Big Sky MT
Big Sky Resort is a ski resort located in southwestern Montana in Madison County, an hour south of Bozeman via U.S. Highway 191 in Big Sky, Montana.
Big Sky Resort, which opened in late 1973, offers the “Biggest Skiing in America” with more than 5,800 acres of terrain, a vertical drop of 4,350 ft 300 degrees of skiing off of Lone Peak (11,166 feet) and some of the most consistent snowfall in the country. In July 2013, Big Sky Resort acquired 200 acres on Spirit Mountain, which were previously owned by Spanish Peaks, a private club. In October of the same year, Big Sky Resort acquired the terrain and facilities of Moonlight Basin, a neighboring resort that shared the northern exposure of Lone Mountain. Today, Big Sky Resort is the second largest ski resort in the United States in terms of acreage.
The resort was the vision of NBC News anchorman Chet Huntley, a Montana native. Big Sky opened in December 1973 with a main base area at an elevation of 7,510 ft above sea level on the eastern face of Lone Mountain, 11,166 ft, the sixty-seventh highest mountain in Montana, and the seventh-highest mountain in the state outside of the Beartooth Range.
The first four lifts installed were the gondola and three chairlifts. The enclosed gondola carried four skiers per cabin and climbed 1,525 ft to 9,040 ft, The nearby Lone Peak triple chairlift provided the lift-served maximum of 9,800 ft, unloading at the bowl 1,366 ft beneath Lone Mountain’s summit, providing a vertical drop of just under 2,300 ft, The “Explorer” double chair served novice terrain just above the base, and the Andesite double climbed the north face of adjacent Andesite Mountain to 8,700 ft. This lift was renamed Ram’s Horn in 1978, and replaced with the Ramcharger high speed quad in 1990.
After its third season, Boyne Resorts purchased the resort in 1976, following Huntley’s death from cancer in March 1974 and the decision of owner Chrysler Corporation to divest its real estate development assets.
The resort grew steadily over the following decades, adding lifts and more than tripling the terrain available for skiing and snowboarding. The fifth lift, a second chairlift on Andesite Mountain, was installed in the summer of 1979. The Mad Wolf double climbed Andesite’s eastern face and lowered Big Sky’s minimum elevation 540 ft to 6,970 ft This increased the area’s vertical drop to over 2,800 ft The Mad Wolf lift was replaced with the Thunder Wolf high speed quad in 1994.
Two lifts were added in the 1980s, Gondola Two was installed in parallel to the first gondola, and the Challenger double chair served upper elevation expert terrain on the north edge of the ski area. A tow was later added above this lift. Gondola Two was replaced with the Swift Current high -speed quad chairlift in 1997. The eighth lift at Big Sky was the “Southern Comfort” triple chair on Andesite Mountain, installed in 1990 and upgraded to a high -speed quad for the 2004-2005 ski season.
In the fall of 1995, Big Sky gained prominence with the installation of the Lone Peak Tram, built to take expert skiers to the summit of Lone Mountain at 11,166 ft to copious extreme treeless terrain. The Shedhorn double chair was also part of this expansion, installed in 1995 on the lower south face of Lone Mountain.
The tram substantially increased Big Sky’s vertical drop to 4,180 ft (The minimum elevation was lowered further in the fall of 1999, with the addition of the Lone Moose triple chair with its base elevation of 6,800 ft at Lone Moose Meadows. This increased the ski area’s total vertical drop to 4,350 ft, with the maximum continuous vertical drop increased to 4,100 ft from the top of the tram to the main base area.
The growth off of the slopes was highlighted in 1990 with the addition of the Shoshone Condominium Hotel and the Yellowstone Conference Center, which increased summer business to the resort. In April 2000, Boyne Resorts announced that an estimated $400 million in improvements would take place over the next ten years to the Mountain Village and the ski area. Later in 2000, the $54 million Summit Hotel was completed, providing four-star, ski-in ski-out accommodations. In late 2007, the $25 million Village Center Complex was opened, expanding the shopping, dining, and ski-in ski-out accommodation options.
In 2007, Big Sky expanded the skiing opportunities on the south face of Lone Peak with the addition of the new triple chair Dakota Lift, and access to the accompanying out-of-bounds side country, Dakota Territory. Gondola One was retired in the summer of 2008, dismantled due to the rising cost of repairs.
Big Sky’s neighbor on its north boundary was Moonlight Basin, which merged with Big Sky Resort in October 2013. In 2016, Big Sky Resort installed two brand new chairlifts as part of BigSky2025, a 10-year, $150-million commitment to on-mountain improvements. Big Sky replaced the Lone Peak Triple in The Bowl with Powder Seeker, a six-seat high-speed chairlift with heated seats and blue bubble covers. The same summer, Big Sky Resort also replaced the old Challenger chairlift with a triple chairlift with a conveyor load.
Moonlight Basin is a ski resort in southwestern Montana, located in the Madison Range of the Rocky Mountains near the resort village of Big Sky. Today, it is connected through a chairlift to the ski resort of Big Sky
The resort’s land was purchased in 1992 from Big Sky Lumber Company [1] and began as Moonlight Basin Ranch, a real estate development on the north edge of the adjacent Big Sky Resort. Moonlight Basin progressed slowly; it opened as an independent ski area in December 2003, on the north face of Lone Mountain. The 11,166 foot summit is accessed by the Lone Peak Tram, part of Big Sky. The resort, completely on private land, is adjacent to the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area and posh Yellowstone Club in the Madison River drainage in Madison County. (The Big Sky Resort, also on private land, is in the Gallatin River drainage which drains into Gallatin County.)
The resort’s land was purchased in 1992 from Big Sky Lumber Company [1] and began as Moonlight Basin Ranch, a real estate development on the north edge of the adjacent Big Sky Resort. Moonlight Basin progressed slowly; it opened as an independent ski area in December 2003, on the north face of Lone Mountain. The 11,166 foot summit is accessed by the Lone Peak Tram, part of Big Sky. The resort, completely on private land, is adjacent to the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area and posh Yellowstone Club in the Madison River drainage in Madison County. (The Big Sky Resort, also on private land, is in the Gallatin River drainage which drains into Gallatin County.)
Moonlight Basin features the extreme terrain of The Headwaters. These steep chutes and gullies on the north face of Lone Mountain, once known as the “Nashville Bowl,” can be hiked to from the Headwaters lift (opened in December 2005) or Big Sky’s Challenger lift, both of which unload at just under 10,000 feet . The resort also features terrain consisting of open bowls, tree skiing, moguls, long groomers, beginner runs, and a freestyle terrain park. A full day adult lift ticket for the first season was $39, for the 2008-2009 ski season the price is $55. The Lone Peak Pass combines Big Sky and Moonlight Basin resorts and is $93 for the 2008-09 season. The combined pass was first offered during the 2005-06 season.
The primary lift at Moonlight Basin is the Six Shooter, a high speed six pack chairlift that climbs 1850 vertical feet from the base and is nicknamed “the flying couch.” The Headwaters chairlift connects at the top of Six Shooter, rising another 685 feet, for a total lift-served vertical rise of 2535 feet from the 7000 foot base. The other upper lift is the Lone Tree quad, installed in 2004 for the second season, which allows access to the gladed terrain northwest of the Headwaters. Additional lift-served vertical is attained at Moonlight Basin by purchasing the Lone Peak Pass and taking Big Sky’s tram to the summit of Lone Mountain. The two original chairlifts at Moonlight Basin, Iron Horse & Pony Express, were installed by Moonlight Basin Ranch in the mid-1990s before it was a stand-alone ski area; the lifts were operated by the Big Sky Resort.