Shedhorn 4 rounds out this season’s on-mountain improvements

EBS Staff

On Christmas Day, a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new base terminal celebrated the opening of Shedhorn 4, a high-speed quad on the south face of Lone Mountain that was relocated over the summer and repurposed from its role as the former Ramcharger lift.

Shedhorn 4 doubles the uphill capacity and cuts ride time in half compared to its predecessor, now reaching the top terminal in under five minutes instead of 12. Kevin Daily, owner of the recently expanded Shedhorn Grill, reports that business has been brisk since the new high-speed quad started spinning.

As of Jan. 1, all of the resort’s 36 lifts were in service and 268 of 294 trails were open. According to onthesnow.com, Big Sky Resort received 43 inches of snowfall in December, with a foot of snow falling on the last day of the month. Snowfall was reported on 14 days of the month.

According to resort statistics, November set a snowfall record with 76 inches, totaling 190 percent average snowfall for the month, and besting the 1988 record of 74 inches. For the season to date as of Jan. 2, Lone Mountain has received 190 inches of total snowfall at the summit and 140 inches of total snowfall mid-mountain.

“Great snow, two new lifts, 25 percent more air seats into Bozeman and a growing community,” said Taylor Middleton, general manager of Big Sky Resort, in response to increased visitation numbers. “Everything is coming together to make a wonderful holiday.”

While news of Ramcharger 8, the first eight-person chairlift in North America, continues to ripple throughout the ski and snowboard industry, the holiday season saw full parking lots and crowds at the base area of the mountain.

However, with Ramcharger 8’s capability of whisking more than 3,000 snowsports enthusiasts per hour to the top of Andesite Mountain, the wait times in lift lines at the base area were minimal even during the busiest times of the heaviest skier visit days of the season so far.

Now in its 14th consecutive year, Big Sky Resort’s annual Snobar has evolved from a one-night party into two-nights of EDM and dazzling visual displays. This year, Snobar returns to the slopes on back-to-back Saturdays, Jan. 19 and 26, next to the Swift Current lift and sporting an outside bar and music venue created entirely out of snow and ice by Big Sky Resort’s terrain park team.

Featuring a premier lineup of DJs, lasers, glow sticks and colored lights will illuminate the frozen dance floor while go-go dancers in shimmering onesies dance and demonstrate their acrobatic ability hanging from hula-hoops suspended above the stage.