Skiing Big Sky, Montana

The girls

Big Sky Country

Out of all the famous ski resorts in the United States, Big Sky, Montana is a must-do. We planned our annual group ski trip over a long weekend in January and it was one of my favorite group ski trips yet!

We all flew into Bozeman, Montana on Friday morning. United Airlines now has a direct flight from EWR to Bozeman, so we obviously jumped on that to get us there without a layover. We landed in Bozeman and got an Uber to the nearest brewery to wait for our last friend to arrive. MAP Brewing Company appears to be a staple in this part of Montana. We saw it on tap at majority of places and they have a great lineup of beers. Their food was great as well, so I would recommend it while in Bozeman. 

So here is where I may have went wrong - we didn’t rent a car. I just assumed Uber would be prevalent and could drive us all to Big Sky for a decent price. I was incorrect on everything, they’re rare and expensive. There is public transit in the form of a shuttle bus for $5 each way from the Walmart near the airport, but that takes awhile and we didn’t know it existed until getting to Big Sky.

The view from our room

As a group of 5, we stayed in a 3-bed room at The Lodge at Big Sky. They have a free shuttle to and from the resort, otherwise it’s only a 4-minute walk. There is also a slope directly behind the hotel but we never took the time to figure out how to get there on the mountain. The prices at this hotel are excellent and they also include continental breakfast and multiple hot tubs, both indoor and out. The manager is also the hotel shuttle driver and he’s a very personable, cool guy. 

The first night, we went to their most popular aprés-ski bar, Scissorbills, in the Mountain Village. We all shared the jumbo nachos even though some older ladies on their way out told us not to get them because they tasted like 7-11 nachos. I haven’t had 7-11 nachos and I’m sorry they have, but those nachos were great. Big Sky doesn’t appear to have a wild night life, most places aside from Scissorbills close at 10 pm. After walking around for a bit and realizing the town had essentially shut down, we called it a night so we could catch first chair in the morning. 

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day and we spent the entire day skiing. There was never a line at the base and they have heated bubble chairlifts, which is a game changer. We got lunch at Montana Jacks in the Exchange Lodge. Toward the end of the day, we got one last drink on the top of the mountain at Everett’s 8800 before taking our last run. Everett’s 8800 has such gorgeous views of Lone Peak, I could have sat there for hours. Saturday night we were having drinks at the Umbrella Bar and decided to take the Skyline Shuttle down the canyon into the Town Center in search of live music. After walking around for a bit, we got sidetracked by some Mexican food and a giant pitcher of margaritas at Alberto’s Mexican Cuisine. Eventually we made our way back up the mountain and got ready for another full day of skiing.

The view of Lone Peak from Everett’s 8800

On Sunday we hit the slopes, only stopping for a short lunch in Vista Hall at the base. We caught our last run of the weekend and made our way back to Montana Jacks for après-ski. We had a nice dinner reservation at Chet’s Bar & Grill to finish out our weekend. 

Katie captured mid shred

Monday was the day all of our friends flew out, so they took the Skyline Shuttle back to Bozeman in the morning. I spent the day walking around and exploring more of Mountain Village while waiting for Paul to get done working. We took a few runs together and eventually took the shuttle back down the canyon to Town Center. We decided on dinner and drinks at The Rocks Tasting Room - the bison mushroom and taco flatbreads were phenomenal. We decided to get one last drink at Tips Up, the local watering hole. It was a fun atmosphere and a place worthy of checking out in Big Sky. 

On Tuesday we laid low and got hot dogs from Yeti Dog and pizza from Vista Hall for dinner. We had booked an early morning shuttle to Bozeman to catch our flight out to Aspen. The Skyline Shuttle doesn’t run before 8 am so we had to do a private booking in order to arrive at the airport on time. 

And that was Big Sky! It’s a great ski town with beautiful glacier views and minimal lift lines. It’s one of the big three on the Ikon pass for a reason and worthy of the flight out there. 

The gang!