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skidrew

Getting off the lift
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May 1, 2017
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643
Nice writeup. Seems pretty accurate, although perhaps a bit harsh on Boyne -- it can't be easy to justify the investments when the max skiers per day (ever) is ~8000.

BTW, does the McLaren have a ski rack?
 

Sibhusky

Whitefish, MT
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Oct 26, 2016
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4,804
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Whitefish, MT
I gotta ask, tho, where you are that no one had ever heard of Big Sky (from your URL -- http://karenable.com/2018/09/big-sky-montana-the-greatest-ski-resort-you-never-heard-of/)? Must not be in North America? I clicked around on your site, but couldn't discern that. Either that or you have mostly non skiing friends.

Hell, they changed the name of our resort, even though it's far older, because people kept getting us confused with Big Sky. ("You mean Big Sky." "No. I mean Big Mountain!!")
 
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Talisman

Out on the slopes
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Jan 9, 2018
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906
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Gallatin County
Thanks for sharing your write up on Big Sky as we both enjoy the winter and summer experience of the resort. I also enjoy the drive up or down the canyon to or from Bozeman. Boyne and Cross Harbors jointly contribute to the ski experience at Big Sky, with Boyne operating the resort and Cross Harbors controlling the real estate and the purse strings. Once Park City and the Canyons linked up Big Sky become the second largest resort. The summit of Lone Peak is accessible by a tram which is a different lift system than a gondola ( a gondola system would speed up summit access).
 

skidrew

Getting off the lift
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The summit of Lone Peak is accessible by a tram which is a different lift system than a gondola ( a gondola system would speed up summit access).

Would it be faster, or simply more capacity, meaning less waiting?
 

milkman

Getting on the lift
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Sep 12, 2016
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262
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Mid South and Big Sky
A good writeup. My only quibble is I think Boyne and Cross Harbor do a good job of steadily improving a ski area with low revenue relative to the size and infrastructure they need to maintain. I share your concerns about lift delays. They are frequently caused by wind. Fortunately you can usually find an area on Big Sky without much wind impact. Press releases say both new chairs, and future chairs, are designed to handle more wind without shutting down due to wind. Remember there is a point at which a lift can run but it's still unsafe to ride due to wind. The Powder Seeker six place and new Challenger lifts were big successes last season. Lift Blog says chairlifts have a 35+ year useful life and I think BS is on plan to replace their chairs within this time frame.
 
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SSO

In the parking lot (formerly "At the base lodge")
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Nov 4, 2018
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4
Nice writeup. Seems pretty accurate, although perhaps a bit harsh on Boyne -- it can't be easy to justify the investments when the max skiers per day (ever) is ~8000.

BTW, does the McLaren have a ski rack?

Sadly no on the McLaren and Ski Rack. Might be able to get one for the GT3 RS.

On Boyne, maybe a tad harsh but think it is chicken and egg. Run it well and promote smartly and the numbers will improve. Boyne does neither. In many ways Big Sky is much easier to get to than most of the Colorado ski resorts. You have direct flights from many major cities (Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, Atlanta, NY, LA, etc) to Bozeman now and then it is just an hour drive.
 

dbostedo

Asst. Gathermeister
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You have direct flights from many major cities (Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, Atlanta, NY, LA, etc) to Bozeman now and then it is just an hour drive.

Still, there are a lot more direct flights from a lot more cities to SLC or Denver. You can't get a direct to Bozeman from pretty much anywhere west of Chicago except for NYC and Atlanta, which misses out on a lot of skiers. (I'm surprised there aren't any at all from Philly, DC, and Boston).

More direct flights and the growth of the resort are probably something that has to happen in tandem and over time.
 
Thread Starter
TS
S

SSO

In the parking lot (formerly "At the base lodge")
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Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Posts
4
Still, there are a lot more direct flights from a lot more cities to SLC or Denver. You can't get a direct to Bozeman from pretty much anywhere west of Chicago except for NYC and Atlanta, which misses out on a lot of skiers. (I'm surprised there aren't any at all from Philly, DC, and Boston).

More direct flights and the growth of the resort are probably something that has to happen in tandem and over time.

Seem to be more flights added every year. Getting a 5 star hotel built and opened will certainly help in terms of both traffic and PR.
 
Thread Starter
TS
S

SSO

In the parking lot (formerly "At the base lodge")
Skier
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Posts
4
A good writeup. My only quibble is I think Boyne and Cross Harbor do a good job of steadily improving a ski area with low revenue relative to the size and infrastructure they need to maintain. I share your concerns about lift delays. They are frequently caused by wind. Fortunately you can usually find an area on Big Sky without much wind impact. Press releases say both new chairs, and future chairs, are designed to handle more wind without shutting down due to wind. Remember there is a point at which a lift can run but it's still unsafe to ride due to wind. The Powder Seeker six place and new Challenger lifts were big successes last season. Lift Blog says chairlifts have a 35+ year useful life and I think BS is on plan to replace their chairs within this time frame.

I believe the average age at replacement of most of the high speed quads put in in the 80s/90s was 24 years. https://liftblog.com/2015/09/21/the-lifespan-of-a-high-speed-quad/ On the two "new" chairs Big Sky is talking about this year, only one is new - Ramcharger8, the other, the "new" Shedhorn, is just the old Ramcharger being relocated. Not sure why they are doing this as that lift is already 27 years old. Neither of these lift moves address the biggest need which is a second modern high speed lift from the base to the bottom of the bowl. Here is a list of all the Big Sky lifts and their install dates: https://www.skiresort.info/ski-resort/big-sky-resort/ski-lifts/
 

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