Could a Portable Lift Change Backcountry Skiing?

It wasn't shaping up to be a great day at Lolo Pass. The already-thin Montana snowpack was being pummeled by warm April weather, my girlfriend decided she'd rather do something other than go backcountry skiing, and I'd forgotten my bear spray. When I pulled into the visitors' center lot, I realized that I wasn't the only one who had doubts about Lolo's ski-ability. Two other cars were in the lot—an obligatory Forest Service truck and a flame-emblazoned minivan full of what looked like snow