Yamaste
Certified Ski Diva
Day 7 - Big Sky 1
Sun was out for the first time all trip! Waited about 5 -10 minutes for shuttle to show up to bring us from parking lot to base.
This time, I went from left to right on the trail map. Started with Ramcharger which is an 8 seater with heated seats with a bubble that automatically lifts right before unloading! Fancy. I could definitely get used to heated seats <3<3<3 Headed down Big Horn for Thunder Wolf lift. I tried Mad Wolf and Wolf’s Den are some short, easygoing blacks that meet up with the main blue trail. It was bumpy but still very soft. Some short blues off Ramcharger itself but I found it icy at spots and didn’t really care for them. The restaurant at the top of Ramcharger looked quite nice (and bartenders seemed to have uniform of man buns, lol) but they said there’d be a 20 min wait so we decided to leave and move on to Swift Current which is a very long, windy, and cold ride up! The little Burrito Shack at the top there had tons of skis outside, there’s not way we would have been able to sit/stand/eat there so we skied down to the base. Walked into the first restaurant we saw, 40/45 min wait. We left and walked into the Mountain Mall, went inside the first restaurant there … 30-45 min wait! Luckily, we found a market/deli inside the mall where you can order hot food. I got soup and a brie and turkey sandwich.
There didn’t seem to be a main lodge or cafeteria where people could go to eat, just lots of little places that were full up because it was a holiday weekend. After, we did laps on Swift Current but found them to be too flat and too short given how long lift ride up was. We didn’t move/ski long enough on the down to keep us warm for the long, windy ride up. We decided to call it a day and try Six Shooter at Madison Base tomorrow since people on lifts kept recommending it to us.
Dinner was a 2 hour nightmare. More details in a post to follow about general hospitality and infrastructure at Big Sky.
Day 8 - Big Sky 2
Tried to start day at Madison Base, but Google Maps took me to the middle of a bunch of condos. I circled for a bit trying to find the real base but no luck. Took a long traverse to get to bottom on Six Shooter. Almost nobody was on this side of the mountain. I liked how quiet/calm it was, but the blue runs had the same issues: long extended flats. Plus side, I had nice view of there people coming off the tram hike to and drop in! Very cool to watch them ski. Had lunch at Madison, food was blah and wait was very long. I made sure to use the bathroom at Madison since it was port a potties everywhere else on the mountain. I went back towards the center of the map and explored some single blacks off of Powder Seeker. They weren’t very steep but were bumped or cut up. Main issue was visibility. I could not perceive the pitch or any changes in terrain so every inch was a surprise to me! Suddenly I was going up a side or it drops down steeply, lol. I liked linking Powder seeker with Crazy Horse which takes you to the bottom of Swift Current. It makes the run a little longer (so I could warm my body up).
Dinner was takeout that took double the amount of time they estimated … because they forgot to call my name when the food was ready.
Day 9 - Big Sky 3
General annoyance at lack of food options, slowness of service, lack of on mountain facilities + very cold (6 degrees with windchill in the negatives) + very flat blues → skip skiing. Left for Bozeman early where *GASP* when went into a restaurant for lunch, we were seated immediately and the food came out out within 15-20 minutes. I was over the moon. It was a cajun place and the food was good but not anything special. However, I was overjoyed that I was actually being served non burnt, non cold food and the universe was done trying to starve me. That and I always love beignets! And sitting by real fires. Finally, to the airport and home.
Sun was out for the first time all trip! Waited about 5 -10 minutes for shuttle to show up to bring us from parking lot to base.
This time, I went from left to right on the trail map. Started with Ramcharger which is an 8 seater with heated seats with a bubble that automatically lifts right before unloading! Fancy. I could definitely get used to heated seats <3<3<3 Headed down Big Horn for Thunder Wolf lift. I tried Mad Wolf and Wolf’s Den are some short, easygoing blacks that meet up with the main blue trail. It was bumpy but still very soft. Some short blues off Ramcharger itself but I found it icy at spots and didn’t really care for them. The restaurant at the top of Ramcharger looked quite nice (and bartenders seemed to have uniform of man buns, lol) but they said there’d be a 20 min wait so we decided to leave and move on to Swift Current which is a very long, windy, and cold ride up! The little Burrito Shack at the top there had tons of skis outside, there’s not way we would have been able to sit/stand/eat there so we skied down to the base. Walked into the first restaurant we saw, 40/45 min wait. We left and walked into the Mountain Mall, went inside the first restaurant there … 30-45 min wait! Luckily, we found a market/deli inside the mall where you can order hot food. I got soup and a brie and turkey sandwich.
There didn’t seem to be a main lodge or cafeteria where people could go to eat, just lots of little places that were full up because it was a holiday weekend. After, we did laps on Swift Current but found them to be too flat and too short given how long lift ride up was. We didn’t move/ski long enough on the down to keep us warm for the long, windy ride up. We decided to call it a day and try Six Shooter at Madison Base tomorrow since people on lifts kept recommending it to us.
Dinner was a 2 hour nightmare. More details in a post to follow about general hospitality and infrastructure at Big Sky.
Day 8 - Big Sky 2
Tried to start day at Madison Base, but Google Maps took me to the middle of a bunch of condos. I circled for a bit trying to find the real base but no luck. Took a long traverse to get to bottom on Six Shooter. Almost nobody was on this side of the mountain. I liked how quiet/calm it was, but the blue runs had the same issues: long extended flats. Plus side, I had nice view of there people coming off the tram hike to and drop in! Very cool to watch them ski. Had lunch at Madison, food was blah and wait was very long. I made sure to use the bathroom at Madison since it was port a potties everywhere else on the mountain. I went back towards the center of the map and explored some single blacks off of Powder Seeker. They weren’t very steep but were bumped or cut up. Main issue was visibility. I could not perceive the pitch or any changes in terrain so every inch was a surprise to me! Suddenly I was going up a side or it drops down steeply, lol. I liked linking Powder seeker with Crazy Horse which takes you to the bottom of Swift Current. It makes the run a little longer (so I could warm my body up).
Dinner was takeout that took double the amount of time they estimated … because they forgot to call my name when the food was ready.
Day 9 - Big Sky 3
General annoyance at lack of food options, slowness of service, lack of on mountain facilities + very cold (6 degrees with windchill in the negatives) + very flat blues → skip skiing. Left for Bozeman early where *GASP* when went into a restaurant for lunch, we were seated immediately and the food came out out within 15-20 minutes. I was over the moon. It was a cajun place and the food was good but not anything special. However, I was overjoyed that I was actually being served non burnt, non cold food and the universe was done trying to starve me. That and I always love beignets! And sitting by real fires. Finally, to the airport and home.
