Bozeman, Montana has fast become a winter sports haven for the nation and even the world. Within the last two months, Bozeman has seen major steps forward in both its Alpine and Nordic ski reputation.
Bozeman was honored by National Geographic as one of the top 25 best ski towns in the world. That’s right, not the nation, but the world.
Bozeman shared the honor with towns such as Whistler, Canada; Chamonix France; Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy; Aspen, Colorado; and Zermatt, Switzerland.
According to National Geographic, Bozeman stood out as the adventure capital of the Northern Rockies. The magazine enjoyed the working town feel of Bozeman, as oppose to other ski resort towns.
But Bozeman still offers the best of both worlds, with its two very different ski areas. Bridger Bowl, the non-profit, local ski area with its intense vertical and the famous Ridge offers a more day-to-day feel. Big Sky, on the other hand, offers the family vacation route, wining and dining its patrons every step of the way.
National Geographic also pointed to Bozeman’s surrounding mountains. Places like Hyalite also offer great winter activities like skiing, snow-shoeing, hiking and ice climbing.
In other news, Bozeman’s Nordic reputation may fast improve, thanks to the hard work of passionate locals. This past month, a non-profit organization called the Bridger Biathlon Club has reached two agreements to buy both the Crosscut Ranch and Bohart Ranch Cross Country Ski Center. The organization plans on building a world-class Nordic Ski venue designed to attract everyone from locals to Olympic athletes.
The Bridger Biathlon Club bought Bohart Ranch Cross Country Ski Center with the intention of continuing and expanding its Nordic operations. The organization has also signed a 3-year lease and purchase agreement for the nearby Crosscut Ranch with Jackson Financial Group. Jackson Financial Group had purchased the 259-acre ranch in a March auction. Over the past 25 years, the Crosscut Ranch could have had many different futures. At one point, the ranch had been on the track towards becoming a 2,500-unit subdivision.
Now, with both areas combined, the new cross country ski area will become one of the better cross country areas around, with more than 500 acres of total land. The Bridger Biathlon Club hopes to raise 10 million dollars by Nov. 15th 2017 to finalize the purchase and improve the surrounding infrastructure.
The biathlon club has already installed the newest, highest quality biathlon range at Bohart to make the area into a state-of-the-art training facility for high performing athletes. Biathlon combines cross-country skiing with target shooting and the sport has seen a rise in popularity due to its recent exposure in Olympic broadcasts. The range at Bohart has 12 Olympic targets and two Paralympic targets.
After all the upgrades are completed, the cross-country ski area is on track to become a world class training facility, making the rocky west a much more viable option for Olympic winter sport training.
Now, with talks of a new, premier ice climbing/event center potentially being built at the Fairgrounds, coupled with the town’s recent indoctrination into the Ice Climbing World Cup circuit, Bozeman seems fast on its way to becoming the snow and ice sport capital of the Northwest.
The Bridger Canyon will now have Bridger Bowl and the new cross-country ski area literally a ski run away from each other (though probably an alpine one!). Coupled with Bozeman’s access to Big Sky and West Yellowstone, its hard not to see why Bozeman’s winter sport reputation has grown. Such a reputation can do a lot to attract visitors, athletes, students and families. Those looking to move to Bozeman may now be persuaded to make the plunge, now finding the area surrounded by such activity and buzz around winter sports.
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