v      Official club name: The Friendship Force of  Missoula- Western Montana

v      Closest major airport:  Spokane International Airport-4 hour drive

v      Closest RegionalAirport:  MissoulaInternationalAirport

v      Cost of transportation between the airport and our city: We always pickup our ambassadors at the MissoulaInternationalAirport which is less than 8 miles from town.

v      The maximum number of Ambassadors our club can host:  We can host 20 to 25 ambassadors although we have hosted more.

v      About the club: The Friendship Force of Western Montana-Missoula was one of the first clubs formed in Montana.  Our first formal exchanges were in 1984 when we visited San Jose, Costa Rica and hosted clubs from Wolfsburg, Germany and Bangkok, Thailand.  We currently have 96 members, including singles and couples from within a radius of 50 miles.  The goal of our club is to have at least one incoming and one outgoing exchange each year.  Some years we have had domestic exchanges as well.  Our members also have the option of participating in regional exchanges, joining with members of other clubs in our region.  We have four general meetings annually, breakfast or dinner socials occasionally and welcoming and farewell parties during exchanges.  Board meetings are scheduled as needed.

v      About the region:  Missoula is located in a mountain valley in the Northern Rocky Mountains.  It is a city of approximately 70,000 people, and is home to the University of Montana.  Because of the university, there are many cultural, sporting, shopping, intellectual and outdoor opportunities.  The city is surrounded by mountains with many hiking and biking trails.  The Clarks Fork river runs through the downtown area.  The area is relatively dry with an average annual precipitation of 14 inches which includes the average annual snowfall of 48 inches which generally occurs between October and March.  The average summer temperatures range from a low in the 50s to an average high of 82 in July and August although temperatures in the 90s are fairly common in July and August.

v      About the exchange:  Because of the weather, and the snow pack in the mountains, we generally have our exchanges between late May and September.  There are many activities and things to do around western Montana and Missoula.  In and around Missoula, we have many museums, a farmers' market, lunch in the park, a hand carved carousel, band concerts in the park, U of Montana campus activities, many historic monuments from the Lewis and Clark expedition including Travelers Rest state park, hiking and biking trails including a ski lift that operates during the summer for hikers and bikers, numerous excellent restaurants and bakeries, numerous bars and breweries, local theatres, canoe trips on the rivers, day trips to the historic mining area of Butte and Phillipsburg, and the Grant Kohrs ranch which is an old historic cattle ranch operated by the National Park Service.  GlacierNational Park, and tour boats on the Missouri river through the Gates of the Mountains are also practical activities.  Although people are often interested in YellowstoneNational Park, it is too far, and requires at least three tour days plus the additional significant expense of a bus.