Big Sky Resort

Beautiful big sky!

Big Sky Mountain is a large resort with a variety of terrain for skiers of all ability. Kept my husband and myself entertained for 4 days of skiing. Not very many long blue cruisers that were groomed - possibly because they were a little low on snow and not grooming to preserve their snow base. All greens that we skied were nicely groomed. Very cold when we went, 10-15 at base and below zero to ten degrees on top of mountain. Had 4 day lift pass - only one day off skiing. We wanted to start the lift pass the second day we were at the resort(trip to Yellowstone National Park - strongly suggested! We did a snowmobile and a snow coach tour.) When checking into the condo, the staff at the main desk said no problems - can ski any 4 days. Ended up that our passes expired one day earlier than we wanted. Staff at resort was very helpful in resolving this issue and we were issued a daily lift pass for the last day we planned to ski. Bar staff was great - we had drinks to go and carried them back to our condo. Doormen at main hotel were friendly and helpful. Lots of staff at base of mountain. Free ski valet was a great option for us - didn't have to carry skis back and forth to condo. Go visit this great resort before the crowds find it! No lines at lift - the mountain swallows up the skiers.

Interesting mountain but not great snow conditions

We had never been to Big Sky so thought we should finally get there in connection with a birthday gathering in Yellowstone NP. We were impressed by how huge the skiing area is but not wild about the snow conditions....we had just been skiing at Grand Targhee (60 miles away) where there was literally twice as much snow and not the wind-blown conditions we saw at the top of Big Sky. We skied 3 days and had very good guides for our two free tours of the mountain. They went out of their way to show us both major parts of the mountain and had good recommendations for things to explore. Unfortunately the whole upper part of the mountain was off limits because it was so windblown there was hardly any snow and we were definitely not going to kill ourselves up there. We are experienced skiers and always like to check everything out but never went up either Powder Seeker or Lone Peak Tram since it looked like - and we were advised that - there was no good way down in those conditions. Too bad. The things we liked about the mountain were the very long runs, the mostly uncrowded slopes even on a week-end, the very informative guides, the ski valet and the grooming. We did not like the snow conditions, the kind of uninspired runs on the Moonlight Basin side, the low light on most of the slopes in the PM in late January and the fact that the mountain is so spread out. We would have really liked to have spent time in the Elk Park Meadows area but not the right conditions. We did not get a chance to try out the on mountain lodge/dining or even the base area since we were committed to birthday celebrations off mountain for most of our free time. We did like the proximity of the Huntley Lodge to the slopes but wondered why there was that rise by the ski valet with 10 -12 steps...we found an inside elevator but not really handy. Ski valet was well run and very handy. I only used photo shop inside mall and that was very efficient.

Great Resort...hardcore skiing

This is a super resort for folks who really want to do some hard core skiing. There are plenty of easy runs for the beginners...but the advanced and expert runsure are unique and fun. My favorite part was skiing straight onto lifts almost the whole week. The many different areas to ski were an additional plus. I like to vary where I go and am actually considering potentially returning in a few years.....but there are so many amazing resorts out there. The one thing I wish they would do better is to have more groomed blacks....for speed demons like me, my knees only last a short time on the moguls these days.

Breath taking

Words cannot begin to describe how great Bis Sky Resort is. Perfect. Just perfect. And huge. We have decided to get ourselves a season pass to Big Sky for our return trips. So much skiing to do there, you could go for a month and not cover the entire place. If you are thinking about going to Big Sky for your next trip. Stop thinking and BOOK NOW!! You will not be disappointed.

Big Sky is a Great Place for Families

This was my fourth Spring trip to Big Sky and I things it's a great place, especially if you have kids and like to head to the base for breaks. I don't, but I was with people who did. My own preference is to hit the lifts in the morning and not return to the base until the end of the day, but, at Big Sky, you can easily find yourself returning to the base area many times during the day. The lift lines are fairly short, though, so it's not a problem.

A big mountian !!

we skied for 6 days and only covered 20% on the mountain. We will definitely be back!! Varied runs for all levels...the bowls at Lone peak will rival the china bowl at Vail any day. Incredibly beautiful mountain.

loved it

Great Skiing. No crowds. Friendly people. Good restaurants just a short walk from the hotel.

The best resort I have been to.

I have been to Big Sky ten of past eleven years, always the first full week of March as part of a conference. I love this resort because of the terrain, lack of lines and the generally high-speed lift system.

Here is my take

Skiing: The best skiing I have done in the US. I am from California and ski mostly the Tahoe resorts. I have also skied Mammoth. Compared to them, Big Sky is deserted . The most I had to wait in line was about 2 minutes and that was because the lift was temporarily stopped. There is plenty of terrain to explore for intermediate and advanced skiers but for the beginners the terrain is rather limited.

For the intermediate skiers I recommend hanging around Andesite mountain. Big Horn, Elk Park Ridge, Silver Knife, Tippy's Tumble, and Ambush. All of these are steep blues where you can work on your technique. Also if you feel a bit adventurous, you could give the bumps under the Ramcharger lift a try. On the same mountain, if you are advanced skier, you can try Mad Wolf and Crazy Horse on the back side (under the Thunderwolf chair) as well as some tree runs such as Congo and Ambush glades.

There are also blue runs under the Swift Current chair. These are easier than those on the Andesite mountain.

Lone Peak Triple Bowl is a must if you want to improve your skiing. The bowl is beautiful and has some bumps but it is a short run so you won't get that tired. You can also give the Upper Morning Star a try especially on a cool sunny day.

You can take the Lone Peak tram to either sight see or to actually ski down the mountain. The runs are all blacks or double black and the atmosphere is quite thin (11,000 ft) so you better be in a pretty good shape and a good skier because either the mountain or the air will get you.

Challenger lift is strictly for advanced skiers but it could be a lot of fun.

Shedhorn and Dakota lifts also offer some expert terrain but it is very hard to get to them. Ditto for Iron Horse except that the terrain around that lift are mostly blues.

Lodging: I usually stay at Huntley just for its convenience but the hotel is overpriced and quite a bit dated. Summit is a better hotel at slightly higher prices. As for groups, there are plenty of condos. I recommend the Big Horn Condos for larger groups. They are close to the lifts and in the morning you can take the Poma that gets you to the bottom of the Silver Knife run.

Food: This is where the resort could certainly improve. Other than the typical American Diner/Bar fair, there are a couple of restaurants around with the best one being "the Cabin" at the Arrowhead condos. "The Cabin" is ski-in-ski-out restaurant during lunch at the bottom of the Silver Knife run. The lunch is very good and very reasonably priced. The dinner, however, is quite expensive but well worth it at least for one night. Try the venison medallions or the game steak. Both are very good. You could also try "Buck's T-4" which is at the bottom of the mountain. You can take a shuttle from Huntley to it free of charge. The food is not bad and they have a good beer selection.

Nightlife: What is that? There are a couple of bars around but no nightclubs or anything.

Other activities: This is a very isolated resort with the nearest big town, Bozeman being about an hour and a half away. There is the meadow village that has some shops but I have never been there since I am usually attending conference activities when I am not skiing. You could also get a tour of Yellowstone (about 45 minutes away).

Overall, this is a great place for serious skiers who think of skiing first and all other things second. Others could find it rather dated and boring.

great trip Big Sky/ Moonlight Basin

Had a great end of March trip to BS/MB. It snowed a couple of nights including about a foot one night when the rest of the country was in a snow drought. Buy the combo ticket especially in spring so that you can ski the north side of MB since it doesnt thaw and then chase the sun from the east side of BS to the south side and if it gets too mushy, back to the north. The skiing was huge and the crowds minimal. Not much to do at night and it seems that a car is an advantage even for getting around the base village. We stayed at Beaverhead and there was enough snow so that we could ski in and out. The condo was huge and easily accommodated five guys and probably could handle four or five more. If you are here to ski it is a great trip. If you are looking for a social life as well, try Colorado or Park City, but I would go back in a second.

Awesome ski territory

My son and I loved Big Sky and Moonlight Basin. The terrain is steep and there are many glade areas. And, the Headwall chutes on both sides are awesome.

One criticism is that nobody on either side knows how to coordinate ski passes for the other side. We bought tickets for 2 days at Big Sky and 2 days at Moonlight. Nobody, and I mean nobody has any idea what they are doing. At the Big Sky Basecamp office they wanted to charge us $27 each for a lift ride to Moonlight or we could take a shuttle over to Moonlight. At Guest Services, they said to just tell the lift operator to send us up. The lift operator said that he would give us one free ride but he better not see us again that day. Terrible, terrible customer service! Obviously, there is great confusion that needs to be resolved.