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Ski Resorts You Can Experience Under A Moonlit Sky

by Dan Giesin | March 5, 2019

These Ski Resorts Offer the Unique Experience of Skiing at Night

Night skiing and snowboarding is not for everyone.
After all, after you’ve spent all day racking up vertical, busting pow or bashing bumps during the sunlight hours, you can hardly be blamed for sitting out the night session.
Plus, it can be darn cold.
Still, there is a certain aesthetic for taking to the hill when the sun goes down. The glow of the artificial lights on the snow — especially falling snow — lend an other-worldliness aspect to the rather mundane nature of making turns down the mountain. Features that are readily recognizable during the day take on more curious looks in the semi-darkness.
And because of diminished light, the runs seem a whole lot steeper.
So if you have a hankering to see what it’s like to ride under a dark star filled night , grab a pair of clear-lensed goggles, put on some extra extra-layering and check out these interesting night-skiing hot spots:
 

Brighton

With 200-plus acres and more than a dozen runs lit up, Brighton is the place to be if you happen to be looking for some evening excitement in the Salt Lake City area. The Big Cottonwood Canyon resort spins three lifts until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.


Buy Brighton Resort Night Skiing Tickets


 

Alyeska

Situated way up there near Anchorage, Alaska, it gets dark awfully early at Alyeska in the dead of winter. But the resort lights up 375 acres when the sun goes down, with three lifts, including the tram, providing access to 2,000 vertical feet of terrain until 9 p.m. 
 

Bretton Woods

The largest resort in New Hampshire has a splendid view of the Mt. Washington and the Presidential Range. Bretton Woods  also has 45 acres of lighted runs served by two lifts for your post-sundown recreation.

Bromont

Claiming to have the largest night-skiing operation in North America, Bromont has more than half of its mountain — 101 trails — lit up until 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 10:30 on Friday and Saturday. Eight lifts provide access to 1,300 feet of vertical at the Eastern Townships resort in Quebec
 

Grouse Mountain

For a spectacular view of Vancouver, head to Grouse Mountain, which is just a few miles north of town and 4,000 feet above. More than half of the resort’s 26 runs, served by four lifts, are lit up until 10 p.m. The city down below is absolutely glowing all night.
 

Keystone

The largest night-skiing operation in Colorado is at Keystone, where you find eight runs and 2,000 feet of vertical served by the gondola and (occasionally) the Peru Express until 8 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.
 

Schweitzer

Up in the Idaho Panhandle they like to do things a little differently, so Schweitzer doesn’t have night skiing; they have twilight skiing. Two lifts spin until 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, providing access to a half-dozen runs and about 1,000 feet of vertical.
 

Ski Chantecler 

About an hour north of Montreal, you’ll find Ski Chantecler, where they serve poutine at a slope-side bistro for free to lift-ticket holders on Friday evenings. This charming resort has two lifts and 17 trails lit up on Friday and Saturday nights.
 

Steamboat

With 1,100 feet of vertical and five trails lit up and accessed by the Christie Peak Express, Steamboat in northern Colorado has it rocking until 8:30 p.m. (9 p.m. in the springtime) Thursdays through Mondays.
 

Sundance

Robert Redford’s old stomping grounds at the foot of Mt. Timpanogos in Utah’s Wasatch range, Sundance has the majority of its “front” mountain — a half-dozen or so runs with 1,000 feet of vertical — lit up on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights until 9.
 

Sunday River

The slopes of South Ridge and North Peak at Sunday River — or about 140 acres of prime Maine real estate — are available to ride on Friday and Saturday nights until 8. Two lifts — the Chonodala and the South Ridge Express — provide access to about 1,000 feet of vertical.


Buy Sunday River  Night Skiing Tickets


 

Whitefish

The famed snow ghosts of northwestern Montana take on an even more eerie aspect during night riding at Whitefish, where three chairs on the lower mountain spin until 8:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

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