|
second the recommendation that it be added for consideration. Hopefully, in the next day or so, I will piece together a trip report, but here a few quick thoughts.
* You fly into Kalispell, which despite its remote location, is acctually quite easy to get to. From points east, you would likely end up flying Delta into SLC, then jump on another Delta 727 for the 90 minute, direct flight north to Kalispell. We were able to nab $245 RT flight out of Cincinnati.
* At Kalispell, you need to arrange a ride for the 24mile trip to the Big Mountain. We paid $25 ea for a round trip transfer via Flathead Valley Transportation. If you intend to spend most of your time skiing, I would strongly advise against renting a vehicle; it simply is not required. Big Mountain, and the businesses of Whitefish, the old town approximately 8 miles south of the mountain, run something called the SNOW bus. This is a FREE shuttle that makes laps approximately every hour from the mountain to the town and back. You can find a schedule on the Big Mountain Web Page. Very cool. You can save significant dollars and headache by skipping the whole rental car thing.
* Big Mountain really is a pretty big mountain. There are approximately 2500 inbound skier acres, and if that isn`t enough, they also have cheap snow cat skiing, although, I have never tried it. The run stats are a little misleading. They give you the impression that it is mainly an intermediate mountain. It is true that the majority of the NAMED runs are groomed blue cruisers, with some real thigh burners at that. On the other hand, the named black runs are more like whole areas than runs. Often, the named black runs cover whole areas, rather than a single run. Talk to some locals before even thinking about some of the double black stuff. Most of if can`t be easily seen, and typically includes 50+ degree chutes and cliff drop offs.
* For a resort of its size, it really is pretty reasonable. Lift tickets are $47 dollars, and on fridays and saturdays, they have $14 dollar night ski on the lower mountain. I only mention the latter because most flights will not get you into Kalispell to enjoy skiing the day of arrival, and a couple of night ski hours are a good way to warm up for the next day of flogging. If you are interested in some instruction, take one of their group lessons, which more often as not, will only have 1 or 2 other people in them. They are $30 for a half day (2 1/4 hours) or $48 for the whole day (4 1/2 hours). You can find a $5 off coupon in one of the resort newletters. This past trip, I wanted a taste of off-piste skiing, and one of the young instructors, Ed (sorry, we never exchanged last names), took myself and two others into terrain I would have never previously attempted. After a few initial stacks, and some intruction, I was actually able to make it down a couple of the pitches (35 degrees or so, with big irregular bumps). For me, it was a real accomplishment.
* Big Mountain is uncrowded, you can go down popular runs in the middle of the day, and only see a few other skiers. You will likely never encounter a lift line beyound 5 minutes. Most times, you can ski right onto the lift.
* Yeah, they are supposed to get a major cash infusion (300 million dollar base village), but the development is planned over a 10 year period. Note, that was announced before the 9/11 mess. As far as I know, the resort was not sold. To support all that extra infrastructure, they are going to have to get some more people on the mountain. All the local I talked with agreed the mountain can easily support a 100% increase in skier days, but they weren`t so sure they could get that many more people to show up.
* As the previous poster mentioned, you can stay at the Alpineglow and ski-in, ski-out, or for a little less, stay about 1500 feet further down the road at the Hibernation House (I think around $90 day). Steve, a guy from the UK in my off-piste class that was rooming at HH with his son, thought it was a great deal, and the include a full breakfast in the cost, which he said was excellent.
* If you are looking for hopping night life, or sophisticated European feel, Big Mountain is NOT your destination. You can however, take the free SNOW bus into Whitefish after a hard day of skiing, drink your four free sampler beers (7 ounces each) at the spiffy Great Northern Brewing Company, and eat some reasonable eats at Truddi`s, Serrano`s or one of the other decent, reasonably priced restaraunts in Whitefish.
Holler if you might have any questions. Re-reading the above, it comes off like I`m a rep for Big Mountain, but honestly, I live in SW Ohio, and have no relation to the mountain other than being a very happy, repeat customer. I love the ski what you got, wear whatever keeps you warm, and go where you want to go, honest free spirit of the place. I`m sure there are others places like it.
|
