hips
- increased flexibility and strength in the knees
- upper body strengthening to balance out the
lower-body intensity of skiing
Your retreat includes:
- daily yoga program:
- morning yoga will get everyone warmed-up for the day outside! we'll focus on strengthening and stretching in preparation for skiing - we'll build internal heat too.
- apres-ski yoga will work out the kinks from skiing with a gentle, restorative practice while continuing to explore alignment and balance in asana to help improve ski technique.
- ski package:
- either 2 days of lift tickets + 1 day x-country ski pass OR 2 days x-country ski pass + 1 day lift ticket (5-day retreat); 1 day lift ticket + 1 day x-country ski pass (long weekend).
- 1 x-country ski group intro lesson (1.5 hr)
- does not include ski rental; bring your own or rent here (we can recommend places in Bozeman and Big Sky to rent before the retreat starts)
- does not include alpine ski lessons, which you may take on your own
- no refunds for half-day skiing
- if you decide to only alpine or x-country ski, no refunds for unused passes, and any additional days must be purchased on your own
- healthy & hearty meals:
- gourmet "skier's breakfast"
- lunch on the mountain or at the lodge
- dinners at the lodge and in Big Sky, including a sleigh ride dinner one evening!
- meals begin with dinner on the arrival day and end with a to-go lunch on the departure day.
- meals do not include alcoholic beverages; beer and wine will be offered at our lodge meals at an additional cost, or may be ordered on your own at restaurants
- evening program options, to include health and wellness discussions, journaling & meditation, before-bed yoga.
You'll be experiencing some of the best skiing out west here in Montana - visit the links below to read more about Big Sky (alpine) and Lone Mountain Ranch (Nordic):
Big Sky Resort
Lone Mountain Ranch
You will need to rent a car for this retreat; directions to the lodge will be provided upon registration. We can also put you in touch with other retreaters if you would like to share a car. Limited shuttle service with retreat leaders available at an additional cost, please inquire. We highly recommend adding on a few days in Bozeman, and can help you plan your additional time here.
Testimonial
A short trip from Portland, Oregon to Eastern Montana to visit my dad, in addition to my quest to get my annual 'snow fix', turned out to be one of my best vacations ever. The 5-day yoga and skiing adventure was invigorating, strengthening, and grounding, and will stay with me...The amazing skiing at Big Sky, and the peace and motivation that Margaret, her yoga and the retreat instilled in me were incredible and life-changing. It is an experience and a gift that we all deserve to give ourselves.
-Lori, OR
(repeat retreater in 2008! attended yoga & ski and yoga & hike)
A Traveler's Life List
Your Own Private Ski Resort
Big Sky
Montana, U.S.A.
Montana is like a shell game: while most people head here in summer, the real prize might very well be hidden in winter at Big Sky, which boasts 3,600 spectacularly skiable acres, (almost) uniformly excellent conditions, vaulting Rockies views, and an average of only two skiers per acre - meaning lift lines are pretty much unheard of. Much of the annual 400-inch snowfall is the bone-dry talc that local skiers reverently call "cold smoke", and while there's extreme white-knuckle skiing for sure (an aerial tram to the 11,166-foot summit of the Matterhorn-like Lone Peak offers skiers a 4.350-foot vertical drop, the second steepest in the nation after Snowmass, Colorado), and good 50 percent of the resort's 150-plus trails are perfect for the intermediate.