Lone approval
BIG SKY, Mont. – This is the winter to book an exquisite few days of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing at Lone Mountain Ranch.
It’s the winter to splurge on the ranch’s sleigh ride dinner, indulge in an après ski massage and luxuriate under the thousands of stars twinkling down on the famous Nordic trails.
Lone Mountain, the southwest Montana Nordic resort that others could only try to emulate, will swing the ranch gate closed to the public as early as 2009.
In July, Everlands, an exclusive resort club, purchased the historic ranchlands of Big Sky, with a promise to maintain the current level of public skiing and lodging for at least two years and possibly three, according to ranch staff.
As it looks now, most of the 80 kilometers of groomed trails will remain open to the public even after Everlands transforms the ranch to a members-only private facility. That’s because the bulk of the trails amble across easements, private and public lands that allow the public trails.
The approximately 10 kilometers of ranch-owned trails may close to the public, although that’s not yet known.
“Very little will change for now,” says General Manager Ennion Williams, who has been at the ranch since last winter. “The intent of Everlands is to reduce human impact here.”
Lone Mountain accepts reservations up to a year in advance, so call now. Its popular cabins draw families that want to ski both disciplines – alpine and Nordic – or make that three, if you include snowboarding.
The ranch is six miles from two alpine resorts: Big Sky Ski and Summer Resort and Moonlight Basin. And the trip is free aboard a mountain shuttle.
While summer at the ranch is a weeklong adventure, winter guests can book one of the historic cabins or the Ridgetop log home for as few as four nights. Most stay longer to enjoy a variety of activities beyond the perfectly groomed cross-country ski trails.
Well-traveled guests note that few others locales share the sheer number of groomed kilometers, the sweeping views and cold, dry snow – Blue Extra, as the ski racers call the quality of snow on which they use Blue Extra kick wax.
“We’ve skied all over,” says guest Sally Sherman of Beverly Hills, Calif. “We’ve never found such consistent snow, fabulously groomed trails and friendly staff. It’s a slice of heaven here.”
Over the years, Sherman has met other skiers who all book the same week for an annual ski reunion.
“Even though our kids have grown, the group returns each year, sometimes with grandkids,” she says. “It’s been a wonderful, socially compatible group. We’ll all miss Bob and Vivian very much.”
Bob and Vivian Shaap purchased the 1926-vintage ranch 30 years ago and built it into a world-renowned resort.
“For some time we have been looking for a way to pass the Lone Mountain Ranch torch to a successor that would be likely to continue our heritage, the spirit and the quality operation of the ranch,” Bob Shaap says.
That heritage attracts a remarkable number of return guests each year. Last winter, says ranch employee P.J. Wirchansky, “We had 158 guests that had been at the ranch five to nine seasons, 76 that had visited 10 to 14 seasons, 18 that had visited 15 to 19 seasons, five that visited 20 to 24 seasons and seven guests who have been to the ranch 25 or more seasons.”
Winter visitors might waken to the crunching of hooves as the resident moose angles into the willow-cloaked riparian area for her woody breakfast.
A brief, snow-booted walk from cabin to dining lodge rewards guests with a lavish spread of their own: juices, whole-grain oatmeal, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes or egg dishes, toast and pastries and cold cereals.
“Why not indulge,” laughs one guest who takes a second pastry. “We’re skiing Siberia and Mongolia today. We’ll burn it off.”
The two intermediate-to-advanced trails loop upward and westward toward the alpine ski areas and offer fantastic views of Lone Mountain, an 11,000-foot peak. Some trails eventually rise more than 1,500 feet from the ranch headquarters base, at 6,700 feet. The 16-kilometer trip includes a zippy downhill stretch back to the ranch, where lunch awaits.
Buffet offerings include assorted salad and sandwich fixings and hearty soup plus a choice of hot dishes like beef or veggie lasagna, sweet-and-sour chicken or pork, plus fresh fruit and homemade cookies, cheesecakes and chocolate mousse for dessert.
The two-story stone fireplace emits enough heat throughout the log dining room to induce an afternoon nap before another trail trip. A few guests lounge in front of the fire, but most wander back to quiet cabins and private fireplaces.
The cabins, and the newer lodge called Ridgetop, offer comfortable, rustic Western-style furnishings. Some of the bedrooms have fireplaces or wood-burning stoves. Some can accommodate as many as four or five people in one cabin room while others are double cabins, two rooms with baths side-by-side under one roof.
Parked outside are skis, poles, snowshoes, sleds – some brought from home and others rented from the ranch.
“What we’ve loved about the ranch is that there are no televisions, no phones, in the cabins,” says longtime guest Sherman. “In fact, that’s what originally drew us to the Lone Mountain.
“I’d seen an article years ago in the L.A. Times, and what caught my attention was the lack of electronics. No one can reach you.”
The trails feel remote, too; in fact, the Lee Metcalf Wilderness edges up to the northern boundary of the trail system. The Spanish Peaks Wilderness is next door.
Yellowstone National Park’s northwest corner is a half-hour drive away, and numerous winter hikes or snowshoe trails in the national forests are within 10 to 20 minutes.
“We are still in our own little valley,” says Nancy Cooke, director of sales and marketing for the ranch. “Out on trails, it’s still remote.
“We still have the intimate aspect here, which is hard to find on the (alpine ski) mountain and down in Big Sky Meadow. … This little valley has not changed that much.”
While the skiing is certainly the biggest draw, other activities include snowshoeing, naturalist’s walks, evening slide shows and live music.
Fly fishing lessons and guided trips test the chilly waters of the blue-ribbon Gallatin River and its tributaries. The ranch received the 2002 ORVIS Endorsed Fly Fishing Lodge of the Year Award.
The ranch staff can arrange guided trips into Yellowstone aboard over-the-snow vehicles called snowcoaches, which are equipped with tracks (and great heaters). Guests glimpse the park’s wildlife – wolves, elk, deer, bison, moose, eagles, geese, swans and more – as they roam the 2.2 million acres.
There’s shopping at the well-stocked ranch store, and nearby in the community of Big Sky.
And, there’s the don’t-miss dinner at the North Fork Cabin, where all guests arrive via horse-drawn sleighs.
While the crew serves up prime rib cooked without electricity – wood cook stoves also bake the homemade bread and other goodies – cowboy entertainer Bruce Anfinson tells tall tales, plays his guitar and gets guests to join in on a song or two.
The main lodge dining room opens a few evenings a week for non-lodging guests who indulge in carefully prepared game – venison, buffalo and pheasant – or fish, steak and perhaps a vegetarian specialty. Cheesecakes, tarts, strudels and crisps are dessert showstoppers.
When Everlands closes lodging operations to the public to remodel and renovate the historic cabins and lodges, the Lone Mountain Ranch experience will become off-limits to all but a few who can afford the $600,000 minimum membership fee.
“We’ve been coming to Lone Mountain Ranch for more than two decades,” says Sherman. “We are so disappointed that the ranch will close to the public in two or three years, but we will continue to visit the Big Sky area to ski.”
Still, she says: “It just won’t be the same without the ranch as ‘home’ for a week.”