GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 You eat anywhere good? Bucks T-4 is a good place for steaks and wild game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted March 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Flying here kinda sucks. There are no direct flights from phl and tix are expensive. Big sky is only an hour from the airport, so that's nice. lodging in big sky is not cheap, so its best to go with a group if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Flying here kinda sucks. There are no direct flights from phl and tix are expensive. Big sky is only an hour from the airport, so that's nice. lodging in big sky is not cheap, so its best to go with a group if you can. Where are you staying? Big sky isn't really a ski town like Jackson or Steamboat or Aspen either...some Slopeside lodging on the mountain and then condos down in the meadows. Are you there in a group or just you and the wife? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted March 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) We haven't eaten out much yet, but we did have dinner at a place called m.r. hummers.....typical pub fare. had bison burger which was pretty good. we got a condo in the alpenglow units, which is across the street from the main base area. There is a shuttle that runs btwn our area and the base lodge, but we got a rental car bc stuff around here is really spread out. ETA: We got a condo with two other couples. Edited March 10, 2015 by guitar73 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 ive been to big sky, it snowed alot while we were there and good times were had by all I have to go back to bozeman and big sky and bridger bowl sometime before I start writing my autobiography. In hindsight I would have skibum'd in Jackson hole vs bozeman. I mainly went to bozeman due to the cost. Jackson holes the better mountain obviously...and more natural snowfall but more crowded as well 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 i wish i got a chance to check out the SMALL casinos in Bozeman, they were literally the size of a Wawa They only have keno and video poker and the most you could win was I believe $800...they also had live poker in a few of the casinos and bars with silly rules and maximum pots. In Montana you can also buy bottles of Liquor at bars...there was no daytime speed limit back in the 90s now it's 75mph on highways and 70mph on two lane roads...there also were no open container laws outside the bozeman city limits so road sodas were a real thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted March 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Moonlight and headwaters 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mixilplix Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 If your into Thia food Lotus Pad is good...Check out Lone Peak Brewery..Whiskey Jacks has pretty good nachos...Gallatin Riverhouse Grill on is good also....all these except Whiskey jacks is down in the valley.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mixilplix Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 The past few years I've been staying at the Village Center....I dig that it's ski in/out...When I'm on ski vacation I don't want to pile stuff in the car and drive or ride some buss to the mountain...Plus they have a breakfast buffet that is effin killa....This was the view from my suit last year 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Overcast day, so only one picture today. Demo'd the volkl rtm 84 & 81 today given the hard conditions. Loved them both, but probably would choose the 81's for my daily driver. we're supposed to get some snow tonite **crosses fingers** 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Last day in big sky...Blue bird day and more soft snow! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Last day in big sky...Blue bird day and more soft snow! Enjoy!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 At the airport...sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Wow the gallatin valley is pretty snowless seems like you had adequate coverage on the mountain though!!! Enjoyed the report!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 back in PA after a great time at big sky resort. below are some of my thoughts of the mtn. overall i think big sky resort is def a mountain to check out. terrain - this is by far the number 1 selling point for big sky resort. they literally have it all (except for a glacier). mellow, rolling groomers for the newbs, a good variety of intermediate level terrain (groomers, "trees", bumps, etc), and of course the advanced to expert terrain goes from challenging to outright rowdy. the bowl and chute skiing on lone peak alone is worth the trip out. we skied six days and we probably covered 30 to 40 % of the stuff out there. moonlight was fun, but it would be awesome on a powder day. lift tickets - we went with a large group and were able to get a group rate. if you can't get a large group to go, be sure to hit up liftopia or similar websites for discounted lift tickets. otherwise, you'll be shelling out about $100/day pp. lifts - almost no lift lines to speak of, except at the swift current and ram charger lifts (both at the main base area) and the tram. lift layout leaves much to be desired. there is no good way to lap the tram, nor is there a good way to ski from the base area over to moonlight basin. if you ski fast, it's a minimum of 30 mins to get from the bottom of swift current lift to the bottom of the six shooter lift at moonlight. also, there are only two main lifts in moonlight, the six shooter and the lone tree quad. one must go all the way to the bottom of the six shooter to lap most of the terrain off the lone tree quad. crowds - we were there during spring break and the crowds were essentially non-existent. even the base lodge wasn't too crowded. food - on mountain food options are few. however, what they have there is relatively good. the cafeteria food is very reasonably priced and is way better than the typical PA mtn fare. we could easily do lunch for the both of us for under $25. b-fast and dinner were mostly at the condo, but the restaurants that we did go to were good. be warned though, most of the restaurants are very small and require reservations. be sure to call well in advance to reserve a seat. also, most food service there is VERY slow. lodging - in general, lodging is expensive around the base area....especially if you want ski-in/ski-out or trailside access. there are more reasonable options down in meadow village area. lodging in moonlight basin is all very expensive. travel - flights into bozemen are not cheap....expect to pay at least $500-850 pp. it's pretty much a united and delta destination, with frontier as a close third. i would recommend delta over united b/c their check-in line when we departed was insanely long while there was literally no line for delta. also, flight time options suck....it's either early AM, 1:30 PM, or early evening....basically a handful of times a day, that's it. rental cars - we got a good deal through Costco, but be warned....all of the rental car companies at the airport have very bad costumer reviews, mostly relating to being charged for unverified car damage. make sure that you document your car before and after the trip. also, request that the agent at the counter does the inspection with you before you hand it over. shuttle bus - there is a shuttle that runs between the airport and big sky, but it only accesses the on-mountain lodging. we were glad that we got a rental car instead of relying on the shuttle. cell phone service - most of the mtn has good service (we have ATT/cricket); however, there is poor service at the summit (obviously) and in moonlight basin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Very informative review. You really covered everything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Nice write up!!!! I skied big sky maybe 15 days total over two seasons and I prob only hit half the terrain total. The big couloir wasnt open much and A-Z chutes were above my level. The lift layout is bad there...I like Jackson hole alot cause their lifts are direct and efficient. Nice pictures as well. The extra time spent travelling paid off with uncrowded slopes!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 oh, i forgot a couple of things.... tree skiing - we didn't get to ski a lot of trees there, but the ones that we did ski were very wide open and i really wouldn't consider it tree skiing. rocks - i knew going in that big sky resort is a rocky mtn....however, i didn't take that to mean there would be rocks everywhere within the snowpack. we hit so many rocks there. they varied in size from little pebbles to full on fist-sized rocks. do not take your brand new skis to big sky, you will put a few dings in the base and your edges. low snow pack - so this year was obviously a low snow season for the west, big sky included. but, the resort still skied well. the Dakota lift was closed most of the week (i assume to preserve the snow for the weekend) and stuff on challenger was not worth skiing. we found that the best snow to be had was in the turkey bowl (lone peak triple), the tram, and the Stillwater bowl (lone tree quad in moonlight). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mixilplix Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Good write up...I've been going to Big Sky every year for about eight years now...Some of my friends live out there..some work Big Sky and some work at Yellowstone Club...but with out them I would have never discovered some of the hidden gems there...It really is an awesome ski area...I have yet to do the Big and some of the gnarlier A-Z shutes... The place is just one big rock...even with a decent snow pack.. It funny last year I went round trip for $400...This year it's $600...I think there is a direct flight from Newark like once or twice a week..but I could be wrong..I do a one stopper in ORD..fly outa ABE...and I flew Delta once and it sucked..You know Delta stands for Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport... Glad to hear a report from there...I leave in two weeks.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted March 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Glad to hear a report from there...I leave in two weeks.... I hope they still have snow by then, they were losing about 2 inches a day last week on the south facing aspects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mixilplix Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Big Sky just got 15-22" in the past 24 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toast21602 Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Big Sky just got 15-22" in the past 24 sounds terrible. i guess you still have time to cancel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mixilplix Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 sounds terrible. i guess you still have time to cancel. If they don't get more I may have to.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mixilplix Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar73 Posted April 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 sooo......how are the conditions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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