The Way I Ski It: Big Sky Resort's Blog

Ski trips can be rather daunting; between the travel time, lesson sign up and gear gathering, honestly, I cannot understand how people have the energy to ski. As a ski instructor at Big Sky, one of the main pieces of equipment commonly over looked is ski boots. People get rental gear, not quite certain on how boots should fit and head out on to the hill. Here are a few tips on picking boots and what to look for.

First, ski boots should fit snug, not to the point the foot falls asleep or cuts off the circulation, but so the foot does not move around inside the boot, this can affect performance. The boot should feel snug around the foot conforming to the heel, arch and toes. There should be absolutely no lateral movement in the foot and the cuff should be tight around the lower shin allowing for limited range of motion in the ankle.
 
Finding good rental boots can be challenging. Obviously, rental boots are made to fit a wide variety of people. If you ski two or three days in a year, rental boots are the way to go; but if you come out and ski a least a week every year purchasing boots can be beneficial to both fit and skiing performance. It is the constant in your ski trip and familiar. It can also help streamline a trip if you just need skis and poles.
 
Bottom line, ski boots are the most important piece of ski equipment so whether you are renting or buying take the information above into consideration . Use the resources at the resort and if taking a lesson, instructors will more than likely take a look at your foot wear. If they don’t, ask for their advice.

I am Brenna Kelleher and that’s the way I ski it!

-Brenna Kelleher

BEATING EARLY UPS is a hard thing to do; especially on a powder day. Saturday, luck was in my favor when I was invited along by extreme skiing legend Dan Egan and his Steep Camp for the special opportunity to get first tracks through the Big Couloir with a few eager and fearless first timers. 

Put on by the resort’s First Tracks program, we skied the lower mountain off Andesite until 8:45 before heading for the Tram. The fresh snow from overnight was super fluffy and provided a great opportunity to warm up and get our legs under us.

Once warmed up we set sail on Swifty and headed to the Peak. After checking in with Ski Patrol Director Jimbo Humphries and a quick safety talk with Ryan Ayers, we clipped into our skis and ventured around the back of the peak to the entrance of the Big. From the top, we sent groups of 2 down the resort’s most illustrious run. The deep snow that had filled in the Big from the previous few days was unbelievable and was an experience that the group participants (Leslie, Mike, and Scott) were stoked to check off.

After skiing the technical top section, I veered out of the Big Couloir proper and headed for the Secret. Thigh deep fluff awaited me as I dove into my first turn, and every turn thereafter until just above the Cue Ball. Reconvening with our group just above the Triple, we exchanged high fives and pole taps after giving everyone a BIG congratulations.

Live big, play hard: BIG SKY.

-Kipp Proctor

Big Sky base area vs. Vail


WHEN I GO SKIING I want to ski. Busy trails and endless lift lines seem to always come to mind when planning a trip over a holiday weekend; unless you’re skiing Big Sky Resort. We’re not kidding when we boast about our nonexistent lift lines and the 3,832 acres of nearly private skiing.

Whether you’re a long time local or guest, it’s hard to complain when you take into account what other resorts in the Rockies experience (Vail for example) during high traffic periods. Even with one of our busiest years to date, lift lines at the base area have remained sub 10 minutes and are more often than not walk-on/ski-on. They’re also an added blessing when they fall on weekends (like this last one) that deliver over 16 inches of fresh snow and all you want is get back up top to make another lap. I'd gladly pass on fighting Vail's crowds and helplessly watching my favorite line getting poached.

Short waits and long laps; Big Sky is the ticket.

-Kipp Proctor

LONE PEAK WAS at it again today after a difficult to explain combination of fresh snow and wind deposited well over a foot of fresh cold smoke on the south face. If the roughly 18 inches of fresh wasn’t enough, we were also graced with a beautiful bluebird day.

My friend and I headed straight for the tram with the expectation to ski some of Lone Peak’s free refills under the bluebird sky. After shooting a few photos from atop the peak, we headed towards the snow fences above Liberty Bowl and this is when we first came upon the unexpected deep that lay before us.

I was shocked, dumb founded, blown away and surprised. Face-shots were plentiful and seemed to never end turn after turn during our top to bottom run. High fives and pole taps were a given at the bottom as we stared back up at the unexpectedly epic run that fell/hit us in our laps.

Lone Peak: expect the unexpected.

-Kipp Proctor

MAGICAL LONE PEAK was at it again over this past weekend picking up more than just a few additional sneaky inches that were reported at the base. That’s right, Big Sky’s angry inch was at it again and those who sought out the peak were generously rewarded.

While it stormed all day and the visibility was somewhat poor, the snow was great. Despite the fact we correctly reported 7-8 inches around the base and mid-mountain, Lone Peak was once again a different world. My first tram lap down the dictators at 11:30 was one of the deepest runs of the day at thigh deep. Nearly every turn through D2 buried me under a cloud of fresh Montana cold smoke. Lone Peak wasn't the only exception with great turns to be had across the mountain. Dakota/Shedhorn in particular provided their usual private skiing experience with fresh tracks to be had still at 3:00pm.

Good friends, deep powder, and magical Lone Peak once again made for another epic ski day.

-Kipp Proctor






 

Photo Credit: Vladimir Barabanov

SURE, EVERYBODY LOVES a powder day but the real skiing that locals at Big Sky secretly fiend for and is difficult to explain, is the wind buffed conditions found on our high alpine, above tree line slopes. The creamy, hero snow found on the Peak after a good dose of wind grooming produces an experience like no other resort around.

Ask any long time local what’s possibly better than a powder day and the unanimous answer will always be a beautiful wind buffed day off the Tram. The hero conditions make any avid skier fall in love all over. Being able to rip a wide open run such as Lenin or Marx as if it were a groomer off Southern Comfort is like nothing else. Any skeptic will be convinced once they dive into their skis, feel their edge sink deep and are reward with the confidence that they can arc a turn at any angle they wish.

So seek the Peak and arc some epic turns!

-Kipp Proctor

SNOWSPORTS INDUSTRIES AMERICA (SIA) is the crème de la crème of ski industry tradeshows; you name it, SIA has it. Every pro, magazine, film company, ski manufacturer, and outerwear company you can possibly think of and then some are present making it the go to place to check out the latest and greatest coming to ski shops near next fall. It’s held at the end of January/early February every winter and this year will be held in Denver Jan. 31st – Feb. 3rd.

Word on the street is that there are already a few game changers coming down the pipeline like Rossignol’s Soul 7 which will be the newest addition to Rossi’s top selling 7 series lineup. It’ll feature a honeycomb insert in the tip and tail similar to what is already seen in Salomon’s Rocker 2 series. The insert will be a welcome addition to the series, lightening up the tip and tail to provide lower swing weight and will likely dampen some of the tip chatter. Other notable additions will be Atomic’s new ARC technology on its Nomad series. The proprietary integrated ski/binding technology will allow the ski to fully flex through the entire turn and will do away with the dead spot underfoot where the binding doesn’t allow the ski to fully flex. This will provide excellent edge grip throughout the entire turn and will rusult in improved feel.

Upon my return, I’ll provide a detailed update with photos of product and insight on what’s hot. Until then, keep the drooling to minimum.

-Kipp Proctor

DEEP BLUE SKIES, breathtaking sunsets, incredible skiing and uncrowded runs were the standard this past weekend at Big Sky Resort. No matter where your skis took you, it always seemed like they were finding great snow underneath the sunny skies above.

It didn’t seem to matter who you spoke to; friends, co-workers, guests, patrollers and locals all seemed to all agree that the skiing was great! Reports from Liberty Bowl, Challenger, Southern Comfort, the bowl…you name it, were off the charts and I couldn’t agree more.

Running from shadows and chasing after fast-carvable-sunny-cruisers kept me occupied. Two spots that my friend Dylan and I found to be skiing particularly well were El Dorado and Upper Morning Star where you were able to lay-out high speed turns with plenty of grip underfoot. Then as if the skiing wasn’t good enough, we were graced with stunning sunsets each evening that set the sky on fire with reds, oranges, purples and blues.

Awestruck and thoroughly worked, it was another weekend to add to my continuously growing Big Sky highlight reel.

-Kipp Proctor

Ski Photo Credit: Anna Middleton
Skier: Dan Bartzick skiing Liberty Bowl