Big Sky Resort has spent the past decade pouring money into lifts, mountain access and the overall guest experience. According to nearly 800,000 votes cast in one of the travel industry’s biggest annual reader surveys, the investment appears to be getting noticed.
“Fifty days until opening, and Condé Nast just confirmed what regulars already knew: this is the mountain for you.” -Big Sky Resort
Big Sky was named the best ski resort in the United States in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards, edging Deer Valley by one of the smallest margins imaginable. Big Sky finished with a score of 94.29, compared with 94.23 for Deer Valley and 94.13 for Aspen Mountain.
Snowmass finished fourth at 93.72, followed by Breckenridge at 93.71. Sun Valley, Telluride, Park City Mountain, Bretton Woods and Killington rounded out the top 10. Jackson Hole, which frequently appears near the top of national ski resort rankings, finished 12th this year.
Big Sky Climbs To The Top
The result continues a rapid rise for the Montana resort. Big Sky ranked No. 2 among U.S. ski resorts in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards before moving into the top spot this year.
“Over the past decade, Big Sky has set out to lead the transformation of the American mountain experience. This recognition belongs to our team and the community that brought Big Sky 2025 to life, and to the guests who have been with us every step of the way.” –Troy Nedved, President & COO of Big Sky Resort
Condé Nast says 798,867 votes were cast across its 39th annual Readers’ Choice Awards. Candidates are rated on criteria relevant to their category using a five-point scale ranging from poor to excellent, with those ratings converted into the scores used for the final rankings.
That means this is a reader satisfaction survey rather than an objective measurement of which mountain has the best terrain, deepest snow or most difficult skiing. Still, Big Sky’s rise comes after one of the largest infrastructure buildouts at a North American ski resort in recent memory.
The resort completed its decade-long Big Sky 2025 development plan last winter with the opening of the Explorer Gondola and Kircliff summit observatory.
A Decade Of Major Lift Investments
The Explorer Gondola replaced a fixed-grip double chair dating back to Big Sky’s original 1973 opening. The 10-passenger gondola travels from Mountain Village to the Bowl, where passengers can connect directly to the Lone Peak Tram and continue to the 11,166-foot summit.
The lift can carry 2,850 passengers per hour and features 83 cabins with heated seats and floor-to-ceiling windows. Its opening also created a continuous lift connection from the resort’s base to Lone Peak for both skiers and pedestrians.
At the summit, Kircliff provides a glass-enclosed observation area with views across three states and two national parks, including Yellowstone and Grand Teton. The project completed a long stretch of lift and infrastructure work that also included the replacement of the Lone Peak Tram and several new high-capacity chairlifts.
Big Sky currently lists 5,850 acres of skiable terrain, 4,350 vertical feet, 320 named runs and 40 chairlifts and surface lifts. The resort reports an average of about 400 inches of snowfall annually.
A New Chapter For Big Sky
The ranking arrives just as Big Sky heads into its first full winter with the Explorer Gondola and Kircliff summit observatory in operation.
Both opened in December 2025, completing the resort’s decade-long Big Sky 2025 development plan and giving skiers a new lift connection from Mountain Village toward Lone Peak. The upcoming 2026-27 season will be the first time those projects are available from opening day onward.
Big Sky is scheduled to open Nov. 25.
For a resort that has spent years reshaping its lift network and mountain access, the Condé Nast Traveler ranking gives Big Sky another high-profile marker of how much the experience has changed. This winter, guests will get their first full-season look at the finished product.
