mountainwest
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My husband and I stayed with another couple we are friends with in the Stillwater Condominiums near the base of Ramcharger. We were in the unit closest to the base area, so the walk to the lifts was very short. The lodging was expensive even though we had booked in early November with 30% off, but it was really fun to stay so close to the base area and have a full kitchen to cook our meals in. We were also given a key card for access to a hot tub/sauna/hot pool in the Huntley Hotel, which was nice to unwind in after a full day of skiing. It was extremely cold during our trip, with highs in the single digits and lows in the negatives.
Day One: Two inches of fresh snow overnight. After a warm-up run off of Ramcharger, our friends wanted to go straight to the cliffs (they had been to Big Sky several times before), but as Big Sky newbies my husband and I decided to do some exploring. We started with the former Moonlight Basin area, which was a mistake because it wound up being our least favorite part of the mountain. The groomers were very flat and narrow (blues seemed more like greens). We tried a few different runs there before moving on, and then worked our way across the mountain. We tried the Six Shooter lift, and Elkhorn was fun. In search of a late morning snack, we got on the Derringer lift. A ski school class of small children was loading at the same time and an instructor asked us if we could take a little girl up with us. She was wearing a vest with a handle on the back to help boost her up onto the lift, which is such a great idea! All mountains should do this. She advised us on the best place to grab a snack (candy was her recommendation) at the Madison Base, and asked my husband why he talked like that (he has a Polish accent). It was a great conversation the whole ride up. We then made our way back over to Ramcharger and discovered something really fun that we don't have at home: a blue bump run! With what seemed to me like perfectly shaped, perfectly spaced bumps. We don't have wide open fields of blue bumps like this to practice on at my home mountain, so this was the run where I actually started to discover a love of bumps. My husband felt the same way. Suddenly we had something new and fun to try! So we did this run a second time.
Skiing the blue bumps of Africa
Enjoying the views at the bottom of Africa
Next we took the Swift Current lift up to Powder Seeker and did a run in the Bowl and then something off of the other side. Then we took the tram up to the top of Lone Peak and took a run down Liberty Bowl and then did some runs off of the Dakota and Shedhorn lifts. The south face of the mountain was a bit warmer and less windy (once we got off the top portion of Liberty Bowl, that is) and we really enjoyed the terrain there. It seemed less touristy as well, which we liked. We had some hot chocolates at the Shedhorn Grill to warm up. Ended our tour of the mountain for the day on the Thunder Wolf and Lone Moose lifts before making our way back to the base around 4pm. Had to watch out for rocks here and there throughout the day (mostly in ungroomed terrain), as well as large groups of snowboarders sitting either in the middle of trails or blocking most of the entrance zone to drop in to trails. Both were unusual experiences for me (in February, at least, re: the rocks).
Day Two: Cloudy and still very cold. No snow overnight. Now that we had the lay of the land, we started the morning focusing on some fun blue & black groomers, bumps, and trees off the Thunder Wolf and Ramcharger lifts. Went back around the the South side where it was again a bit warmer and less windy. We spent more time exploring the Dakota and Shedhorn lift areas and got another hot chocolate. We were having so much fun that we didn't even stop for lunch, we ate our sandwiches on the lift (and did the same the third day!). Met up with our friends in the afternoon and skied Turkey Traverse to Exit Chute. We also skied Highway off the Challenger lift. It was a really fun run and I wanted to get back up there again, but the wind was pretty intense. The very narrow start zone off the top of the lift also required some pretty quick decision-making, because the next few chairs after us were all fully loaded, and people pile up in that small space pretty quickly! Ended the day at 4pm again and took advantage of the hot tub afterwards.
Turkey Traversing
Day Three: Four inches of powder overnight - we noticed winds had been blowing from the south and decided the south face would be a deeper powder cache on this day. And indeed it was! After doing a run or two off of Ramcharger, we took the Swift Current lift up to Powder Seeker and did a run down Exit Chute again. It was much more windblown today, so we went up the tram and took another run down Liberty Bowl. The wind and blowing snow were so fierce, blinding and cold at the top on this day that it was disorienting and a bit of a struggle over wind-scowered, icy bumps. Once we got below it though, the fun powder turns began! We spent a good chunk of the day skiing off the Dakota lift. Favorites were Bavarian Forest, Dakota Gully and Screaming Left. I found it interesting that Bavarian Forest could only be accessed through gates despite being inbounds terrain. Does anyone know why this is? Sadly on this day we had to leave around 2pm to start our drive home. Both our first AND second choice roads home were closed to blowing and drifting snow, so our 3-hour drive home turned into closer to 6 hours instead because of the long detour we had to take. It was a beautiful drive though!
Getting battered by wind and blowing snow near the top of Liberty Bowl. It almost looks like I am on another planet descending to earth!
Another one from Liberty Bowl - getting a bit lower and more fun!
My husband finding fresh tracks in the Bavarian Forest
I would definitely like to visit Big Sky again. More photos in the next post!
Day One: Two inches of fresh snow overnight. After a warm-up run off of Ramcharger, our friends wanted to go straight to the cliffs (they had been to Big Sky several times before), but as Big Sky newbies my husband and I decided to do some exploring. We started with the former Moonlight Basin area, which was a mistake because it wound up being our least favorite part of the mountain. The groomers were very flat and narrow (blues seemed more like greens). We tried a few different runs there before moving on, and then worked our way across the mountain. We tried the Six Shooter lift, and Elkhorn was fun. In search of a late morning snack, we got on the Derringer lift. A ski school class of small children was loading at the same time and an instructor asked us if we could take a little girl up with us. She was wearing a vest with a handle on the back to help boost her up onto the lift, which is such a great idea! All mountains should do this. She advised us on the best place to grab a snack (candy was her recommendation) at the Madison Base, and asked my husband why he talked like that (he has a Polish accent). It was a great conversation the whole ride up. We then made our way back over to Ramcharger and discovered something really fun that we don't have at home: a blue bump run! With what seemed to me like perfectly shaped, perfectly spaced bumps. We don't have wide open fields of blue bumps like this to practice on at my home mountain, so this was the run where I actually started to discover a love of bumps. My husband felt the same way. Suddenly we had something new and fun to try! So we did this run a second time.
Skiing the blue bumps of Africa
Enjoying the views at the bottom of Africa
Next we took the Swift Current lift up to Powder Seeker and did a run in the Bowl and then something off of the other side. Then we took the tram up to the top of Lone Peak and took a run down Liberty Bowl and then did some runs off of the Dakota and Shedhorn lifts. The south face of the mountain was a bit warmer and less windy (once we got off the top portion of Liberty Bowl, that is) and we really enjoyed the terrain there. It seemed less touristy as well, which we liked. We had some hot chocolates at the Shedhorn Grill to warm up. Ended our tour of the mountain for the day on the Thunder Wolf and Lone Moose lifts before making our way back to the base around 4pm. Had to watch out for rocks here and there throughout the day (mostly in ungroomed terrain), as well as large groups of snowboarders sitting either in the middle of trails or blocking most of the entrance zone to drop in to trails. Both were unusual experiences for me (in February, at least, re: the rocks).
Day Two: Cloudy and still very cold. No snow overnight. Now that we had the lay of the land, we started the morning focusing on some fun blue & black groomers, bumps, and trees off the Thunder Wolf and Ramcharger lifts. Went back around the the South side where it was again a bit warmer and less windy. We spent more time exploring the Dakota and Shedhorn lift areas and got another hot chocolate. We were having so much fun that we didn't even stop for lunch, we ate our sandwiches on the lift (and did the same the third day!). Met up with our friends in the afternoon and skied Turkey Traverse to Exit Chute. We also skied Highway off the Challenger lift. It was a really fun run and I wanted to get back up there again, but the wind was pretty intense. The very narrow start zone off the top of the lift also required some pretty quick decision-making, because the next few chairs after us were all fully loaded, and people pile up in that small space pretty quickly! Ended the day at 4pm again and took advantage of the hot tub afterwards.
Turkey Traversing
Day Three: Four inches of powder overnight - we noticed winds had been blowing from the south and decided the south face would be a deeper powder cache on this day. And indeed it was! After doing a run or two off of Ramcharger, we took the Swift Current lift up to Powder Seeker and did a run down Exit Chute again. It was much more windblown today, so we went up the tram and took another run down Liberty Bowl. The wind and blowing snow were so fierce, blinding and cold at the top on this day that it was disorienting and a bit of a struggle over wind-scowered, icy bumps. Once we got below it though, the fun powder turns began! We spent a good chunk of the day skiing off the Dakota lift. Favorites were Bavarian Forest, Dakota Gully and Screaming Left. I found it interesting that Bavarian Forest could only be accessed through gates despite being inbounds terrain. Does anyone know why this is? Sadly on this day we had to leave around 2pm to start our drive home. Both our first AND second choice roads home were closed to blowing and drifting snow, so our 3-hour drive home turned into closer to 6 hours instead because of the long detour we had to take. It was a beautiful drive though!
Getting battered by wind and blowing snow near the top of Liberty Bowl. It almost looks like I am on another planet descending to earth!
Another one from Liberty Bowl - getting a bit lower and more fun!
My husband finding fresh tracks in the Bavarian Forest
I would definitely like to visit Big Sky again. More photos in the next post!
