Big Sky Resort Blog

It's blue-bird with fresh snow and I'm booted up and relaxing for a few quick moments on the super comfy couches of the Summit Lobby to meet with my clients, Dan and Dianne.  While sitting there, a friendly face asks if I'm the Dax who writes on the website.  As there aren't a lot of Dax's out there I fess up that it is me.  Slightly uncomfortable despite the cow-fur leather, it dawns on me that maybe people read this, yikes, luckily today was the perfect day for a good story, thanks Adam from Billings on the reminder to stay focused.

This is the perfect day to tell a story because I had friends/clients who have never really skied Big Sky, so instead of me freeskiing where I know the pow is good, this is all about showing off the whole mountain and it revealed many gems I fail to often ski and talk about.  (Might this be the time to apologize for the long submission?)  We started up Ramcharger and rolled straight off the hill to check out Southern Comfort.  I hadn't skied El Dorado yet this year and was pleasantly surprised to find a perfect 1 to 2 inches of new snow on perfectly smoothed out groomer.  Have you heard the term powder-groomer, this was it, a wide-open run and the kind of terrain every person could hero-turn on with ease and confidence.  After rolling to the top of the lift, we encountered my absolute favorite view of Lone Peak, the massiveness is almost indescribable and the clear view of South Face runs look unattainable, even though I know we'll be there soon.

We skied over to catch a blue groomer called Big Horn and despite the smooth center shot, the left side had entirely untouched, small mogul turns.  It was oddly refreshing to ski pow in bumps as I hadn't really done that yet this season and with my friends Dan and Dianne eagerly in tow, I learned I could take them anywhere.  We got back up on Thunderwolf and skied Silver Knife for more corduroy while also keeping in mind photo ops.  At the bottom it was a perfect time at 10:30 a.m. to sneak into the Peaks restaurant for some hot chocolate.  Now that we spoiled ourselves, it was time for the Tram and to get to the top.

The sky opened up perfectly for photos at the top and we worked our way to Marx, a double black diamond.  Even though the top was a bit tricky, once we were in the belly of the run the 6-8 inches of powder offered perfect skiing conditions.  I was excited that my friends were so adventurous to follow me on even some of the toughest runs that I knew the rest of the day would be a breeze.  We re-charged the confidence with a sweet lap down Lobo and re-charged the body batteries with a delicious lunch at Whiskey Jacks (don't miss it) and the afternoon was all about tagging all the bases on the Biggest Skiing in America with a tour of Moonlight Basin too.  After all, access to 5,512 acres can't be missed when you visit this area.

We rode up Swifty to take the Jay Walk, the BRT road, then SA Road to the Moonlight Lodge.  After admiring their impressive fireplace which is accessible to both Big Sky skiers and Lone Peak Passholders alike we rode up Iron Horse and took Cinnabar to the Headwaters Grill, met with their GM Greg and made our way back to the Big Sky base area. 

We finished the epic tour day with drinks at the Carabiner with Mike Haring playing great cover tunes and even had the time for a village tour including a couple of funny songs to the vibrant crowd at the Crazy Austrian show at Chet's Bar.  I suspect Dianne and Dan enjoyed the show on top of the tour and hopefully will be able to visit again.

All I can say in summation is that skiing at Big Sky is as good as it gets, and if it takes reading about it to inspire you to visit, you'll love every minute of your trip, even though you being here personally will over-ride any words I come up with to describe it.  Finally, tell us all about it, we'll be happy to post your own experiences, after all, you've read about my ski days enough, we're open to reading of everyone's experience.

We'll see you out there,

Dax

Hello everyone, what a special treat this weekend, guests of the resort offered to submit their very own "The Way I Ski It".  I hope their inspired words bring even more submissions from guests and visitors, after all, as much fun as it is to ski and write about it, I think we all deserve different perspectives of what this mountain means to them.  We welcome all submissions so without further ado . . . enjoy!  Dax

Today’s post is void of any industry big-wig names typical to Dax’s posts.  This is a guest post submitted by an average everyday family visiting Big Sky for a holiday vacation.  Meet the Warrner Family from Orlando, Florida…

Our family has been coming to Big Sky for 20+ years with many experiences and memories accumulating over that time.  Our children, who started on the rope tow as toddlers, now easily out-ski their parents.  This year we introduced the next generation of our clan to Big Sky Country and experienced our first Christmas on the slopes.  More...

Hello everyone,

The snow keeps flying and the powder turns keep coming as we're enjoying a snowy holiday week.  I just noticed that my last blog entry disappeared, since I don't keep them and it seems to be gone, here's a re-cap, I skied with Taylor and Victor, it was fun, deep snow, I crashed, they laughed and we all went back to work.

But on to skiing on Christmas Day, a day the only work I was doing was trying to keep up with a magazine editor and professional freeskier.  I started by catching up with Annie Fast who is the editor of Transworld Snowboarding and one time Big Sky rider.  I was joined by a couple of other snowboarders and as I clicked into my skis, I had the Sesame Street jingle, "one of these guys is doing his own thing" singing in my head.  But here at Big Sky skiers and snowboarders are always joining up, no teams here, we're all after the best snow and terrain around.  More...

Hello everyone,

So in the third week of December I'm flying effortlessly down a 2,000 foot vertical face of Lone Mountain on super carvy, wind groomed steeps, prompting what I've officially called my very best first of the season Tram lap in my history of this transformational lift. More...

As I sit here typing, while it’s snowing on the mountain, I love being able to reflect on my ski day while trying to share the experience in this venue.  As many readers know, I’ve had the good fortune to have developed excellent friends and seen many snowy seasons come and go. 

Today I had the opportunity to rip turns with KP, a good buddy who has seen much more than me both in and out of the mountains.  Most of his career was as a line-man with Montana Power Company, that hit hard times for several economic reasons 6-8 years ago and gutted his “safe” retirement.  But KP’s not easily concerned, most recently with work in our area working power lines while getting to ski most every day. More...

"Do A Bowl!" - Day 7 of 137

Come on up, the powder's fine!

Anticipation grows as Big Sky Resort gradually opens the lifts and  terrain to all skiers, based on snow conditions. All snow-riders were grateful for the Thanksgiving Day opening of and exceptionally well-covered Mr. K groomer accessed  by Swifty lift.  More...

Hello everyone,

After months of watching ski movies, reading ski magazines, attending ski shows and talking nothing but winter, it was time to boot up for the first day of the season.  I'll be honest that after many years I might be guilty of sometimes taking this incredible place for granted.  Being able to wake up, walk to the office, skip to the locker room and load up the chair within 10 minutes can make it so easy, I forget how good I've got it.  But last night, while winding down to sleep, my thoughts wandered of how it used to feel the night before a cherished ski day when I was younger, how the gear would be laid out, maybe even tried on in the living room, come on, who hasn't clicked into their bindings inside before, admit it.More...

In Big Sky, Montana, with not enough snow to ride and too much for golf, we all feel a little stuck.  Ski season is ready to break loose and we’re indoors.  We eat more dinners at home and drive less.  Amusement parks are closing.  Rain is hitting the west.  Without a ski dream, I don’t know how we’d cope.

Lone Peak at Big Sky is dressing for winter, ready to wear a thick white gown.  As I write, she’s hiding behind clouds, layering herself with undergarments.  Not until November 27th can we ski her.  The boards are by the door, boots on the dryer, and a new jacket’s in the mail.  I’ve been skiing in my sleep.  More...