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  5 of 5, "Big Sky changed my life" 22/03/2006 @ 15:56 |
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| 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: |
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| Price Paid |
| about $400 US |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Me & Mike |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
(all metrics in US and US $)
Big Sky is an hour south of Bozeman, MT and is basically one peak called Lone Mountain (11,600 feet). The base area has some hotels, condos, and even a small shopping center. Prices are somewhere between $300-250/night for most of the hotels at the base. Lift tickets are $65, but using my college ID got me tickets for $45, a buddy picked up a voucher for $40 from a guy next to the ticket windows (you might check ebay or craig's list for vouchers too). Food and beer is cheap in Montana, and there is no sales tax in Montana (except a hotel tax).
I stayed in Bozeman for $40/night and took the hour drive to Big Sky. Bozeman is an awesome town with much more night life than Big Sky (even though Bozeman is less than 30,000 people). There is a college here with nice ladies, tons of bars, restaurants and casinos. People in Montana are extremely friendly and easy going. Strangely the local guys are not particularly aggressive when it comes to hitting on the girls who are very easy to talk to.
If you stay in Bozeman and do the drive to Big Sky check out Momma Mack's (Jct of 84 & 91 Highway) they have a great breakfast and make mean sandwiches to take to the mountain. There is also a bagel shop in Bozeman that has breakfast which was good. The Bozeman Ale Works is a great place to eat and drink, the Mackenzie River Restaurant should be avoided.
(Also, staying in Bozeman puts you next to another mountain called Bridger which is only 16 miles away, and two hot springs (Chico and Norris))
The Mountain:
Over 400 inches of snow, and 4,300 ft of vertical (Daawww)
Most resorts in Montana are small and have older equipment. However, Big Sky has over twenty lifts, four of them high speed lifts, a funny little gondola, and a 15 person tram that takes you to the very top of the peak. Don't come here expecting a huge park with a super pipe, however there are kickers built all over the mountain. The lower mountain has some decent groomers, and you can definitely find powder in the trees.
Much of Big Sky is above tree line and is bowl and chute type riding. From the peak the most popular route is down the south side. The front of the peak is insane and, being a foreigner to the mountain, I didn't even mess with it. Another crazy route from the peak is north into Moonlight Basin. Big Sky shares a ticket with Moonlight Basin which is situated on the northern face of Lone Mountain. Because of the northern exposure, Moonlight has dry powder that stays around longer. Also Moonlight has these chutes called the Headwaters which are sick sick sick, you might have seen them in videos.
Enough, check out their website for the maps and drool away. Better yet check it out in person.
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| Strengths |
No competition for powder, huge vertical, massive cliffs, amazing chutes and bowls. DRY SNOW!
Montana is re-dunkulous. Beer, beer that is 7% and only costs about $1. |
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| Hot Spots |
Bozeman
Norris Hot Springs
And the pay parking lot at Big Sky (thanks for the purps Terri!) |
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| Weaknesses |
| Not enough time to cover the whole mountain. You do a bit of driving to get around, but this is one of the biggest states in the US (with the fewest people of any state). |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Big Sky is better than anything I've ridden here in Colorado. (Vail, Copper and Steamboat included) |
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