page_title: Montana
section_title: Winter sports
hierarchical_section_title: Montana / Culture / Outdoor recreation / Winter sports
caption_attribution_description: Photo of a resort at Big Sky, Montana.
context_page_description: Montana is a state in the Northwestern United States. Montana has several nicknames, although none are official, including "Big Sky Country" and "The Treasure State", and slogans that include "Land of the Shining Mountains" and more recently "The Last Best Place".
  Montana is the fourth-largest in area, the 8th least populous, and the third-least densely populated of the 50 U.S. states. The western half of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller mountain ranges are found throughout the state. In all, 77 named ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains. The eastern half of Montana is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands. Montana is bordered by Idaho to the west, Wyoming to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to the north.
  The economy is primarily based on agriculture, including ranching and cereal grain farming. Other significant economic resources include oil, gas, coal, hard rock mining, and lumber. The health care, service, and government sectors also are significant to the state's economy.
  The state's fastest-growing sector is tourism.
context_section_description: Both downhill skiing and cross-country skiing are popular in Montana, which has 15 developed downhill ski areas open to the public, including:
  Bear Paw Ski Bowl near Havre
  Big Sky Resort in Big Sky
  Blacktail Mountain Ski Area near Lakeside
  Bridger Bowl Ski Area near Bozeman
  Discovery Ski Area near Philipsburg
  Great Divide Ski Area near Helena
  Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area off Interstate 90 at the Montana-Idaho border
  Lost Trail Powder Mountain near Darby
  Maverick Mountain Ski Area near Dillon
  Montana Snowbowl near Missoula
  Red Lodge Mountain Resort near Red Lodge
  Showdown Ski Area near White Sulphur Springs
  Teton Pass Ski Area near Choteau
  Turner Mountain Ski Resort near Libby
  Whitefish Mountain Resort near Whitefish
  Big Sky Resort and Whitefish Mountain Resort are destination resorts, while the remaining areas do not have overnight lodging at the ski area, though several host restaurants and other amenities.
  Montana also has millions of acres open to cross-country skiing on nine of its national forests and in Glacier National Park. In addition to cross-country trails at most of the downhill ski areas, there are also 13 private cross-country skiing resorts. Yellowstone National Park also allows cross-country skiing.
  Snowmobiling is popular in Montana, which boasts over 4,000 miles of trails and frozen lakes available in winter. There are 24 areas where snowmobile trails are maintained, most also offering ungroomed trails. West Yellowstone offers a large selection of trails and is the primary starting point for snowmobile trips into Yellowstone National Park, where "oversnow" vehicle use is strictly limited, usually to guided tours, and regulations are in considerable flux.
  Snow coach tours are offered at Big Sky, Whitefish, West Yellowstone and into Yellowstone National Park. Equestrian skijoring has a niche in Montana, which hosts the World Skijoring Championships in Whitefish as part of the annual Whitefish Winter Carnival.
caption: The Big Sky Resort
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