By: Emily Stifler Wolfe Sitting on the Six Shooter Chairlift at Big Sky Resort, 15-year-old Adrian squints as he pulls off his helmet. He runs a hand through his dark curly hair and looks up at the peak. “I just needed a different scenery—a different place to be,” he says, describing the challenges he’d faced at home, at school and with the law. Adrian found that in Big Sky Youth Empowerment, a Bozeman-based nonprofit that…
By: Dan Egan Late one afternoon, I was standing at the top of Africa, one of my favorite mogul runs here at the resort, and gazing up at Lone Peak while the low angle afternoon sunlight was creating a shadow in the dark blue sky. The south-facing slope was smooth, barely a track on it; I was adrift in my thoughts. My skiing companion pierced my contemplation with a question, “What are you looking at?” …
By: Dan Egan and Ben Brosseau At the top of the Challenger Lift, straight ahead is a gate that is the beginning of the Headwaters Bowl Traverse. This is also accessible at the top of the Headwaters Lift. You will immediately see several vertical fences with tracks running off to the left below them. The top of this traverse can often have exposed rocks in the track. Descending along the vertical fences is where the…
By: Dan Egan and Ben Brosseau “Turkey Traverse” is one of the more famous traverses at the resort. This is visible as you ride up the Powder Seeker lift across the top of the bowl. There are two ways to access the traverse: either by exiting to the left off of the lift, placing you on the highest track, or exiting to the right off of the lift and crossing under the lift to access…
By: Dan Egan and Ben Brosseau The traverses of Big Sky are legendary: the Yeti Traverse off of Lone Peak, the Turkey Traverse in the Bowl, or the Alder Gulch and Cold Spring Traverse are just a few that hold the allure of mountain lore. Traveling these traverses, you will be transported from one adventure to another, and tapping into this horizontal network will expand your mountain experience. There are a few traversing basics to…