Best Ski Town---Bozeman, Montana

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Just what makes a classic ski town? It starts, naturally, with skiing and snowboarding so good they attract people like youth-bestowing fountains. Then add an inviting mountain burg steeped in ski heritage, amenities, and culture. These are the 25 best. For insider tips, we asked local luminaries where to stay, play, and party, whether you're on a budget or indulging. 
—Aaron Teasdale

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Bozeman, Montana

Photograph by Meg Haywood-Sullivan, Aurora

Best For: Diehard skiers who wear their duct tape with pride (and beginners who look forward to doing the same someday)

The adventure capital of the Northern Rockies, Bozeman is an old Montanauniversity town of cowboys and ski bums, pickups and unleashed dogs, and two of the premier ski hills in America. More of a working town than a traditional “ski town,” here overpriced lodges and fine dining are the exception, though there are a few high-end options and classically trained chefs. But being Bozeman, there’s nowhere you can’t wear blue jeans. You don’t come here for the restaurants, you come to ski the two wild Montana mountains. Bridger Bowl is the storied, scruffy little brother, a condo-free, nonprofit ski area 20 minutes out of town and where some of America’s original extreme skiers—Scot Schmidt, Tom Jungst, and Doug Coombs—cut their teeth and began preaching the steep skiing gospel. Hardcore skiers flock here for The Ridge, in-bounds hiking terrain with a murderer’s row of hairball chutes, and the new Schlasman’s Lift accessing expert-only, backcountry-style terrain (avalanche transceivers required for both).

An hour’s drive south of town in the majestic Madison Range, Big Sky Resort is the brash, lusty big brother, a gigantic ski area that offers joint lift tickets with the adjacent Moonlight Basin to create one of the largest ski areas in America. The tram to the vaulting, exposed 11,166-foot summit of Lone Peak opens up a Euro-style world of high-alpine, big-mountain skiing. Beginners and intermediates will find plenty of terrain at both, with Big Sky the deluxe option and the smaller Bridger a no-frills, low-cost choice. Yellowstone National Park, a 60-minute drive away, features back-of-beyond cross-country skiing and wildlife watching.

Ask a Local

Tom Jungst moved to Bozeman in 1977 to join the Montana State University ski racing team and soon began pioneering extreme terrain in the area and appearing in classic ski films by Warren Miller and Greg Stump. Today he is an educator, machinist, and product designer. Here are his recommendations.

Best Digs

Budget: Blue Sky Motel, which has $40 rooms and allows dogs for a small fee

Swank: The Gallatin Gateway Inn isn’t that expensive, but it’s nice, and from the inn it’s easy to head to either Big Sky or Bridger before or afterwards.

Best Eats

Cheap: Watanabe, across from the high school on Main Street, has no liquor license, but the authentic noodle dishes warm you after a cold day of skiing.

Gourmet: Starky’s

Best After-Ski Party Spot

Montana Ale Works is great, but the newly rebuilt Rocking R Bar is a lot of fun too. Main Street is all fun!

Best Rest-Day Activity

I'd recommend a drive up Hyalite Canyon. Bring some cross-country skis or snowshoes and check out the frozen waterfalls, ice climbers, and beautiful peaks.

Bozeman’s Classic Ski Run

“For me a classic is an old-fashioned hike up the Bridger Ridge and out to the Apron—preferably from the top—and Hidden Gully," says Jungst. "At Big Sky, any tram lap is awesome depending on the conditions, but nothing beats a ripper down Lenin or Marx

Floating The Madison

My roommate Rachel and I went floating last week. It was one of the most relaxing things I've done in what seems like forever. We had a mutual friend drive us to the river, and agree to pick us up when we were done. I brought three bottles of sunscreen and my water. Rachel brought food. After an exciting adventure where some nice strangers helped us blow up the tubes we had borrowed from a friend, we managed to get ourselves in the water only an hour or so after we got there. 

By this point, I'd applied my sunscreen, and Rachel had drank most of the water, so we loaded our stuff up, and started down the river. We spent most of the time relaxing, talking, and just enjoying the sun. I wanted to jump out and swim, but I quickly learned that it just wasn't going to be possible. While the Jefferson is deep enough to swim in, the Madison is shallow enough that if you aren't careful you will find yourself scraping along the bottom. 

Still, we had a great day, and wound up meeting up with the group that had helped us get in the water in the first place. We made a few friends, and had a great day, and as we were getting out of the water I felt great. 

"Isn't this awesome? We should do this again!" I called out to Rachel as I loaded my stuff into the car. She just looked at me. Then I figured out what I had forgotten. 

Turns out Rachel never put on any sunscreen. As much pain as she is in now, she's still proud of the fact that she managed to get severe sunburn. Even on her ankles, and the tops of her feet. So the verdict? Floating is a ton of fun. It's a great chance to make new friends, and just have a fun, relaxing day. Just remember the waterproof sunscreen.  

Montana is a great place to visit, but an even better place to live. To learn more about becoming a part of the Montana Experience, contact Tom Clark (406) 581 2829, drop me an e-mail at tom@realestator.net, or visit my site: http://tomsclark.yourkwagent.com/atj/user/HomePageGetAction.do

Coffee In Bozeman

Late last night, I found myself craving a coffee. I had a ton of work to do, had been up since six in the morning, and wanted nothing more than a nice cup of coffee to get myself through the night. The problem? I was out of coffee grounds. At five till eleven that didn't leave me with much of a choice in terms of coffee spots. So I packed my computer, grabbed my wallet, and decided to bike to Smiths. Hopefully before it closed. Halfway there, though, I saw something amazing. It was like the holy grail of coffee.

A Coffee shop. At eleven at night. A coffee shop that was open.

At that point it didn't matter how good their coffee was. All that mattered was that they had wifi, tables, and were about three miles closer than Smiths. It turns out, their coffee is amazing. I sat at the table, practically bouncing in my seat over how amazing it was, when a long haired teenager came out and started singing. 

Turns out, in addition to having free refills, they also have live music at night. It took almost the entire hour Cold Smoke was open, but I got my project finished, and biked uphill with a grin on my face. Long story short, I went back there today, and they were just as good. Sorry Starbucks, I've found a new coffee shop. The only question now is how long it will take me to get to sleep afterwords.

To check out more about the amazing Cold Smoke Coffeehouse, check out their website, at http://coldsmokemt.com/.

Montana is a great place to visit, but an even better place to live. To learn more about becoming a part of the Montana Experience, contact Tom Clark (406) 581 2829, drop me an e-mail at tom@realestator.net, or visit my site: http://tomsclark.yourkwagent.com/atj/user/HomePageGetAction.do

Climbing Around Town

The entire week has been gorgeous. The sun is shining, there are birds, and the bugs are still frozen from winter. You can go for a walk in the mountains, or bike through town. It's nearly warm enough to go floating without a wetsuit. Last week I said I would do something inside, and so naturally it was gorgeous and pretty. So we decided to do two different things. By we, I mean my roommate Rachel and I.

She was less excited by the prospect of a field trip, because she had to work until midnight the night before. So when I threw open the blinds, turned on all the lights, and calmly explained that we were going on an adventure, she was less than excited. In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have used silly string. Or decided that we needed to leave before eight in the morning.

Amid Rachel's protests of "But I don't like heights!", and "I want to go back to bed." We walked the two or so miles to the coolest place ever. Spire Climbing Center. It's 6,000 feet of pure fun. It's a climbing center with a 38 foot roof, and 2200 extra feet of bouldering. They have great routes, and everyone is super friendly. There was just one tiny flaw in our plan. It was nine. The rock climbing gym opens at noon.

After a few minutes of not entirely unjustified yelling on Rachel's part, I decided we were going somewhere else. Sticking with the theme of the morning, we wandered over to Pete's hill. It's got this gorgeous network of paths through the woods, and over the hills. Somewhere, on one of those paths through meadows, and trees, and up hills, there is a big plastic rock.

It's about seven feet tall, and there's a little tunnel to crawl through. The nice thing about it, is that it is meant for bouldering. For people who don't know what that is, it's climbing a shorter wall but without a rope or harness. The rock is easier to climb on some sides than others, making it perfect for basically anyone.

So Rachel and I messed around for a while, went to get ice cream and by the time we were back at the Spire climbing center it was open. We rented shoes, climbed, and then walked home all sweaty and exhausted. All in all, it was a good adventure. Even Rachel admitted she had fun.

Montana is a great place to visit, but an even better place to live. To learn more about becoming a part of the Montana Experience, contact Tom Clark (406) 581 2829, drop me an e-mail at tom@realestator.net, or visit my site: http://tomsclark.yourkwagent.com/atj/user/HomePageGetAction.do

Hyalite Canyon

The rain let up for a day, leaving me and a couple of friends in the perfect position to take advantage of the weather. We could have done quite a few things, and we should have been doing any number of others, but instead we decided to take a trip to Hyalite Canyon. Despite having lived in Montana for three years, I had never gone. Needless to say, I was the butt of a few jokes on the way up. We rounded the corner, and I was shocked. When you are somewhere for a while, you start to block things out, and it takes a little more than just rolling out of bed in the morning to fully appreciate the beauty of where you live. Then something happens, and you are just struck all over again by how lucky you are to be here. In Montana. Where a walk on a sunny afternoon looks like this.

The hike wasn't bad. It was about three miles to Blackmore lake. I wasn't out of breath by the time we got there, but I couldn't say the same of one of my friends. It's not a bad hike, but she isn't in the best shape. She said it was worth it, though, and handled the whole thing with a smile. She almost fell down a few times, but the only thing to come from that was her brand new nickname: Rockslide Rachel. We had a nice picnic lunch, and swam in the lake. It was a little cold. 

The lake is gorgeous, but going swimming when it had been in the fifties for the last few weeks? Maybe not our best plan. So we scurried our way back to the house, snuggled up in front of a movie, grabbed some popcorn, and called the day a success. Next week, we're going somewhere inside, though, unless it warms up. The outdoors? Not so fun when you jump in a lake with your clothes on. 

Montana is a great place to visit, but an even better place to live. To learn more about becoming a part of the Montana Experience, contact Tom Clark (406) 581 2829, drop me an e-mail at tom@realestator.net, or visit my site: http://tomsclark.yourkwagent.com/atj/user/HomePageGetAction.do

It's rained in Bozeman for the last week. Yesterday afternoon it finally started to warm up, and the sun came out for the first time today. It's gorgeous. Summer is finally here! So, in celebration of summer in Montana, I'm going to talk about my favorite time of year in Montana. Winter. 

My first winter here was cold. It was really cold. And it snowed a lot. The first snow of the year was about three feet overnight. I had expected long lines to get emergency rations, everything closing down, and a mass panic. That was what would have happened in my old town. But instead of panicking, I found that the people of Bozeman did nothing. They got out their snow shoes, and their cross country skis, and life went on. I was surprised. 

That weekend, though, I did something that made me understand completely. 

I am a skier and a snowboarder. I love both, and I've been all over the country for my sport. But my favorite, my absolute favorite mountain, is Bridger Bowl. The snow is perfect, the terrain is varied. The light isn't bad, and there's nothing prettier than the view from the top. 

Everyone is friendly, and because all the tourists go to Big Sky or Moonlight, there's a small town, community feel hat you can't get at most mountains. That, and the food is amazing. In Bozeman it's  common to go up to the mountain for a few hours before you have to get to work, meet up with your friends, and take a couple runs. In fact, it's odd if you don't. 

Because, as I've found out, there's no way work can be anything other than amazing if you've just come from Bridger. 

And if you don't feel like skiing? You can always go snowshoeing, or snowmobiling, or just head to the hot springs to sit in an outdoor hot tub and watch the snow fall. So enjoy the summer, and all the amazing things to do in Montana, because winter is coming. And Montana can't wait. 

Montana is a great place to visit, but an even better place to live. To learn more about becoming a part of the Montana Experience, contact Tom Clark (406) 581 2829, drop me an e-mail at tom@realestator.net, or visit my site: http://tomsclark.yourkwagent.com/atj/user/HomePageGetAction.do