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March 17-19,2010 Big Sky & Moonlight Basin
- Zap
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15 years 10 months ago #215726
by Zap
March 17-19,2010 Big Sky & Moonlight Basin was created by Zap
During our 3 days of skiing in the area, we parked the camper near a river just on the outskirts of Big Sky. We stopped by Guest Relations and picked up my free lift tickets and Jill’s half price tickets. Jill’s Summit Gold pass has definitely paid for itself with our visits to Brighton and Big Sky.
Big Sky is enormous. There was no new snow recently, and the freeze/thaw cycle was obvious on our first run. Luckily, we had picked up a grooming map. We skied groomers all 3 days and followed the sun as it softened the firm runs. The Lone Peak tram was operating, BUT in the morning you could only ride up and down for the views – no skiing during the early morning frozen hours. In fact, I did not see any tracks down the steep couloirs of Lone Mt. on the first day. By mid-afternoon of the first day, the sun affected runs were softening and pleasant to ski. The groomers had adequate coverage, but there were the rocky surprises on many of the rollovers on sunny slopes. With so much lift capacity and acreage, we were high speed cruising all day and never had more than a couple of folks ahead of us in lift lines. Practically everyone we chatted with on the lifts was a tourist. In the morning we left our parking spot in the free lot with an icy surface and returned in the afternoon to a mud hole.
On the 18th, we drove to Moonlight Basin and each bought a lift ticket for $55 (no deals). Moonlight has a high speed 6-pack and a few fixed grip lifts. It shares a boundary and access to a couple of lifts with Big Sky. We parked at the Madison Village Base Area which is above the 6-pack lift, but I would recommend parking at the Moonlight Lodge Base Area which is more convenient (may only be available to VIPs during high season). Initially we forgot to pickup a grooming map and suffered a few “bone jarring runs” until we finally got smart and returned to the Moonlight Lodge for a grooming map. It sounds unusual to want to ski groomers, but the surface was so hard and irregular from the previous night that it was torture skiing any trail that had not been groomed. Moonlight has some challenging terrain in “The Headwaters” area which is a series of chutes and gullies of varying widths and steepness. On the whole the ski area is mellower than Big Sky. The area has a mainly northern aspect, so on a powder event when Big Sky may be skied out or too sunny Moonlight would still hold the snow quality longer and there would be fewer folks competing for the powder. The area seemed very quiet during our one day skiing there. They have a beautiful main lodge with comfy chairs and sofas; we even took an hour-long nap on a couch near the fireplace while waiting for our toes to thaw and the slopes to soften. 
On the 19th, we woke to a ski report of 3-6” of new in the alpine. We returned to Big Sky, picked up the grooming report, and were in the first wave on the lifts. It was fun cycling the fresh snow until 2pm. In the places we skied there was about 3” of dust, and the 6” must have been in some other wind affected areas. We did not see any brave souls skiing off the Lone Peak tram area which confirmed the “dust on crust” conditions. The freeze/thaw cycle was evident during our visit. Big Sky has a lot of rocky terrain so local knowledge would be beneficial on those powder events. Their steep terrain is considerable and unforgiving.
Photo 1: Big Sky terrain with Lone Mt., ski able from 11,166’
Photo 2: Moonlight Basins “The Headwaters” area
Photo 3: Jill cruising Big Sky dust
Big Sky is enormous. There was no new snow recently, and the freeze/thaw cycle was obvious on our first run. Luckily, we had picked up a grooming map. We skied groomers all 3 days and followed the sun as it softened the firm runs. The Lone Peak tram was operating, BUT in the morning you could only ride up and down for the views – no skiing during the early morning frozen hours. In fact, I did not see any tracks down the steep couloirs of Lone Mt. on the first day. By mid-afternoon of the first day, the sun affected runs were softening and pleasant to ski. The groomers had adequate coverage, but there were the rocky surprises on many of the rollovers on sunny slopes. With so much lift capacity and acreage, we were high speed cruising all day and never had more than a couple of folks ahead of us in lift lines. Practically everyone we chatted with on the lifts was a tourist. In the morning we left our parking spot in the free lot with an icy surface and returned in the afternoon to a mud hole.
On the 18th, we drove to Moonlight Basin and each bought a lift ticket for $55 (no deals). Moonlight has a high speed 6-pack and a few fixed grip lifts. It shares a boundary and access to a couple of lifts with Big Sky. We parked at the Madison Village Base Area which is above the 6-pack lift, but I would recommend parking at the Moonlight Lodge Base Area which is more convenient (may only be available to VIPs during high season). Initially we forgot to pickup a grooming map and suffered a few “bone jarring runs” until we finally got smart and returned to the Moonlight Lodge for a grooming map. It sounds unusual to want to ski groomers, but the surface was so hard and irregular from the previous night that it was torture skiing any trail that had not been groomed. Moonlight has some challenging terrain in “The Headwaters” area which is a series of chutes and gullies of varying widths and steepness. On the whole the ski area is mellower than Big Sky. The area has a mainly northern aspect, so on a powder event when Big Sky may be skied out or too sunny Moonlight would still hold the snow quality longer and there would be fewer folks competing for the powder. The area seemed very quiet during our one day skiing there. They have a beautiful main lodge with comfy chairs and sofas; we even took an hour-long nap on a couch near the fireplace while waiting for our toes to thaw and the slopes to soften. 
On the 19th, we woke to a ski report of 3-6” of new in the alpine. We returned to Big Sky, picked up the grooming report, and were in the first wave on the lifts. It was fun cycling the fresh snow until 2pm. In the places we skied there was about 3” of dust, and the 6” must have been in some other wind affected areas. We did not see any brave souls skiing off the Lone Peak tram area which confirmed the “dust on crust” conditions. The freeze/thaw cycle was evident during our visit. Big Sky has a lot of rocky terrain so local knowledge would be beneficial on those powder events. Their steep terrain is considerable and unforgiving.
Photo 1: Big Sky terrain with Lone Mt., ski able from 11,166’
Photo 2: Moonlight Basins “The Headwaters” area
Photo 3: Jill cruising Big Sky dust
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