MOONLIGHT BASIN/ BIG SKY, MT
BY JOHN STIFTER


	Bigskyresort.com, Moonlightbasin.com LIFT TICKET: $89 both; BS $75; MB $51 ANNUAL SNOWFALL: 400 in SUMMIT: 11,166 feet VERTICAL: 4,350 feet SKIABLE ACRES: 5,300

Lone Peak rises like a monolithic memorial representing all that is rad about Montana. From the Meadow Village, drive up to Big Sky and park in the free lot in the Mountain Village. No need to navigate the lift line because long lines at Big Sky are like sensitive girls in Montana—they don’t exist. Cruise up the high-speed Swifty quad and spin a few laps off the Lone Peak triple. Once patrol opens up the tram, hop in and ascend to 11,166 feet. After ogling the Spanish Peaks and Tetons, try the steep Gullies facing the tram dock, or, if you have a partner, check in with patrol and shred the 800-foot-long Big Couloir.

Then it’s time for Moonlight Basin next door. Holding some of the steepest inbounds terrain in the lower 48, Moonlight’s Headwaters Cirque is accessed by a goat path that takes you over jagged rocks on a knife-edge ridge. Suck it up—the payoff is worth the scare.

WHAT'S NEW: After opening 212 acres off Dakota Gully in ’06-07, Big Sky put in the Dakota lift on the backside of Lone Peak. The lift provides another option to the Shedhorn lift and relieves pressure on occasional tram lines.

INSIDE LINE: At Moonlight, you don’t have to hike way out on Headwaters to get good turns. Make some laps on Alder Gulch and Cold Springs before heading out to Jack Creek and Three Forks.