Big Sky Resort Blog

If you’re like me you start your day with a call to the snow phone; and when I heard the friendly voice say a foot of snow overnight, you know that is a better jolt to the system than a cup of coffee.  For us desk jockey’s occasionally the snow doesn’t fit perfectly within our meeting schedules, so my first order of business was to move a few meetings around and I cleared a couple of hours before lunch.  Brandon was doing the same thing, even making calls from Ramcharger and before we knew it, our skis were pointed down Congo for our most important task of the day, skiing powder!

With knee deep turns on still completely untouched powder bumps, it was effortless and silky snow in the trees with the occasional face shot at the bottom of the cream filled troughs.  We loved the skiing and quite honestly we could have spun 5 more laps of the exact same run with each one getting to choose another untouched line, but we wanted to take advantage of this meeting by tipping the steepness factor.

The best place to do that when time is limited is the Challenger chair and we decided to check out the north side of the biggest skiing in America with a run down Cold Springs.  The snow was piling up to the boot tops and above and I watched patiently at the top as Brandon worked his way from top to bottom of this fun run.

We spun up Headwaters and crossed the gate back to Big Sky for some untouched turns at the left side of Country Club, then over to Moonlight (the ski run) and into the Midnight Trees.  The trees on Challenger was where it was at, (see the photo), it was consistently soft and fresh and hardly touched by noon.  I tried to air next to the Outer Limits cliffs but the take-off turned into nothing more than super-light snow that kept me on the ground.  Brandon followed suit but ended up veering right to be creamed with chest deep snow rolling up his jacket.

We stayed on Challenger with the snow so good and took a BRT North into the trees for more powder turns before we finished to get back to our shared conference call, I’d say we planned this day perfectly, how was your day in the office? 

Oh, it’s not too late if you missed out on today, the weather service is calling for another 10 inches on top of this 18 inch storm cycle, just remember to time your breathing while the snow is floating around your face, I’ve got the good fortune to get to show some folks around Big Sky, I think they’ll be impressed.

We’ll see you out there,
Dax

 So in the last ‘The Way I Ski It’ I said that the little British Snow Reporter had not yet mastered the Peak. I wouldn’t say ‘mastered’ is quite the right word yet, but I am very proud to say that I skied the Tram for the first time this weekend!

I was riding up Swifty and Paul, who I was skiing with that day, said that it would be a perfect opportunity to try out the top of the mountain. I couldn’t really argue; it was a beautiful blue-bird day, the wind was minimal and there was still plenty of snow left from the big powder dump we had a few days before. Still, I have to admit I felt a little trepidation at the prospect; I mean, this is what I’ve been trying to work up to all season.

We headed up the Triple and skied down to the Tram line, where we ended up just behind a couple of other Big Sky locals. I got chatting to Jodi from Accounting and found that, same as me, it was her first time up to the Peak. So there was not one, but two Tram virgins on the ride up to the top!

Upon exiting the Tram car, the view was both breathtaking and intimidating: the scenery was absolutely spectacular, with the sky so clear you could see all the way to the Tetons, but at the same time I saw that the only way to go was down. Straight down. And to me, it looked a long way. Jodi and I both stood wondering why we had decided to do this, with the guys telling us we really had nothing to worry about. A few deep breaths later, I resolutely stepped into my skis.

Liberty Bowl is one of the easier runs off the Peak – I admit now that it really isn’t any steeper than the Bowl, it’s just longer and, to a first-time Peak skier, it’s a little scarier to get to. I made my way down the first part very slowly and carefully, with Paul very patiently staying not too far ahead of me as I tried to persuade myself that it really wasn’t all that bad. I fell once near the top – possibly more due to nerves than anything else – but once I got into the swing of things I found that far from being the traumatic challenge I had been anticipating, I was actually really enjoying myself. The snow was perfect for me, a few inches of tracked powder to give me the confidence that if I fell could stop, and enough to give my legs a pretty good work out! The slope was long and wide, with plenty of space to stay clear of the few other skiers around. Once she got going, Jodi looked awesome skiing down to the left of me, while I took my time making turns down the middle of the run, working up my speed as my confidence increased.

By the time I reached the bottom, my legs were pretty tired, but oh was I happy that I’d made it! Paul and I then proceeded along Sunlight, which true to its name had been basking in the sun all morning and had some lovely buttery snow all the way down to Shedhorn. We rode the chair back up, and headed back around on the Duck Walk. Calamity Jane was fun to speed down on our way back to the base area, and I swear we hardly saw another soul the entire way down.

Once back in the base area, I decided I deserved a drink to celebrate my achievement, so we sat out in the sun on the deck of the Carabiner for a well-earned beer.

Bring on the next day I can get out and try to conquer the Peak again!

Jenny

Having spent the beginning of the week cruising down groomers, it felt great to get out on the slopes again on an awesome powder day. Don’t get me wrong, often there’s nothing I like more than whizzing down Lobo or Calamity Jane on a beautiful sunny day; but at the same time, I’m trying to work my way up to the top of the mountain, and for that I like powder to practice on!

Ok, so, to be honest, Big Sky’s little British Snow Reporter has not yet mastered the Peak. Actually, this is my first full season ever skiing at all. I’ve come all the way over from Europe and have never even skied the Alps – I am solely a Big Sky girl!

Yesterday I didn’t make it out to the slopes until the early afternoon (well, someone has to be in the office in the morning to tell you how much new snow we’ve had!), but despite that there was still plenty of new snow to go around. I think I’ve become spoiled by only skiing here; to me a complete lack of crowds is the norm, so I was completely unsurprised to still see lots of patches of untracked powder on the mountain. Not only had we had snow, but it had turned into a lovely afternoon with clear skies, so I headed up the Triple to Upper Morning Star, which was basking in the afternoon sun. The run had been groomed overnight, but since then an inch or so more snow had fallen. I sped down once, then headed straight back up to try out the deeper powder off to the sides. Sun and snow all in 24 hours, what more do you need to make for a great skiing afternoon?!

After a few laps in the sun, I decided it was time to see what was going on around the rest of the mountain, so set off towards Ramcharger to check out Andesite. Here I found the same thing: clear skies with stunning views all across the mountain, and snow. Lots of snow. All in all it was a pretty awesome ski day considering I was only out for a couple of hours.

The mountain’s looking stunningly beautiful again this morning, so it won’t be long until I’m back out on the slopes again…

See you out there,

Jenny

Well, what can you say about this weekend huh?  Awesome snow, goggle tans, Marshall Tucker, beverages on the plaza and friends to rip with.  I arrived at work on Saturday and chatted it up with some gentlemen from Skiing Magazine.  I have had the pleasure of meeting them before so perhaps gentlemen is not the right word, but regardless they are awesome skiers and super great guys. 

Since I was still in my street clothes and they, already in their in the boots, we decided to catch up after a few runs so that I didn’t hold them up. If you have read any previous “The Way I Ski Its” you may recall that Dax often refers to me as “Junk-show Jones.”  I am not sure this is an accurate description but nonetheless I was not ready to ride.

I suited up hit the slopes, straight towards the Tram.  I as arrived at the top of the triple I ran into Mike Mannelin, Troy and Emily Nedved, Neil Johnson and Matt Dodd.  They had just completed a Couloir lap and we slid into the Tram line.  Nearly simultaneously I received a phone call from the Skiing Crew saying they were heading down the North Summit so we decided to meet later.

I feel it’s necessary to mention that those gnarly lines you see down Little Couloir and Apple Core are courtesy of Mr. Mannelin and the Editor of Skiing Magazine Jake Bogoch.  How’s that for a warm-up run.  Mike said it was great, but I am not sure I could enjoy it after such a hairball entry.

As we waited in the short line and soaked up the sun, and by the way the wait was totally worth it, we figured out our plan of attack.  Got to the top and executed.  We headed down Otter Slide, soft wind buffed snow and then headed towards the Dictators.  Once again, just buttery, from there we crossed over towards Wave Wall and Castro’s Beard.

Matt was filming and once you hold a camera up Mannelin just turns it on.  He left Troy and I standing at the top of Castro’s Beard and didn’t look back, dropping a nice rock at the bottom and sticking it.  Troy took off next and picked a dubious line down and I followed a similar path.  The snow was wind groomed ,carvy and excellent.

I met up with Skiing Crew joined by our own Victor DeLeo, Kene Sperry and Chad Robbs. They had been tearing it up all over the hill as well and had a great time on the North Summit Snowfields.  At the base we decided that we hadn’t had enough so we hopped back in the tram line and did it again.  If they hadn’t closed the Tram we would have repeated the cycle until dark.  Why would you want to stop on a day like that?  See you on the hill.
Chad

Hi everyone,

I cannot remember the last time I saw snow falling as fast as it was late yesterday afternoon in to last night.  I found myself staring out the window into the sea of falling snowflakes and just imagining what the next day would bring.

I reached challenger by 9:30am and rode right onto the lift.  From the chair I witnessed skiers and boarders getting blasted with face shot after face shot all the way down 17th Green and BRT.  I followed their tracks into 17th and immediately knew that this was going to be one of the best days of the season.  I took two more solo laps on Challenger then decided that it was time for a Tram run. 

In the Tram line I met up with good friends Adam, Ronnie and Justin who were covered in snow and looked like they had just rolled down the Big.  Ben the ticket checker scanned our passes and let us onto the machine that gets us to the top of the world.  We skied Otter Slide to Marx and it was better than I would have ever guessed; easily knee deep powder with the occasional drifts that would reach past your waist.  Marx was so good that we ended up lapping it a few more times, each time better than the last. 

Towards the end of the day we ventured into Shedhorn to hit a few jumps and cruise through the Meadows of Dude Park.  The turns were effortless, bottomless and so smooth that they were nearly silent.

As I sit here writing this I am full of anticipation for tomorrow.  I know it is going to be just as good out there, if not better, and day’s like today remind me why I live in Montana and why I work at Big Sky Resort.

P.S.  I got some good video of the guys ripping today, so check the website soon to see what I am talking about.

Chris

It had been snowing all week and I had the call to help tour around a couple of folks who wanted to scout the mountain for a special event.  They were calling for steeps and this place has them, so what could I do but oblige.

The lucky thing for this team was that these were Crystal Mountain locals, Craig and John and with their season passes they had been using up several of their 10 free days of skiing at Big Sky.  Being part of the same family definitely has its privileges.  More...

Hello everyone,

Here’s a treat, I’m not going to talk about the Tram, Challenger, Dakota or any of my favorite spots on the hill, rather, I was visited by the entire family for our delayed Christmas exchange celebration.  My brothers are very accomplished snowboarders, but there was a girlfriend and a friend who had never snowboarded and a nine year old nephew still getting the hang of skis.

This was Saturday and the sun was shining brightly which simply added to the new experience for our new soon to be snowboarders. More...

I had the good fortune to lead a full mountain tour that combined a few of my favorite things, snow, sunshine and good friends.  I smiled immediately when the assignment came across my desk with a media request to host a state sponsored group appropriately called, “Women Who Rip”. 

Now you all know me as a pretty busy guy, right?  But when the “job” asks that you tour a group of snow-seeking, ripping girls and show them Big Sky from top to bottom, you can imagine my thought process of priorities shuffling quickly through my head . . . um, yeah, I’d be available.  More...