Although those are becoming more frequent. With the adjacent Yellowstone Club - a private ski area that adds another 2,000 acres of skiing for those with the means - it almost has a European feel, minus the neon ski suits and strange accents. There is also an open boundary policy - skiers must leave the resort through designated gates - which adds even more accessible sidecountry terrain for experienced skiers. And all of this is covered by more than 400 inches of snow each winter. The resort - since it officially merged with Moonlight Basin and Spanish Peaks Club last winter to become the largest ski area in the country - boasts 5,800 acres of inbounds terrain spread out over four mountains, a 4,350-foot continuous vertical drop, and more than 250 named runs that amount to 110 miles of designated trails. Except the crowds, of course those are actually smaller than other resorts, and that plays into the advertising as well.Īnd, indeed, Big Sky’s stats are impressive. The resort advertising campaign is built around the slogan, the Biggest Skiing In America™, touting that everything in Montana is bigger - the sky, the mountains, the snowfall. Skiers and riders from around the world come here because of its bigness. This is the thing about Big Sky: It’s big. We snickered to ourselves thinking about all the people still waiting in the tram line. Looking back up at our tracks from below reinforced that our earlier decisions had been good ones. We carved turns in the fresh powder, then made our way into another, narrower chute below called Whitetail, where the snow and steepness made us feel like ski-film veterans.
#BIG SKY RESORT SERIES#
A half-hour later we were standing on the top of Three Forks, a series of north-facing, 40-degree couloirs that drop 1,000 feet to the bowl below. Quickly, we loaded our packs and traversed along one of the most impressive - and sometimes, downright scary - inbounds hikes in the country, where you can drop off to the north or south. The far edge of the ridge - a zone called Three Forks - was glowing in the morning light, not a track to be seen. Luckily, our decision was made easier by the fact that when we got off the lift the ski patrol had just opened the gate for hiking access to the Headwaters area. Another Big Sky dilemma, with a 12-minute lift ride to think about it. Not feeling like waiting, we made the decision to head toward the Challenger double lift, which would take us to a knife-edge ridge filled with numerous options: Hike into the exposed Headwaters Ridge and A-Z Chutes area rip lines down Challenger’s steep face back to the bottom of the lift or head further north into Moonlight Basin to get away from the crowds. What followed next is a common Big Sky dilemma: Wait in the hour-plus line for the summit or move on to another part of the mountain in search of untracked snow? Of course, we weren’t the only ones with that idea, and by the time we made it from the base village to the tram there was already a healthy line.
ON A BLUEBIRD POWDER DAY LAST WINTER, a friend and I made the early morning dash to Big Sky for a chance at some fresh turns on Lone Peak.
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