Big Sky, Montana
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The Best Ski Resorts in the U.S. and Canada: 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards
For our 32nd annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey—yes, more than three decades—a record 600,000 registered voters weighed in. They were hot to share their thoughts on the best hotels in the world and best cities in the world, but also on the best skiing. From Montana to New Hampshire, Nevada to Quebec, these ski resorts were picked by our readers as the best in the world for their trails, lifts and lines, and spots for après-ski. Whether you consider yourself an expert on the moguls or someone just there for the scene, these ski resorts ticked all the boxes for you.
23. Big Sky, Montana
It’s called “the biggest skiing in America” for good reason: The first thing you register when you buckle in at Big Sky is the complete lack of crowds. With 5,850 skiable acres (which adds up to about an acre per skier on the busiest day), you almost never see a lift line. The mountain has the most consistent powder dumps in the Northern Rockies, which blanket a drop of 4,350 vertical feet from Lone Peak (there are more than 2,300 acres of beginner and intermediate slopes, too); thanks to the $150 million Big Sky 2025 investment initiative, it also has some of the most technologically advanced chairlifts, with heated seats and weatherproof bubbles. The recent debut of Vista Hall delivers a much-needed upgrade to the base area dining scene with stations for sushi and ramen, tacos, and stone-fired pizza. It might not be the most happening place at night, but you’ll be too wiped from all of that shredding to care. And now it’s easier than ever to get to nearby Bozeman, with nonstop flights from 17 U.S. cities.
Where to stay: Huntley Lodge in Mountain Village is right by the lift area. The Wilson Hotel, Big Sky’s first branded hotel (Marriott) is walking distance to Big Sky’s growing Town Center shops & restaurants. New One&Only and Montage hotels are slated to open at neighboring Moonlight Basin and Spanish Peaks in the next couple of years.
Stats: 38 lifts for 300 named trails. One-day lift tickets range from $55 to $168; on the Mountain Collective Pass.
14 New Hotels We Can’t Wait to Visit in 2021
There’s a lot to look forward to in 2021…if even just the fact that it’s not 2020. But the chance for new adventures, new experiences, and new perspectives offers hope that the year will be a good one…and if the new hotels that are opening in 2021 are any indication of what the new year will look […]
The Most Noble Way Possible
Amidst a sea of grief, Big Sky’s Kimbie and Kevin Noble have turned to art and photography as a path forward. Tanner Noble was 18, about to start his freshman year at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he planned to study aerospace engineering. He was a bright, outdoorsy kid who ran high school […]
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 […]