The result of avalanche Mitigation around the Bone Crusher trail. Credit: Big Sky Resort

Big Sky, Montana A surprisingly large avalanche during mitigation today at Big Sky Resort led to a rope evacuation of one of the ski resort’s most popular chairlifts.

A short film from a few years ago detailing what it takes to open Big Sky.

Today, ski patrollers were conducting avalanche mitigation before opening up the lifts. They were doing work on Bone Crusher when a large avalanche occurred. This avalanche slid down into the top terminal area of the Swift Current Six chairlift. Luckily, no one was caught by the slide. Some employees were on the chairlift though, so seven of them had to be saved via rope evacuation. On the bright side, they had the bubble covers and heated seats to keep them warm.

“This morning’s events reinforce why we conduct thorough avalanche mitigation work before opening to the public,” said Tom Marshall, Big Sky Resort’s general manager of mountain experience. “Our ski patrol and mountain operations teams executed their safety protocols while managing the situation professionally and efficiently.”

For now, the Swift Current Six lift remains closed in order to shovel out the area and inspect the lift to scope out any potential issues. To access the upper mountain terrain, you can either connect from the Mountain Village by going from the Explorer to the Challenger lifts, or you can head over to the Madison base area.

Update 2/6/25: The Swift Current Six reopened today for its normal operating hours following cleanup of the area around the top terminal.

Image/Video Credits: Big Sky Resort

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