Big Sky, MT
March 12-19, 2022

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WSC and the Biggest Skiing America 2022

We had 42 slots available for our trip to Big Sky Montana, March 12-19, 2022.

Our trip had a rocky start. The night before our journey one of our skiers got ill and could not travel. We hoped that he would join us in a day or so, but that was not the case.

Our adventure began with a 5 AM American Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Charlotte, NC and then on to Bozeman, MT. Unfortunately, American Airlines counters and kiosks only open at 3:30 AM and we weren’t the only ones with a 5 AM flight!

What we didn’t know was there’s a rule that luggage and the traveler must be checked in no later than 45 minutes prior to flight time (4:15 AM for our group). Due to a mistake by an AA agent moving some of our group to another flight time because of this rule, upon trying to board the plane, we discovered the tickets for our entire group had been canceled because we’re all on the same record locator! After some investigation and negotiation with AA supervisors we were all rebooked on a later flight to Charlotte (AA was holding the plane for us, supposedly this does not happen very often) and fortunately we were still able to make the only connection to Bozeman. Whew!!!

Once in Bozeman, we quickly boarded our charter bus and had a smooth ride to Big Sky’s Huntley Lodge through the incredible scenery of southeastern Montana. We had a 30 minute stop at Albertson’s for some grocery and beverage shopping. Upon arrival, the hotel porters (a.k.a. “cowboys”) unloaded our luggage and quickly delivered it to our rooms and our week began.

Each day began with an extensive & delicious buffet breakfast at the Huntley. There were a few snowy days where we were able to shush through some light powdery snow and some bright beautiful sunny “bluebird” days too! Unfortunately, it was school break for Montana students, a big junior race was taking place and skiers came from other parts of the Rockies which had little snow, so this made the lift lines a bit longer at times and resulted in some crowding at lunch. But on the mountain, there was plenty of room and it wasn’t unusual to feel like you had trails to yourself.

Some adventurous skiers took the tram (one trip included for those with group lift tickets & separate payment for those with Ikon) to the top of Lone Peak Mountain to explore the bowls and black diamond runs. Tram prices varied daily between $80 to $100. Tree skiing was also popular. One afternoon we had a new adventure when there was thunder and lightning while it snowed which closed all the lifts, stranding skiers for 30 minutes.

As in many places, Covid limited public bus service and closed a couple of restaurants in the village. For our group event, we were transported via our charter yellow school bus to a private room for our delicious dinner at Buck’s T-4. We also celebrated 2 birthdays. On St. Patrick’s Day we had a festive Pizza Party in the village at Vista Hall and concluded our trip with a leftover party on Friday night in the Huntley’s sunken fireplace lobby.

On the morning of departure, the Huntley cowboys collected all our luggage from our rooms and loaded it onto our bus. Bozeman is a small airport, and the staff did a super-efficient job of checking in our group. Our flight home was uneventful. Alas, we did have two skiers suffer leg injuries of similar nature. We wish them a speedy recovery. Overall, it was a fantastic trip, exploring the vastness of the”Biggest Skiing in America” while reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

Trip Leaders:
Madeline Auman, Leader