Big Sky or Copper Mountain?

Neither place has anywhere to swim. Big Sky has the cold, rocky Gallatin River and a few ponds that are just about warm enough for a paddle on a hot afternoon. Copper's Summit County reservoirs are snowmelt-fed and used for boating. Either way, summer water time means a lodge pool or a riverbank picnic.

Both offer resort food with a narrow range, but Big Sky has more regional character. You'll find bison, elk, Montana beef and Gallatin trout, a few ambitious hotel and lodge kitchens, and a local brewery culture. Some places shorten their hours between seasons, and Bozeman, an hour away, is where you go for variety.

At Copper Mountain the eating is plainer: burgers and chilli on the mountain, pizza and Mexican in the village, and many visitors cook in their condos. The restaurant streets of Frisco and Breckenridge are much closer than Bozeman is to Big Sky, so a good dinner out is an easier trip.

Neither is a place for sightseeing. Both are purpose-built villages of timber lodges and condos. Big Sky at least has the Crail Ranch homestead, a pair of early log cabins in Meadow Village. Copper has nothing like it, but the mining-era heritage of Breckenridge and Leadville is closer to Copper than Bozeman's museums are to Big Sky.

Evenings at both mean après-ski and an early night. Big Sky has a more Western flavour: sunny decks at the lift base, a few taverns in Town Center, and old Gallatin Canyon saloons with pool tables and a ranch-country crowd.

Copper's version centres on the village plaza, where weekend music makes for a bit of noise in the afternoon before things go quiet. Its advantage is Breckenridge, half an hour away, with a main street that stays busy later than anything near Big Sky.

Both are outstanding mountain destinations. The difference is in the kind of wildness. Big Sky has Lone Peak's steep, high runs, trails into the Spanish Peaks and the Lee Metcalf Wilderness, and fly fishing and rafting on the Gallatin. Above all it has Yellowstone, about an hour away, where bison, elk and wolves turn a ski or hiking trip into a wildlife trip.

Copper Mountain's strength is variety rather than remoteness. It has treeless bowls on the Tenmile Range, and several Summit County ski areas plus Vail are a short drive away. In summer you can hike the Colorado Trail, cycle the paved path over Vail Pass, or climb fourteen-thousand-foot peaks such as Mount Elbert.

Copper Mountain is clearly better placed for outings beyond the slopes. Breckenridge's Victorian main street and Leadville's silver-boom historic district are each about half an hour away. Vail and Frisco are closer still, and Georgetown's narrow-gauge railway and Denver's museums are on the way back to the airport.

From Big Sky the towns are fewer and further. Bozeman, an hour away, has the dinosaur fossils of the Museum of the Rockies. Virginia City's gold-rush boardwalks take about two hours, and most days out from Big Sky head into the landscape instead.

Copper Mountain is the easier family base. Its car-free village core and neatly separated slopes make ski days simple. Snow tubing, a mountain coaster and an indoor trampoline centre help when children tire of skiing, though its village sits at nearly 3,000m, so the first nights can be rough.

Big Sky's Mountain Village is lower, at about 2,300m, and in summer its zip lines, ropes courses and riding, plus bison in Yellowstone, are real highlights. The catch is the long drives and the lack of anything for rainy days.

Copper Mountain is simpler to move around. Walkways, lifts and a free shuttle tie the village together, and free county buses run on to Frisco, Breckenridge and Keystone, so you can manage without a car for days. Denver's airport is about two hours away, and winter traffic on I-70 can stretch that.

Big Sky is spread along about 15km of road. A free bus links its villages, but you can't walk between them, and Yellowstone or anything else beyond the resort really calls for a hired car on careful winter roads. The upside is that Bozeman's airport is only an hour away.

Neither is a place to shop. Both stock ski and outdoor gear and not much else. Big Sky adds Western-style boutiques and galleries of wildlife and landscape art. Copper has little beyond rental shops and resort clothing, but the Silverthorne outlet mall and Breckenridge's boutiques are a short drive away, while Big Sky's alternative is the hour-long trip to Bozeman.

Both are expensive, but Big Sky is the harder one on the wallet. Slopeside luxury sets its prices, and lift passes, guided fishing and meals all cost a lot. Staying in the canyon or in Bozeman saves money but adds driving.

Copper Mountain is somewhat easier than the grander Colorado resorts. Condos with kitchens and cheaper beds in Frisco or Silverthorne, linked by free buses, bring the cost down without tying you to a car.

Big Sky offers more to go and see. A small arts centre in Meadow Village puts on touring musicians, chamber music and theatre through the winter, and summer brings free lawn concerts in Town Center and a short classical festival.

Copper has no theatre or hall, only plaza bands on summer weekends and acoustic sets at après-ski. For a proper programme you drive to Breckenridge's summer classical season.

Big Sky is the better choice for winding down. Its big lodges run full-service spas with massages for sore ski legs, and natural hot springs are about an hour towards Bozeman.

At Copper, relaxing mostly means an outdoor hot tub facing the slopes, plus the pools and massages at the resort athletic club. The nearest hot springs are a long drive across the mountains, and the higher altitude can spoil sleep for the first couple of nights.