We are ready for you!!! Galena Lodge Opens Saturday November 22

We’d love to be skiing but who needs snow to have fun!

The trails are great for a hike or an early morning bike ride.  There is even enough snow up on the pass to go for a snowshoe adventure!

Galena Lodge will be open Saturday and Sunday from 9-5.  We will be serving lunch 11:30-3:30.

We will close Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and reopen on Thanksgiving day and remain open thru the weekend.

Thanksgiving Dinner is full but we are offering dinner on Friday, November 28 and Saturday, November 29 at 6:30pm.   Call now to book your reservations.

The yurts are booking up for the winter so make your plans and call now to reserve.

Check out our new website at www.galenalodge.com for more information and a calendar of our winter activities.

We hope to see you soon.

Erin and Don

This Monday, the 21st, Greg Randolph aka Chopper will be distilling his career of accumulated bike racing knowledge into and hour and half clinic and ride for Mountain Bike Monday at Galena Lodge. Chopper has raced bicycles all over the world and has probably forgotten more than most people even know about cycling (and he laps me on a fixed gear). He will be going over the basics of racing to help you be ready for the Galena Grinder next Saturday. If you are thinking about entering the Beginner or Sport class of the Grinder this is a great opportunity to learn from someone with a lot of experience and check out some of the course as well.

The clinic is free and begins at 5:30 (so bust out of work a few minutes early to be on time) in the Galena Lodge Parking lot and will last about 45 minutes. This will be followed by a 45 minute ride to see some of the highlights of the race course. Afterwards, around 7pm, there will be a family style dinner available for 12 dollars. We will also have liquid carb loading beverages for sale as well.  Don’t miss this opportunity and we’ll see you at Mountain Bike Monday.

The Boulder Tour and all of it’s racers, banners and sponsors have come and gone and we would like to thank everyone who supported that great event especially all of the volunteers. Even though the BMT is over there are still lots of great things going on at Galena Lodge.
Next weekend we have two great events. The first, on Friday night, is our first Wine Dinner with Steve McCarthy from Frenchman’s Gulch Winery in Ketchum. I’ve got a fun menu put together with passed appetizers and featuring Lava Lake Lamb that we are going to pair with Steve’s wines. The format will be similar to our Full Moon Dinners but we will have some passed appetizers to go with Steve’s Chardonnay. If you are interested in this event please call the Lodge to make reservations.

On Saturday the 9th we will be hosting our second annual Snowshoe Race on the Galena snowshoe trails. There will be a 6k racing class as well as a 3k walking division and a short kids race. The unique part of this race is that it is held on single track trails which are super fun. If you like to trail run, you’ll love this event. The race will start at 10:30 AM and the cost is five dollars.

Beyond the events I’ve already mentioned, we’ve got great snow, more than any January in recent memory. So we’ve got some great skiing, the groomers have done an excellent job putting down some fine corduroy. The back country skiing is also phenomenal and the snow shoe trails are in awesome shape. Right now is really a great time to spend some time at Galena Lodge with your friends and families and enjoy the outdoors.

This winter at Galena Lodge is shaping up like the jar of change on my dresser. Keep adding nickels and dimes and end up with a nice surprise. We haven’t hit the big snowstorm lottery but a couple of inches over the past 3 nights have brought us some pretty good skiing up here at the lodge.

I skied down to Prairie Creek yesterday with Erin and the snow was great, cold but great. It’s still only November so we are still on early season conditions but nearly everyone who has headed out skiing has returned saying how much better the conditions are than one might expect. Especially considering that it’s still bike season in Hailey. Today the BCRD is out grooming as I write this, but I suspect that they’ll have good things to report when they come back in.

The skiing today will be better than yesterday and we’re still getting a few flakes so this weekend should be really good. You can check todays grooming and wax report by calling 578-XSKI or by looking at the BCRD grooming site :

http://www.bcrd.org/wintertrails/conditions/groomingreport/tabid/178/Default.aspx

Keep hoping for snow, have fun skiing and we’ll see you up here at Galena Lodge

Wet, thirty one point five degree snow flakes were falling through the dim light and silence Tuesday morning at Galena Lodge. I was kicking through 4 inches of snow as I walked the dogs through the fresh blanket. Unfortunately the snow stopped falling a few hours later. We’re getting ready to open Galena up for the season this weekend. We’re waiting for some more snow so that the groomers can get out and get the tracks ready to ski.

With or with out snow we have our full moon dinners scheduled for next weekend, the 23rd and 24th. So if you are looking for something to do with the family that’s in from out of town for the Big Turkey Day. Sorry but we’ve already filled up for our Turkey dinner.

So let’s hope for snow this week and we will try to keep everyone abreast of our opening and grooming situations. We sacrificed a few pairs of skis but we might have to take a few more drastic measures if winter keeps dragging it feet getting here.

The summer season at Galena Lodge has ended but what a season it was. Even though the official season ended last weekend with the extremely successful Boulder Mountain Bike Tour we were still here to finish up one more wedding for Chris and Karoline O’Droege as I like to call them. I’ve got a quick summer recap and a few things to look forward to for the winter.

Summer started with a great day for the Friends of Galena Benefit BBQ with about 150-175 people, about 50% more than last year and a sign of things to come.   We put on a lot of private events and got the Wagon Ride BBQ’s going in early July, despite a few damp evenings.  Then it was time for the Galena Grinder which saw close to 200 racers, double last year’s turn out.  Great conditions and a new course record for the double XC race really highlighted the great riding around the lodge. And the riding will only be getting better with the help of Jill Van Winkle from IMBA’s Trail Solutions who spent the better part of three weeks working on a Master Plan for the future of Galena’s summer trails.  A big thanks to BWBT for funding that plan and providing 3 days of trail work to prep for the Grinder.  August saw the Castle Rock fire light up the skies of Ketchum but we still had fresh air and a lot of people came up for a respite from the smoke.  The official Season ending Event was the revival of the Boulder Mountain Bike Tour which was a huge success.  I would estimate that close to 250 people participated at some level in this event.  A big thanks  to all of our sponsers and especially to my wife Erin and Bob Rosso for spearheading the event.

So what’s next you ask?  Work has already started for the winter season, fire wood has been cut, snowshoe signs made, menus are being written but we’ve got a few new things for this winter as well.  Our new yurt arrived this friday and we are ready to put it up this week. This new 20 foot yurt will replace the Star’s Perch yurt and sleep 8 people very similar to the Senate view yurt.  This winter we have eliminated the Porta-John Bathrooms and constructed two new outhouses to service the yurts.  We are taking reservations for all of our yurts right now.  We are also working on revamping the Snowshoe Trail network to make it more user friendly and offer more year to year consistency.    We are also taking reservations for all of our winter holiday dinners, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, as well as our full moon dinners.

While we may be closed for a little while, we’re still working to make Galena Lodge better for all of our guests.  Erin and I are going to get a little down time though, exploring some new trails around here and heading down to the desert for a little while as well.  And of course, waiting for the snow to fly. Thanks to everyone who has helped make this a great summer season and we’ll see you on the snow!

With the potentially catastrophic fires burning west of Ketchum, the stories of scratchy throats, flames and ash raining down are making their way up to us at Galena. Fortunately the current fires are not threatening to the Lodge or any of the surrounding trails or recreation. The last two days have been absolutely gorgeous. The way the weather patterns have been, the smoke has been moving more east than north. I’d like to invite people to come up to Galena and get out of the smoke for a few hours. It’s been clear and cool and we even got a little rain last night to get the trails into great shape for riding. So if you are down in town and dealing with smoke and looking for something to do or a way out we’ve got what you are looking for.

We have a few weeks left in our summer season so there is still time to come up to play before we close our doors on the 16th of September. Hiking to Titus, riding the trails around the Lodge or even just throwing horseshoes on the lawn are just a few ways to relax at Galena. This week we are still planning on having our Thursday night wagon ride BBQ and on Friday we have a little space in our summer dining series dinner which will be a nice break. We’ll be serving appetizers on the deck and then having everyone come inside for a great dinner. We also have our last Mountain Bike Monday for the summer going on next Monday the 27th where Sean MacLaughlin will be teaching a short (45minute), free skills clinic and leading a group ride. Afterwards dinner will be served in the lodge for 12 dollars.

The Castle Rock fire is a serious and potentially life threatening event here in the Wood River Valley and it has caused Erin and I as much concern as nearly anyone. Our thoughts and hopes go out to everyone whose homes and lives are threatened by this event. We are still concerned about the Lodge and our own livelihoods, but right now events are focused around the Ketchum area. Hopefully the professionals who are putting their own lives at risk to fight this fire will soon have it under control and our community can return to “normal”.

The next couple of weeks are going to offer some great cycling opportunities at Galena Lodge and around the Wood River Valley. I love cycling in all its’ forms so things like this get me pretty excited. The riding around the Lodge is great right now, the mountain bike trails are still in great shape and it has been significantly cooler up here than in Ketchum for road riding.

This weekend we are looking forward to playing a small part in the Sawtooth Century. It doesn’t look like this year’s edition is going to live up to the “Snowflake Century” it has been the past few years. There will be an aid station at Galena with water and energy drinks and we are going to make up some wraps that will be for sale that will fit nicely into a jersey pocket for the ride up the pass.

On Monday, Mountain Bike Monday will continue here at Galena with a special Hostess/Instructor. India Wysong, founder of the Mud Honeys Women’s Cycling Club will be leading our skills clinic while I will be inside whipping up dinner. India is an accomplished rider and racer and strikes fear into my heart when I see her coming up behind me at the Short Track Races and she invariably “Chicks” me. So male or female if you want to work on your mountain bike skills and go for a ride, come up on Monday at 5:30 for a great clinic and ride followed by a fun meal.

The following Monday, the 27th will be our last Mountain Bike Monday so who more appropriate to teach than the person who started the whole program, Sean MacLaughlin. Sean has been a part of the mountain bike community for a number of years and is one of the most skilled cyclists in the valley who can usually be seen hammering out miles on his single speed. I’m not sure what skills Sean is going to focus on but he has an intimate knowledge of the trail system so you can count on a great ride. There are two great opportunities for all levels of riders to sharpen skills on the final two Mountain Bike Mondays.

To continue on the subject of cycling, Labor Day Weekend will have plenty of action down in Ketchum with the high level Criterium Race and lots of great music. Hopefully this summer event will breath some more life into the WRV cycling scene, much like the Ski Tour did this winter. Personally, I’d love to see more high level events like this in the area, so props to the organizers of these events as they are a lot of work. I’m looking forward to the Michael Franti show as well, glad to hear he’ll be back in the valley.

And finally, to wrap up the summer season at Galena we are putting the final touches on the plans for the Boulder Bike Tour which is on Sunday the 16th of September, coincidentally the day after the Trail Creek Time Trial. We’re hoping the BBT can showcase the Harriman Trail and be a fun finish for the summer season at Galena with food and music as well as great cycling. Then it’ll be Cross season. So don’t put your bike away yet, there is a lot of great pedaling left this summer

This Saturday, the 28th is the Galena Grinder Whit Henry Memorial Mountain Bike Race at Galena Lodge. The Grinder as it is known, is a great local cycling event that allows everyone from novice to pro racers to experience an epic mountain bike race. One of the unique features of the Grinder is that it is a single loop format which mean that no matter what class you are racing(except for the masochists in the marathon race) you won’t be repeating any part of the course. There are classes and distances for everyone from beginners to pros and there is even a trail blazer race for kids under 12 and a little kids race too. Registration opens at 7 am the morning of the race with the double XC race starting at 9 am and all of the other classes starting at 10:30. After the race there will be a Chili feed for racers and prizes will be awarded for each of the categories.

For a long time there has been a lot of fear of the Galena Grinder. I hear misconceptions around town that the race is “hard”, that everyone races 45 miles etc etc.. I have to say that the Grinder is no harder than any other race, pretty much all mountain bike races are hard. There are also classes and distances for all levels of mountain bike riders. Beginners will be racing about 11 miles. The more experienced Sport class will be doing about 18 miles and the Pros and Experts will race 22.5 miles. Only the highly pain tolerant, endorphine junkie Double XC racers will be racing 45 miles. There are some attractive points about the course for all racers. Even though the course has been described as “hard”, it is not technical, there are very few technical challenges on the course. The single loop format means that the course is not repetitive, each corner offers something new. And speaking of corners, the course is in great shape this year so the corners in the singletrack will be super fun. Each of the distances is very balanced between climbing and descending so riders will have an opportunity to ride to their individual strengths.

We are expecting good weather for the race so really there is no excuse not to get out and do a little racing. We’ll see you on Saturday for the Galena Grinder Whit Henry Memorial Mountain Bike Race.

Summertime and Mountain Biking seem to go hand in hand in the Wood River Valley. Simply look at the abundance of bikes for rent, people on bikes, trails, bike shops and one can see that the WRV has embraced the Fat Tire (and I don’t mean the one offered by New Belgium). Galena has been a little on the periphery of the bike scene in the valley but that is all beginning to change. The upcoming Galena Grinder Bike Race has long been a mainstay of cycling at Galena but there are new things going on too.

Mountain Bike Mondays are our way of introducing newer riders and riders who haven’t gotten to ride on the trails around Galena to this great sport and great spot. This coming Monday, the 16th, Galena will host a special edition of Mountain Bike Monday with local Pro Cody Peterson of Scott Bicycles teaching a “Get Ready for the Grinder” Clinic, followed by a little course preview. Cody won the Men’s Pro/Expert division of the Grinder last year so he knows what he’s talking about as far as preparation, bike set up, tactics, nutrition etc.. Plus, Cody has another year of national level racing experience under his belt to draw from. If you are thinking about racing the Grinder for the first time or 10th time, Cody is going to have something for you, in fact, if you are going to race at all this summer, this is a great opportunity to learn from a great local athlete. Mountain Bike Mondays begin at 5:30 and are followed by a buffet dinner at 7 pm. The Clinic and ride are free and dinner is $12.00 with discounted fermented beverages. It’s helpful to give a call if you are going to attend so I can prepare enough food.

As Far as Mountain Biking in the future at Galena we are putting a lot of effort into a trails master plan to bring the summer trails here at the lodge up to the level of the winter trails. When I say “we”, I am using a small pronoun for a lot of people. Bigwood Backcountry Trails has made a huge contribution by funding a planning document by Trall Solutions, the consulting and construction arm of IMBA. Currently Jill Van Winkle of Trail Solutions is in the process of GPS’ing the trail network, gathering input from various user groups and agencies and composing a Galena Trails Master Plan that can be submitted to the Forest Service. Friday at 1pm, at Galena, Jill will be speaking to individual trail users from all legal user groups. The BCRD and the Forest service are also major players in this process (and it will be a process) who have had opportunities to provide input to this planning document. This is a great opportunity to improve the quality, sustainability and experience of mountain biking in the north end of the Wood River Valley. If you have the opportunity, thank BWBT for their help and try to support the cause for great riding at Galena in any way you can.

We’ve got lots of other things happening here at the lodge, sometimes it makes my head spin to keep track of them all. Kid’s camp is almost full so call soon if you haven’t already. Tomorrow’s Summer Dining Series still has some space left, it will be a fun event with great food. BWBT is having one more trail work day on Sunday at 9 am and the Galena Grinder is coming up on the 28th of July. Have a great weekend, I’ll write more soon.

Am I the only person who is stunned to have the Fourth of July staring down my throat already? Summer has been moving by quickly, even at the oasis of Galena Lodge. We’ve moved through opening weekend, a number of special events, and are finally starting to settle into a routine. Our staff is great this summer, we have some new faces and some returning veterans to create a good balance. Although the Fourth is already here there is a lot of summer left and we are excited about a number of events coming up at Galena.

First off is the Galena Youth Adventure Camp which has to be one of the most fun camps around. Kids 8-12 get to rock climb, horse back ride, mountain bike, swim at Easley and today they are going rafting on the Salmon river. Two new things this year for camp are Advanced Camp coming up July 23rd-27th and we had our first kids activity week for little kids in June. Advanced camp will be a week for kids aged 10-13, who have come to our camp before, and we have a lot of kids who come more than once, where they will be able to spend a little more time learning skills associated with each activity. Campers will continue to learn and be challenged with this new version of Galena Youth Adventure Camp. This year was also our first year for our Kids activity week to give the younger kids some great activities too. They had arts and crafts, Horseback riding, rock climbing and a lot of fun for a week in early June. We still have space in both Adventure Camp and the Advanced Adventure Camp but both are filling quickly. If you need something fun for your 8-12 year old, Galena Youth Adventure Camp might be your answer.

Food is a big part of Galena, just ask any one who comes up here to ski. We’re serving lunch everyday this summer and we are also having our wagon ride BBQ’s on Thursdays. We are also planning our first Summer Dining series night on July 13th. For our Summer Dining dinners, we build on our Full Moon Dinner format for a great evening at Galena. We serve passed appetizers on the deck for about an hour and then bring everyone inside to sit down for a great dinner. We really look forward to these events because they are an opportunity for people to see the Lodge in a different light.

Bikes are always a big part of my summer and this summer is no exception. We are offering Bike Rentals again this summer. We have a great fleet of Rocky Mountain brand bikes and we also have bikes for the kids too. Chariot trailers also add versatility for the real little ones. A slight change to our weekly mountain bike clinics and mountain bike rides this year is that they will be on Mondays. We are dubbing them Mountain Bike Mondays and we have a great format with a free skills clinic, a short ride and then a buffet type dinner for $13.00. Mountain Bike Mondays start next week on the 9th of July.

As you can see there is a lot going on at the Lodge this summer, so come up and see us and enjoy any number of great activities or just sit on the deck and relax.

Galena Lodge is opening for the summer this weekend! We are getting ready for our 2nd summer season which is kicking off at noon on Saturday the 16th with the Friends of Galena Barbeque Fund Raiser. The BCRD gets put in the hotseat at this event when your favorite Blaine County Rec. employees and The Galena and Trails Advisory Council members step behind the grill and put out some great food (we do give them a little help). The Friends of Galena BBQ is a great oppurtunity to get up to Galena, spend some time in the sun on the deck and meet some people that love Galena as much as you do.

The fun doesn’t stop on Saturday. Sunday, Father’s day, will feature a great brunch buffet for Dad. Sometimes Dad gets over looked but Sunday will be a great day to pull him off the lawn mower and get him up to Galena for a relaxing day. You can head out for a hike or bike ride, then come in and take care of dad in style. Put a Bloody Mary in his hand and order him an omlette then prop him up in the sun with some fresh mountain air. He won’t soon forget it.

There are a few things that will be new this summer at Galena. One is the new carpet. Gone are the duct tape and frayed seams, we’ve stepped it up with a fresh new carpet. Another new thing this summer is the reroute of the summer Psycho trail. With some help from the Community School and Bigwood Backcountry Trails we were able to reroute the last nasty corner on Psycho and replace it with a section of contouring trail and a new switchback. Our new summer map should be arriving shortly which are will be color coded to match the trail signage as well. We’re going to make the summer trail network at Galena much more user friendly.

We’re ramping up to opening weekend for these last few days. Working on new menus, putting on some fresh coats of paint and getting ready for a great summer, with you, at Galena Lodge.

Spring is here at Galena Lodge. The snow is melting and the trails are drying out. Erin and I have spent some time travelling but we are back in here getting ready for summer. Being up here at this time of year is a unique experience because of the solitude. Some days it feels like only ten cars drive by when really there might be twenty. It’s a good thing that we are back in town and had the opportunity to catch the item in the Newspaper that there is a proposal to put a Cell Tower on Galena Pass. I don’t know how everyone feels about this proposal but any one can let the Forest service know how they feel as the proposal is currently open for public comment.

By connecting to this link you will be able to learn about the proposed tower, a ninty foot tall tower that would resemble a tree, and the site and the building that would be next to the tower.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/sawtooth/news/2007/04/galena_celltower.htm
By using the above link you will be able to go to the comment area after you read about the proposal. Make sure to leave your complete name with your comment, as all comments must be verifiable by the USFS.
My own feeling on the idea of a cell tower on top of Galena Pass is probably pretty easy to guess. But I will delve into some of the key points that I thought about when I heard about the tower proposal.

One of the first things I thought about was how does a cell tower on the pass fit into the mission of the SNRA. The first paragraph of the Law 92-400 which created the SNRA in 1972 states “That (a) in order to assure the preservation and protection of the natural, scenic, historic, pastoral and fish and wildlife values and to provide for the enhancement of the recreational values associated therewith, the Sawtooth National Recreation Area is hereby established.”. I’m not sure where a cell tower fits into that but times and technologies do change. Part of what a lot of people seem to enjoy about the SNRA is that it is a place where you can step back and be out of touch with the daily grind and in touch with the surroundings.

Another thing that occurred to me was “A tower for whom?”. There are very few full time residents who would be served by this tower. For most of the year there isn’t even much traffic(see above). For nine months of the year I’d be surprised if more than 100 people live between Russian John and Smiley Creek. Is there a “need” for cell coverage for those residents? A lot of money was spent in the last few years to install a fiber optic cable for phone and data transfer into these very same areas.
Should people be talking on their phone and driving over the Pass in any type of weather? We know it’s going to happen, sure we might be able to say that a driver should take the responsibility to use their phone safely. Tell that to the first deer or cyclist that gets hit by someone on their phone.

Another question is how good is the coverage going to be? The tower that was recently put into operation in Stanley does not seem to provide very good coverage unless the user is very close to it. I’ve honestly never had that much sucess using my cellular phone in Stanley. Maybe that’s because that tower isn’t ninty feet tall.

Here’s one more thing to think about, do you really want to walk into Galena Lodge on a bright sunny winter day, when the skiing is great and see everyone with their head bent to a cell phone. Or how bout cresting the top of Psycho and looking out over the valley and hearing some guy yammering into his headset behind you?

Whatever your feeling towards this tower might be, this is one of the few mandated opportunities for the public to have any influence on policy. I’d like to have had a 30 day comment period on some of the other things that are happening in our country. So don’t miss this opportunity to be heard, the comment period will be ending May 17th.

Galena Lodge has closed for the season. Erin and I would like to thank everyone who helped make our first year at Galena a great one. The support of our employees, the great people at the BCRD and the Advisory Commitee has been huge this first year. Most of all we would like to thank our customers who came up on the slow days and the busy ones, put up with growing pains and changes, and offered help to both us and the BCRD when it was needed. Without all of the fun people who come up to use the Lodge, this space would only be an empty shell. Unfortunately we were not able to last until the 8th as planned, but the snow conditions and skiing were becoming less than marginal. Even some of the heartiest skiers that I know were calling it quits with the Ride Stride Glide and even before. Last Wedsnday was our final day of business and then there were a few days of clean-up and rodent proofing in the lodge. A new Pine Marten has already moved into the roof.

Looking forward to the off-season and into the summer there will still be a lot going on at the lodge. We are taking registration for the Galena Youth Adventure Camps right now. We are working on some improvements at the yurts and looking to buy a new one this fall. There is a lot going on with trails up here to, we’ll need help finishing the re-route to Psycho that the Community School helped with last fall. As always there is plenty of maintainence to do prior to the Grinder on July 28th. The most exciting thing about summer trails this year is that we will be hosting a crew from IMBA’s Trail Solutions who will be creating a “Summer” Trails Master Plan for the Lodge. This was spearheaded by Chris Leman at Bigwood Backcountry Trails who has been a great friend of the Lodge and all of the area trails. BWBT was able to raise the funding to pay for this planning development and work with the Forest Service to coordinate the project, so give them a hearty thank you.

So although we are closed until July 16th, things don’t really stop here at Galena, they just change gears. I’ll write more as we have new developments here at Galena.

Some days it takes something a little out of the ordinary to remind you where you are. For me it is easy to see the steady stream of customers, friends, regulars and everyone else who streams through the doors of Galena. What it is easy to forget, is what Galena means to all of these different people. It would be impossible for me to guess what this place is to everyone. There are those who have been involved here in the past or present, they are pretty easy to pick out. All of the former employees who come out of the wood work and still hold a special place for the lodge are fun. The guy who lived above the ski shop when he was four was kind of neat too (By the way he’s my age now so four was quite some time ago).

This morning when I was walking across the street from my cabin to go bake all the bread and cookies(it’s not quite as cool as it sounds) I ran into an acquaintance, whom I’d met in Hailey years ago. He drives up to the Lodge almost every weekend. Most of the time no one sees him, he’s here early. One day he left a snow angel on the deck for us. This morning we talked for a few minutes, he told me about how he’ll come up to the lodge and then go on, to the pass, drink coffee along the way, get out walk around, explore.

Sometimes people ask him if he goes to church. This is usually when I start to back away from conversations but I hung in this time. He’ll respond “yes” he goes to church, church is at about 7300 feet, and services are early and it’s sacred to him. That’s what Galena is to just one person.
Skiing is just one of the things that people love here (and it’s good right now), for others it’s being outside, the views of the surrounding peaks and for others it’s the change of pace. For me, I can’t put my finger on just one thing that makes Galena special for me. Some days it’s the skiing, somedays it’s the challenge of running a business. Sometimes I love to pour myself onto the food. Other days I stand in the doorway of the rental shop and watch the kids ski and sled and I’m happy to be a part of that. Today walking to the lodge from my cabin and meeting someone who felt the way I do made Galena a special place.