Red Lodge Mountain History
In the late 1950s, an enthusiastic group of Red Lodge and Billings skiers formed Grizzly Peak, Inc. The group raised $250,000 through stock sales to develop a ski area. Red Lodge Grizzly Peak opened on January 2, 1960, with one double chair, a classic Riblet double now called Willow Creek, and three runs. Curt Chase recruited ski instructors and the ski patrol began duties aiding guests.
Grizzly Peak chair lift was installed in 1962 and a warming hut built on Grizzly Peak. Lazy M was cut from summit to base in 1964. In 1965 Grizzly Peak changed its name to Red Lodge Mountain. Two Poma lifts were installed in 1967. A beginner lift dubbed Miami Beach was added in 1973.
In 1977, Red Lodge added a rare Borvig double called Midway Express. It served no new terrain but allowed skiers to return to mid-mountain without having to ski all the way to the base area. With just five towers and a vertical rise of only 400 feet, this lift proved too expensive to operate and was abandoned in 2010. Most of the chairs were auctioned to raise cash and the sheaves, comm-line and haul rope were dropped to the ground and left. The terminals and towers still stand today. The Poma lifts were removed and Midway Lodge was built.
In 1980 the lifts were named, removing the numbers as identification. In 1983, the ski area added a long Garaventa CTEC Triple Chair to provide more out-of-base capacity. The Willow Creek lift was shortened. The Midway Lodge burned to the ground following a lightning strike in the summer of 1986 however was rebuilt that fall.
For years, the locals of Red Lodge had been skiing out of bounds into the Cole Creek drainage searching for perfect lines and untracked powder. In 1996, Red Lodge embarked on the ambitious $6 million, 800-acre Cole Creek addition with two Garaventa CTEC Stealth high speed quads. Cole Creek is a ski area within a ski area, 1,400+ vertical with some of the best steep skiing in Montana. Palisades is an equally large intermediate complex with its own high speed quad below Cole Creek. Unfortunately Palisades and Cole Creek do not have snow making capability and rely completely on natural snow limiting access during the early season due to lower elevation.
In 1996, Red Lodge Mountain opened its first snowboard park on Hancock Alley and attracted so many snowboarders that it was expanded and opened to skiers in 1999. In 1997, extensive snowmaking capability was added on the older half of the mountain. In 1998 the Beartooth Volunteer Ski Patrol was replaced with paid staff.
In 2007, JMA Ventures of California bought Red Lodge Mountain Ski Resort and Golf Course for approximately $14 million and continue to be the principal owners. The Magic Carpet was installed in 2008.
In July of 2010, the Cascade Fire threatened the mountain. At the time, Red Lodge’s fire chief noted, “The ski area is a very high priority for everyone involved. It’s a significant economic driver for the community six months out of the year. By keeping the ski area viable, we keep the community viable.” The fire burned to within 1.5 miles of Cole Creek but the mountain was spared thanks to the efforts of more than 700 firefighters and ski area employees, who turned on snow guns and dropped fire retardant on lifts.
In 2010, the company sold 280 acres of the ski area to a nearby livestock operation. This means the resort no longer owns the land under a portion of the Palisades high speed quad but holds a 20-year lease with two ten-year extension options.
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In 2023, Red Lodge began replacing the original Miami Beach double with a Garaventa CTEC high-speed triple that initially lived at Alta, Utah as Sunnyside lift. The new lift was deemed operational on 13 Nov 2023 and renamed The Stache Express and will continue to serve Miami Beach, however guests will now have better access to Palisades and the Lower Mountain off Tipi Trail.
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Refer to Skiing Red Lodge: Deadman’s Curve to Grizzly Peak, A History, 2010 by Mark Edwards and Ray Masters.
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Red Lodge Mountain has 2,400 vertical feet and 1,600 acres of ski terrain with a top elevation of 9,416 feet and base elevation of 7,016 feet. There are currently 70 marked runs comprising 19% easy, 25% intermediate, 36% advanced, and 20% most difficult. The longest run, Lazy M, is 2.5 miles long. There are six chairlifts comprising two high-speed detachable quads, one high-speed detachable triple, one attached triple chair, and two doubles.