Getting air, losing a ski. Photo taken at the opening of Sun Valley's new terrain park by Nils Ribi. Read more about the terrain park on Ribi's blog.

See more photos on the New West Images photoblog.

Quality of Life

How to Be Happy In Missoula

Okay, I know you didn’t click on this title because you expected me to actually reveal the secret to happiness in a 500-word blog. So let’s just begin with the obvious -– how the heck should I know? But…in my continuing quest to question everything, this subject deserves tackling, don’t you think? (To be realistic, maybe I should have subtitled this “part one of a 1,000-part series.”)

Let’s start with the “in Missoula” part. We love our little town and most of us can tell you a hundred reasons why. Great local music, lots of parks, river trails, bike paths, some pretty great food joints, not too crowded (well, unless you’re downtown on a summer Saturday morning, but hey, it’s only once a week and I kinda like it), traffic’s not too bad (ok, ok, Reserve street, but seriously, when rush-hour lasts literally an hour, are we really going to complain?), schools are pretty good, crime’s pretty low. Need I go on?

Inside Missoula

Being Inside While You’re Outside

We’re outside folk, we Missoulians. Our garages and closets are full of boots and backpacks, coats and kayaks -- the accoutrements of activity. If you happen to be in town on a long weekend, you’ll notice an almost ghostly quality to the empty silence created by our exodus to the wilds.

This interest of ours (some might call it an obsession) spans generations and demographics. Some can climb into their Escalades, load up their trailers with jet-skis or boats and head to their lake house. Others, well…got five bucks? Spend it on gas for your beat-up Subaru and find your way to a hundred great hiking trails. Don’t have a car? Take a bike ride. Don’t have a bike? Walk to Freecycle! You get the idea.