BIG SKY
Extreme Skiing at its Extremist

IT DOMINATES THE HORIZON. Almost totally white with snow, except for several rock slashes, it towers above the southwestern corner of Montana like a pyramid over the Egyptian desert. It is Lone Mountain. Approaching Big Sky Ski Resort by limousine on a Friday afternoon, I failed to spot the mountain. A blizzard obscured my view. Sixty-seven inches of snow had fallen on Big Sky the first ten days of 1997, more than some Midwest ski areas get in an entire season. Fifty-five of those inches had fallen in the five days leading to my arrival--and was still falling.

That guaranteed superb skiing and was reason enough why a skier would want to endure flights through airports in Chicago, Minneapolis and Bozeman for the opportunity to ski the slopes of Long Mountain. Big Sky had been on my short list of western ski resorts to visit for several years. With snow on the ground and in the air, I had picked a good time for my first visit.

One of the resort's founders in 1973 was Chet Huntley, the late TV broadcaster who came from Montana. After Huntley's death, the resort was sold in 1976 to Everett Kircher, whose other ski properties include Brighton in Utah and Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands in Northern Michigan. You can't ski either of the two Boynes without being urged to also ski Big Sky. The Montana resort, thus, has become increasingly popular with Midwest skiers, particularly groups. On my arrival, I encountered a sign saying: "Welcome, Boyne Women." On inquiry, I discovered there were 180 in that group.

Extreme Skiing

Loyalty on the part of Midwest skiers is one reason why annual skier visits to Big Sky have spiraled steadily upward this past decade from 127,000 in 1986 to near 300,000 by 1996. Another is snow; the resort averages 400 inches annually. But the 25 percent jump last season unquestionably was the result of a $3 million investment in a tram capable of carrying skiers to the very peak of the pyramid, offering access to some of the most extreme skiing in North America, an area that ski writer Peter Shelton describes as "ungroomed, unapologetic, even dangerous terrain." Josh Lerman in Skiing wrote: "The top section is not really skiing, but surviving." The resort ski map labels one trail off the top, Big Couloir, not only double-black diamond, but places an exclamation mark in a yellow triangle above it! The average pitch is 45 degrees. In other words, fall at the top and you slide 1,400 vertical feet unless you know how to arrest. To ski Big Couloir, you need to check first with the ski patrol and carry avalanche rescue gear! That's extreme skiing at its extremist.

Addition of the Lone Peak Tram gave Big Sky 4,180 feet of vertical drop. That allowed the Montana resort to nudge past Jackson Hole, Wyoming in claiming how far you could ski from up there to down here. It also eliminated forever Big Sky's reputation for catering to intermediate cruisers.

Intermediate cruiser? That's me. Point me toward "groomed blue." With the addition of the upper slopes served by Lone Peak Tram, the terrain mix at Big Sky is now: 43 percent expert, 47 percent intermediate and 10 percent beginner. Oh my!

That's a bit misleading. Big Sky now has 75 trails, 80 miles of those trails and 3,500 acres within ski boundaries. The new steep stuff off Lone Peak Tram, however, accounts for 1,200 of that acreage, so if you only look at percentages, you miss the Big Picture at Big Sky. The tram consists of two 15-skier cars that dangle from a cable between two towers. At one point on your tram ride--should you choose to take it--you will be 400 feet off the snow below. The tram moves 180 people an hour, but half will ride to the top for the view, gasp, and return down without donning their skis. The resort remains friendly for skiers like me.

My first morning at Big Sky, I skied only off the lower gondola that accesses the two green-rated trails: Mister K (after Kircher) and Lower Morning Star. I didn't get bored, and why should I? There's more acreage on those two trails alone than the total at most Midwest ski areas, and the 1,525 feet vertical drop off the gondola speaks for itself. Lift lines were short. Except for a rush period around 10:30, I rarely waited on line for more than a minute or two.

Nordic Alternative

In the afternoon, I hitched a ride down the mountain to Lone Mountain Ranch, a highly acclaimed destination resort for cross-country skiers. Since there is no cross-country skiing at the base of Big Sky, those who favor nordic skiing hop a shuttle bus four miles down the road to the Ranch. In keeping with the bigness of Big Sky, Lone Mountain Ranch offers 65 kilometers of groomed trails.

Those trails are neither for the faint-hearted nor the aerobically challenged. Once you leave the resort's main buildings, you will climb up, up and up. Returning, you will need sufficient technique to survive some long, but straight, descents. In between, on a loop appropriately called the Mountain View Trail, you'll get a better view of Lone Mountain than you can from any of the downhill slopes. "I can see why they call this place Big Sky," said another skier I encountered on the trail.

Cold? I noticed the thermometer on returning to the nordic center, and it showed minus-ten. (That was one reason why I stayed in the gondola all morning.) But you can't have snow without cold, and the effort required to climb to the top had kept me warm. Skiers returning in the spring will find much of the snow that fell preceding my visit still packed on the ground, but with temperatures into the 30s and 40s. Yellowstone Park beckons to the south. I can't think of a better place for a ski visit.

Contacts: For more information on Big Sky Ski Resort, contact: 406/995-5000, or 800/548-4486. The Resort's web site is: www.bigskyresort.com. To learn more about Lone Mountain Ranch, contact: 406/995-4644, or 800/514-4644. Lone Mountain Ranch's web site is: www.lonemountainranch.com.

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Copyright © 1997 by Hal Higdon. All rights reserved. Requests to reprint will be considered.

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