Big Sky or Whitefish???

A snowHead

Hello fellow Snowheads - I need a bit of advice.......

Trying to organise a trip to Montana for next New Year and two resorts that seem to crop up are Big Sky and Whitefish. The group consists of 3 good intermeidates who like to cruise around on nice groomed pistes, 3 pretty good skiers who'll try just about anything that's on a map and a 6 year old who's had 2 weeks in ski school previously.

So what I need to know is which of these two would best suit the group? Also any self catering accommodation recommendations for either resort would be most welcome. I've had a look on the A-Z trip reports but the ones already there seem to be quite old. Anyone visited recently??

Thanks in advance.

A snowHead

Whitefish is great and would suit a mixed ability group very well. Unless you score a total dumpfest you might get a bit bored of it after 4-5 days...so combine it with 5 days in Fernie (2hrs drive over the border). See my trip reports in the reviews section.

I seem to remember the whitefish mountain website has lots of info on accommodation.
VRBO.com is always a good place to look.

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I can't speak for Whitefish (I guess few British skiers can) but Big Sky is a fabulous place and should meet your requirements perfectly with no need to travel to other resorts. I can also vouch for the quality of the kids ski school there. Having said that, I have read several times that it's not always great in early season due to the highly rocky nature of its terrain - if so, the groomers might be good but the advanced skiers could feel restricted.

If you go to Big Sky, seriously consider taking a day out to visit Yellowstone.

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Whitefish for your group.

The Whitefish + Fernie option is great but do it in that order. Long initial journey, but it will give you an opportunity to find your legs before hitting the more challenging terrain of Fernie. And the return to Calgary airport is a lot easier this way around.

I spent 2 seasons at Whitefish. You won't get bored if you take some lessons and head into the trees snowHead

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I think you've got a better chance of cheap accom. at Whitefish and you can go out (and/or stay) in town. Areas quite small by European stds though so combo. with Fernie (or Kimberley).

Big Sky is . . . bigger and you've got Yellowstone right by which is worth 2 days visit but it is more remote so not much to do at night. You could always stay in Bozeman and do Bridger Bowl as well.

Personally Whitefish/Fernie sounds the better option.

After all it is free

Have been to neither, but thought it worth reporting that pretty much everyone we know in Calgary who has been there raves about Whitefish. If you question most people their fave resorts tend to be Fernie and Whitefish (in a field including Castle, Lake Lousie, Sunshine, Norquay, Kicking Horse, Panorama, Kimberley).

We have been to all the above excepting Castle and our fave is Fernie.

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I've always wanted a plaice in Whitefish. Toofy Grin

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Once stayed at cheap lodging in Eureka w/kitchenette, hit Fernie one day and Whitefish the next unfortunately it rained at Fernie and then froze overnight very nasty skiing but all the folks from Kalispell told us of driving up with snow so next day Whitefish and fresh snow about 50 min to each ski area.

Whitefish is higher which is why it had snow. They do 50% of all business in the 2 weeks of XMAS break and it can be very busy then.

snow reports

Big Sky or Big Mountain (Whitefish)

I like both. however, if you want a real western town & atmosphere I would opt for Big Mountain and staying down in the city of Whitefish & take the fee snow bus shuttle or drive up & down the hill each day.

Big Sky is a purpose built mountain village style ski area.

You know it makes sense.

Bigfish Littlefish Cardboard Box

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Take with grain of salt since I haven't been to either, but Big Sky has a much higher wow factor. Trip up Lone Peak cable car is a must for the experts. It has far more groomed intermediate runs when combined with pistes of neighboring Moonlight Basin. Whitefish is known to suffer from a lot of fog. However, it has a certain "off the beaten track" cache and would likely cost less for accommodations and lift tickets. The town of Whitefish is said to have a bar/restaurant district that is small, but worth a visit. It is several miles from the ski area. Both Big Sky and Whitefish have reputations for small crowds and empty pistes, although the week between Christmas and New Years could be busy. That's traditionally the busiest week for all US ski areas if conditions are halfway decent.

A snowHead

pinhead

A snowHead

Eureka is the N. most town in MT headed to Fernie from Whitefish. There is some fine dining in Whitefish. It worked for us staying in Eureka since we split the days between two areas and the hotel had the kitchenette.

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mountainaddict

hit Castle

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Here's my biased opinion of the two resorts:

Terrain:

Big Sky wins easily because of its huge size plus you're right next to Moonlight Basin which adds even more terrain. Whitefish has more than enough terrain to keep you amused for days, though.

Access:

Bozeman (Big Sky) can be a pain to get to from Europe but Kalispell is even harder.

Early Season Conditions:

Back in the 70s and 80s Big Mountain had a reputation for having the best early season snow in the Rockies. Unfortunately, as the world warms its low elevation has caused much of its early precipitation to be rain. Its a real toss-up on which resort will get the most early season snow but Big Sky does a more aggressive job making snow and snow farming (moving snow from one location to another) to get as many runs open early season as possible.

Weather:

I'd call it a toss-up. Big Mountain has been nicknamed Big Foggy. Around New Years you have a chance of having foggy weather. Big Sky, on the other hand, has a much higher chance of sunshine that time of year but it occasionally gets arctic fronts from Canada making for days when the high is -15 to -20 C....much too cold to stay on the mountain for long enough to take advantage of Big Sky's better terrain.

Atmosphere:

Whitefish wins by a huge margin. It is the best town in Montana for bar hopping and has a much better selection of restaurants, coffee shops and shopping.

Lodging:

Pretty much a toss-up for on-mountain lodging but Whitefish has more options in the city plus it's close to Kalispell which has much cheaper options if you want to save money.

Other Things to Do:

Big Sky is close to Yellowstone National Park while Whitefish is even closer to Glacier National Park. In the winter there is much more going on at Yellowstone with all the elk & buffalo down from the mountains and the thermal features making for stunning scenery.

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I'd guess on average Whitefish has better snow at NY than Big Sky. The latter is very rocky (Andesite Mt gives you a clue) and nees a decent amount of snow to open up much of the steep stuff, and often that happens in Jan/Feb.

Both are great places, so its a toss up, I guess. Fernie/Whitefish options sounds good, or if you have a car, Whitefish/Schweitzer would be a good double act. Spokane is a good airport for Schweitzer access, White Pine lodge is great and ski-in/out. I like Schweitzer more than Whitefish as it has 2 huge bowls with wide open tree skiing. In fact, I'm heading there this afternoon for the weekend Wink

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Big Sky or Whitefish???

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