Big Sky Ski Vacation Guide

Skiing in Big Sky is an amazing experience at an enormous 5,800 acre resort blessed with 410 inches of powder and host runs up to six miles long. The climate and snow conditions are close to perfect throughout the winter. You will find a staggering depth of snow that will even out a fair amount of the surface irregularities and make for great skiing at this expansive yet remote resort.  Watch out for the occasional frigid day when wind chills can dip well below -40 degrees F. 

Ski Levels

It's a one-stop dream for skiers of every experience level from the greenest greenhorn to the most advanced expert. Eighteen percent of the trails are rated expert and an additional 43 percent is set aside for the advanced skier. Big Sky offers a smart network of trails for the advanced and intermediate skier, with plenty of choices for the beginner to get around. There are great opportunities to get some of that famous Montana sky under your skis while flying down this mountain. Screaming Left, South Face, and Bavarian Forest are absolute white-knuckle runs and at first glance Big Couloir looks impossible to ski. If you are able to muster your courage and try it, you're in for the experience of a lifetime.

The ski school offers courses for all ages and skill levels from two hours to full day and beyond. We highly recommend taking a class, even for two hours, to learn the basics on skiing, and your kids can only benefit from learning the correct way to stop, turn, and fall. Beginners will get to enjoy 15 percent of the slopes and as they progress, they can move onto the 24 percent intermediate level trails. 

Choose from seven terrain parks to play and ride. Check out the radical half pipe at the park on Andesite, near Ambush Meadows. By the side of the pipe there are some decent, easy beginner terrain park features and below the half pipe, the more advanced skiers can test their mettle against some very challenging rail slides, boxes, kickers, hits, and table tops. 

Après Ski

The Mountain Village is the place to find fun for every member of the family and for every budget. The kids will love the Crazy Austrian Show in the Huntley Lodge, as they will gobble up the pizza at Mountain Top Pizza or Uncle Milkies Pizza and the great Tex Mex at La Luna. Don't hit the slopes in the morning until you've had breakfast in the Huckleberry Cafe or the Blue Moon Bakery.

Let's face it, the overwhelming attraction in the area has to be the spectacular Yellowstone National Park. Everything you've heard about Yellowstone is true. It is truly a natural wonderland spreading out over three states that has to be experienced at least once. Snowcoach Yellowstone offers comfortable tours of some of the park, but you have to allow for several days to really be able to say you got a chance to see the park. Try mushing your own team at Lone Mountain Ranch, 320 Ranch, or Spirit of the North Dog Adventures. If you want a bit more power, try snowmobiling with Yellowstone Tour and Travel, Two Top Snowmobile, Rendezvous Snowmobile, or Canyon Rentals.

Big Sky Snowboard Vacation Guide


Riders Guide

Montana’s mind-blowing resort has a total of 30 lifts, comprising of 8 surface lifts, and 22 other lifts that include double chairs, triple chairs, high-speed quads, and one tram for 15 people, taking you up to 300 trails anywhere within a time range of 3 to 12 minutes. There’s a set of seven terrain parks of different levels with more than 100 features to try.

Parks and Pipes

Big Couloir, South Face, Screaming Left, and Bavarian Forest have claimed many an overconfident snowboarder with their natural features packed with treachery. They are all pulse-pounding, white-knuckle rides and Big Couloir simply has to be seen to be believed—no one will think poorly of you if you take one look, turn around, and go somewhere else that regular humans can actually board down. For some more controlled, artificial features, the phenomenal half pipe and feature-packed terrain park on Andesite, near Ambush Meadows. On the left of the pipe there are some fairly small beginner terrain park features. Below the half pipe is where intermediate to expert boarders go for lots of kickers, hits, rail slides, boxes, and tabletops.  Newbies can to the Cowpoke beginner’s park loaded with small features to try, and Freestylers will be stoked to traverse the glades and chutes in the Freestyle Forest.

Out of Bounds

In a state such as Montana that is renowned around the world for its spectacular wintertime outdoor activities, there are few destinations that offer more fun than Big Sky. You can select from an astounding number of thrilling outdoor activities such as rock and ice climbing, ice skating, jeeping and off-road driving, snowcatting, sledding, cross-country skiing, hot air balloon rides, horseback riding, snowmobiling, and fishing. The resort boasts provides daily shuttles to Yellowstone National Park.

Hangout & Hookup

Big Sky’s Mountain Village is where it all happens, après ski and rest during the long, crystal clear nights. The big four for raucous fun and ear-smashing music are Dante’s Inferno, The Alpine Lounge, The Bambu Bar, and The Black Bear Bar. It may sound like an old movie by the California Governor, but the Crazy Austrian Show at Chet’s Bar in the Huntley Lodge is a must see, and then you can drink the memories away at Chet’s happy hour prices. Head down to the Meadow Village if you want to play some billiards, darts and poker, as The Allgoods Bar serves up refreshing brews. Down in the canyon you’ll find more games at Buck’s T-4 Game Room, and the roadhouse western bars The Half Moon Saloon and The Corral.

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