Northern Rockies/Alberta 2023-2024 Big Sky Resort/Conditions/Meetups

[skidrew]

Well, season over, so tram construction season has begun . . .

A foggy peek into summer tram construction

Lone Peak Tram will be the first tram built in the United States since 2008 at Jackson Hole By Jack Reaney STAFF WRITER With ski season just receding in the... READ MORE

www.explorebigsky.com

A couple highlights
- old tram removal starts late summer
- the glass viewing deck at top of new tram won't be installed until Summer 2024
- Next project - also two years - is gondola from base to Tram base.


Past years' threads on Big Sky:
Big Sky Resort 2022-23
Big Sky Resort 2021-22
Big Sky Resort 2020-21
Big Sky Resort 2019-20
Big Sky Resort 2018-19
Big Sky Resort 2017-18

 

[Talisman]

With all the smoke from the fires in Canada it has been hard to see the progress on the new tram. I have had a chance for a very long look at the parts for one of the new tram towers on a truck crawling up Lone Mountain Trail.

 

[4ster]

Rob Leipheimer is working on the construction & has been posting pretty regular updates on his Facebook page…

 

[tele]

Rob Leipheimer is working on the construction & has been posting pretty regular updates on his Facebook page…
View attachment 203975

The tower base is wild the way it is anchored to the mountain.

 

[skidrew]

^ Also on is instagram acc't.

I think Big Sky posted something about those tower bases last year, and how far into the rock they had to drill. It looks precarious but is built to hold something like 6x the max tram forces.

 

[Talisman]

June 1st view of Lone Peak

 

[skidrew]

Big looks skiable! (not by me though)

 

[skidrew]

Tram cabins

 

[raisingarizona]

Pretty sexy lookin boxes there.

 

[skidrew]

Scale a bit hard to assess, but it looks like people may not be upset if they don't fill them to 75 pax each trip.

 

[tele]

Scale a bit hard to assess, but it looks like people may not be upset if they don't fill them to 75 pax each trip.

True. The Snowbird and Jackson Hole trams are over filled and are both miserable experience. Jay Peaks might be more overfilled and more miserable though.

 

[dbostedo]

Scale a bit hard to assess, but it looks like people may not be upset if they don't fill them to 75 pax each trip.

True. The Snowbird and Jackson Hole trams are over filled and are both miserable experience. Jay Peaks might be more overfilled and more miserable though.

I wonder if they are sized so that 75 people means that they will be as packed as Snowbird and JH, or would packing it like that result in more than 75 people? I suppose they'd want to claim the most capacity possible, so I'd assume that 75 people means it's packed.

And I'll add that I hate the Snowbird and JH trams because of that. The times I've ridden them less full were great... and it has made me sometimes avoid them when they're running packed.

 

[skidrew]

Yeah, I would guess that 75 is max capacity, and that's sardine-level packing. (Not that the existing old tram wasn't packed).

 

[frontfive]

I am looking to plan my first trip to Big Sky and I have a bunch of questions if anyone is willing to share some advice. Background- I am from NH and an ice coast skier Any snow is still better than no snow so its ok if the snowpack is not at peak

The only time I can take from work is Dec 26-Jan 7th, is this too early?
I have 3 free tickets from my Boyne (Loon) season pass and unlimited 50% off tickets. How many days is it reasonable to ski? Still early season & fatigue is likely

Elevation adjustment time? I live at sea level, ski at 4000 ft

Transportation: Im assuming fly into Boseman and rent a car. Any other options?

Where to stay? I don't want to say cost isn't an issue but open to paying more for a good experience & we have Boyne rewards/discount

Do I take my skis or rent? I have skinny ice skis....Kastle MX84 which I love and they served me well on a trip to Alta but didn't see any deep powder while I was there

Other tips & suggestions including any must see or to do items on this trip.

 

[Talisman]

Dec 26 to Jan 7 is early should there be thin conditions and Big Sky will have many visitors for the holidays. Big Sky does make snow on a few trails but there is congestion should conditions dictate natural snow trails remain closed.

Only you can really answer how many days are reasonable to ski. If I was traveling from the East Coast I would ski as many days as possible.

Most of Big Sky is above 7000 feet and most people feel the altitude to some degree coming from near seas level. Adjustment time depend on the individual but being in cardio vascular shape helps. Some visitors use diamox to accelrate adjustment time.

Flying into Bozeman and renting a car provides the most options for your stay. BZN flights are expensive right now and sometime flying into Butte, Helena or Billings is cheaper.

Staying on mountain makes the day easier and the Summit Hotel has a good location but expensive. Availibilty Christmas week may be challenge but Boyne does offer lodging and lift packages.

Bring you boots and rent skis. If there is deep cover like last season you want wider skis and if that week is thin and boney get the insurance on rental skis and strike some sparks or bring you skinny skis and make them rock skis.

 

[milkman]

As usual Talisman’s advice is on target. I’d add that while Christmas season is not the peak for snow accumulation or the low traffic season there are hundreds of families that go to Big Sky every Christmas because our holiday season traffic is about equal to most resorts average traffic and there are almost always spots with good snow.
Also, not to say anything disparaging about NH snow, but what we call ice you will know is really hardpack. As one New England skier explained to me, “if you can’t see through it, it’s not ice”. You will seldom see any clear ice in Montana.

 

[Bill Miles]

As usual Talisman’s advice is on target. I’d add that while Christmas season is not the peak for snow accumulation or the low traffic season there are hundreds of families that go to Big Sky every Christmas because our holiday season traffic is about equal to most resorts average traffic and there are almost always spots with good snow.
Also, not to say anything disparaging about NH snow, but what we call ice you will know is really hardpack. As one New England skier explained to me, “if you can’t see through it, it’s not ice”. You will seldom see any clear ice in Montana.

Owner of the lodge I used to stay at in Aspen said that when people complained about ice.

 

[blackke17]

..Kastle MX84 which I love and they served me well on a trip to Alta but didn't see any deep powder while I was there

man that would of been hard to do last year!

 

[Paul Lutes]

Transparency of ice makes no never mind after a fall causing broken hip/shattered femur.

 

[skidrew]

I am looking to plan my first trip to Big Sky and I have a bunch of questions if anyone is willing to share some advice. Background- I am from NH and an ice coast skier Any snow is still better than no snow so its ok if the snowpack is not at peak

The only time I can take from work is Dec 26-Jan 7th, is this too early?
I have 3 free tickets from my Boyne (Loon) season pass and unlimited 50% off tickets. How many days is it reasonable to ski? Still early season & fatigue is likely

Elevation adjustment time? I live at sea level, ski at 4000 ft

Transportation: Im assuming fly into Boseman and rent a car. Any other options?

Where to stay? I don't want to say cost isn't an issue but open to paying more for a good experience & we have Boyne rewards/discount

Do I take my skis or rent? I have skinny ice skis....Kastle MX84 which I love and they served me well on a trip to Alta but didn't see any deep powder while I was there

Other tips & suggestions including any must see or to do items on this trip.

A couple other things:

1) Renting a car is easiest, but there are buses that will take you. Check Karst stage. Cost though R/T if you have family is probably close to renting a car.
2) If you're not skiing every day consider a trip into Yellowstone Park. You can either take a snow coach or snowmobile. Either is great and you see the park in a totally different way than in the summer. You can do a day trip (full day - like really early to dinner) or I think there are overnight options.