Montana isn’t known as a destination for world class skiing/snowboarding compared to Utah or Colorado. But I’ve heard nothing but good things from local Seattleites. So after snagging a cheap flight, Chi and I were on the way to Big Sky Resort —the largest ski area in Montana —in fact, in the United States.

We flew to Bozeman, MT Friday after work. I almost missed this flight since my previous connection from San Francisco was delayed by 2 hours! Luckily, I was experienced enough to find an alternate flight from a nearby airport and called Alaska Airlines to change it. I made it to the airport minutes before boarding, it was a close call. 

We landed on time and picked up our rental Jeep for the 1-hour drive to Big Sky Resort. Our Airbnb was a cozy one-bedroom and I called it a night early anticipating tomorrow. 

Saturday February 1, 2020

It was a bluebird Saturday and incredibly warm, above 0°C temperatures. The snow was surprisingly good. It was packed powder but really easy to cruise. Some of the high speed lifts even have a bubble shield from the wind and heated seats!

We made way to the summit, which requires taking a small tram, running at half-capacity. We waited for 40-minutes until the ski patrol declared it was too windy to continue running. A huge bummer since we were next in line. We never got the grand view from the Lone Mountain summit but there were still some beautiful views on top of the Swift Current chair.

It was the best day we’ve had this whole season riding on cruisers and felt really natural. My feet and body were not as sore compared to our other days this year (Revelstoke, Banff, and Whistler). We loved it! Lines still existed but not bad compared to Whistler. It might have been due to other closed lifts due to high winds.

Our favorite empty run was ‘Horseshoe’ by the Six Shooter chair. Not too flat or steep —just perfect. We wanted to explore the other blues around there but they closed the Lone Tree chairlift to take us there. Our least favorite was ‘Hangmans’ on Andesite mountain as it was short, straight down and boring. 

After a full snowboarding day, we went back to our Airbnb and then to Big Sky Town Center for dinner. It’s a newly developed village area where many bars, restaurants and shops were. It was quiet but trendy. 

Sunday February 2, 2020

Sunday had snow in the forecast and we woke up to 5” of fresh powder. I knew we had to wake up and make it to first tracks. It wasn’t like Whistler where I would just float on the powder. It felt heavier and sticky but still great to glide through the untouched snow.

We explored the powdered blues around the Southern Comfort chair. We practiced a few glades including ‘Pomp’, a recommendation from Chi’s boss but it was all deep moguls and no fun. Enchanted Forest was a bit better but still above my skill level in control and turns. 

We moved towards the Shedhorn chair. The bowls had a fresh layer of snow but was hiding a crunchy base. We went back to the village through Duck Walk and Calamity Jane before our snowy drive back to Bozeman. We stopped for food at Bar 3 Bar-B-Q. The brisket was dry unlike Austin, TX but the ribs were pretty good. 

It was a fantastic snowboarding weekend with a day of sun for the views and a day of fresh snow. We both loved Big Sky and agreed that it is our favorite resort after Whistler. It’s still affordable compared to other popular resorts (eg. Park City and Vail), offers fantastic terrain and isn’t overwhelmingly crowded. We’ll be back!