Big Sky Debuts New Double-Blue Rating For 2023-24 Season
A closeup of some of the re-rated single-blue and double-blue trails on Big Sky's trail map. Click to see the full new map.
UPDATE 10/5/2023: Updated to clarify that three single-black trails have been changed to double-blues for the upcoming season.
Big Sky’s terrain ratings are in for a slight overhaul for the upcoming winter.
The resort is adding a new double-blue rating, which will straddle its single-blue and single-black designations, to 15% of its trails. Approximately half of Big Sky’s outgoing single-blue terrain will be rebranded with this new rating. As part of the overhaul, a small minority of single-black trails will become double-blues as well, and a handful of green circle runs will be rebranded as single-blues.
This isn’t the first ratings change Big Sky has made in recent years. Back in 2019, the resort added the triple-black-diamond rating for its most extreme terrain.
Our Take
Big Sky stands out for its well-rounded slopes, uniquely catering to visitors ranging from beginners to tenured experts. That said, some of our testers did find a few of Big Sky’s green slopes to be harder than expected, especially off the Southern Comfort lift. Perhaps based on similar feedback, Big Sky decided to make this rating change.
It's important to highlight that Big Sky isn’t adjusting most of its trail ratings “downward” as part of this change. To put it simply, all but three of the new double-blue trails used to be single-blues, and the new single-blue trails either maintain their ratings or were previously categorized as greens. As a result, the resort’s double-blue rating will generally be easier than double-blues at resorts such as Jackson Hole and Deer Valley, as well as blue-blacks at pretty much any destination ski resort in the country.
One important exception to this rule is the westernmost Dakota zone. This especially remote mountain pod used to only offer single-black and harder terrain, but now that the Badlands trail has been downgraded to a double-blue, the area may attract more advanced-intermediate visitors in the coming season.
But ultimately, Big Sky’s terrain will remain largely unchanged for the upcoming season (although its lift network is another story). We expect the resort to continue to cater to the same clientele as in previous seasons.
For more on Big Sky, check out our full mountain reviews (both with and without tram access) and our Rockies resort rankings. Additionally, check out our Big Sky video review below.
