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Big Sky Brings the Big Winter Fun

For uncrowded slopes, laid-back mountaintop meals, and a little Wild West-inspired shopping, head to Montana.

Montage Residences Big Sky Debuts The Inn Residences

Montage Residences has unveiled The Inn Residences at Montage Big Sky. This debut is an opportunity to own a luxury Residence in deeded, one-quarter ownership interests. Located just steps from Montage Big Sky, approximately one hour from Yellowstone National Park, owners of The Inn Residences will receive privileged access to Montage Big Sky’s luxury amenities and services, as well as ski-in, ski-out access to Big Sky Resort and membership benefits at Spanish Peaks Mountain Club.

Framed by the Spanish Peaks mountain range amid the rugged beauty of Montana’s Big Sky country, The Inn Residences includes a limited collection of only 32 three- and four-bedroom floor plans, ranging in size from 1,910 to 2,672 square feet. Inspired by a timeless palette of locally sourced wood and stone, residences come fully furnished and feature well-appointed luxury appliances, fireplaces in multiple living spaces, contemporary kitchens and dining areas, lock-off bedrooms, and more.

The Inn Residences are connected to Montage Big Sky via an underground pathway, and owners can conveniently access all of Montage Big Sky’s facilities and amenities including ski-in, ski-out access to Big Sky Resort’s 5,850 acres of terrain; six dining venues featuring inspired flavors shaped by Montana’s rich heritage of agriculture and wild game; a 10,000-square-foot Spa Montage, offering an array of alpine-inspired services and expansive relaxation areas; Compass Sports; and Paintbox, Montage’s signature children’s program.

Montage Big Sky and The Inn Residences are located within Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, offering access to a private Tom Weiskopf championship golf course; a members-only clubhouse, with a dining room and bar; Fishcamp, a riverside outpost; a mid-mountain winter dining venue; tennis and pickleball courts; miles of trails; golf and ski shops; a snow tubing hill; and a year-round calendar of special, member-only events and experiences.

In addition to the amenities offered through Montage Big Sky and Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, owners have access to the Inn’s private amenities including an après ski lounge and terrace with fire pits, a lobby bar, ski lockers, fitness center, outdoor hot tubs, and concierge services for the exclusive use of residential owners and their guests.

Designed by Poss Architecture, The Inn Residences were developed in partnership with Lone Mountain Land Company, the development affiliate of CrossHarbor Capital Partners.

For more information on Montage Residences Big Sky and The Inn Residences, visit www.montageresidencesbigsky.com or follow @montagehotels and @montagebigsky.

Here They Are: The 23 Best Places To Travel In 2023

f you’re wondering where you should visit next, you need to ask a professional. I consulted with OvationNetwork to find out which destinations the company is recommending for travel in 2023.

“After a year of unprecedented demand for travel, our travel advisors are recommending destinations that are new alternatives to old classics,” says Sunil Mahtani, executive vice president of OvationNetwork. “They’re places you can celebrate, reconnect and curate lasting memories.”

Here are the 23 best places to travel in 2023, according to OvationNetwork’s list of the top leisure destinations, compiled exclusively for FORBES.

1. Queenstown, New Zealand
2. Marrakesh, Morocco
3. Big Sky, Montana
4. Alentejo, Portugal
5. Svalbard, Norway
6. Naoshima, Japan
7. Paros, Greece
8. Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
9. Perth, Western Australia
10. Provence, France
11. Antalya, Türkiye
12. Lecce, Italy
13. Menorca, Spain
14. Lausanne, Switzerland
15. Megève, France
16. Siem Reap, Cambodia
17. Valletta, Malta
18. Shimla, India
19. Lake Louise, Canada
20. Colca Canyon, Peru
21. Pereira, Colombia
22. Doha, Qatar
23. Paso Robles, California

Big Sky Dining and Adventure

FIVE MEALS THAT WON’T DISAPPOINT

From a simple Mexican street taco and cold cerveza, to a hearty bison steak,

to an immersive Japanese dining experience and more, Big Sky’s culinary scene

is blossoming this winter. Here are five can’t fail dishes, plus drinks!

Above: photograph by Justine Jane. Below: photograph by Kelly Gorham.

Blue Buddha Omakase Experience

Since 2019, Troy, “Twist” Thompson and Blue Buddha, Big Sky have been serving up not just the freshest sushi in Montana, but the freshest sushi in the Mountain West. An hour and a half after the sashimi planes touch down in Denver from Japan, the Blue Buddha order is on its way to Big Sky. Because they’re able to source delicacies directly from Japan, Blue Buddha now offers an immersive Omakase experience in which Omakase Chef Jaison LeRoy decides what you eat.

Signature Experience: Because no two Omakases are identical, we can’t list a single dish here. But know this: In the two weeks (ideally) between your reservation and your arrival in the driftwood and cherry-blossomed “Electric Tokyo themed” Omakase room, chef Jaison is sourcing rare ingredients from Japan for your unique 10- to-17 course meal that goes down small bite by small bite over two to three hours. The selection starts off light (low fat content fish) and progresses to Blue Buddha’s legendary bluefin tuna selections. Here’s just part of the menu from a recent threehour affair; with our translations where necessary.

O-Toshi Japanese cucumber itogaki. | Translation: the Japanese equivalent of an amuse-bouche (fun bite) this O-Toshi is a dehydrated flaked fish with cucumber.

Madai and Kanpachi Sashimi with lemon juice and lime zest. | Translation: Madai is a bright and delicate plum-fed sea bream. Kanpachi is a lower fat amberjack—a cousin of hamachi.

Hamachi Sashimi served with serrano and duck bacon. | Translation: Hamachi is yellowtail (fatter from colder water). The duck bacon is from Montana.

Akami and Ikejime Hirame Nigiri | Translation: Akami is a leaner cut of bluefin. Hirame is a nearly translucent cut from young flounder. Ikejime is a humane technique used to reduce a fish’s stress levels before it’s eventually filleted.

Shima Aji and Hotate Sashimi with Truffle Ponzu | Translation: Shima Aji is a light and nearly clear mackerel. Hotate is a prized scallop from Japan’s north island of Hokkaido. Ponzu is a citrus based sauce.

Chu and O-Toro Nigiri with Caviar | Two more cuts of Blue Buddha’s acclaimed blue fin, Chu features moderate fat levels while famous O-Toro is full fat.

Togarashi Spiced Elk Medallions served with ginger sweet pot purée and shiitake jus broccolini. | Translation: Togarashi is a Japanese seven-spice. Here, it’s dry rubbed on Montana elk medallions and quick seared. “The elk is to remind the guest that we’re in Montana,” says Omakase Chef Jaison.

Aperitif or Night Cap: In August, Twist opened the Drunken Monk adjacent to the Blue Buddha dining room. The offerings? “High-end cocktails and low-end ramen,” says Twist. The atmosphere? “It’s based on a small restaurant culinary scene in the heart of Tokyo where eateries that seat maybe 10 to 15 people line an alley,” says Twist. It’s here that mixologist Joe Messreni will make you an Iron Toad: Japanese whisky, lemon, honey, green matcha, a hint of chocolate bitters, and frothed egg whites finished with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Photograph by Kelly Gorham

Mi Pueblito Taco Bus (AKA, the Taco Truck)

For the past three years, owner Victor Montaño and his family have been serving up Jalisco, Mexico, style street tacos and entrees from the Taco Bus on Lone Mountain Trail. This is skier food, but in summer, workers flock here too.

Signature Dish: A torta is a Mexican sandwich that traces its roots to Jalisco, where Montaño’s family has been making them forever. The original version featured so much salsa inside of a round bun that it resembled a sloppy joe. Montaño’s take features grilled ham and pepperjack cheese, topped with shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, tomato, and onion on a telera roll.

Chase it With: You can eat inside (or outside in summer), but most folks get their food to go and pair their tortas, tacos, and tamales with a Modelo and a lime.

Photograph by Zakara Photography

Spanish Peaks Mountain Club

It’s reserved for members—if you know one try to get an invite—but the dining and atmosphere at the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club is like nowhere else in North America. Bode Miller calls it a “European experience without any European pretense.” It’s here that, after a long day in the alpine, you can kick back in a warm lodge and enjoy food prepared by chef Jan Pfeiffer, from the best local ingredients—including standout hydroponic produce from nearby Bozeman and Jackson Hole.

Signature Dish: Trust us, a cozy mountain lodge on a cold night makes food taste better. Not that Chef Pfeiffer’s 16 Ounce, Dry Aged Bone-In Bison New York Steak needs any help. It’s common to get properly dry aged beef in New York and Chicago. But believe it or not, it’s tough in the Mountain West. As for hitting that mark with bison—good luck. Not so at the Club, where Pfeiffer’s bone-in Bison steaks are dry aged as a whole primal cut for 42 days at 36 degrees temperature and a relative humidity of 70 percent, before they get butchered. Says Pfeiffer: “We cook our steaks inside a CVap oven (a specialty oven we have) under sous vide conditions to 115 degrees for one hour for additional melt in your mouth tenderization and then finish them off with fresh ground Tellicherry black pepper and Maldon sea salt in a hot cast iron pan with some grapeseed oil to get a beautiful caramelization going. The steak gets its final touch through European Butter basting with a sprig of fresh thyme, rosemary, oregano and a smashed garlic clove. Voila!” That star item is accompanied by crispy garlic-parmesan frites seasoned with sea salt, fresh finely minced garlic, chopped Italian flat leaf parsley, and parmesan oil made from the Club’s leftover Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rinds. You can choose between classic sauce béarnaise, sauce bordelaise, or chimichurri.

Around the Fire: A Spanish Peaks Mountain Club staffer concocted this refreshing drink for après. Fittingly, it’s called the Alpenglow. Envision a layered drink with dry gin, elderflower liqueur, grapefruit juice, and finished with a pomegranate juice float. “The Alpenglow is simple to make, but complex in taste,” says Assistant Food and Beverage Manager Alejandro Mendoza. “The gin brings nice botanical flavors that complement the elderflower. It all gets balanced out by the bright acidity from the grapefruit juice. The pomegranate juice adds a nice splash of color and subtle flavor. It’s a great cocktail to have after a long day on the mountain.”

Photograph by Kelly Gorham

Lotus Pad

A child of the American melting pot, Lotus Pad chef and owner Alex Omania grew up with a Russian mom and a Filipino dad. She developed a taste for Asian food at a young age and pursued her passion in culinary school, and later, during a year abroad in Thailand, she studied local cuisine. Early on in her Big Sky days, Omania hosted Thai themed dinner parties that were such a smash the Lotus Pad—six tables—was born in 2007. They moved into their clean, bright, and larger location in Big Sky Town Center in 2017.

Signature Dish: Pad Kee Mao is loosely translated to “Drunken Noodles” in English. Except there’s no alcohol here. The dish gets its name from the spice—double black diamond on Lotus Pad’s scale. “It’s so spicy that you have to drink with it to tamp down the heat,”says Lotus Pad General Manager Marsha Barker. (Don’t worry, you can tone it down.) Think wide rice noodles in a sweet, dark, infused soy sauce, accompanied by red bell peppers, broccoli, green onions, basil, and topped with lime, cilantro, and peanuts. And oh yeah, Thai chilis. The pro move is the fried egg on top, the yoke of which blends with the soy enriching the housemade sauce.

Extinguish the Fire With: An ice cold Sapporo (the Japanese company dates to 1876) is the easy choice here. But a pinot gris takes this classic Thai street fare a bit more upscale.

Photograph by Jonathan Finch

BYWOM

It started as a deli in the ’90s, but BYWOM (By Word of Mouth) has been serving up the area’s best burgers ever since. The classic BYWOM Burger—an upscale Big Mac complete with two patties and special sauce—is a must.

Signature Dish: Inspired by the art of burger cooking, BYWOM’s new Chopped Lamb Steak is the restaurant’s latest standout. Here, an eight-ounce ground lamb steak is topped with goat cheese and a house-made tomato jam that carries a bit of sweetness and spice thanks to ginger. Then it goes under the broiler for that melt before being served with a mint chimichurri sauce and potatoes.

Before Dinner: The Dirtbag Daze martini—Bulleit Bourbon, Amaretto, Cointreau, lemon juice, and orange bitters, is a tribute to how most Big Sky locals (70 percent of BYWOM’s clientele) set their roots down. “We were all dirtbags once,” says co-owner John Flach.

Photograph by Kelly Gorham

Photograph courtesy of Michaelangelo’s

Michaelangelo’s Big Sky

Michaelangelo’s chef and co-owner Michael Annondono spent his formative years cooking under a master chef in Italy’s Piedmont (the town of Acqui Terme to be precise.) Later, he and his business partner opened a restaurant in Cleveland celebrating northern Italian cuisine. In 2016, they opened Michaelangelo’s in Big Sky. The menu is extensive. The atmosphere is fine dining with a warm casualness—wood floors, ceilings, tables, posts and beams, and a hearthstone fireplace. “It’s a bit more elegant than the rustic Italian style,” says restaurant manager Emily Annondono, Michael’s sister and the sommelier. “But it’s just as relaxing.”

Signature Dish: Sacchetti Al Tartufo is without question Michaelangelo’s most popular dish. “We try to never run out of the ingredients, but when we do people are crestfallen,” says Emily. Sacchettti, literally “little purses,” are delicate handmade pastas shaped as drawstring pouches. Here they’re stuffed with ricotta and truffle and served with a black Tartufata cream sauce. Breaking from the northern theme, Tartufata originates from the southern island of Sardinia—it’s a mix of still more truffles and olive oil that the Italians use to spoon into sauces. “It’s a unique flavor, especially here in southwestern Montana,” says Emily. “That’s why it’s so loved.”

Pair it With: You can go two ways with this one. A light bodied red from the Piedmont like a Nebbolio complements the truffle. Or an acidic white from the same region—Soave is the standard—will help cut the heavy cream. But don’t be afraid to expand your palate. The wine case behind the bar is impressive.

Knowing the Mountain by Heart

Jacob Smith is legally blind. That hasn’t stopped this teenager from skiing the toughest lines at Big Sky.

In the summer of 2014, when Jacob Smith was eight years old, he started bumping into furniture and having trouble reading. His parents figured he needed glasses. Then his eyesight began to deteriorate rapidly.“In less than two weeks, it went from ‘he needs glasses’ to ‘wait, something is really wrong,’ ” says Jacob’s dad, Nathan Smith.

They made him a doctor’s appointment near their hometown in North Dakota, where the Smiths run a farm. (The family spends winters in Big Sky.) The doctor found optic nerve bleeding and a tumor in his brain, a meningioma the size of a baseball behind his eye socket. Jacob was immediately taken by ambulance to Bismarck, then airlifted to a children’s hospital in Minneapolis. He underwent a 15-hour emergency brain surgery, and doctors told his parents he would have permanent vision loss. Jacob has undergone another eight surgeries since, as well as countless radiation treatments. The tumor has been fully removed, but Jacob is legally blind.

“He just keeps on keeping on,” says his dad. “We have a kid still here with us today who has, yes, lost his vision, but has not lost his love for life.”

Stem cell research has a chance of restoring some of Jacob’s vision at some point in his life, but for now he is left with his altered view of the world, one that lacks focus and precision, one that has no depth perception or peripheral vision. He can’t see color, either. Imagine skiing on the most socked in, vertigoinducing storm day you’ve ever experienced, where visibility is zilch. That’s every day for Jacob.

The Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind gave Nathan a pair of glasses to try on that would mimic what his son sees as he goes about his day. “It was like the glasses were smeared with petroleum jelly,” says Nathan. “The biggest thing I noticed when I had those glasses on was my depth perception was way off. It made my balance zero. I could walk, but taking a step forward wasn’t easy. That’s the kind of thing Jacob has completely adapted to. He has points in his vision that function, but some points are zero.”

Above: Jacob’s line in Lone Peak’s Big Couloir. Below: Jacob skiing by feel.

“Racing is groomers and gates. Freeride is cliffs and powder. To me, that’s a lot more fun.” — Jacob Smith

Jacob and his three siblings learned to ski at Big Sky as toddlers and skiing is a huge part of the family’s life. There was no way Jacob was going to give up skiing after losing his eyesight. Most visually impaired skiers learn to ski through an adaptive sports program, where they’re dressed in a bright orange vest that reads “BLIND SKIER” and they’re tethered to a guide who offers verbal commands. That didn’t work for Jacob: No guide could ski fast enough for him.

“Other people who are visually impaired ski, of course, but not at the level that Jacob does,” says Bozemanbased Kerri Norick, an outreach consultant for the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind, who has worked with Jacob in the past. “His awareness of where his body is in space is incredible. His other senses, like touch and hearing, become heightened. He really has to listen to his body’s sensations.”

With help from his siblings, Jacob set about learning every inch of his home mountain by heart—his dad skis nearby offering auditory commands. “I rely on my feeling senses more than any of my other senses,” says Jacob. He has essentially memorized all of his favorite runs at Big Sky: He can’t see what’s ahead of him, but he can feel it. “It’s all about memory and timing,”says Jacob. “When I’m at Big Sky, I know the. whole mountain. I’m just skiing.”

At age 11, Jacob joined the Big Sky Freeride Team. “I was racing before that, but once I was old enough, I switched to freeride,” he says. “Racing is groomers and gates. Freeride is cliffs and powder. To me, that’s. a lot more fun.”

He began competing on the Junior Freeride Series, a sequence of big-mountain competitions for the under-18 set. Never mind that he can’t really see the venue—the cliffs, rocks, and trees that make up the steep slope at a different ski resort each contest. While his peers do what’s called a visual inspection, Jacob and his dad discuss the route he’ll take, with Nathan helping to identify landmarks. During his run, they’ll use a two-way radio while Jacob skis down for auditory guidance as his dad calls out commands like “take four large turns, then head left.”

He’s held his own at those competitions, skiing at legendary mountains like Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Taos, New Mexico; Snowbird, Utah; and Grand Targhee, Wyoming—all places he hasn’t memorized, so he has to ski by feel. “It’s amazing what he can do on skis,” says his brother, Andrew. “It really blows people’s minds. He really shows me what people can accomplish.”

In 2019, when Jacob was 12 years old, there was one line at Big Sky that he hadn’t done yet: Big Couloir, that steep, foreboding chute that drops 1,400 vertical feet off the top of Lone Peak and requires checking in with ski patrol before you drop in. They waited for the right weather window, and by early April, the day arrived. Nathan skied first, then radioed up to his son to describe the conditions.

When Jacob dropped in, he says it all clicked into place. “I knew I could do it; it was just a matter of when,” says Jacob. “I was pretty nervous, but once I started skiing it was full send.”

On the radio, as Jacob dropped in, Nathan called, “Straight fall line. You got it!” He became the youngest legally blind person to ski the Big Couloir.

Jacob, who’s now 15, has skied the Big Couloir four times now. No big deal, he shrugs. Next up? He wants to hike and ski off the exposed Headwaters Ridge.

“Jacob is a tough kid,” says Nathan. “And skiing has given him a lifetime sport.”

Mountain Weather. Mountain Snow, Mountain Sense

Does that chute cliff out? Will the kids like this run?

Is that ice or wet snow on that face?

Can the snowboarder in the crew glide this traverse?

Is the Big Couloir beyond my ski level?

To be a skier is to hone your mountain sense. It begins with knowing mountain weather—and the everchanging snowpack that makes skiing and snowboarding so rewarding. Such knowledge develops as you put yourself on the hill, maybe sliding down a run on your backside, or enduring a gale that’s growing rime ice on your whiskers. But the organic mountain sense can take decades to develop, and Big Sky’s more serious terrain demands too much respect to dive in unwittingly. This will get you started.

Be a Mountain Weather Savant

Want to track storms heading to Big Sky?

Here’s how the professionals do it.

“As snow forecasting in Montana goes,” says OpenSnow Montana Forecaster Bob Ambrose, “Big Sky is actually pretty easy. It’s a rare area where you see regular weather patterns.”

Here’s the first thing to look for according to Ambrose. When Jackson Hole and Targhee are calling for big storms, that typically means a front is tracking from the west by southwest. The Tetons, because they run north and south with high plains to the west, catch a ton of that moisture courtesy of orographic lift—when warm air cools as it rises to get over the range, it can’t hold as much moisture so in winter it falls as snow.

Lone Peak—a solitary volcano that never erupted—doesn’t share the topography of the Tetons, but unlike most Montana ski areas, it benefits from those southwesterlies. “Big Sky gets the residuals of those Targhee storms,” says Ambrose. “That’s when we get those persistent systems that can drop six inches every night for half a week or more. In the early season right through February, that’s the best situation for Big Sky. You don’t typically get massive dumps from those early spillover storms, but you get rapid improvement in skiing conditions, and windbuff and wind-reloaded skiing too. It’s with that southwesterly flow that Big Sky will see storms that miss Bridger entirely. By March and April, that storm track can come through with even more moisture. Those spring southwesterlies can drop a foot or two at a time.”

This is not a guessing game scenario. OpenSnow, originally a Colorado outfit that now forecasts snowfall around North America, relies on a map that combines the European, Canadian, and U.S. National Weather Service models—much like projecting a hurricane. “I base my Montana forecasts and reports off that same map and back it up with the readings from SNOTEL sites (Snow Telemetry stations) and mountain reports,” says Ambrose. “The public can see it too if they sign up at the OpenSnow All-Access level.”

That’s the southwesterly pattern, but Big Sky also benefits from a northwesterly flow that brings moisture from the Pacific Northwest and southwestern Canada. After that low pressure spills over the Continental Divide, it heads south along the Rocky Mountain Front—and often straight into Big Sky. “Those northwesterly storms saved our season last winter,’’ says Big Sky Ski Patrol Director Ryan Ayres. “They also make for great skiing because they tend to come in with less wind. When the upper mountain is blanketed in fluff, that’s usually a storm from the northwest.”

To track those events, says Ambrose, it’s probably best to ignore the storms coming out of the Gulf of Alaska, because they tend to only target British Columbia. “But if you see that Whitewater ski area in western BC is getting hammered, it’s fair to get your hopes up,” says Ambrose. “I routinely follow that pattern all the way down into southwest Montana.”

When in doubt, tune into the Big Sky Resort snow reports each morning, produced in concert with Big Sky Ski Patrol. “We have a strong Snow Safety Team (avalanche mitigation) that’s forecasting every day,” says Ayres. “They’re looking at storm tracks from around the region and making the best predictions. Every morning they’re looking at radar and snow by 5:00 AM. Then we’re on the lift at 7:00 AM or earlier making observations. That information gets shared with the snow reporters.”

La Niña or La Nada?

There’s an 87 percent chance of a La Niña weather pattern this winter. That’s certainly not bad news, but does the weather pattern live up to the hype?

The term La Niña refers to an anomaly in which the surface water temperatures in the equatorial pacific are cooler than usual. When that settles in, the odds of a colder and slightly wetter winter go up in the Northern Rockies, resulting in much rejoicing. But does it pan out? Well, it’s no sure thing:

OpenSnow Forecaster Bob Ambrose’s Take: “None of us at OpenSnow put a lot of stock into it. Last year we had about a 70 percent chance of a La Niña. This year it’s 87 percent, which is better, but we all saw what happened last year. We had 174 inches of snow at Big Sky. I did a recap on it. We came out about 68 percent of average last year. Even though the snowpacks for the Gallatin were 90 percent, the resort didn’t do as well. That’s from their reports. This year, 87 percent is more promising. I’d take that as a slightly better chance of colder temps and above average precipitation. If that happens we’ll be doing OK.”

Big Sky Resort Patrol Director Ryan Ayres’ Take: “We’ve tried to forecast off La Niña, but there are too many factors. How’s that working with the oscillations in the jet stream? What are the temperatures doing when the storm hits? I haven’t found a huge correlation. Aside from a couple of anomalies, the differences between our worst years and our best years are not that much. We live in that average world. Even in bad years we’re not far below average.”

The Ski·er’s Lex·i·con

  /’sk’rs/ /’leksi’kän/
Windbuff noun
Meaning: Lightly redeposited snow driven by mild winds until it fills gaps in the snowpack and delivers a fast, soft, consistent surface.
Synonyms: Nature’s Grooming; Buff; Hero Snow.
Use windbuff in a sentence: “Mammoth Mountain, California, gets just the right wind speeds for windbuff, the only place I’ve ever seen it nearly as good is on the lower flanks of Headwaters.” —Bob Ambrose, Montana Forecaster, OpenSnow.

The Ski·er’s Lex·i·con

/’sk’rs/ /’leksi’kän/
Upside Down Snow noun
Meaning: Storms that start off warm and grow progressively colder lay down spongy snow that adheres to rocks and ice and then serve powder on top—this is snow in its Platonic form. When storms go cold-to-warm, though, you get the dreaded upside down snow—dry down low; wet up top—which makes for weird, grabby skiing.
Use upside down snow in a sentence: “I couldn’t get my tips to the surface. The quads were burning. It was untracked, but the snow wouldn’t blow up. The photographer was pissed. It was upside down snow.”

Photograph by Jonathan Finch

The Powder Seekers

Find snow when the winds blow.

Scot Schmidt, the godfather of extreme skiing, reads Lone Peak’s sastrugi (a Russian word for those wind eroded dunes in snow) to find powder. The OpenSnow forecaster Bob Ambrose is playing the wind as he explores the moun-tain. Patrol Director Ryan Ayres is always thinking about leeward slopes. If it hasn’t snowed in a few weeks, Big Sky snow reporter and athlete Joe Turner is in the Headwaters looking for chalk up high and redeposited powder down low. Which is to say that the skiing at Big Sky isn’t all laid out in front of you like it is at flat mountains like Vail and Steamboat. You need to become your own guide. Here’s an introductory course.

The Storm Came From the Southwest—With Winds Over 30 mph.

Southwesterly storms scour much of the upper mountain, but you checked it out anyway because you love the alpine. OK, the wind is gnarly, and you’re not feeling any of that new snow beneath your skis. Now what? As Ayres says, “that snow has to be going some-where, hopefully it’s not landing in Ennis.” In conditions like this, both Ayres and Turner head directly to the old Moonlight side (now called the North Side.) Says Turner: “Start on the North Ridge down lower beneath the Horseshoe Bowl and head into the trees. It’s all been gladed. Choke on powder in there for a bit and then head to Bavaria. It’s really fast skiing that’s well pitched for powder turns.”

The Ski·er’s Lex·i·con

/’sk’rs/ /’leksi’kän/
Chalk noun
Meaning: Cold, consolidated, edgeable, alpine snow typically found on north-facing or sheltered aspects.
Etymology: It’s white and dry and looks like chalk, but in reality it’s a helluva lot softer.
Use chalk in a sentence: “I had a day when the Lone Peak looked hammered. Nobody was up there. Then a wind picked up and I knew it would be good. We were skiing smoking chalk all afternoon; super-G turns down the Dictator Chutes.” —Scot Schmidt, Godfather of Extreme Skiing, Yellowstone Club Ambassador.

The Ski·er’s Lex·i·con

/’sk’rs/ /’leksi’kän/
Mank noun
Meaning: Snow in the trees that’s so heavy, wet, unconsolidated, and deep—and often scattered with moose dung and fallen lichen—that turning is challenging and can torque the knees.
Synonyms: Mashed Potatoes; Crud; Glop; Winter Quag.
Use mank in a sentence: “I dipped into the woods on Moonlight to-day and it was pure death mank in there. All the snow on the boughs was melting off, and between the tree bombs and the hot mank it was borderline unskiable.”

The Storm Came From the Southwest—With Winds Under 30 mph.
When the winds are light they drift and buff the alpine snow instead of scouring. Stop and think about what that means. The leeward sides of gullie walls will catch soft snow. So too with the hairball lines like Big and Little Couloir. “On those days with the winds below 30 you get that grooming effect,” says Ayres. “Check out skier’s right in the Gullies. The stuff on the North Side (Headwaters). And I never want to discount the Andesite zone because it’s not nearly as wind-affected.”

The Storm was Three Days Ago, but the Winds are Still From the Southwest.
Schmidt loves these days because over time those winds are picking up snow grain by grain and launching them into the air where they refreeze and dry out, before redistributing them where the savvy can find them. “That redeposited snow is so dry and so cold,” says Schmidt. “It can be just as light as the stuff that falls out of the sky. At these elevations it reforms and recrystallizes. It’s not a stiff deposit like a windslab. I call it recycled powder. At Big Sky you’ll find it on northerly aspects.” In the coming days, those soft conditions will per-sist—wherever the snow is ending up. That type of windbuff can make the alpine as easy to ski as a groomer.

The Storm Came From the North With Cold Temps.
Those southwesterly winds wrap around Lone Peak and mess with the orographic effect—more snow higher up. But when storms come from the north the upper mountain often wins. It’s on these days that you might see four inches of snow at the base—and a foot up high. “We can see it on our weather station instrumenta-tion,” says Ayres. “They’ll be a few inches on Lookout Ridge, a foot in the Yellowstone Club, and still more in Liberty Bowl.” When those dumps happen on a deep base, it can be game on. “I remember skiing the Liberty rope line all the way down Dakota Gully without stopping,” says Ayres. “I was barely able to hang on at the bottom. We were skiing over bands of rocks, but it didn’t matter. It was one of those rare days where you could ski between Lenin and Marx down low without being reminded that you’re on top of a pile of rocks.”

It Hasn’t Snowed in Weeks, but Temperatures Have Remained Cold.
“Lone Peak isn’t like any other North American ski area,” says Schmidt. “It’s like skiing in the Alps.” As such, you need to think like a guide. Schmidt follows the ripples in the sastrugi to steep, north facing ski-ing. The OpenSnow Montana Forecaster Bob Ambrose is after the same goods. “That chalky snow makes steep skiing more welcoming,” says Ambrose. “You can really dig an edge into it. Some of my best runs ever have been in the North Summit Snowfields in exactly those conditions. It’s as steep as Big Couloir if not steeper, but you’re skiing 4,440 vertical feet.” When those conditions set up, says Ayres “you can trust the chalky snow. You know you aren’t going to break through. The North Summit, Headwaters, when it’s tacky like that is amazing skiing. Chalk is underrated, but amazing.”

The Ski·er’s Lex·i·con

/’sk’rs/ /’leksi’kän/
Sucker Tracks noun
Meaning: Big Sky is famous for this weird dynamic of the human mind. A visiting skier will see untracked powder late in the day, dive in, and then limp out as their edges spark off rocks. Later, an unsuspecting “sucker” will follow the tracks, and the process repeats itself.
Synonyms: Gaper Bait, Fool’s Powder.
Etymology: Early Alta, Utah, ski patrollers, including Dave Hamre, who installed the Lone Peak Tram, took pleasure in laying down perfect figure eights in horrible snow—and then watching the customers explode on every second turn on the way down. Thus, “sucker tracks.”
Use sucker tracks in a sentence: “If there are no tracks in a zone it’s for a reason. Don’t go charging in when you’re exploring. Be smart about stuff. Skiing the expert terrain is like boating technical whitewater. Stop and assess your surroundings and identify your next point of safety. And don’t follow sucker tracks.” —Joe Turner, Big Sky Resort, Snow Reporter.

The Ski·er’s Lex·i·con

/’sk’rs/ /’leksi’kän/
Corn noun
Meaning: In spring, clear nights drop temperatures below freezing thanks to radiational cooling. Then warm rays from the sun melt the surface layers. This freeze/thaw cycle creates small corn-like kernels of snow and a uniform skiing surface for a few hours each day. Get there too soon and it’s ice, get there too late and the corn goes to mashed potatoes.
Synonyms: There’s actually nothing like it. Corn is the dream surface of ski mountaineers.
Use corn in a sentence: “When the corn cycle is in, you know it. All the logistics of your day are built around timing it right.” —Dougal McCarty, alpinist and first skier to descend Little Couloir via the Apple Core—he ate the eponymous apple.

Photograph by Ryan Turner

The Neighbors are Animals: Meet the Grizzly Bear

Don’t poke the bear is, of course, sage advice, but when it comes to the grizzly bear, there are plenty of other important things to know, for their safety and yours.

If you’re lucky, you will never meet a grizzly bear while skiing Big Sky. But then again, you just might. Every inch of Big Sky is grizzly habitat, and while the bears typically snooze all winter, if they smell a carcass or the region sees a rapid warm-up in March, they won’t hesitate to explore.

Grizzly bears are part of the North American brown bear family and picked up their familiar nickname when Lewis and Clark first encountered them. “They gave them that name due to their grizzled fur,” says bear biologist Chuck Bartlebaugh, director of Missoula’s Be Bear Aware Campaign.

Thus began a 100-year period of unregulated hunting, reducing the bears’ range by 98 percent. In 1975, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added the grizzly to the “threatened” list under the Endangered Species Act.

Today, it’s up to us to respect the bears’ boundaries, which in winter includes staying away from their dens. Bedding down for the winter, or hibernation, is a habit that helps bears conserve energy when food supply is scarce. Grizzlies spend up to a week building their dens, which generally change location from year to year. They create an entrance, a tunnel to the den, and the den itself. The sprawling nature of these winter homes protects the bears from suffocation, and while hibernating, their respiration slows as well, so oxygen needs are lower.

“They don’t sleep the whole time, but they don’t need to eat, drink, urinate, or defecate,” says interdisciplinary scientist Hannah Jaicks. As they prepare for this season of rest, grizzlies essentially stuff themselves silly to add a layer of fat, a process known as hyperphagia. Female grizzlies also give birth during hibernation, typically around January or February. The cubs don’t hibernate, but rather stay next to their mothers, nursing until sow and cubs emerge in the spring to look for food.

Whether during hibernation or any other time of the year, if you live in grizzly territory, be prepared for encounters. “Practice situational awareness,” recommends Jaicks. “If you see birds circling, or smell carcasses, know they could be nearby. Always have bear spray at the ready and practice using it. Grizzlies can move at 40 miles per hour and at that speed, covering the distance to you is nothing.”

Yes, grizzlies can really move—but they aren’t just sprinters. “Grizzlies roam upwards of 20 to 40 miles each day,” says Jaicks. “Much of this is dependent on weather, other bears, food, and, of course, people, roads, and towns.”

As to their senses, understand that while the thinking is grizzlies have poor eyesight, they more than make up for it with their keen sense of smell. If you encounter a grizzly, says Jaicks, “Make a lot of noise and bunch together as a group so that you appear as one large creature. Deceiving their poor eyesight is critical to remember. And don’t run, because they can certainly detect movement and that will trigger their predatory instincts. If they do charge, dispel your bear spray from about 35 yards away, and if you’re knocked down, put your hands over your neck

Family-Friendly Short Courses Are Gaining Favor

Many golf communities are adding pint-size courses, which appeal to children as well as to parents who lack the time to play 18 holes.

In Big Sky, Mont., the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club community will be putting in a new short course this spring in addition to its existing 18-hole Tom Weiskopf-designed course. It will be a 10-hole par-3 course, something that Mr. Weiskopf said the community had been considering for years.

“Covid really gave golf a shot in the arm,” he said. “Spanish Peaks has so many members with big families with grandkids, and they want to do what grandpa and grandma do, or with their dad and mom. It’s a great way to get people started in the game.”

From Slopes to Saunas

You need not be a skier to appreciate the charms of a great slopeside spa, as this short list of top winter resorts from Europe to North America proves. Such hotels can be their own attraction for non-skiers “dragged” to the mountains by piste-loving companions.

Massages are never a bad idea, but they can be even better after a long day on the slopes, when the quads are filled with lactic acid and the calves are happy to be freed from ski boots. Likewise, hot tubs, steam rooms, and saunas may come standard at the best resort spas, but the heat beckons guests even more when it is cold and snowy outside. These winter resorts combine it all: wonderful accommodations, service, and cuisine at world-class ski mountains, with extensive spa and wellness facilities, top-shelf beauty products, and a wide range of treatments by highly skilled therapists.

Massages are never a bad idea, but they can be even better after a long day on the slopes, when the quads are filled with lactic acid and the calves are happy to be freed from ski boots. Likewise, hot tubs, steam rooms, and saunas may come standard at the best resort spas, but the heat beckons guests even more when it is cold and snowy outside. These winter resorts combine it all: wonderful accommodations, service, and cuisine at world-class ski mountains, with extensive spa and wellness facilities, top-shelf beauty products, and a wide range of treatments by highly skilled therapists.

Top 5 New Hotels We’re Most Excited To Visit In 2022

With the new year comes a spectacular number of new openings, including five new hotels to visit in 2022. They include big-city abodes, remote resort locales and boutique hotels right in between. Many opened late last year, but you may have missed them with the rush of the holiday season.

Montana’s Big Sky Resort has been a favorite of year-round outdoor fans for quite some time. It has some of the best skiing in the region and plenty of trails for hiking, biking and exploring. What it lacked, however, was a luxury resort to elevate it to the level of other mountain west destinations. Montage Big Sky‘s recent opening elevates the entire area to the next level.

It features 139 rooms, suites and residences plus a soon-to-come 11,000 square foot spa with indoor pool and relaxation areas. In addition to access to tremendous skiing and outdoor activities, it will also have a bowling alley.