Big Sky Resort

Big Sky Resort, known colloquially as Big Sky, is a ski resort within Big Sky, Montana. It is about 50 mi (80 km) from Bozeman. The resort takes its name from Montana's nickname as the "Big Sky Country".

Opened in late 1973, Big Sky Resort has more than of terrain and a vertical drop of . In July 2013, Big Sky Resort acquired 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.

Big Sky Resort also offers meeting space for conferences, weddings, and corporate retreats.

Resort history

The resort was founded by Montana native Chet Huntley, the retired co-anchorman of ''The Huntley–Brinkley Report'' of NBC News. Big Sky opened in December 1973, with its main base area at an elevation of above sea level, on the eastern face of the Lone Mountain, the sixty-seventh highest mountain in Montana, and the seventh-highest mountain in the state outside of the Beartooth Range.

The first three lifts installed included a gondola and two chairlifts. The enclosed gondola carried four skiers per cabin, and climbed to an elevation of . The nearby ''Lone Peak'' triple chairlift provided the lift-served maximum of , unloading at the bowl beneath Lone Mountain's summit, providing a vertical drop of just under , and the ''Explorer'' double chair served novice terrain just above the base. The fourth lift was the ''Andesite'' double, which climbed the north face of adjacent Andesite Mountain to ; it was renamed ''Ram's Horn'' in 1978, and replaced with the ''Ramcharger'' high speed quad in 1990.

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 to . This increased the area's vertical drop to over . 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 a Doppelmayr high speed quad, Swift Current 4, in 1997. The eighth lift at Big Sky was the ''Southern Comfort'' on the south side of Andesite Mountain, a Heron-Poma triple chairlift acquired from Copper Mountain in Colorado, installed in 1990 and upgraded to a high speed quad for the 2004-2005 ski season.

In the fall of 1995, Big Sky installed the ''Lone Peak Tram'' to provide access to expert terrain from the Lone Mountain summit. The ''Shedhorn'' double chair was also part of this expansion, installed in 1995 on the lower south face of Lone Mountain.

The tram increased Big Sky's vertical drop to . The minimum elevation was lowered further in the fall of 1999, with the addition of a used triple chairlift from Keystone Resort in Colorado, starting at a base elevation of at Lone Moose Meadows. This increased the ski area's total vertical drop to , with the maximum continuous vertical drop increased to from the top of the tram to the main base area.

In 1990 the Shoshone Condominium Hotel and the Yellowstone Conference Center were built.

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. In late 2007, the $25 million Village Center Complex was opened.

In 2007, Big Sky expanded the skiing opportunities on the south face of Lone Peak with the reinstallation of the original Southern Comfort triple chairlift as the Dakota chairlift on the south side of Lone Peak, providing access to the accompanying out-of-bounds sidecountry, 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, Moonlight Basin, merged with Big Sky Resort in October 2013.

Activities

Winter activities include skiing and snowboarding, seven terrain parks, zip-line, and snowshoeing. Summer attractions include zip-lines, archery, tennis, hiking, and mountain biking trails on the mountain. Golf and horseback riding are available near the Meadow Village at an elevation of , between the ski area and US-191.

Terrain aspects - skiing

Big Sky's main summit (Lone Peak) sits at an elevation of 11,166 feet. All of the resorts terrain faces all four points on a compass, with most of the terrain either facing north, or east.
* North: 37%
* West: 2%
* East: 36%
* South: 25%

Lift system

Big Sky has one of the largest chairlift fleets of any ski area North America. The resort has 31 chairlifts, of which ten are detachable lifts, five of those lifts having blue bubbles.

In 2013, Moonlight Basin and Spanish Peaks were absorbed into Big Sky's lift system.

Lone Peak Tram

The Lone Peak Tram is an aerial tramway that transports guests to the summit of Lone Mountain at . The original tram was constructed in the fall of 1995, with 15 passenger cabins climbing over a distance of from the summit of Powder Seeker. It provided access to the most difficult terrain at Big Sky Resort, including former Moonlight Basin terrain. Construction was completed by the high-altitude construction firm Matrix, based in Alaska.
Beginning in the summer 2012 season, Big Sky introduced daily summer tram rides to take visitors to the top of Lone Peak, called the Lone Peak Expedition. Starting in the 2021/2022 season, access to the tram required the purchase of a tram pass pack, individual day passes between $20-$80 USD, a Gold season pass for unlimited access, or a Double Black season pass for 10 days.
In early 2022, it was announced that the tram would be replaced by a new tram, starting near the base of Powder Seeker and adjacent to the top station of the future Explorer Gondola.

References

External links

BigSkyResort.com
nbsp;— official site

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Buildings and structures in Madison County, Montana
Ski areas and resorts in Montana
Hotels in Montana
Tourist attractions in Madison County, Montana
1973 establishments in Montana