OFFICIAL MONTANA RESORT REVIEWS

POW-WOW

POW-WOW

Active member
Ok so I think it would be really cool to have reviews on all of the resorts here since I just moved to Missoula and there are a ton of new ones I dont know about. Just write or add what you like/dislike about a specific resort and maybe give updates on their park. And snow conditions, too. Ill start and add some later.
Montana Snowbowl:xThey dont have a public park yet, but next year I think they are making one you can use if you have a permission slip haha. And the freestyle team gets to use one down by the lodge.xTheir snow isn't great, and they dont get a ton, but Its still pretty good considering the advanced runs can really be fun. I have a few secret stashes, but I aint tellin.x Very expensive for what they have. I got a season pass there for next year(pm me if you wanna shred) just because it is closer.

Lost TrailxLost Trail has two parks, both are great. They main one has some nice rails, and some really nice jumps as the season goes on, but it is the perfect size so you can hit most of the features in one run, but not get bored. The other park, my favorite, is located more in the trees. I skied it late season this year and they had a bunch of cool quarter pipe like jumps set up. Plus some cool jibs leading into more rails at the end.
I will add more, but it would be nice if other people did too.
 
Bridger is cool, its close to Bozeman. The terrain is pretty awesome if you have avy gear. But... powder is usually tracked by noon. Even hiking the ridge is no guarantee of freshies.

Moonlight Basin is like a private resort. No one skis there. They have an awesome park, and pretty cheap passes compared to everybody else (if your a student). The headwaters terrain is probably the best skiing around.

Big Sky is huuuuuge. There is amazing big mountain terrain off the tram, and a decent park as well.

Unfortunately, Big Sky has lots of rocks.
 
Big Sky is sick!!!! Decent park scene, but the steeps are where its at. On any given day depending on which way the wind was blowing any number of runs off the tram can be epic. Moonlight has some scary lines, and gaper groomers not much in between.
 
You must suck at skiing. Snowbowl is the most raw untouched resort in Montana. More vertical then anywhere around other then the tram at big sky. People like this should stay away though for sure. If your looking for steep and deep, endless backcountry access, and the best bar in Mt. Cant go wrong with snowbowl. IT would be nice if they had a public park, but it doesnt even need one.

LT is the shit as well. The drive from Missoula is sometimes off-putting, but you wont find a friendlier staff and management at any mountain anywhere. The pow is great, and they are doing really cool things with their park every year.
 
Yeah stay away from snowbowl. You'd think the only thing they know is steep n trees huh.
 
yeah snowbowl on a powder day is terrible, heard look out has much better vertical, and hey they get more snow too ! but yeah seriously its snowbowl for me most of the time, then LT when i need a lil break and change of scenary. Moonlight is also really underated in my opinion. such a sick park , and really some fun runs up the headwaters. good choice instead of big sky on a busy day at least, save some bucks, get some more runs in. but, big sky lifts are a tad better haha..
 
Big Sky/Moonlight is where it's at. If your willing to put in the work you can access some super gnarly stuff. The side country at BS and Yellowstone Club is absolutely unreal. Bridger is dope on pow days but the whole fucking brady bunch shreds there.
 
Since I live in Boze, I usually ride big sky due to the great variety of terrain and the fact that you can find pow like a week after a storm if you know where to go. However, my favorite MT resort would be Big Mountain, AKA Whitefish Mtn Resort.

Usually gets a pretty good amount of snowfall and has great variety to terrain: cliffs, tree skiing, backcountry. Also on those days when there isn't pow you can still have a shitload of fun, with a bunch of natural features on most of the runs, plus, the park is usually pretty decent. Worst part about the mountain are the foggy days, which there are alot of, but i'm used to it so it's not bad at all. around christmas time and on the holidays there can be some pretty long lines as well, but they can be avoided some of the time.
 
I'm in the UK but looking at Big Sky for a holiday for a week or so this year.

Can anyone recommend the best time to go, i.e. decent snowfall but not too busy because of holidays, like presidents day..? etc. From what i've read, end of feb-march is best for conditions...

Also what are the runs down like form Lone mountain? Is it just double black/expert/off piste or..? I kinda got the impression there's alot of intermediate runs lower down, but then not much between that and expert when you get up to the top
 
I talked to a college rep last night and he said that that whitefish is amazing. This true?

Snow Bowl is the one right outside of missoula, correct? One of the main reasons I'm looking to go to school out there next year is the skiing. Being from the east, I'm sure anything out there will be pretty awesome. Anyway, any college students out there that want to give me opinions/ advice? Is the skiing good enough to be a major factor in deciding where to go?
 
yes, Whitefish is the shit as I said up above.. I definitely have some bias since i grew up skiing there, but I've had more fun at that mountain than any other mountain i've ever been to. however, it is 120 miles from missoula, so you would have to make weekend trips or have some long ass days.

If you're basing your college decision on skiing, definitely go to Bozeman (MSU). I'm sure you can have plenty of fun skiing in missoula, but the fact of the matter is, it just doesn't compare.
 
In missoula you've got snowbowl 20 minutes drive, but if you wanna drive about 2 hours you can get to discovery, LT, lookout, and whitefish and blacktail are a little over 2 hours.

in bozo bridger's a bit more of a drive but big sky's still an hour plus
 
I had the greatest year of skiing in my life livin in bozo not gonna lie, but Zoo's got it's variety.
 
March was a super good month this past year. If I had to make a bet on the best time that's what I'd go with.

As for the runs going down from the peak, liberty bowl is super easy. It's a consistent, relatively mellow grade the whole way down. The only thing that gets tricky up there is the unpredictably and inconsistency of the snow conditions. I took a buddy who was skiing for his 5th day of his life down it and he had no problem. The tram ride up can look kinda intimidating at first, but there's a bunch of easier terrain off the back side to warm up on
 
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