Explore Montana’s remote winter ecosystem through the eyes of one of its most enigmatic creatures. WOLF MATING SEASON is nigh in Yellowstone National Park. As the Druid pack descends on a herd of elk for a kill, an interloper, a lone wolf trying to ingratiate himself with the pack, waves his tail playfully, like a flag, to win the graces of potential mates.

Community rallies for Hailey resident captured in Afghanistan. Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling addresses a crowd of national and international media to relay a statement from the family of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, who is believed to be captured in Afghanistan. Photo by Willy Cook. World events brought the U.S.

“A LOT of good cyclists come out of Portland just because you can ride year-round,” said Bruce Rogers, an athletic-shoe designer visiting from his home in Hailey, Idaho . “I love coming back because I love the biking , no matter what time of year it is. More than fitness, it’s a fun outlet. As long as you have decent rainwear you can ride in any weather.”.

Snowbound in the glow of the four-way fireplace or soaking in streaming sunshine on the deck, the Roundhouse offers a bright respite from the weather and a rousing morning of deep powder turns. In fact, some say stomping a path from the bottom of the Christmas Lift up the death-defying wrought iron stairs to the Roundhouse entrance is like a trip in a time machine.

MOUNTAIN biking in Sun Valley , Idaho , is best seen from the saddle. But a glimpse from a four-seater airplane of the valley’s mountains, alpine lakes, rivers, canyons, forests and lava flows helped set the stage. The pilot, Tor Andersen, who had his mountain bike and fly- fishing rod neatly stowed in the fuselage of the 51-year-old Cessna 182, was joining me for some autumn mountain biking during the harvest moon.

POLLEN erupted from the trees like smoke from a forest fire. We were resting with our bikes atop granite cliffs, looking out over the Saco River, taking a break from mountain biking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire . For five days I joined riders from the New England Mountain Bike Association, traveling through the thick forest of their mountainous backyard.

Representing Idaho and the Intermountain West, Idahoans for Peace descended on Salt Lake City to participate in one of the 11 peace rallies held around the nation last weekend. Members of the Idaho contingent carried headstones in honor of those who have died during the war in Iraq. Photo by Matt Furber.

In this photo sent from Berlin, Italians rejoice at their victory over France in Sunday's World Cup final. Express photo by Matt Furber. I watched Sunday's World Cup Final hosted this year in Germany on a big screen hung inside a retired power station in downtown Berlin. As I watched I enjoyed beer from the Herzogliches Brauhaus Tegernsee—beer on tap from Ketchum's sister city in Germany.

Sun Valley Heli Ski owner Mark Baumgartner introduces emergency professionals to the Aerospatiale A-Star 350 helicopter and its application as a backcountry rescue tool. Sun Valley Heli Ski pilot Lon Stickney dropped out of the sky Tuesday near the end of the plowed portion of Trail Creek Road for an in-service training for emergency first responders to learn how to use the tool for mountain rescue operations.

Nick Stavros, one of 10 Marines from the Wood River High School 2001 graduating class, greets his brother Ryan at Friedman Memorial Airport Friday, the day he finished four years of active duty, including combat duty in Afghanistan and two tours in Iraq. Photo by Willy Cook. The first time around, 2001 Wood River High School graduate Cpl.

Humble but jovial, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama passed into the tent Wednesday morning for an interfaith meeting where he had previously counseled business leaders at the home of Kiril Sokoloff, north of Ketchum. The gathering of local, regional and international religious leaders capped four unique days in the Wood River Valley with the Tibetan spiritual leader promoting a message of compassion, who was hosted by Sokoloff, a prominent financial investment strategist.

Most every pupil needs a break from study. When he was young, a favorite diversion for His Holiness the Dalai Lama was tinkering with watches and clocks. In his early explorations of Western technology and science, the 14th Dalai Lama explains in his new book, "The Universe in a Single Atom," he eventually progressed to review of automobiles that he inherited from the 13th Dalai Lama.

Risking life and limb or at least one's reputation to be a journalist's source for a story can be a difficult choice. In the case of Twin Falls native, W. Mark Felt, who came forward this week as the infamous "Deep Throat," who helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein break the Watergate scandal that brought down former President Richard Nixon in 1973, the solution was to remain underground.

Christina Fannon, an Idaho National Guard diesel mechanic, prepares her footlocker for deployment to Iraq. Fannon's photo collage and her standard issue duffels packed with combat gear were checked at a Gowen Field "showdown" in Boise, Monday. Fannon and about a dozen other Idaho soldiers will train in Colorado before joining the rest of the 116th Army Cavalry Brigade already in Iraq.

Snowmobiler Boe Balis, 28, of Bellevue, died in an avalanche Friday, April 1, about 20 miles northwest of Ketchum. Balis graduated from Wood River High School in 1994 and was the proprietor of Paradise Paint in Bellevue. Balis left behind his wife of seven years, Toni Marie, and his daughter, Sarah.

A backcountry skier injured in an avalanche near Galena Summit Friday, March 25, was rescued by two fellow skiers and a hasty team of rescuers flown to the base of the slide area by a Ketchum-based helicopter pilot. Ketchum resident Steve Waltcher sustained multiple fractures after being swept through the trees by an avalanche calculated to be about 140 feet wide and one- to two-feet deep.