
Red Lodge Mountain
1,635 acres, 70 runs near Billings. Beartooth Mountains setting, Indy Pass access.
Red Lodge Mountain's summit reaches 9,416 feet, dropping 2,400 vertical feet to a base at 7,015 feet across 70 runs spread over 1,635 acres along the eastern front of the Beartooth Mountains, roughly an hour from Billings, Montana. The resort carries Indy Pass affiliation. Specific detailed lift-type breakdown beyond the resort's core network is not confirmed in available resort information, though the mountain operates a substantial lift system supporting its considerable scale.
Red Lodge Mountain's position along the Beartooth Front gives it a genuinely dramatic mountain backdrop, with the historic town of Red Lodge itself, established during the region's coal-mining era, adding character to the base area. Its relative proximity to Billings, Montana's largest city, and to Yellowstone National Park's northern reaches makes it one of the more accessible substantial ski areas in southern Montana. The resort's considerable 1,635-acre footprint places it among the larger Montana ski areas.
The ski area opened on 2 January 1960 as Red Lodge Grizzly Peak, a modest beginning with a single double chairlift, three trails and a small lodge. Grizzly Peak Inc., the founding company, raised roughly 250,000 US dollars through local stock sales in the late 1950s to fund the resort's development, reflecting strong community investment in the project from the outset.
The resort expanded steadily through subsequent decades, adding the Grizzly Peak Chair in 1971 and the Miami Beach Chair in 1973, followed by a Winter Sports Center and triple chair in 1983 and a replacement Midway Lodge in 1986. In 2007, JMA Ventures, which also owns Homewood Mountain Resort in California, purchased Red Lodge Mountain, bringing the resort under its current ownership.
Red Lodge Mountain sits above the town of Red Lodge on the edge of the Beartooth Range, with 70 runs across about 1,635 acres (662 hectares). The base is 7,010 ft (2,138 m) and the summit reaches 9,420 ft (2,870 m), a vertical drop of 2,400 ft (732 m). Advanced terrain is the largest share at 36%, followed by intermediate at 25%, expert at 20% and beginner at 19%. Three double chairs, two quads, a triple and a surface lift keep the network simple. Because the base is already above 7,000 ft, snow quality stays dry and the season runs long.
The older Grizzly Peak and Willow Creek sides hold groomed cruisers, including the long arcing Lazy M, and a mix of beginner and intermediate runs. The Cole Creek expansion adds an 800 acre drainage of steeper lines, with narrow canyon runs, bumps and glades served by high-speed quads. Locals once skied into it from outside the boundary before the lifts arrived. Red Lodge suits advanced skiers wanting steeps without crowds, as well as families and Indy Pass holders exploring Montana. Views over the Great Plains to the east and the Beartooth Range to the west make a good reason to slow down.
The 2025-26 season at Red Lodge Mountain ran through the winter months, with the resort's considerable 2,400-foot vertical drop and elevation supporting conditions across the season. Specific opening and closing dates for the 2025-26 season are not confirmed in available resort information.
Midwinter, from December through February, typically brings the most consistent conditions to the mountain's varied 1,635-acre terrain along the Beartooth Front. Given Red Lodge Mountain's roughly one-hour drive from Billings, Montana's largest city, the resort draws a substantial regional visitor base alongside destination skiers, aided by its Indy Pass affiliation.
As an Indy Pass resort, Red Lodge Mountain attracts visiting skiers holding that multi-resort pass in addition to its core Billings-area and regional Montana visitor base. The historic town of Red Lodge itself, with its coal-mining-era character, provides a genuine mountain-town base area experience for visitors throughout the season. Weekend crowds draw substantially from Billings given the manageable drive time.
Specific event programming beyond standard operations is not confirmed in available resort information. Since JMA Ventures' 2007 purchase, the resort has continued to build on more than six decades of development dating back to its January 1960 opening as Red Lodge Grizzly Peak. The mountain's considerable scale and Beartooth Front setting remain central to its appeal throughout the season.
Red Lodge Mountain sits along the eastern front of the Beartooth Mountains, west of the historic town of Red Lodge, Montana, roughly an hour's drive from Billings, with a base elevation of 7,015 feet and a summit at 9,416 feet across a 2,400-foot vertical drop over 1,635 acres. This setting places the resort within reach of Yellowstone National Park's northern reaches as well as Montana's largest city.
Red Lodge itself, a historic former coal-mining town, provides the resort's primary lodging, dining and mountain-town character, sitting a short distance from the ski area's base. Billings, Montana's largest city, lies roughly an hour away, providing a substantial population base within a manageable drive. Yellowstone National Park's northern entrance region also lies within reach of the area.
Montana Highway 78 and US Highway 212, the Beartooth Highway, provide access to Red Lodge from Billings and the surrounding region, with the resort itself a short drive further from the town. Winter driving conditions on these routes can include snow and ice, particularly given the substantial elevation and snowfall of the Beartooth Front. There is no direct public transport service to the resort.
Billings Logan International Airport, roughly an hour's drive away, is the nearest airport with substantial commercial service, making Red Lodge Mountain one of the more accessible larger ski areas in southern Montana for fly-in visitors.
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Halloween weekend brings a wet, windy storm to the Sierra Nevada. Our five-day forecast has Dodge Ridge on top with 19 in, followed by Bear Valley at 15 in and Mammoth Mountain at 12 in, with most of it landing on Saturday. A winter weather advisory covers the Tahoe Basin and Mono County until 7 AM Sunday, gusts could reach 47 mph and the freezing level swings between 4,900 and 8,700 ft, so some bases will see rain. A dry spell follows from Monday.

The Rockies get their first lift-served turns of the season early. Lake Louise opens Sunday 1 November, five days ahead of schedule, after a cold October and round-the-clock work from the snowmaking and mountain crews. Terrain is limited to Juniper Express Chair and Easy Street, with two small terrain parks and the beginner area for lessons. Opening-day tickets are over 60% off, with prices rising as more lifts open. First chair is at 9:30 am under the resort’s new lift hours.

A Tyrolean summit lift that has been carrying guests up the Kitzbüheler Horn since 1955 is on borrowed time. Its licence runs to 2045, but a new inspection rule has made refurbishment uneconomic, so Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel will spend around €15 million on a replacement on the same line. It should hold roughly 100 people and keep running in winds that would stop today’s lift. Building starts in autumn 2027, which makes this winter and next summer the last chances to ride the old one.

Niseko Village is replacing a lift from the early 1980s with an eight-person gondola, Tsugaike gets a six-person chairlift, Madarao joins the Ikon Pass and Togari opens Asia’s first private ski resort. Here’s what is actually new in Japan skiing for 2026/27, plus what is still a year or two away.

Colorado’s early-season dominoes keep falling. Arapahoe Basin opened on Wednesday, Keystone follows on Friday, and now Wolf Creek is joining in on Saturday 31 October, just in time for Halloween. A storm on 23 and 24 October left 20 inches of natural snow in the San Juans, and three lifts will turn from 9:00 am, covering about 30% of the mountain. Expect rocks, unmarked obstacles and open water, but also Local Appreciation lift tickets at $73 for adults.

Keystone is next. After Arapahoe Basin claimed the first chairlift skiing of the season on Wednesday, Keystone opens on Friday 30 October at 9:00 am with more than two miles of snowmaking-built terrain on Schoolmarm and Silver Spoon, plus free donuts, coffee and a live DJ. Last year the order was reversed, when Keystone squeezed in a three-hour afternoon session to beat A-Basin by a day. Snowmaking has been running since 15 October.

Beaver Creek is getting ready for the biggest Birds of Prey ever, and this time it is not leaving the snow to chance. Crews started making snow on 27 October with 16 newly installed automated guns on the lower third of the course, after last December’s warm spell forced a downhill off the schedule. Seven races across two weekends run from 3 to 13 December, the most the course has hosted since its 1997 debut, and the guns start themselves whenever the weather allows.

Winter has officially started in North America, and it is one blue run long. On Wednesday 28 October, Arapahoe Basin fired up the Black Mountain Express at around 10:30 am after a surprise announcement just hours earlier, becoming the first major North American resort open for 2026/27. Cold nights, a dusting of natural snow and a lot of snowmaking made it happen in the resort’s 80th winter. More terrain is promised as the snow guns keep running.
Red Lodge Mountain's lift network has grown substantially since the resort's January 1960 opening with a single double chairlift under the Red Lodge Grizzly Peak name, serving 70 runs across 1,635 acres along the Beartooth Front. Specific current detailed lift-type counts are not confirmed in available resort information, though the network has expanded considerably from its founding infrastructure.
The Grizzly Peak Chair, added in 1971, and the Miami Beach Chair, added in 1973, marked the resort's first major lift expansions beyond its original single chairlift, unlocking substantially more of the mountain's 1,635-acre footprint for lift-served skiing. These additions came during a period of steady growth for the young resort.
A further Winter Sports Center and accompanying triple chair arrived in 1983, followed by a replacement Midway Lodge in 1986, continuing the pattern of incremental lift and facility investment through the resort's second and third decades of operation. This sustained development reflects the founding Grizzly Peak Inc. company's community-backed investment model, funded originally through local stock sales.
Since JMA Ventures, which also owns Homewood Mountain Resort in California, purchased Red Lodge Mountain in 2007, investment has continued to support the resort's substantial lift network. Specific recent lift replacement or expansion projects beyond this ownership change are not confirmed in available resort information. The mountain's considerable scale, among the larger Montana ski areas, continues to be served by this decades-long pattern of lift investment.
More Red Lodge Mountain intelligence: trail map, snow report, webcams, resort overview.