Big Sky Ski Resort
Big Sky Montana is ….. big! Actually it’s massive! The skiable terrain of the Big Sky ski resort is one of the largest in North America, and the vertical drop is also one of the longest in North America.
Overall, Big Sky is a very good ski resort that’s undeniably BIG, but it spoils the reality by making various baseless claims about being the ‘biggest’ and the ‘best’. One of Big Sky’s main mottos is “Biggest Skiing in America”, even though it’s not the biggest. And they claim to have the “Best Lift in the World”, although the Europeans might have something to say about that! And Big Sky Ski Resort says they’ve got the most consistent snow in the North American Rockies even though the average snowfall for the past 10 years is 100 inches below their cited average…the list goes on.
Big Sky is the most popular ski resort in Montana, and compared to the other Montana ski areas, the Big Sky Ski Resort has very well-developed infrastructure and amenities. Nevertheless it’s still a far cry from some of the proper “world class” resorts that can be found elsewhere.
Pros and Cons of Big Sky Montana
Pros
- Big Sky Ski Resort has massive ski and snowboard terrain, with an abundance of trails for all ability levels.
- The ski area tends to be uncrowded as there’s so much space for skiers and snowboarders to spread out.
- Lift infrastructure upgrades are transforming the uphill experience.
- The resort is only about an hour drive from the incredible Yellowstone National Park.
Cons
- Big Sky has negligible village atmosphere. There is no quaint village that one can stroll through. Options for evening dining are limited and après ski is equally disappointing.
- The whole place feels like it’s just a real estate extravaganza that features a tasteless show of exorbitant wealth (OK maybe we’re just jealous because we’re ski bums).
- Big Sky Ski Resort has some phenomenal alpine expert terrain off Lone Peak but the tiny little tram that accesses it only fits 15 people (!!) so expect incredibly long waits, even if it’s not a powder day.
- Big Sky has a distinct lack of options for on-mountain dining for lunch and/or to warm up, and it can be a mighty long way to get back down to the main village.
Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- A good proportion of the lodging is ski-in ski-out or close to the slopes, but it’s so spread out. Whilst there are buses that head around the many zones, it’s a bit of a pain to go out in the evenings (which may explain the lack of restaurant options).
- Big Sky is accessible off the Ikon Pass and the Mountain Collective, but don’t tell any of the locals that you have an Ikon Pass or they may eat you alive for making it busier.
- The resort has invested in some high-speed chairs, but some of the other chair lifts are painfully slow.
Big Sky Ski and Snowboard Terrain
Many moons ago, Big Sky acquired the adjacent Moonlight Basin Ski Resort to form a sizeable ski area with 5,850 acres (2,367 hectares), 300 named runs and a vertical drop of 4,366 feet (1,330 metres). Whilst the vertical is definitely highly likely to get the thighs burning and the lungs screaming, the maximum actually skiable vertical if you don’t include the tram on Lone Mountain is more like 2,625ft (800m). Big is best according to the resort and there are plans afoot to expand even further (probably to enable more real estate sales close to slopes and to actually become the biggest in America). Check out the ski trail maps below.
Big Sky has numerous terrain parks, decent terrain for beginners, an abundance of intermediate cruisers, and plenty of black piste cut runs. There is also a very proportion of aptly rated double & triple blacks, most of which are alpine off-piste runs between rocky features. About half of these can only be accessed from the Lone Peak Tram which until recently had a very poor lifting capacity because it only carried 15 passengers. Since its replacement for season 23/24, capacity per journey increased to up to 75 passengers. The terrain serviced by the tram is steep and gnarly to say the least; it will make your jaw drop and your sphincter tighten! The steeps, chutes and cliffs have become a rite of passage for expert skiers.
Lift queues at most lifts is not a major issue. Big Sky has undergone a transformation of its lift infrastructure and can now boast a European-style level of modernity & comfort. Gondolas, heated seats, high-speed, high-capacity chairs, all-weather bubbles ….. you get the idea! Of the total 40 lifts, there is the new Lone Peak tram (cable car), 2 new gondolas (10-pax & 8-pax cabins), and 24 chairs. Of the chairlifts, 8 are high-speed and include four quads, two 6-seaters and two 8-seters. The first 8-seater in North America, the Ramcharger 8, arrived for season 18/19 with a lot of fanfare, but it seemed like major overkill for only 1,160ft (350m) of vertical. Another 8-seater, the Madison 8, has since been installed too, and serves a more respectable 1,805ft (550m) of vertical.
For more detail on ski lifts and terrain, see our Skiing Big Sky page.
Big Sky Snow
Big Sky has the dubious claim of the “most consistent snowfall in the Northern American Rockies” because it has “an average annual snowfall of 400 inches which fluctuates very little from year to year”. Big Sky does reasonably well in the snowfall stakes, but the stats seem odd. In a recent decade (09/10 to 18/19), the average snowfall was only 311 inches (7.9m), with swings of up to 266 inches between seasons.
Where is Big Sky Montana?
The Big Sky Ski Resort is located in the Madison Mountain Range which is part of the Rocky Mountains. Big Sky is in southwest Montana, about an hour southwest of the college town of Bozeman.
The closest airport is the regional Bozeman airport which has direct service from several major airports, although compared to other western US ski destinations, there are less direct flights. From the Bozeman airport there are affordable shuttles to Big Sky. Car rentals are also available at the airport, although a car is generally not necessary once you’re at Big Sky.
For more detail on how to get there, see our Travel to Big Sky page.
Big Sky Lodging & Villages
Mountain Village is the main on-mountain village at Big Sky Resort. It’s not a village that you can stroll through, but rather a collection of a few buildings and hotels that house the limited number of shops, restaurants, and bars, so keep your expectations low regarding the après ski activities and nightlife. A couple of the Big Sky hotels are ski-in ski-out, whilst other hotels and condo buildings are a short walk from the slopes.
The White Otter and Cascade lifts service a series of access trails to an abundance of condos and houses, and the old Moonlight Basin base area (Madison Base) also has a web of streets that have slopeside houses.
Out wide and served by the various chairs and surface tows that are generally superfluous to the skiing public, are exclusive lodging enclaves called ‘Montage’ and ‘One & Only’, but that’s to be expected at a resort where real estate rules.
Down the road from Big Sky Resort is Town Center (a.k.a. Big Sky town) which is reasonably new, and the housing down there seems to spread for miles. The town has a little main street with some shops and restaurants and lots of real estate companies, otherwise the amenities are rather spread out. Town Center is about 6.5 miles (10.5km) from Mountain Village and it’s serviced via a complimentary shuttle system. Just a fraction further along is Meadow Village which is mostly residential.
Search & book lodging via the Big Sky Accommodation Listings page.
Big Sky Activities
The Big Sky area offers various winter activities to supplement the skiing and snowboarding at the resort. A visit to Yellowstone National Park should be top of the list, either as a day trip from Big Sky; or you could stay in West Yellowstone for a night or two before or after your vacation at Big Sky. Even better, head into the park for a night or two at Old Faithful Lodge - a fantastic experience. Cross country skiing around the geyser fields with free-roaming buffalo about is a fantastic experience.
There are family friendly activities such as tubing, ziplining, and sleigh rides. Big Sky is a Nordic skiing mecca, and other things to do include day spas, dog sledding and snowmobiling.