BIG SKY – As far as Nick Nick Efta is concerned, it’s pretty exceptional that you can get to 11,166 feet without hiking.
Efta is Big Sky Resort’s Basecamp Operations Manager, and he’s talking about the Lone Peak Expedition, which is taking people to the top of Lone Mountain in the summer for the first time ever.
Starting June 28, the program initially offered two trips a day, but demand was so high the resort bumped up to six as of July 6.
At that rate, 60 people a day can ride the tram, said Big Sky public relations manager Chad Jones. Most of the trips are full, and the first wedding atop the tram is planned for mid-July.
“It has been hugely successful,” Jones said. “The coolest thing is you can take your grandmother, or your 5-year-old up. In the winter that could never happen. It’s really designed to be able to get anybody up there.”
The program has room to grow, Jones said, naming a new deck and “peak finder” installed on the summit this year, and the possibility of adding a coffee and snack shack up there, too.
Lone Peak Expedition will run at least six trips through Labor Day and continue as long as weather allows until the resort closes for the off-season in October.
