Feb 14-17, 2014, Big Sky

Headed-out to Big Sky with a group of 12 for President's Day weekend. While we were disappointed to miss-out on the deep powder back in the PNW, the lack of crowds, short drive to the hill and superb snow more than made up for it. When we arrived, Big Sky was on the tail end of a weeklong storm which had filled-in the terrain nicely and greeted us with over a foot of fresh under bluebird skies on Saturday morning.

At a glance:

• 27 hours of driving, roundtrip
• 2 days of riding bell-to-bell
• 150+ frosty adult beverages consumed
• One deer narrowly avoided on US-191
• 4 elk blocking the road to the resort on Sunday AM
• 10 / 22 chairlifts occupied
• 50% discount on lift tickets complements of a Big S Gold pass

We left Seattle as the sun rose on Friday morning, riding the rising edge of rush hour traffic across the lake and through the Eastside with ease. Chains were still required for Snoqualmie Pass, but really weren't needed (traction tires would've been fine). We passed a pair of trucks which had jackknifed into the median and were being attended to by WSP.


So this is what they mean by "Delayed due to inclement weather" :

We stopped in Moses Lake for brunch and found-out just how much food two biscuits and gravy on top of a side of hashbrowns really is. Back on the road, we made excellent time through Spokane and Northern Idaho and stopped for gas over the border and down Lookout Pass in St. Regis, MT. After crossing the Continental Divide in a heavy snow squall with whiteout conditions, we arrived in Bozeman ~12 hours after leaving Seattle. After an hour amassing supplies, we were back on the road and made it into Big Sky just before 11pm MST after a body-numbing 14 hours on the road.


Crossing the Continental Divide. On I-90.

Saturday dawned clear with 6" overnight and 12" in the last 24, making for excellent conditions. Every lift was spinning, the Headwaters and A-Zs were open as was the North Summit Snowfield. By the time we got to the top of the triple which accesses the tram, the tram line was pushing an hour, so we opted to explore the Challenger area instead. The open faces were a bit chopped up, but still very enjoyable and the trees on either side of the face beneath the chair were untouched. As the area got tracked-out, we dropped into the main bowl beneath the Headwaters chair and spent a few hours exploring the Moonlight Basin side. We found knee-to-waist freshies in the trees every lap and only headed back over to the Big Sky side when the clouds arrived in the early afternoon. We attempted to follow the high traverse from the top of Headwaters back towards the Tram but had difficulty holding it and ended-up getting flushed through the marginally filled-in chutes below. I attempted to air a thin section at the top of one and went for easily a 100m tomahawk after failing to stick the landing. Fortunately I only bruised my ego and we decided to skip the Tram and head out to the south side of the peak to explore the Shedhorn and Dakota chairs. Somehow that area stayed quite untouched for such a "busy" day and we found fresh turns in the woods until last chair. By the time we were back to the cars it was snowing hard and the wind had picked up considerably.


Saturday morning

The wind howled and the snow fell through the night, dumping another 6" for us to enjoy on Sunday morning. As we made our way to the chairs from the base, we discovered all the lifts had been shut down due to lightning striking the peak. Lift ops assured it would only be a 30 minute delay, so we decided to post-up at the front of the line for the Swift Creek HS Quad. During the delay, easily another 1.5" fell and we were treated to essentially first tracks an hour and a half after opening bell when we finally got up top. We had our sights set on the south side of the mountain (Dakota and Shedhorn), but the area remained closed all day. So after a quick lap on the HS quad through boot-top deep fresh over groomers we headed towards the Tram to see what its status was. Seconds before we arrived at the top of the triple in the bowl, the Tram popped and we hurried down to catch it. Not a single person was waiting in line and we hopped right on the first tram with a few patrollers, disembarked at the summit and pointed it down the classic Dictator chutes on the south side of the peak. Despite negative visibility, the snow was smooth and deep, faceshots were had on every turn and not a single rock was unearthed. Planning on a second lap from the peak, we were surprised to see the ropes drop for the Challenger chair and opted to head that way instead. First tracks were had, yet again, and we proceeded to lap the Challenger area until we couldn't bear the frigid wind any longer and dropped through the trees into the Moonlight side. Similar to Saturday, we consistently found excellent snow in the trees. The temps began to plunge, dropping from 30F at 9am to 20F at noon and well below that by the end of the day. We broke for lunch ~1pm and when we stepped outside 45 minutes later, the storm had begun to clear and the sun was peeking through the clouds. With our sights set on catching another lap from the Tram, we headed up the HS six pack for the Headwaters chair only to sit on the Six Shooter for ~30 minutes due to a mechanical issue. When we reached the top, the Headwaters chair had been shut down for the day due to increasing winds, so we did a few more laps in the trees before calling it a day and taking the long groomer back to the Big Sky base.


Stormy Sunday coming to an end

After a hearty dinner at the cabin we'd rented down by the river, we walked the 10-15 minutes to the bar up the road. Expecting to find more of a restaurant than a bar, we were pleasantly surprised to find the place had several pool tables and even a small casino in the back (Montana really should consider changing their state motto to, "Liquor in the front, poker in the rear"). After heavily contributing to the MT economy, we staggered back down the road after last call to catch a few hours of sleep before an early morning departure.


This is what $400/night gets you in Big Sky country

On the road again at 8am, we made excellent time to Missoula where we stopped for brunch, then slogged up and over a snowy Lookout Pass, through sideways rain in Northern Idaho and finally back into the sunshine of eastern WA. We crossed the Columbia as the sun was setting behind an ominous dark cloud hovering over the Cascades with the shadows of snowy mountains in the distance.



The trip through Snoqualmie Pass took us a half-hour longer than usual due to the snowy conditions (it started snowing as soon as we crossed the river) and we made it back to the city after 13 hours on the road at 8pm PST.


Crawling through the pass, no doubt behind a few TAYers and way too many ill-equipped vehicles