Those of us enduring this Northwest Montana winter — with more than its share of bitter cold, snow, ice and wind — might need a break.

That’s where the aptly named Cabin Fever Days this weekend comes in.

It’s the 36th annual midwinter celebration in the Canyon communities of Hungry Horse, Martin City and Coram.

At the heart of the festivities, as usual, are the unique and entertaining barstool ski races down Sugar Hill in Martin City. But those are not the only attractions.

To their credit, Cabin Fever Days organizers have expanded the range of children’s events so that the Canyon celebration is a much more family-friendly endeavor.

If you’re looking to break out of the winter doldrums this weekend, head to The Canyon.

For a full list of events, visit www.cabinfeverdays.com.

Maggie’s gold-medal poise

Surely it had to be disappointing to get injured going into the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, but Whitefish slopestyle skier Maggie Voisin seemed to react with more poise and positive thinking than one might expect.

We think the biggest disappointment was among Flathead Valley residents who were eagerly looking forward to watching her compete.

The 15-year-old sensation, who was to be the youngest Olympian competitor from the U.S., actually sounded chipper in interviews.

“I have lots of skiing in front of me. Now I will just try and have fun and enjoy the rest of the Olympic experience.”

Good for her. Voisin definitely does have a bright future in skiing, and the world is likely to witness it.

Honoring their sacrifice

Our hats are off to Marilyn Olson of Bigfork, who plans to participate in the annual Bataan Memorial Death March in New Mexico next month to honor the veterans and active servicemen and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Olson will be trekking 26.2 miles in combat boots carrying 20 pounds of gear as a personal salute to her son’s buddies who were killed in Afghanistan. The mother of one of those fallen soldiers summed it up best when she said, “Marilyn is truly a beacon of light and healing to those of us who lost our sons and daughters in this terrible war.”

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.