Big Sky Resort:
a ménage À trois of You, Old Man Winter and Mother Nature
If you find yourself at an uncrowded mountain, surrounded by stunning wilderness and polite Argentinians, don’t be surprised that you’re vacationing at Big Sky in Montana. It seems avid skiers and riders from the Andes have discovered a resort that many of us in North America have never visited. Maybe it’s time to put this resort on your must-visit list too.
Big Sky Resort
Montana
Address: P.O. Box 160001
1 Lone Mountain Trail
Big Sky, MT 59716
Ski area phone: (406) 995-5000
Snow report: (406) 995-5900
Toll-free reservations:
(800) 548-4486
E-mail: info@bigskyresort.com
Internet: www.bigskyresort.com
From the moment you land at Bozeman’s Gallatin Field, which feels more like a private rancher’s massive lodge than an airport, you know you’re in for a different kind of vacation. Everything here—from the friendly employees in cowboy hats to the wide-open spaces—cries out its big-country roots. Folks are easy-going and before you know it, you’re thoroughly unwound without a spa treatment.
Big Sky’s signature showpiece is a massive high-Alpine peak thrusting into the heavens and topping out at 11,166 feet. In 1995, when the resort built an aerial tram and opened terrain on the highest reaches of the peak, Big Sky put itself on the map as a destination for hard-core skiers. Until that time, it was better known for its intermediate terrain. Indeed, the intermediate groomers are such a delight that experts who wear themselves out on the tougher terrain still have plenty to grin about as they swoop down the lower trails with friends and family.
The tram whisks you up to the 11,150-foot mark on Lone Peak, giving you a stomach-in-your-throat close-up of the craggy mountain just before coming in for a landing. Panoramic views are stunning and include the Spanish Peaks Wilderness area. Since the tram holds just 15 people at a time, you have plenty of time to soak in the feeling of being on top of the world before diving into the seemingly endless snow-covered lines that drop below you.
Big Sky’s signature showpiece is a massive high-Alpine peak thrusting into the heavens and topping out at 11,166 feet.
If you like to have the mountain to yourself, then you’ll get all misty-eyed over Big Sky’s stats. A busy day is 4,000 people, and they’re scattered across 3,600 acres. If that’s a busy day, imagine what the rest of the season is like. One things for certain: You don’t have to share the 400 inches of annual snowfall with very many people, making it easy to find powder lines long after a storm.
Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin, which share terrain on Lone Peak, offer the Lone Peak Pass, a joint lift ticket that allows guests access to 5,300 acres and a vertical drop of 4,350 feet. Most visitors don’t consider their vacation complete until they’ve also spent at least a day in Yellowstone, only an hour away.
The resort’s 10-year master plan calls for more than $400 million in development, including a pedestrian-style village with shops, restaurants and conference facilities, and more high-speed lifts. New for 2006/07, Pinnacle at Big Sky is a new restaurant in a gorgeous log building at the summit of Andesite Mountain. It has indoor dining as well as a 5,000-square-foot deck. For a memorable evening, you can book sleigh-ride dinners.
Exploring the Mountain
Most runs from the Lone Peak summit are rated double-black diamond—none are easier than a single diamond—and justifiably so. It’s not unusual for people to realize they’re just “wannabes” and ride the tram back down. It’s a long way down, so be sure you’re confident about your ability.
Most runs from the Lone Peak summit are rated double-black diamond—none are easier than a single diamond—and justifiably so.
There’s a reason they call it “Lone Peak”—the bald behemoth soars towards the heavens, whispering to skiers and riders to lay tracks in its powder, chutes, steep pitches and wide-open terrain. Want a really long run that will leave you weak in the knees? Start with the steeps of Lenin to wide-open Liberty Bowl to Dakota Gully, then duck into the delightful trees of Bavarian Forest. Hippy Highway then funnels you back from the boundary edge to the Shedhorn lift.
Skiers and riders who want to test themselves in the A-Z Chutes, Pinnacles and Big Couloir must sign in with patrol and bring a transceiver, a shovel and a partner. Big Couloir is a half-mile free fall down a 42-degree shot lined with cliffs.
If the tram line is long, take Turkey Traverse and explore South Wall to your heart’s content. Lone Mountain’s north side is the preferred playground for many of the locals. The Challenger chair carries you to some of the country’s most daunting inbounds terrain. Big Rock Tongue is a steep and long field of snow with occasional cliffs for those who like them, while Little Tree and Zucchini Patch are treed narrow chutes, and Ray’s Ridge and the boundary line often hold untracked lines.
For a rollicking time in the trees, drop off Pacifier into The Congo, which eventually drops you out on Safari.
Andesite Mountain is a gem of a secret for advanced and expert terrain. It’s all below treeline, so you’ll find glades like Rock Pocket, Snake Pit and Bear Lair, as well as some bump runs like Mad Wolf and Broken Arrow that will make your legs scream for a break. For a rollicking time in the trees, drop off Pacifier into The Congo, which eventually drops you out on Safari.
When hunting for the last of the powder, try the glades off the Challenger lift, head to Andesite, especially off the Lone Moose Triple, or leap into Buffalo Jump and Rice Bowl under the Swift Current lift.
Intermediates will find a wide range of blue-square trails. On Lone Mountain, fine-tune your technique on the groomed cruisers under the gondola and the Swift Current chair, such as Calamity Jane, Huntley Hollow and Lobo. If you want to try some bowl skiing, head to Upper Morningstar. For advanced-intermediates, trails off the Shedhorn lift are south-facing and get plenty of sun at times when the lower mountain is in the shade. Upper Sunlight to Sunlight is absolutely delightful. Views are of the backcountry and you’ll feel a world away from the rest of the resort.
On Andesite, carve big turns on Big Horn, Elk Park Ridge, Elk Park Meadows and Ambush. Tippy’s Tumble and Silver Knife have some steep sections for a good test of your skills. During the spring, make sure to hit the trails off the Thunder Wolf quad early in the day before the sun has turned them into heavy mashed potatoes.
For advanced-intermediates, trails off the Shedhorn lift are south-facing and get plenty of sun at times when the lower mountain is in the shade.
Beginners will have a ball on the sun-drenched Andesite Mountain. Trails such as Sacajawea, El Dorado and Deep South are wonderfully wide with pitches that inspire confidence and grins. On the way back to the base village, the winding Pacifier lets you admire awesome views.
On Lone Mountain, play on the rolling Mr. K, White Wing and Lone Wolf. It can get busy on Mr. K at the end of the day because it feeds skiers and riders off the higher parts of the mountain, but it’s nice and wide. If you’re with people who are more accomplished than you, convince them to take a few runs on Mr. K and Lone Wolf, they’ll enjoy it too.
The learning area, set off to one side of the lower mountain, feels nicely secluded until the end of the day, when skiers and riders coming off the more difficult terrain often zip through. A moving carpet transports you up the slope to learn your first turns. For the youngest ones, a smaller moving carpet is in a fenced-off area in the base area used by children’s ski school.
Snowboarders coming off Lone Peak’s South Face can avoid most of Cow Flats (1.5 miles of flats) and Hippy Highway by working your way towards the centrally located Shedhorn lift. If you can skip the flat Middle Road back to the village, do it.