Darby's In-Between Weeks: From the Rifle Opener to the First Chair at Lost Trail

In Darby, the turn from fall to winter takes a few weeks, and in 2026 that stretch has a fixed start. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has already set the general deer and elk season for Oct. 24 through Nov. 29. The other end isn't on the calendar yet. As of today, Lost Trail Powder Mountain's hours page still says "Closed for the Season."

So the south valley's winter calendar has two anchors. FWP prints one months ahead. The other depends on snowfall at Lost Trail Pass, about 30 miles up US 93. Over the last few seasons the space between them has been close to two weeks, and the ski area's co-owner has said publicly that November snow isn't arriving the way it used to.

The Hunting Dates Are Already Printed

FWP posts the deer and elk calendar ahead of time, and the 2026 version leaves little room for surprises. Archery runs Sept. 5 to Oct. 18, so this is its final week. Youth deer weekend is Oct. 15–16. The general season opens Saturday, Oct. 24, and closes Sunday, Nov. 29. Muzzleloader season follows from Dec. 12 to 20.

Here's how those dates fit with everything else on the south valley's calendar between now and the week before Christmas:

Lost Trail's opening day is the only line in that table without a date, and only muzzleloader season might run past it.

Where Lost Trail's First Chair Has Landed Lately

The recent record suggests mid-December. KPAX reported that Lost Trail's lifts would start turning for the 2023–24 season on Dec. 14, 2023.

Last season was supposed to start earlier. A Glacier Country event listing had Lost Trail opening Dec. 5, 2025. After a dry, warm November, a statewide roundup from Lee Newspapers in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that Lost Trail had pushed back a planned Thursday opening to Dec. 11 after counting only about 6 inches of accumulated snow. The article doesn't print a year. Dec. 11 fell on a Thursday in 2025, which matches the season of that Dec. 5 listing. Co-owner Judy Grasser said even that date depended on the weather and described the mountain as being in "a holding pattern." In the same article she said:

"We used to get tons of snow the first part of November, but it's not happening now."

Set those dates against this year's hunting calendar and the gap is easy to measure. The general season ends Nov. 29. If 2026 opens on Dec. 11, like that revised plan, Nov. 30 through Dec. 10 makes 11 days with neither a rifle season nor a ski season. If it opens on Dec. 14, like 2023, the gap is 14 days. Neither date is a forecast, and the Dec. 11 date was a revised plan rather than a confirmed first day. Both still fall in the same mid-December window.

The 2025–26 winter ended up with 199 inches of snowfall by Lost Trail's March 30 snow report. The ski area called the season "a weird one." A strong December built the base, January brought weeks of high pressure and blue skies, and February delivered the powder. The last ski day was Sunday, March 29, the day after the March 28 Skiesta and its pond skim, according to Missoulian reporting republished by the MSU Exponent. That was one day later than the 2025 closing.

Why the Opening Date Waits on the Sky

Lost Trail's setup helps explain why its opening date tracks the weather so closely. According to the ski area's own snow report, it runs entirely off-grid, and the power comes on at 7 a.m. every day. It has five lifts, 69 trails and two terrain parks. The lifts run Thursday through Sunday, and the ski area also opens on major holidays. Its history page describes it as a family operation that has stayed with the Grasser family.

With a Thursday-to-Sunday schedule, even a modest snow delay costs a full operating weekend. In the Chronicle's roundup, both the original plan and the Dec. 11 replacement were Thursdays, the first day of Lost Trail's operating week.

The drive is in decent shape this fall. Montana Department of Transportation's Oct. 12, 2026 construction report lists active US 93 work at several mile markers, but none on the stretch between Darby and Lost Trail Pass.

The Season Pass Price Moved on Oct. 1

The pass calendar changed before the snow did. Lost Trail's spring and summer sale for 2026–27 ended Sept. 30, and the season pass page now lists its top tier. Here's the same pass across the three windows:

• Adult, 13–64: $500 from March 1–15, $600 from March 16 to Sept. 30, $700 from Oct. 1
• Child, 6–12: $300, then $350, now $400
• Senior, 65 and over: $400, then $500, now $600
• Children 5 and under: free in every window
• All passes: a one-time $5 RFID card on top of the price

An adult pass bought today costs $100 more than it did two weeks ago and $200 more than in the first half of March. The pass carries no blackout days for the holder. It also comes with five buddy discounts of $10 off a full-price ticket for a friend. Those become available Jan. 8, 2027, and can't be used over Presidents' Day weekend, Feb. 12–15, 2027. Discounts on rental demos also start Jan. 8.

Day-ticket prices for 2026–27 haven't been posted. The ticket page still shows 2025–26 rates and says those tickets expire at the end of that season.

The Lost Trail Ski Patrol's 55th annual Outdoor Gear Swap, a fixture of the pre-season, has also come and gone. It was held Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds in Hamilton.

What Fills the Gap in Darby

The town's own events calendar covers the stretch between the end of rifle season and the first chair. The Town of Darby lists its Christmas Tree Lighting and caroling for the first weekend in December. It's an evening lighting of the tree in front of the library, followed by carols and cocoa in the clubhouse. The town hasn't posted a 2026 date, but the first weekend of December falls on Dec. 5–6 this year. That's a week after the general season closes and at least several days before any recent Lost Trail opening.

The weekend before is busy up the valley. On Saturday, Nov. 28, the Corvallis Christmas Bazaar runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Corvallis High School Gym, 1045 Main Street. The Wolsky family organizes it. The Hamilton Downtown Association's 2026 calendar puts the Downtown Hamilton Christmas Stroll and Tree Lighting on the same day. The general rifle season ends the next day.

Hunters get one more stretch. Muzzleloader season opens Dec. 12 and runs through Dec. 20, so it lands in the same mid-December window as Lost Trail's recent opening dates. If 2026 follows that pattern, the last hunting season of the year and the first ski weekend will overlap.

Further out, the town lists the Darby Dog Derby, a mushing competition connected to the Bitterroot Mushers, with a winter date still to be announced. Lost Trail's buddy discounts and demo deals start Jan. 8. The Skiesta closes out the season in late March, as it did on March 28 this year.

Lost Trail's hours page will change from "Closed for the Season" when snow builds up at the pass. Based on the last two seasons in the reporting, that's more likely in the second week of December than right after rifle season ends.

At Montana Dream Homes, we keep track of the south valley's calendar along with its listings, because it shapes what a property near Darby is like to live in. If you're curious how life near Lost Trail and the West Fork changes from season to season, schedule a free consultation and we'll talk it through.