A New Resort

[kinpa]

Has anyone been around when a new ski area was trying to open? There is some guy that's trying to build a resort about 15 minutes from my house. I, for one, would love it if he would be able to get the place going, but I think many of the locals are fighting it.

There was a new resort that opened last year in Montana adjacent to Big Sky called Moonlight Basin. I've heard it was pretty nice, but haven't been there yet.

Any of the places I've ever been seemed to have a long history and have been around forever.

I hope this guy can get the approval he needs to get the place open.

http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2005/02/11/news/news03.txt

[kinpa]

Well, it's not looking good for this guy trying to get this new resort open. Here's a quote from the newspaper article: "Ski runs and chair lifts would be built up Carlton Ridge to the top of Lolo Peak, giving the resort nearly 5,400 feet of vertical drop, which would be the highest in North America, according to their Web site."

You can read the whole article here: http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2005/02/18/news/news01.txt

One nice thing for this place also is that it's only about 20 minutes from Missoula (with a pretty good airport) on Rt.93 (four lanes) so it would be pretty easy to get to.

[kinpa]

found their real website.

http://www.skibitterrootresort.com

What do you guys think?

[CarvCanada]

Looks like it'd be a carver's paradise

I think I want to live in Montana...

[D-Sub]

Missoula is such a badass town, too.

not sure if another resort is needed though?

[kinpa]

Originally posted by D-Sub
Missoula is such a badass town, too.

not sure if another resort is needed though?

No, probably not "needed"... I heard that this guy was going through a bitter divorce and needed something to dump his money in so his ex couldn't get it.... so why not build a ski resort???

[D-Sub]

heh. wow.

thing is...there's a heck of a lot of impact from such a big undertaking. would certainly be a fun one it seems though!

Id love to live in Missoula. are you in Bozeman or...?

[kinpa]

I live in Stevensville... about 30 min south of Missoula, work in Missoua, and also work part time at Snowbowl just north of Missoula

[D-Sub]

well heck..having a big resort nearby would be nice, wouldnt it?

snowbowl is kinda small, right?

I have a friend in Bozemen...his pop just bought a big ol condo right at BigSky!

woohoo!

[kinpa]

NO, Snowbowl is pretty big terrain wise, not a resort type of place though. There are two chair lifts (both doubles), a t-Bar (ever try a t-bar on a snowboard... not fun!) and a rope tow. There is a hotel right at the base, but it's a european type lodge... some have shared baths and I think there is a kitchen on the first floor....

Last year Snowbowl even made a cover shot on Ski magazine!

www.montanasnowbowl.com

It's ok for carving, not great.... more of a freeride kind of place. A bunch of flat cat tracks....

[rekre8r]

Snowbowl is a great mountain, it just leaves alittle to be desired as a carving destination. LOL If you want good carving go to Big Sky or Big Mountain. I live at Big Sky and the riding is great! I would love to show some fellow carvers a great mountain.

[D-Sub]

kinda hurtin for snow right now, no?

[kinpa]

yeah... the top half of the mountain has pretty much been the same type of conditions I snowboarded on when I live in Pennsylvania.... the bottom half has a lot of rocks..... I've been downloading on the lower life.... I saw on Friday's ski report that there is good coverage on one of the slopes to get all the way down, but the cat track to get to it isn't great on a board!

[D-Sub]

jeez that sucks!

looked at the site...its bigger than I thought!

some fun freeride terrain it seems.

hope you get more!

[Dais]

Oh no... a new ski area in Missoula? Wow!
I was living in Missoula until the summer of
2002. It's a wonderful town. I have even taken
a snowboard instruction class at UM and tought
local kids at Marshall mountain in 2001...
I always miss Missoula and Montana.
Why am I in Anchorage now?:confused:

[kinpa]

Did you do your UM Snowboard class at Snowbowl? I have a group of University students that I teach on Monday afternoons (not this week though because it's a holiday). The class was beginning snowboarding, but they aren't beginners anymore. We went to the top of the mountain for the first time last week!

Marshall has been closed for 2 seasons now and is still on the market from what I understand. I saw it listed on eBay once! Anyone want to buy a ski resort????

Is Anchorage really that bad?



Kathy