Beartooth Basin Summer Ski Area — North America’s only summer-only ski area — has confirmed it will remain open through June 28, wrapping up another short but sweet season in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains. The ski area sits just off the Beartooth Highway near the Wyoming–Montana border at roughly 10,900 feet (3,300m) and operates entirely within a narrow early-summer weather window dependent on access via the mountain pass. The announcement brings a close to Beartooth Basin’s 64th summer ski season, one of the most unique and weather-dependent operations in North American skiing.
Beartooth Basin opened on May 25 this year, following the seasonal clearing of the Beartooth Highway, the high-elevation route linking Red Lodge and Cooke City near Yellowstone National Park. With a closing day of June 28 and a few days in mid-June where the resort was closed, that takes this year’s season to around 30 days. While this may not sound like a lot, it is a significant improvement to past years. In 2022 and 2024 the ski area did not open at all due to insufficient snowpack. In 2023 it opened but closed by mid-June after roughly two and a half weeks. In 2025 it opened May 28 and closed June 15 after operating for just 18-day season.
The ski area offers roughly 600 acres of lift-served terrain on the Twin Lakes Headwall, serviced by two high-speed platter lifts. Terrain ranges from 15-degree cruising pitches to 50-degree steep alpine faces, making it a training ground for racers and a playground for freeride-oriented skiers and snowboarders. Beyond the lifts, the surrounding zone provides an additional 3,000 vertical feet of shuttled or hike-in backcountry skiing, giving the area a much larger footprint than its surface lifts alone suggest.
The ski area was originally established in the mid-1960s by Austrian-American race coaches as a summer alpine training ground. The founders, Pepi Gramshammer, Erich Sailer, and Anderi Molterer, established what was to be known as the Red Lodge International Ski and Snowboard Camp. In the late 90s, the trio decided to sell the ski area to its new owners, who opened it up to the public. The newer ownership group has changed a bit over the years, but is now majority-controlled by Austin Hart, Justin Modroo, Kurt Hallock, and David Leuschen.
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