Montana Ski Vacation, an Actual Montanan’s Guide

Pondering a Montana ski vacation? Looking for the best Montana ski resorts? Read this from actual Montana skiers at Montana Whiskey Co.

The Snow

At 500 miles from the Pacific Ocean, once Montana gets its winter snow, it’s cold, dry, and perfect. Montanans rarely experience the common coastal phenomenon known as Cascade Concrete.

Rather, Montanans get spoiled by “cold smoke,” their term for light, fluffy powder known to cause early morning frenzies to get to the ski hill first — and by frenzy we mean, “No friends on powder days.”

The Prices

The best ski lodges in Montana (and by “best” we mean the two most expensive, fancy, all-services ski areas) are Big Sky Resort and Whitefish Mountain Resort, formerly “Big Mountain.” Both stay well under $150 for an adult lift ticket — and you’ll go well north of $150 in Colorado, just sayin’.

As for the rest of Montana’s more family-oriented ski hills, you’ll find relative bargains. Think $45 for a full day for an adult, plus or minus, depending on the hill. That’s pretty cheap skiing in Montana.

Family Ski Areas to Visit on Your Montana Ski Vacation

Where to take the family? Heck, if you have the money for the Big Sky ski resort or the Whitefish ski resort, then you’ll have all the deluxe amenities you can trip over, but you’re not really going to ski with Montana families there — you’ll be skiing with other vacationers.

So, here’s Montana Whiskey Co.’s list of family friendly ski areas. We’ve skied Montana our entire lives and we have kids, so we know you’ll find other families at these hills skiing terrain for all abilities.

Montana Ski Report

There is no one website to find reliable, current conditions for Montana ski areas. Ski conditions websites are a jumbled mess, and the best you can do is hit the hyperlinks above and hope for the best. One hill in western Montana is well known for stretching the truth. Another hill, Discovery Ski Area, does a reliable and honest job of updating its weather, snowfall, open trails, etc. We love that!

Looking for a Montana ski resorts map?

Here’s the only reliable map of all of Montana’s ski areas from the State of Montana’s official site. All of the other online maps are either incomplete or inaccurate. Hey, we’re Montana Whiskey Co.! We ski here and we know things!