The affluent have traditionally viewed real estate, even personal use real estate, as part of their overall wealth building strategy. During the past couple of decades, second home properties in Big Sky locations such as Spanish Peaks, Moonlight Basin and The Yellowstone Club have been purchased as much for their investment value as for their recreational benefits.    Second home properties have been viewed as a way to leverage one of the most volatile categories of real estate, the luxury resort home or lot. This leverage was a hands-down winner when new ski\golf communities were selling out in an evening “launch event” and, after going through a gut wrenching for the past two years, resort real estate, and especially Big Sky homes and land may be part of a sensible investment strategy. Capital is now flowing into inflation hedges as concerns about the dollar and euro currency push investors to seek wealth preservation. Commodity prices are booming and stock prices are ...

Chest Deep Powder Anyone? The November 2010 issue of "Powder" Magazine ranks the top 20 places in North America to "Live to Ski" with Bozeman, MT ranked #1. The magazine considered area population, the price of lift tickets and season passes, vertical feet of terrain available, annual snowfall and important things such as room rates and best bars.  Powdersays, "Bozeman is the perfect mix of ski town and skitropolis; it's more affordable that Jackson Hole, less crowded than Salt Lake City, and more of a real town than Whistler."  They also comment that the area, "lays claim to three blue-ribbon trout waters all within an hour's drive, three distinctly different yet exceptional ski resorts in Bridger Bowl, Big Sky, and Moonlight Basin, Yellowstone National Park, and boatloads of backcountry ski opportunities." The Next Generation of Powder Hounds at Bridger Bowl Powder comments on the sub-community that is Montana State University as well. ...

The Club at Spanish Peaks, Montana’s premiere private community, is the gateway to ski-in, ski-out access to the legendary terrain of Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin, a private Tom Weiskopf 18-hole Signature golf course, miles of private world-class fly fishing and allseason amenities including horseback riding, white-water rafting, hiking, biking and the world’s first national park Yellowstone.   LOCATION The 5,700-acre Spanish Peaks settlement lies on the slopes of Big Sky Resort in southwestern Montana between Bozeman and Yellowstone National Park in the heart of the Gallatin River Valley where Lewis and Clark once explored. Bozeman’s Gallatin Field Airport is approximately 50-minutes from The Club at Spanish Peaks.   SPANISH PEAKS DEVELOPMENT Launched in January 2004, The Club at Spanish Peaks has more than 5,700 acres, 70 percent of which are preserved as open space. The development ranges in elevation from 6,000 to 9,000 feet.  There are cu ...

r With thousands of breathtaking skiable acres dropping thousands of vertical feet on dozens of trails, all accessed by multiple high-speed lifts, the Yellowstone Club in the Montana mountains offers the finest conditions in the world. Yellowstone Club is reserved exclusively for the enjoyment and exploration of our Members, their families and their invited guests.            Yellowstone Club's private skiing facilities include:       Over 2,200 skiable acres 2,700 vertical feet Top elevation of 9,860 feet  300 inches of average annual snowfall Access to an additional 5,712 acres of public skiable terrain of the Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin ski areas, creating the largest contiguous skiable terrain in North America Pioneer Ski Lift Service: 3 Doppelmayr high-speed quads with bubbles on every other chair 1 Doppelmayr fixed-grip double chairlift 1 Doppelmayr fixed-grip triple chairlift Andesite ...

Southwestern Montana is dotted with a plethora of clear mountain stream and crystal lakes, and many of them are located a short distance the recreation centers of Bozeman and Big Sky.  The trouble lies not in the decision to visit these natural wonders but in which one to choose as the days destination.  A couple weeks back, my wife and I loaded up kids, car seats, stroller and camera and headed to Fairy Lake which is located in a mountain cirque in the Bridger Range north of Bozeman.  After exiting the asphalt we followed the Forest Service road approximately 7 miles to the campground, trailhead and parking lot.  The parking lot also services hikes for the North and Middle Forks of the Brackett Creek hikes as well as the trails to Sacagawea Peak, Hardscrabble Peak and the Bridger Foothills National Recreation Trail so there were more than a handful of cars present on this beautiful Montana day.  For you hardcore back country ski enthusiasts, this may be an area to place on your lis ...

  Tourism is arguably the main economic driver for Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley as a whole, competing with Montana State University for largest overall economic impact. In terms of direct, quantifiable economic impact on the Gallatin Valley, tourism generates more than $600 million annually, the result of upwards of 1 million visitors coming through every year. Moreover, not only is this sector prominent, but it is continually growing. According to the City of Bozeman, in 2008 there were more than 10 million visitors to the state of Montana, putting a combined $3 billion into our economy. In terms of jobs, the sector employs nearly 50,000 people across the state, a number that is projected to continually grow as tourism itself continues to grow. This huge influx of tourism is generally associated with the many amenities we enjoy here in Big Sky Country; they provide the necessary incentive for out-of-staters to come and put their hard-earned money into our local economy. The ...