Northern Rockies/Alberta Big Sky 2018-19

[Talisman]

So are the current BS conditions typical for early January, below-average or "where's the @!%&!@$# snow?!

I would say "average" to slightly below, no recent snow after getting most terrain options hammered by holiday crowds and wind. As Catskill Carver said "low tide" at the moment.

 

[SShore]

What's up with SixShooter? It was down last Thursday thru Saturday, I heard it broke down and they had to order parts, and now I just got a notice that it is closed until further notice. Twice when I was riding it on Sunday it stopped and seemed to go on backup power, creeping along at a slow steady pace.

This really sucks for all of the folks that work on the Madison side and that lift being down pretty much shuts that side of the mountain down. I wonder if BS management is starting to question the decision to replace Ramcharger instead of the lift that was in most need of replacement (with Swifty not far behind). This really inconveniences me since in Ennis and use the Madison base as my usual starting point.

 

[Jimdh]

Question for all of you familiar with Big Sky: my group is headed to BS in February for a week. Skiers range from low intermediate to very advanced. We’re all late 50’s to mid 70’s in age. All are fun. The questions are: (1) what restaurants can’t be missed;(2) what other non-skiing “tourist” activities/locations are worth experiencing? (3) for advanced skiers, are there any signature runs that “must” be skied? Not interested in death-defying extreme - just good fun exciting runs (think Holiday in SV or mcConkey’s at Whistler as being upper limit). Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[SnowbirdDevotee]

Will be new to BS Saturday/Sun. Is Moonlight the main and easiest to get to lodge? Do I have to bring my own lock for lockers? (that's what pic shows).

Also, if wanting to show me the goods and keep me out of the rocks I hear about, PM me, I'm solo on this trip. I know I won't be experiencing BS in all it's glory, but it should be fine. We take what we can get - and I know I will be getting my vertical and moguls.

 

[Talisman]

Will be new to BS Saturday/Sun. Is Moonlight the main and easiest to get to lodge? Do I have to bring my own lock for lockers? (that's what pic shows).

The "main lodge" is in the Big Sky mountain village, but your instinct is correct pass the first turn off of Lone Mtn Trail for Big Sky and follow the signs for Moonlight/Madison Base area. The parking at Madison base is closer to the tent like base lodge, be sure to check to see if Sixshooter is running (if it isn't running go to the Mountain Village). The Moonlight Lodge is a private club now. I have no idea about the lockers.

 

[SShore]

Madison base (what they call the Moonlight base now) is where I usually start my day. I didn't even know there are lockers there. there are shelves on the wall heading to the bathrooms and that is where we, along with everyone else leaves their stuff. Like Talisman said, make sure the Six Shooter is open. If it isn't all there is to ski on that side are beginners runs and you can't get to the main Big Sky side of the mountain.

 

[SShore]

Question for all of you familiar with Big Sky: my group is headed to BS in February for a week. Skiers range from low intermediate to very advanced. We’re all late 50’s to mid 70’s in age. All are fun. The questions are: (1) what restaurants can’t be missed;(2) what other non-skiing “tourist” activities/locations are worth experiencing? (3) for advanced skiers, are there any signature runs that “must” be skied? Not interested in death-defying extreme - just good fun exciting runs (think Holiday in SV or mcConkey’s at Whistler as being upper limit). Thanks in advance for your input!

I can't help much with the dining, we head don't hang around for dinner after skiing because we don't want to be on Jack's Creek Road after dark. At the BS base, I have been to Andiamo for dinner but wasn't too impressed. I've had lunch at Everetts several times and it is very good but very expensive. I understand that their dinners are the same. Off the mountain I have heard good things about Olive B's by the golf course and Bucks T-4 out on 191 but haven't been to either.

Big Sky's "signature" is Big Couloir off the Tram, but it requires sign out with patrol and might be classified as "death defying". For the intermediate skiers I would say Elk Park Ridge and Elk Park Meadows and Africa on Andesite, Upper Sunlight (especially on a nice sunny day) off Shedhorn and Badlands off Dakota. We don't have a tram pass so never go up there but most of the out of towners I ride the lift with have Marx and Lenin on their bucket list for advanced runs.

 

[Talisman]

The questions are: (1) what restaurants can’t be missed;(2) what other non-skiing “tourist” activities/locations are worth experiencing? (3) for advanced skiers, are there any signature runs that “must” be skied? Not interested in death-defying extreme - just good fun exciting runs (think Holiday in SV or mcConkey’s at Whistler as being upper limit).

Horn & Cantle, Buck's T-4, Cabin & Lotus Pad are good and $$$$. A yurt dinner or sleigh ride are a lot of fun. Yurt is BYOB and has sledding between courses & a bonfire. The sleigh ride dinner is more romantic and has live music. Not a fan of Olive B's, but others swear by it. Like most resort areas restaurants are expensive and most serve average food. The River House on 191 has good BBQ, great views and is reasonable but gets crowded quickly.

Yellowstone snowmobile or snow coach, horseback riding at Jake's (all winter), snowmobiling, skijoring on Sun PM at the 320, zip-lining, snowshoeing, dog sledding, ice skating, curling and ice hockey.

Big Sky has many signature runs for all abilities. Tram laps are signature and more fun with good visibility and fresh snow. There are some good tree skiing runs, bowls, chutes, groomers, terrain parks and hike to cliffs & chutes.

 

[skidrew]

Horn & Cantle, Buck's T-4, Cabin & Lotus Pad are good and $$$$. A yurt dinner or sleigh ride are a lot of fun. Yurt is BYOB and has sledding between courses & a bonfire. The sleigh ride dinner is more romantic and has live music. Not a fan of Olive B's, but others swear by it. Like most resort areas restaurants are expensive and most serve average food. The River House on 191 has good BBQ, great views and is reasonable but gets crowded quickly.

Yellowstone snowmobile or snow coach, horseback riding at Jake's (all winter), snowmobiling, skijoring on Sun PM at the 320, zip-lining, snowshoeing, dog sledding, ice skating, curling and ice hockey.

Big Sky has many signature runs for all abilities. Tram laps are signature and more fun with good visibility and fresh snow. There are some good tree skiing runs, bowls, chutes, groomers, terrain parks and hike to cliffs & chutes.

Agree with pretty much all of this (though havn't been to Horn & Cantle). I'd put Cabin down a notch. Add in Rainbow Ranch (although a bit of a drive). Basically you have to drive away from the Mountain Village to get good food.

Would definitely recommend a day in Yellowstone - absolutely stunning.

Runs mentioned above are worth it - I'd say Liberty Bowl, Lenin, Marx off of the top are worth considering, if abilities allow.

 

[Talisman]

Agree with pretty much all of this (though havn't been to Horn & Cantle). I'd put Cabin down a notch. Add in Rainbow Ranch (although a bit of a drive).

+1 on Rainbow Ranch, but omitted it because of distance, one tip is to go for happy hour and get a few apps in front of the fireplace. I only order a salad and the elk chops at the Cabin, which might skew my rating.

 

[Talisman]

I met up with Snowbird Devotee for a few runs around Big Sky today which included a groomer, a tram lap, bumps, more bumps, trees, more trees, hikes and scree. Despite getting a free WY stone grind, Snowbird Devotee's devotion to a certain UT resort seems to be less ardent. We had a blue bird day and all lifts but the tram were ski on, so I give SD credit for coming up to altitude and hitting it hard.

 

[SnowbirdDevotee]

I know I won't be experiencing BS in all it's glory, but it should be fine. We take what we can get - and I know I will be getting my vertical and moguls.

I got the vertical, 33K (but wasn't allowed to eat lunch - now that is my kind of day!) and moguls(tons of them). The moguls were all good - quite skiable and soft enough. Maybe because it's mid-Jan, but the sun didn't seem to have damaged them in this low tide period. There were a few small rocks on the groomers, whatever. I found on the steeper pitches I needed two sets of eyes, one looking forward to the line up the next turn and another close, looking for small rocks where my skis were turning. I only got tripped up once today, in Liberty Bowl, I think it was a rock, luckily I followed tram instructions and was able to self-arrest. Of course my guide skied flawlessly!

I can only imagine how good a powder day is at BS. I'm going to have to keep coming back until i catch one.

 

[Talisman]

I got the vertical, 33K (but wasn't allowed to eat lunch - now that is my kind of day!)

You had lunch! What was that candy bar you ate? 33K of vertical is respectable considering the time waiting for the tram.

 

[Talisman]

Round 2 yesterday with SD making the rounds at Big Sky with me and a few others. Not sure if he topped the 33K of vertical of Saturday, but more bumps, trees, some hiking, a groomer or two, tight trees and a lunch of a Ritter Sportbar. Snow covered the full spectrum from spring corn, hard back, frozen granular, fluff and wind buff. Snowbird Devotee claims he will be back to MT for more.....

 

[SnowbirdDevotee]

Thankfully today was declared a day of rest sitting on airplanes, except for shouldering my boot bag(and dragging skis) from rental car to counter in BZN. I got some coaster wheels to rig up to hopefully mitigate the airport shuffle.

Skiing alone is ok, esp in a new-to resort, but much more fun to share the experience with another like minded skier. Talisman took the bait for meet-up, provided good company and pushed me to my limits, just the way I like it!

Totally loved BS - my kind of skiing. The mtn has excellent lift system laid out on a few peaks, and after days of hard skiing i still can't figure it all out.
BS is lacking fresh snow but the skiing was just fine in my book. Note: that's why Jan-Feb, although could be cold, is less chancy than March.

 

[Talisman]

Snowbird Devotee's new meme?

or

 

[BS Slarver]

We are finally in a nice weather cycle.
A solid 12” last night and today and still going and perhaps another 8-12 by this time tomorrow.

 

[Talisman]

We are finally in a nice weather cycle.
A solid 12” last night and today and still going and perhaps another 8-12 by this time tomorrow.

I had endless laps of thigh deep cold smoke on Sunday in the Hanging Valley gullies on Monday and I trust today was even better. Of course I am out of state working for this refresh, but track it out!

 

[milkman]

Looks like conditions are great over most of the west. BS is no different. We've had 3 feet of Goldilocks snow in the past week with light winds. Cool and clear today. More snow and no thaw forecast for the next week.

 

[Talisman]

The two big slides at Big Sky as a part of A/C are impressive. The Hanging Valley slide took out trees and slid all the way to the "badlands" and Castro's beard was 6 feet high and almost the entire width of the Dictator Chutes. Hopefully the snow pack stabilizes soon.