All Images: Courtesy of Showdown Mountain, Jacob J Creative
January’s snow storms have generally been kind to the American West as a La Niña winter rolls on. While snowpacks have been a bit unstable, resort skiing has been all time. Nowhere is this more evident than in Montana, where Showdown ski area received five feet in one week. The Little Belt Mountains aren’t usually known for copious amounts of cold smoke, but that hasn’t been the case this month.
“After last year, which was our worst snow year on record, getting five feet of snow in one week was an incredible surprise,” said Avery Patrick, Showdown’s Vice President and Marketing Director. “[This storm] officially gave us more snow this year than all of last season. The stoke and enthusiasm is back at Showdown and the energy out on the mountain was ALL TIME. People were so happy to be out playing in the pow!”



Showdown Montana is one of the 15 ski areas located in the Treasure State, many of which are small, independent mountains. These ‘mom-and-pop’ operations are the backbone of the ski industry. Areas like Showdown draw a passionate local crowd, with skiers driving in from near and far to escape the crowds and enjoy life away from the mega-resorts. But by no means is Showdown a sleepy resort, with four lifts, 39 trails and two terrain parks.
The resort has a strong reputation as a powder-filled mountain thanks to the fact that it’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, allowing snow to stack up. Open Snow is predicting over a foot of snow at Showdown this week (1/22 – 1/26), so if you’re in Southwest Montana, now is the time to grab your friends and hit the road.