SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., Aug. 25, 2016—An ambitious, top-to-bottom enhancement project called “Big Sky 2025” with an anticipated price tag of $150 million is underway at Big Sky, Mont.

Over the next decade, the Boyne Resorts-owned property plans to install 12 new or upgraded lifts, expand its Mountain Village, add activities, and create new dining options at the mountain. Off-mountain, Big Sky aims to build affordable housing and add more frequent non-stop flights into Bozeman from more cities.

Big Sky 2025 is set to be a phased project, and the initial 2015 - 2017 phase is already in motion. The first on-mountain improvements include replacing the Lone Peak Triple with a high-speed six-passenger bubble chair with heated seats. It will cut the previous ride time in half, to three minutes. The Challenger double chair is being replaced by a fixed-grip triple that will have a conveyer system at the loading area. Both are Doppelmayr lifts, with installation scheduled to be complete by this winter. The resort also plans to add night skiing and Mountain Village upgrades by 2017.

The second phase, spanning 2018 – 2021 or so, includes the installation of four new lifts—two six-passenger bubbles, a gondola, and another high-speed chair—one of which will serve 4,500 feet of vertical. Other plans foresee a “high alpine zip tour” and expanded on-mountain and Village dining, snowmaking, and lodging.

For 2022 “and beyond,” plans call for five more new lifts or lift upgrades, including a capacity upgrade for the Lone Peak Tram. Additional components of this phase include a mountain coaster, and continued expansion of lodging, dining, and snowmaking.

In a press release, the resort pointed to even bigger investments in the surrounding area: “Big Sky 2025 helps support the near-future investment of over $1 billion in the community by the resort's development partners and others.” No further details were provided, but if that kind of commitment is being made, the community of Big Sky has a lot to look forward to.

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