Big Sky, Montana (from Ski Snowboard America: Top Winter Resorts in USA and Canada) Summit:11166 feet Vertical:4350 feet Base: 7500 feet (mountain village) Base : 6,800 feet (Lone Moose) Slope Difficulty
20% expert
40% advanced
26% intermediate
14% beginner Average Annual Snowfall
400+ inches
Lift Capacity
23,000 skiers per hour
Ski Season Opens
November 25, 2010 (weather pending)
Ski Season Ends
April 24, 2011
Snow Conditions Phone Line
406.995.5900 Address: PO box 160001, 1 Lone Mountain Trail, big Sky, MT59716 Telephone(main):800-548-4486 Snow Report Number: 406-995-5001 Toll-free reservations:800-548-4486 Reservations outside US:800-548-4486
Lifts: 21- 1 aerial tram,4 high-speed quads,1 quad,5 tripes,5 doulbles,2 surface lifts,3 moving carpets Skiable acreage: 3812-5512 Snowmaking: 10 percent of trails Uphill capacity: 23,000 Parks & pies: 3 parks, 1 superpipe Bed base: 4250 Nearest Lodging: Slopeside Child care: Yes, 6 months and older Adult ticket per day :$81 Dining: xxx Apres-ski/nightlife: xx Other activities: xx
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. Here you can expect lots of friendly employees in cowboy hats holding open doors for you, a genuine laid-back atmosphere, spectacular scenery and plenty of challenging terrain. Big Sky, with its impressive Matterhorn-shaped peak scraping the heavens at 11,166 feet, is a serious skier’s mountain from the summit, yet it has excellent cruisers closer to the base. 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. An aerial tram with two 15-passenger cars whisks you up to the 11,150-foot mark on Lone Peak that gives you a stomach-in –your-throat close –up of the craggy mountain just before coming in for a landing. If you get to the top and find that the chutes, couloirs and steeps are more than you can handle, no problem---admire the views of the nearby Spanish Peaks Wilderness area and ride back down. Only 15 people per tram, so you’ll have a marvelous feeling of privacy as you descend, either in the capsule or while attempting the steeps beneath it. Big Sky attracts about 300,000 skier visits each season: however, they’re all swallowed up by the 3,600-acre terrain. A big daily turnout is 4,000 people, meaning short lines for the lifts and roughly on skier per acre. With about 400 inches of snowfall, powder days are frequent and last much longer than the first run. Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin, which border each other 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. It’s a serious thrill to ride Big Sky’s tram to the top and ski down the chutes of Moonlight Basin on the other side. The only requirements are that you carry a transceiver and a shovel, and get the ski patrol’s permission. Oh, you can’t go it alone—you must ski with a buddy. Mountain layout Expert, Advanced: Most of the runs from the Lone Peak summit are rated double-black diamond---none are easier than a single diamond---and justifiably so. Lone Peak and the immense bowl beneath it beckon skiers and snowboarders looking for powder, chutes, steep pitches and wide-open terrain. Take Lenin into wide-open Liberty Bowl to Dakota Gully to the trees of Bavarian Forest. This Makes a long run with lots of challenges. Hippy Highway then funnels you back from the boundary edge to the Shedhorn lift. You must register with the ski patrol to challenge the A-Z Chutes, the Pinnacles and Big Couloir,all formerly out of bounds on the Moonlight Basin side of Lone Peak.( The latter is 42 degrees steep and half-a-mile long). If you want to try this terrain, You have to take a transceiver, a shovel and a partner. If the tram line is long, take Turkey Traverse and explore South Wall to your heart’s content. The vast area on Lone Mountain’s north side is where many locals play. The Challenger chair climbs 1670 steep vertical feet to open hair-raising in-bounds terrain---some of the toughest in-bounds skiing in the country. Steep, long pitches drop down Big Rock Tongue, trees pepper narrow chutes on Little Tree and Zucchini Patch and untracked lines are often found as you traverse toward’s Ray’s Ridge and the boundary line. Andestite 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. For more trees, drop off Pacifier into The Congo, which eventually ends up on Safari. Intermediate: Big Sky has two mountains, Lone Mountain and Andesite, that connect at the base. The blue-rated trails on both have a wide range in pitch and grooming. Not all the blue trails are groomed, and some have cat-track runouts or are short. On Lone Mountain, try the groomed cruisers under the gondola and the Swift Currrent chair, such as Calamity Jane. Huntley Hollow and Lobo. If you want some bowl skiing, head to Uppper 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. On Andesite, skis run fast and long on Big Horn, Elk Park Ridge, Elk Park Meadows and Ambush. The manicured slopes of Tippy’s Tumble and Silver Knife have some steep sections. During the spring, hit the trails off the Thunder Wolf quad early in the day before the sun has turned them into heavy mashed potatoes. Beginner, First-timer: The south side of Andesite Mountain is great for beginners because of the wide, gentle slopes and because it gets a lot of sun. Enjoy runs such as Sacajawea, EI Dorado and Ponderosa from the Southern Comfort chair. On the way back to the base village, the winding Pacifier lets you admire awesome views. Though not physically isolated from the rest of the terrain, the learning area, at Lone Mountain’s base, is away from high traffic until the end of the day. 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.
Parks and pipes Big Sky has a well-kept halfpipe and terrain park on Andesite,near Ambush Meadows, reached by taking the Ramcharger quad and turning left. The halfpipe is just after the Ambush entrance and just before Tippy’s Tumble. After watching skilled riders in the park.newbies should head left of the pipe, for the beginner terrain park hits and 6-inch-high rail slide. Intermediate and expert park riders will…… Children’s programs (08/09 prices) Child care: Ages 6 months and older. For ages 6-23 months, cost is $90 for a full day, $65 for a half day. For 2-8 years old, $80 for a full day, $55 for half day. Hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Immunization records are required. Reservation are also required for all child-care services and parents will need to bring some things, so call ahead,995-5847. The bright, airy facility is at slopeside Snowcrest Lodge. Children’s lesions: Ages 3-4 can take a 45-minute introduction to skiing in the afternoon,$80 (day care and rentals extra). Mini Camp, from ages 4-6, is $142 and includes all-day ski lesions, activities and lunch. Mini Rider Camp. For ages 6-9, is $142…… Special activities: Kid’s Club, based in the Huntley, is a very popular kids’ program that’s available from 3-5 pm Monday through Friday. The program is free, but advance registration is required because space is limited. A free fireworks show lights up the sky every Saturday at 8 pm. Lift ticket: 2 children ski free (up to age 10) per paying adult. Accommondations Big Sky is divided into three area- the Mountain Village, the Meadow Village and the Canyon. These ares are serviced by a free shuttle system during the winter. In the Mountain Village(most slope side): - The summit at big sky
- Alpenglow
- Shoeshone condominium hotel
- The Huntley
- Lone moose meadows
- Snowcrest
- Beaver-head
- Arrowhead condominiums
- Skycrest
- Stillwaster
- Mountain inn
In the Meadow village( 6 miles from mountain village) In the canyon (3 miles from the meadow village) |