Moonlight Basin is a private club in southwestern

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, located in the Madison Range of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

in the resort village of Big Sky. It became part of

Big Sky Resort Big Sky Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located in southwestern Montana in Madison County. An hour south of Bozeman via U.S. Highway 191 in Big Sky, Montana, it is the second-largest ski resort in the United States b ...

in October 2013 when it, along with ski terrain within the Club at Spanish Peaks, were bought and merged into Big Sky Resort, making it one of the largest single ski resorts in the United States, with 5,750 acres (2,330 ha) of terrain and over 30 ski lifts. Moonlight Basin features a variety of skiable area and a number of amenities, including two lodges and a golf course.

Resort history

The resort's land was purchased in 1992 from Big Sky Lumber Company and began as Moonlight Basin Ranch, a real estate development on the north edge of the adjacent

. The ranch's original 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) were purchased by partners Lee Poole and Joe Vujovich of nearby

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

, as well as Keith Brown of

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 Unit ...

. They bought the land for $6.5 million from the Big Sky Lumber Company, a real estate development company created by

Yellowstone Club The Yellowstone Club is a private residential club, ski resort, and golf resort located in Madison County, just west of Big Sky, Montana. It is rated among the top 10 lifestyle estates in the world. History Real estate developer Tim Blixseth ...

founder

Tim Blixseth Timothy Lee Blixseth (born 1950) is an American real estate developer, record producer, songwriter and timber baron. He was a co-founder of the Yellowstone Club in Montana. In 2006, Blixseth was featured in the Forbes 400 List of wealthiest A ...

and partners Mel and Norm MacDougal. The Moonlight Basin Ranch property sale was part of the 165,000 acres (67,000 ha) that Blixseth and the MacDougal brothers purchased from

Plum Creek Timber Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc. was a timberland owner and manager, as well as a forest products, mineral extraction, and property development company, until it merged with Weyerhaeuser Company. It was headquartered in Suite 3100 at 601 Union ...

for $27.5 million earlier in 1992. Moonlight Basin opened as an independent

ski area A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...

in December 2003 on the north face of Lone Mountain. The 11,166 foot (3403 m)

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

can be accessed by the Lone Peak Tram, part of Big Sky Resort. The resort, which was built completely on private land, is adjacent to the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area and the

in the

Madison River The Madison River is a headwater tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 183 miles (295 km) long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana forms the Missouri River. Th ...

drainage in Madison County. The Big Sky Resort, also on private land, is in the

Gallatin River The Gallatin River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 120 mi (193 km long), in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana. It is one of three rivers, along with the Jefferson and Madison, that converge near Three Forks ...

drainage which drains into Gallatin County. Moonlight Basin features a wide variety of terrain, the most extreme being the Headwaters Bowl. These steep chutes and gullies are on the north face of Lone Mountain, and can be hiked to from the Headwaters lift (opened in December 2005) or Big Sky's Challenger lift, both of which unload at just under 10,000 feet (3,048 m)

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

. The resort also features a number of open bowls, tree skiing, moguls, long groomers, and beginner runs. A full-day adult lift ticket for the 2008-2009 season was $39 (for reference, the full-day pass price for the 2020-2021 season averaged around $175). Initially, visitors could only ski the Moonlight Basin side; if they wanted access to Big Sky, they were required to buy a separate ticket. This changed in 2005, when Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin launched their "Biggest Skiing in America" deal, which gave visitors access to both resorts with the purchase one lift ticket (or season pass). The primary lift at Moonlight Basin is the Six Shooter, a high speed six-person

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. Th ...

that climbs 1,850 vertical feet (564 m) from the base. The Headwaters chairlift connects at the top of Six Shooter after a short hike, rising another 685 feet (209 m), for a total of 2,535 feet (772 m) of lift-served vertical rise from the 7,000-foot (2,134 m) base. The other upper lift is the Lone Tree quad, a four-person chair that gives access to more advanced-level terrain northwest of the Headwaters Bowl. The two original chairlifts at Moonlight Basin, Iron Horse & Pony Express, were installed by Moonlight Basin Ranch in the mid-1990s before it was a stand-alone ski area. The lifts were operated by the Big Sky Resort. Moonlight Basin is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, connecting two sections of the

Lee Metcalf wilderness The Lee Metcalf Wilderness is located in the northern Rocky Mountains in the U.S. state of Montana. Created by an act of Congress in 1983, this rugged alpine wilderness is divided into four separated parcels typified by complex mountain topography: ...

. It forms a

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

for elk migration and

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

habitation. As such, the parent company of the ski resort, Moonlight Basin Ranch, has committed a significant percentage of its land holdings to

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

Bankruptcy and merger

Poole, who had become the sole owner of Moonlight Basin after buying his partners' shares, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009. The reorganized property reopened in 2010 as Moonlight Basin Ranch LP, but remained under bankruptcy protection while proceedings continued in Montana Bankruptcy Court with principal debtor

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, ...

Holdings. On October 1, 2013,

Boyne Resorts Boyne Resorts is an owner and operator of ski and golf resorts in the United States. The company employs over 7,000 full-time and seasonal staff. It operates 13 resort properties: 10 ski resorts and 11 golf courses. The company, based in ...

and the

(

CrossHarbor Capital Partners CrossHarbor Capital Partners is an American investment firm, specializing in private equity, based in Boston. CrossHarbor Capital Partners develops and manages private equity investment products in three principal business areas: real assets, ...

) announced that they had acquired the assets to Moonlight Basin Resort. The two companies had just jointly-purchased the then-bankrupt Spanish Peaks Mountain Club for $26.1 million dollars that July. Following the purchase, Boyne announced that Moonlight Basin and Big Sky Resort would merge. The new resort would offer more than 5,750 acres of skiable terrain, 4,350 vertical feet, and 38 lifts, making it one of the biggest ski resorts in America.

Activities and amenities

Moonlight Basin offers golf on a

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

-designed private

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

known as The Reserve at Moonlight Basin, which opened in 2016. The par-72 layout is 7,800 yards (7,132 m) at an average elevation of 7,500 feet (2,286 m). A spa, fine dining, and a four hole short course have since been added. Feb 1, 2009 - Lone Peak in Big Sky, Montana

Feb 1, 2009 - Lone Peak in Big Sky, Montana

There are two lodges on the Moonlight Basin-side of the resort: the members-only Moonlight Lodge, and the Madison Lodge, accessible from the Madison Base Area. The former went private in 2017, though the Madison Lodge continues to be open to all guests. The Madison Base Area is home to a ski school, a restaurant, a rental shop, and a gift store. Another members-only lodge is currently under construction in the Ulery's Lake neighborhood, scheduled to open sometime in 2021.

Resort statistics

* Total lifts: 7 (6 chairlifts, 1 conveyor) * Total skiable area: * Summit Elevation: * Base Elevation: * Mapped Trails: 90 * Longest run: * Average annual snowfall:

Resort history

Bankruptcy and merger

Activities and amenities

Resort statistics

See also

References

External links