Where are the ski areas in Montana?

November 22, 12:54 PMBillings Sightseeing ExaminerGregan Wortmann

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A $750,000 improvement project is underway at Discovery Ski Area near Anaconda, Montana.  The building of new lifts, which will give skiers an additional 1,000 feet of vertical drop, is expected to be completed this 2009-2010 season.                                                    http://www.skidiscovery.com/                                                                                       http://philipsburgmt.com/                                                                                     http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m5d13-Driving-to-Glasgow-or-How-We-Spent-Our-Winter-and-Where-We-Ended-Up-by-Spring-Part-1

Big Sky is within sight of Yellowstone National Park and is the master-designed, luxury resort destination ski area abounding in good beginner and intermediate runs for long, low angle cruising.  Lone Mountain has a 11,666 foot summit which is 41 feet taller than Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 

http://www.bigskyresort.com/

Bridger Bowl is a mid-sized, non-profit ski area and is the local ski area for the University town of Bozeman, Montana.  "Ridge Hippies" hike scenic, winding, steep terrain along The Ridge.  Mere mortals get bumps and powder down below on the Bunny Slopes.  Homey and laid-back, Bridger Bowl has a reputation for being more affordable than some of the competition and is just 25 miles from Bozeman.  Rooms and eats are in the area.                                                   http://bridgerbowl.com/                         http://www.bozeman.net/                                                                                     http://www.bozemanchamber.com/ 

Near Glacier National Park is the very secluded Big Mountain.  Train in on AMTRAK to Whitefish, Montana or fly in to the Kalispell Airport just 19 miles away.  There are abundant intermediate bowls and great super reasonable cat skiing off the back side.  There is lodging in and around the cool, fun town of Whitefish, Montana.                                                      

http://www.skiwhitefish.com/                                                                            http://www.amtrak.com/                           http://www.whitefishchamber.com/                                                                               http://www.iflyglacier.com/

Bear Paw Ski Bowl near Rudyard, Montana is an easy distance for Canadians wanting to Ski USA.  This local area ski area is managed and operated by an all-volunteer group of local skiers.

http://skibearpaw.com/                                                             http://russell.visitmt.com/communities/Rudyard.htm

Red Lodge Mountain, home field advantage for the Billings area ski crowd, is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in February 2010.  A big mountain without big prices is how they describe their hill. 

http://www.redlodgemountain.com/

For cross country and snowshoeing, Red Lodge Mountain area trails are in meadows and hills with easy to most difficult trails on machine groomed surfaces at elevations from 5670 to 7200 feet.  The trails are also used by elk and moose. 

http://www.beartoothtrails.org/                                                          http://wintermt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=11064&siteid=11  http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m7d14-Red-Lodge

Snowmobiles are allowed on the winter trails in Cooke City, Montana so it can be somewhat crowded.  The are 10 miles of flats and hills -- easy to moderate difficulty -- with a surface packed by traffic at elevations from 8,036 to 8,166 feet. 

http://www.cookecitychamber.org/cooke_city_montana_recreation_snowmobiling.html  http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m9d28-Cooke-City

Near Yellowstone National Park there are several Nordic centers like Specimen Creek Trail, Fawn Pass, Daly Creek and Upper Madison Valley Trail where there are elk, bison and bears on 14 miles of flat trails with some ridges for a most difficult rating.  Upper Madison has skier packed surfaces at elevations of 6,600 to 6,820 feet near West Yellowstone, Montana.  http://www.visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?SiteID=1&IDRRecordID=5926  http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=HGR186-048                     http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=HGR186-044

http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=SGR028-034                       http://www.wyellowstone.com/

In the Bozeman area there is the B Bar Guest Ranch and Bozeman Area Trails.  There are winter trails at Lone Mountain Ranch and Mountain Meadows Guest Ranch near Big Sky, Montana and several more in the Glacier National Park area.  This travel blog article has mentioned just a few of the many alpine or nordic facilities under The Big Sky and in the State of Montana.      

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m11d11-Where-can-I-find-winter-fun-gear-In-Billings                                 http://www.bbar.com/                                                                                   http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=SGR028-028S                            http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/crosscountryskiing.htm    http://www.glacierraftco.com/winter.htm                                                           http://www.lonemountainranch.com/                                                http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=SGR028-030S                 http://www.bigskychamber.com/

http://wintermt.com/dhski.htm

Gregan Wortmann

kruzndog@imt.net

The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West by Lito Tejada-Flores, Peter Shelton, Seth Masia, and Bob Sehlinger; Simon and Schuster Macmillian Company, New York City (1998).  ISBN: 0-02-861914-5

Winter Trails Montana: the best cross-country and snowshoe trails by Jean Arthur; Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, Connecticut (2001).  ISBN: 0-7627-0730-5