Montana is not usually lead conversation in skiing circles. It is more
of a fly-fishing, bison chasing, bighorn sheep-spotting kind of state.
We told friends we were taking the family skiing in Montana, and they
gave us that peculiar cocked-head puppy look.
As we flew into Denver, all the skiing families deplaned on their way
to the bustling strip of Colorado ski areas. We received more bizarre
looks as we told our new in-flight friends we were headed to another
gate to catch a puddle jumper to Bozeman.
Perhaps
that is what makes
Big Sky Montana
such an intriguing ski destination – it is still a pretty big secret
amongst schussers. They call it the last, best place.
I was hooked on Montana since I had heard the free for kids promotion.
Big Sky is big on families. Not only do kids 10 and under ski free
(and stay free on certain lodging packages), Kids’ Club is a free
daily après ski program of the arts and crafts, games, s’mores and
face-painting ilk. All this and its proximity to Yellowstone National
Park made it a must see and ski destination for us.
This southern Montana ski resort, 45 miles from Bozeman airport, was
started in 1973 by news anchor Chet Huntley. While Huntley was no
skier, he saw the potential of this stunningly beautiful Montana
mountain range, particularly 11,166-foot Lone Peak that resembles the
dramatic Matterhorn of Zermatt.
The
Summit Hotel at the base of Big Sky is the place to stay – location
and luxe (the most expensive building in Montana). I enjoyed watching
the cowboy clad bellhops lug our gear to our elegant western-themed
suite.
My husband could keep an eagle eye on the slopes from our 8th floor
room. Our kids quickly found the hotel’s outdoor heated pool. From our
prime spot, we were an easy stroll to the resort’s dozen shops and
restaurants – and of course the lifts.
While we found the resort village to be
compact but plentiful enough in its offerings, Big Sky’s skiing is huge. With
3,600 acres of skiing and 18 lifts, there was more than enough space
for our week of adventure, and amazing views as far as Wyoming’s Grand Tetons to keep us visually stimulated.
Add to that neighboring
Moonlight Basin and you have the Biggest Skiing in America.
With all this Big Sky skiing, plus elevations of 11,000-feet, our
family got a bit winded and weary. Taking a day off the slopes to take
in the phenomenal sites of Yellowstone is a must.
Daily
snow coaches leave the resort for full day tours. Our witty and
engaging guide Dave explained that the vast majority of the three
million annual tourists flow through Yellowstone in the summer. We
found the Park spectacular blanketed in sparkling snow, with the bonus
of easier tracking of wildlife (and dramatically reduced pesky humans
about).
From the comforts of our snow coach van, we spotted big horn sheep,
elk, bison (the proper name for buffalo in North America), coyotes,
and eagles. Our lunch stop was well timed to Old Faithful’s exciting
eruption. It was education meets recreation as Dave walked us around
dozens of steaming geysers, aqua colored thermals, and the quirky
bubbling mud pots.
If you
prefer, you can snowmobile Yellowstone, but don’t expect to buzz
around solo on your sled. Snowmobiles are herded single file behind a
guide and governed to pokey speeds along the Park roads. Only the wild
animals roam freely, nature’s justice.
After a day of bison counting, followed by bison eating at Montanans’
favorite eatery
Buck’s T-4, we were primed to ram-charge down the slopes of Big
Sky again.
My husband had heard the adrenaline accolades, that Big Sky has the second longest vertical in North America at 4,350-feet, (short of Aspen’s Snowmass). He was lured by the Lone Peak Tram, a 15-passenger cable car to the pointy beacon of Big Sky where the air is thin, and ski options include spacious bowls off the backside, nearly perpendicular chutes down the flank, or the infamous Big Couloir straight down the mighty face – whispered among ski fanatics as simply “The Big.”
Even though a few members of our family (I will not name names) were nervous about the steep and deep, we took the ride up the nail-biting summit lift. We assured the kids that anyone could ride back down in safety. Disney’s tower of terror has nothing on this ascent, which resembles an elevator shaft up a craggy snow-capped corridor.
Amazingly, the kids were gung-ho at the top to ski Liberty Bowl –
bravery and bonding in Montana for our sea-level living family from
Maine.
Another thrill is the aptly named Challenger chair (without safety
bars - yikes), where the core locals “hang.” Don’t be intimidated by
all this extreme talk, Big Sky had actually long been nicknamed “Blue
Square,” before the addition of these aforementioned lifts in recent
years. We found plenty of gentle cruisers served by high-speed lifts
and a gondola just steps from our hotel. Big Sky also offers a
topnotch ski school for pointers or all-day ski camps for the kids.
We
met ski movie magnate Warren Miller at Big Sky. When I gathered my
courage to speak to the famous filmmaker, I managed a two-word
question, “Why Montana?” Miller replied in his iconoclast voice, “I
was finding Colorado was just getting too crowded for skiing. Montana
is where I like to ski now.”
I should mention that while Montana’s outdoors is wild and rugged, the
nightlife is tamer. When our kids were amused in
the pool or at an
organized Kids’ Club activity, Greg and I could saddle up to the Carabiner
bar to unbuckle and unwind with Moose
Drool micro brew and buffalo empanadas. We listened to good local
talent, while we toasted ourselves for roaming to Montana with our
posse.
Whether it was the groomed cruising of Elk Park for me, big bumps on
Crazy Raven for the kids, or the steeps of the Dictator Chutes for my
mate – Big Sky made a big impression on our ski family.
John Steinbeck wrote in Travels with Charley, “Montana has the kind of
mountains I’d create if mountains were on my agenda.” If Steinbeck had
been a skier, I think a ski vacation at Big Sky would have been on his
agenda.
One more thing, the sky really is big and blue.
