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.”
Photograph by Jonathan Finch
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.
Finding Blissful Solitude in Yellowstone National Park in the Winter
January, February, and March offer beautiful wintery scenes and a distinct lack of other people.
Something special happens in Yellowstone in the winter. The national park’s already impressive landscape transforms into a serene wonderland—the kind most of us usually only see on the side of a biscuit tin or as a screensaver.
The mundane becomes magical at this time of year. Parking lots disappear under blankets of deep snow. Ordinary side roads become epic, twisting snowshoe trails. Bigger roads are also closed, fit only for travel on cross-country skis. The abundance of snow and ice forces you to travel at a much slower pace and notice things that would pass by in a flash during the summer. Streams and waterfalls are frozen, seemingly solid until you stop to see—and finally hear—trickles of water rushing underneath.
Best of all, most humans seem to be in hibernation. It’s not just the bears that disappear at this time of year. You can explore for miles and miles and not see a soul. Bison and elk aplenty, sure, but no two-foooted creatures. You’re almost more likely to see a wolf.
Where to stay in the northern Yellowstone and Big Sky area
Montage Big Sky
In Big Sky, Montage Big Sky is the place if you’re after extreme luxury after a day or two exploring the snow. With stunning views of the Spanish Peaks, ski-in, ski-out services situated about a hundred feet from a lift, its own bowling alley, huge steaks and an even bigger wine list at Italian restaurant Cortina, it offers everything you’d expect from a five-star mountain hotel.
11 Yellowstone Lodging Options for Campers, Spa-Goers, and Everyone in Between
America’s first national park celebrates a birthday this month. March marks 150 years since Yellowstone was named a national park.
Located largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming, the park’s more than 2 million acres span active geysers like Old Faithful, roaming bison, the Yellowstone river, deep canyons, and more. Its geothermal areas “contain about half the world’s active geysers,” according to the National Park Service.
The park saw its busiest year on record in 2021, when more than 4.8 million visitors flocked to its gates for whitewater rafting, fishing, biking, and more. For the first time ever, the park welcomed more than a million visitors in a single month last July.
Modern alpine luxury abounds at the new Montage Big Sky resort, from guest-room views of the snowcapped Spanish Peaks to the indoor pool, where you can relax before or after a rejuvenating facial at the spa. Rooms and suites are bedecked in furs and stone-colored furnishings, not to mention opulent tubs for a soak.
The Best New Hotels in America: Iconic Buildings, Outdoor Escapes, and More
From boutique properties to luxury resorts, there’s no shortage of accommodations for travelers opening in 2022 across the United States. And after two years of limited travel, we’re thrilled to be checking out (or perhaps more appropriately, checking into) these new hotels in the coming months.
Montage Big Sky
Even though Montage Big Sky just opened, it’s already getting a lot of buzz. Arguably the most luxurious hotel in Montana, the resort has 150 guestrooms and suites (plus 39 Montage Residences, which are apartments available for purchase), as well as amenities like an 18-hole golf course, bowling alley, indoor lap pool, fitness center, spa, various eateries, and more. It’s also well situated—guests have ski-in/ski-out access to Big Sky Resort, and you can drive to Bozeman or Yellowstone National Park in about an hour.
Where to Travel in 2022
The 22 locations that should land on your bucket list this year.
The pandemic has certainly taught us a lot about ourselves and the world, but we’ve unlearned quite a few things as well—like how the “work hard, play hard” ethos might not be the healthiest of mantras. We’ve rediscovered balance and the truly important things in life, and travel is very much a part of that, whether it’s voyaging across oceans to see family we’ve missed or venturing across continents to reconnect with places we’ve so enjoyed before.
The opening of the Montage Big Sky has solidified Montana as the next great destination of the American West, with the help of two buzzy television shows, Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner, and Big Sky, from showrunner David E. Kelley. It won’t be long before Hollywood movie stars start colonizing Bozeman and its surrounding areas, much like they already have in Aspen and Park City.
The Best Ski Resorts in the United States
With world-famous runs, top-notch facilities, and sustainability efforts that make a difference, these are the ski destinations to put on your list this year, next year, and every year.
Winter’s great consolation prize is the ski vacation: Waking up under thick down comforters and opening the curtains to sublime views of powder-covered peaks; strolling down snowy, lighted main streets of a ski town and dipping into this bar or that; and, of course, the snow sports themselves. In their rugged alpine settings, the best ski resorts feel far from life’s daily grind; they give you an opportunity to leave your comfort zone by taking a few risks out on the slopes—and relax with a little luxury and revelry after.
With an average of 400 inches of snow falling on 5,850 acres of skiable terrain, 2,300 acres of which are perfect for beginners, Big Sky offers reliable conditions and a good place to learn. It’s one of the largest ski resorts on the continent and offers an acre of space per skiier, making it simple to socially distance on the slopes and feel as if many of the trails are all to yourself.
Beyond the resort, the biggest news this season is the opening of the ski-in/ski-out Montage Big Sky, the first big-brand luxury hotel to open in Big Sky. Look forward to 139 modern rooms, six dining venues (including the northern Italian-inspired Cortina), a bowling alley, and a 10,000-square-foot Spa Montage, the first full-service spa to open in the destination.
