This place wants to be vail or aspen so bad. The problem is that they miss the mark so bad that they make the evil empires look alright in comparison. Their website was impossible to navigate on my phone and when I did finally get to where I needed to be I couldn't enter in my information. They will charge like the big resorts but they don't have the support like the big resorts have. This place has driven away the locals so the tourists can have more fun. See our video here

We used to enjoy skiing at Big Sky and put up with the thin snowpack, but now that riding the tram is no longer worth it (super long wait the last few years and now too expensive) we will no longer return. There are only so many laps one can do on Challenger and the other terrain (Bowl, Headwaters, Lone Tree) is too short. It has become increasingly more crowded for parking and base area lifts. Maybe the new Swifty lift will help reduce the lines. See our video here

Best parts of the mountain are lift infrastructure, scope of the terrain, length of runs, crowds, and size. Really has something for everyone. If in a big group the mountain does seem to be "segregated" to skiing in a similar talent level. So this provides a ton of opportunity if everyone is at the same level, but much less if the variety of skills are wide. I like this a lot, but that's if I'm traveling with my buddies, not my family.

Main negatives is the lack of dinner options, though this is improving. Another knock would be on mountain food options. See our video here

Nary a mountain host in sight to direct skiers, very few reminders of directions, slow zones, very little to no ski patrol visible on runs to remind people to ski in control. Two out of four people in my party were run over from behind by skiers on the same day. Second time was on a run that probably spanned five semis. An impact that broke my kids helmet. Of course a ticket says skiing is dangerous, I understand that part. However the downhill skier always has priority and any of us has an obligation to ski in control. In twenty years of skiing every week, I have never been hit by another skier. My reckless tourist comment is coming from a visitor! Reminders on lifts about safety or slow zones or ‘ski in control’ across runs help eliminate any confusion and this type of garbage skiing by visitors. Big Sky seems more concerned with maintaining the aesthetics than skier safety. I can’t recall even seeing a host or patroller out actually patrolling. Lots of terrain, just very little focus on maintaining skier safety on it. See our video here

Easily one of the worst resorts I’ve ever ridden. Horrible snow, massive lines, and the fact that every single run seems to funnel down to a flat cat track just ruined the experience for me. Take my advice and just go to Jackson hole or Targhee. See our video here

No lines. Open terrain, great snow, beautiful views. The town of Big Sky is small but has many bars and restaurants. Bucks, and Riverhouse, Michaelangelo, and Lotus Pad are all awesome See our video here

Hasn’t snowed in a while or snow was gone. Waaaay overpriced See our video here

Growth at Big Sky is off the charts. Nearby Bozeman is touted as the fastest growing Micropolitan area in America. The ski areas is in the midst of a ten-year strategic plan to improve lifts, improve services and increase terrain. Over the last ten years, Big Sky absorbed the ski infrastructure at adjacent Spanish Peaks and Moonlight Basin. Real estate development in both areas is on record pace. (Yellowstone Club skiing remains private but its growth is having so many positive spin off effects on the entire Big Sky area. )

Boyne has added two new high speed lifts and one speedy fixed grip lift in the past three years. By repurposing one old high speed lift, they've actually improved four lifts total. If they accomplish their 2025 strategic plan they will be updating/adding at least six more lifts, including a new gondola and a small capacity increase for the tram.

Tram lines can approach an hour (or slightly more) on nice days, but the limited capacity results in fantastic condition of the slopes at the top of Lone Peak. More than half the tram riders ski down overrated Liberty Bowl; this leaves dozens of other runs for everyone.

Marx and Lenin are two of the best double diamond trails anywhere. Steep enough to get the heart racing, but wide enough to minimize risk and fear. Big C may not be the toughest in-bounds run in the country, but you'll have a hard time finding anything as challenging with as much duration. Tram lines are much lighter on cloudy days.

Even on the busiest days, you can lap the Challenger lift and access incredible terrain without every standing in line. If you want to rack up vertical feet, lap the bowl six-seat Powder Seeker. A very strong skier could get close to 10,000 vertical feet per hour. Lines are also very rare on this lift.

The 2025 plan also envisions an increase in acreage from 5,800 to almost 10,000 acres. I believe Big Sky intends to capture the title of biggest vertical and most acreage in all of the U.S.

Big Sky uses 270 degrees of the mountain. Pay attention to the sun. North facing slopes are generally the best. Despite its vast size, the mountain is easy to navigate for skiers at every level. The only insider tip I can share is that when the crowds go high on powder days, some of the best stashes can be find on the east and north diamond slopes of Andesite. Snake Pit and Bears Lair are two that come to mind.

The base area remains modest. Even with the planned development, Big Sky will never be like Aspen, Vail, Park City or Breckenridge with a great town at the base of the mountain. However, in the town center, less than 10 miles from the base, a great resort community and infrastructure is rapidly emerging. New shops and restaurants are opening every year. There is a new hospital, upscale grocery and next to come will be an indoor year-round rec center to compliment the rodeo stadium, bandstand and ice rink nearby.

The main base lodge is subpar, but functional. It is being renovated as we speak.

Distance to airport is relatively modest, but the canyon drive is not fun in bad weather. Big Sky skiing is expensive. Lodging is expensive, but because of all the second homes there, prices on AirBnB seem to be dropping significantly.

Enjoy Big Sky. See our video here

Maybe we’d have enjoyed Big Sky more if we hadn’t visited Big Sky between Snowbowl, a low key no-frills ski area that’s great for ski bum powder hounds, and Jackson Hole which has soooo much more going for it than Big Sky. And maybe we’d have enjoyed it more without the resort’s arrogant and ridiculous mottos. Despite all the wank associated with their slogans such as “Biggest Skiing in America” (even though they’re not the biggest), “Best Chairlift in the World” (with its extra wide seats for fat bottoms), and “the most technologically advanced chairlift network” (despite various antique chairs and the resort being in the dark ages because they don’t even have RFID lift tickets - ha!), it is undeniably a great resort but perhaps just not as phenomenal as the marketing BS portrays.

Big Sky Resort has some amazing strengths and it’s easy to see why some people love the place, but it also has some marked cons, some of which are summarised on the Big Sky overview page.

It was really light on for snow, despite other ski resorts in the region having a substantial base, and some of the groomers had shaley pebbles on them that hadn’t been sifted out. Despite the lean snow, waits for the tram were one hour! I’d hate to see the queue on a powder day! Some amazing terrain, but you’d need the patience of a saint to ride much of it.

The poor service of the resort staff was also a stand out feature. Many of the resort staff were so laid back that they were nearly asleep. As examples, we’d ask for directions and get greeted with a dumb stare, and we went into the Base Camp activity centre (which had a sign regarding Yellowstone tours) to ask about tours to Yellowstone and the girl behind the counter was either stoned or really slow. She said she didn’t know of any Yellowstone tours and perhaps we should try googling it (so helpful!). On the flipside, we met a fantastic bar man in the Carabiner who excelled at service.

We went onto Jackson Hole a week later, and despite the crowds (it’s busy for a good reason), the superiority of Jackson Hole just blew Big Sky out of the sky.

Check out the USA ski resort ratings page to see how we score Big Sky against other western ski resorts. See our video here

My friends and I were in town the first week of March from Tahoe. We are ikon holders. Mountain was great and we were received much better than a lot of other mountains on the pass. Specifically. Seth, the guy with the busted arm running the bottom of the swifty chair was awesome!!! We work at a mountain here in Tahoe and wanted to let him know how much we appreciate his hard work and friendliness even through the increased crowds See our video here