Montana’s ‘seriously big’ ski resort has plenty to recommend it

You know the job interview mantra: “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” So I’m impressed when my skiing at Big Sky in Montana starts with being scooped up by a chairlift to find it not only has a hood to keep wind and snow at bay, but the seat is heated. This is good news to a backside that was basking in summer sun not 36 hours ago. Even my impression is impressed.

I’m skiing with Shawn Radtke, who started out on his skiing career at Telluride, in Colorado, before moving to Montana. “It’s quieter here than Telluride, but that will shift,” he says. “Big Sky is more of a skier’s mountain, there’s more challenging terrain here than Telluride, and also longer runs.”

The view from the top – looking from Big Sky’s Lone Mountain, over the ski runs and into the Montana wilderness.

On a visit before moving here, he skied three of the mountain’s famed (ie, most difficult) runs – Big Couloir, North Summit Snowfield and Tu – and “that was the clincher,” he says. “You have all this backcountry quality skiing with lift access. You know, I’ve been here nine years skiing 100-plus days each year and I still haven’t skied every run.”

Big Sky, is indeed, big – the resort area covers 2350 hectares – and beyond Radtke’s hair-raising, elbow-scraping runs (they call their triple-black-diamond runs “high exposure”, I call that an understatement) – many hundreds of those hectares are devoted to cruisy terrain, long, smooth and winding trails cut among the pine trees, all of them tall, straight and Christmas-tree perfect.

And then – because of its distance from any major population centre, Bozeman with just 54,539 people being the closest – Big Sky’s skiers and snowboarders can spread out far and wide. On the mountain, on those many trails, with everything open, and thanks to the efficient lifts, it just couldn’t get crowded here.

Just as the skiing is spread far and wide, so are the accommodation options at Big Sky – something like a series of islands in a sea of mountains and forests. I stayed at Mountain Village, with a choice of chairlifts right at the door, a serviceable grocery store and a small but reasonable range of restaurants.

Mountain Village, right by the lifts.

There are smaller base areas that make up other islands in the chain – Madison and Big Sky Meadow Village, and then the big one, Big Sky Town Centre, the burgeoning town where you’ll find most of the shops and some value accommodation options (and a free shuttle to the lifts).

Another of those islands is Moonlight Basin, site of the first North American destination for the luxury resort operators One&Only. Opening in 2025, it includes central resort facilities with guest rooms and cabins, but also private homes (you can snap up a five-bedroom pad for $US8.8 million, or $13 million). Two-hectare lots at $US10 million are a blank canvas to build your dream mountain home.

These scattered developments are also a reminder of the year-round appeal of Montana, its vast forest and wilderness areas and its sprawling ranch land. And its rivers. All that winter snow feeds a series of rivers that lure fly fishers from the world over.

Where all this is leading, is that if your preference is to visit an area before all the infill is filled in, before the islands are joined up, before the property development plot has fully played out, then Big Sky right now should be on your list.

In the pattern of major US resorts, Big Sky belongs to a corporation – Boyne Resorts – but, despite employing more than 11,000 people in their mainly mountain-focused operations, this one remains controlled by the family of its founder, Everett Kircher.

Lone Mountain and the Lone Peak Tram.

And the family isn’t frightened of investing in infrastructure. After a few warm-up runs with Radtke, we make our way to the Lone Peak Tram, a cable car that enjoyed its first winter of operations in 2023-24, taking skiers, snowboarders and sightseers to the 3404-metre Lone Mountain for views all the way over Montana and its mountains and farmland to the wilds of Wyoming and beyond.

This coming winter, they’ll launch the eight-seater (heated and enclosed) Madison 8 chairlift – which, at 2.6 kilometres, will be the longest lift of its kind yet built.

Back to the skiing. The snow softens a little in the afternoon, so we make our way back to Lone Mountain and ski Liberty Bowl on the south side – a big open bowl that feeds into some of those signature tree-lined runs.

Fresh tracks in the trees, Big Sky Montana.

Later in my visit I find myself following another local around – Cory Orofino – and with some fresh snow under our feet, he decided we should get among the trees, rather than simply having them as guards of honour on the trails.

“They grow thicker here in Montana,” Orofino says, “so the resort thins them down to create glades for skiing and boarding.” The skiing was delightful, scooting over soft bumps with lodge pole pines for slalom poles, rays of sunshine occasionally peeking through.

THE DETAILS

FLY + DRIVE
The closest airport is Bozeman, Montana, with regular flights from/to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas and other major US hubs. I flew with United (united.com/en/au) and chose Melbourne-San Francisco to avoid LAX. Scheduled and private shuttles connect Bozeman to Big Sky (about an hour). I rode in comfort with Big Sky Country Transport (bigskycountrytransport.com).

STAY
I stayed at the Summit at Big Sky in the Mountain Village, a smart complex of hotel rooms and self-contained condominiums (from $US667/$1020 a night in February). The best value visiting here will be with a flight/accommodation/lifting package through Australian specialists such as Travelplan (travelplan.com.au) and Mogul Ski World (mogulski.com.au).

SKI
Montana shares a border with Wyoming, home of Jackson Hole – a shuttle service (about four hours) connects Big Sky and Jackson Hole (from $US250/$370 – see ski-shuttle.com). Both areas are part of the Ikon lift pass network (ikonpass.com), lining up with Thredbo and Mount Buller in Australia.

The writer was a guest of Big Sky Resort. See bigskyresort.com

FIVE MORE THINGS TO SEE AND DO AT BIG SKY

Go on safari
If the sheer size of the area seems daunting, then check out the Ski the Sky Loop, a self-guided ski safari that runs from one side of the area to the other. Do it all and you’ll ride 22 lifts and ski 27 runs for 4877 metres vertical over 27 kilometres. See bigskyresort.com

The Yurt Dinner
It’s always fun to be out and about in the mountains at night. Take an oversnow ride (you can sit on the roof or in the snowcat cabin) into the forest where you’ll find a big yurt for a hot, three-course dinner with tobogganing between courses. See bigskyyurt.com

Roam the Enchanted Forest
Ride the Ramcharger lift from Mountain Village (it’s free for foot passengers in the evening) and a stroll over the snow at the top will take you to the Enchanted Forest where 10,000 tiny lights illuminate the trails. There’s an outdoor fire for a post-walk warm-up.

Apres at Everett’s
The same lift that will take you to the Enchanted Forest will also take you to a very smart timber-lined mountain restaurant, open for lunch and dinner and apres drinks in between. A great way to finish the day or start the evening.

Skijoring in town
This is one of those sports only the snowbound could invent – a horse and rider drag skiers around a set course to see who can finish first and fastest. The Big Sky Showdown, 2025, on February 8-9, includes snowmobile hijinks and more. See bigskyskijoring.com