Big Sky, MT (Monday, May 23, 2005) - If there’s one ingredient necessary for success in the ski industry – beyond snow, of course – it’s flexibility.

So when the final engineering study for Moonlight Basin’s new “The Headwaters” lift showed that the terrain was too steep to successfully “land” the surface lift the resort planned to install, Moonlight Basin simply decided to install a double chairlift in its place.

“The Headwaters is located in some of the steepest in-bounds terrain in the Rockies,” said Moonlight Basin CEO Burt Mills. “There just wasn’t enough room at the top.”

But there’s enough room to unload a chairlift, so that’s what the resort will install. The new ski lift will serve more than a dozen chutes in The Headwaters, a massive glacial cirque previously accessible only to those willing to hike up. The new chair will increase lift-served vertical at Moonlight Basin to 2,720 feet.

In its first year, the chairlift will transport only about 60 passengers per hour to The Headwaters, and getting to the base of the lift will require skiers and riders to engage in a short uphill hike. Some hiking at the top will also be required to reach many of the chutes.

“Even with the new lift, it will still require some effort to get up into The Headwaters,” Mills said. “That’s intentional. Limiting capacity has been part of the plan since the beginning. We want The Headwaters to be a place where accomplished skiers and riders can enjoy a uniquely challenging, uncrowded experience.”

Mills added that in keeping with the resort’s philosophy of protecting viewscapes and minimizing the visual impact of lifts and trails, the new lift’s base will be hidden in a copse of trees. “Unless you’re riding on it, it will be difficult to see the lift from just about anywhere in the region,” he said.

In 2004, Moonlight Basin won a Silver Eagle environmental award for its programs limiting visual impact at ski areas.

Other improvements for next season at the Montana ski and snowboard resort include new trails and glades within the existing resort network, the majority of which will be in the region served by the Lone Tree Quad chairlift, which opened for the first time during the 2004-2005 ski season.

“We’re looking to add approximately 30 acres of new trails, and improve some terrain already open for skiing,” said Mills.

The resort will also expand its mid-mountain Madison lodge area, and install additional parking for day visitors.