Big Sky celebrates its 50th Anniversary in the 2023/24 season with a brand new Lone Peak Tram and a new pricing policy for riding it.
The old tram opened in 1995, big enough – or small enough – for only 15 passengers at a time, making it feel like an elevator with windows. On powder days, it could be a one hour wait to reach the double and triple diamond chutes and couloirs, including the famous Dictator Chutes.
Pricing was dictated by conditions and demand. On one of those blue-sky days after a knee-deep dump, it could cost close to $100 for a Tram-only lift ticket offering unlimited rides for the day. Which could be 5-4 rides, if you started early and stopped only to find and devour the granola bars squirreled away in your parka pocket or daypack for lunch.
The new tram is a high-tech wonder which can hold 75, with gi-normous floor-to-ceiling picture windows that add excitement to the view and the anticipation. Also new is the pricing – which will be cost per ride. How much is the question.
The Big Sky website says $10 to $40 per ride –
https://bigskyresort.com/lone-peak-tram-faqs
which will change “dynamically, based on volume, conditions and other factors”, much like airline tickets. So that knee-deep powder day still will cost more than the twenty-below wind-chill day in zero visibility fog (yes, I’ve skied Big Sky in both – haven’t we all). Rates will be posted daily, and not change during the day.
Season passes – including Ikon and Mountain Collective passes, and most Big Sky resort season passes including Twin Tip – do not include Lone Peak Tram. You’ll still have to purchase an add-on ticket to ride. There’s no information yet whether you’ll be able to pre-pay online – perhaps with the incentive of a discount – at base area ticket windows, at the base of the tram, or all three.
For other types of passes – it’s complicated.
Gold + Ikon Base and Gold passes have unlimited Tram rides, and Double Black Passes have 25 ski rides and 10 scenic rides pre-loaded on each individual’s pass.
Downhillers planning to ride the Tram without a Gold + Ikon Base, Gold or Double Black pass must enable Autocharge and provide a form of payment on their Big Sky Resort account. To create or update account visit shop.bigskyresort.com.
Check out the Big Sky video about the new tram.
As a senior skier who grew up in the western United States and now lives in Australia, this is a perfect example of why I now prefer to do my skiing in Europe. I can ski in the Italian Dolomites for less than $US 50 per day, or in pricy St. Moritz, Switzerland for about $US 50 (45CHF)per day, or the Arlberg area of Austria for this year’s senior season pass for 186 Euros. All of those areas have cable cars and funiculars that hold over 100 skiers with no per ride fees or dynamic pricing.