December 13, 2018 Big Sky, MT

We spent the night near Big Sky and it was 9 degrees outside. Nice to have the propane furnace in the camper van. The resort had 13 lifts operating with 100 trails open, BUT we stayed on the groomers. Being early season you can see all the rocky terrain. We parked at the Madison Base which used to be the Moonlight Basin Base before Big Sky purchased them. By the time we left there were maybe only 30 vehicles in the parking lot. The tourist groups was at the Mountain Village base on the Big Sky side of the area. We used our Mountain Collective Passes here.

On Saturday the Mountain Village area will open the new Ramcharger 8-seat high speed lift and then Thunder Wolf 4-seat high speed lift. The Lone Peak tram was operating, but the report was of icy conditions from the high winds last night. Jill and I skied from the Six Shooter 6-seat high speed, Lone Tree 4, and Iron Horse 4 lift. There were great long trails with groomers and edge powder from yesterdays 4" storm. We had the trails mostly to ourselves.

Since our visit last spring we are amazed with the all of the new construction. New homes, condos, and mansions along all the roads. The trail map said "The Biggest Skiing in America". The trail map is made with a texture that feels almost waterproof. It was VERY cold with soft packed powder.