Discovery Ski Area
Overview
Discovery Ski Area sits on Rumsey and Jubilee mountains in Granite County, Montana, inside the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest near Georgetown Lake and the town of Philipsburg. It’s on the west side of the Continental Divide, reached off Montana Highway 1, and it’s genuinely remote by the standards of most ski areas covered in this guide — no city of any real size sits within a few hours’ drive.
The mountain runs a 743.1 m vertical drop between a 1,742.5 m base and 2,485.6 m summit — about 5,718 feet at the base, 8,154 feet at the summit, and a 2,438-foot vertical in the units more familiar to a US audience — with 50 trails totaling 41.18 km. Eight lifts handle that terrain: seven chairlifts and a single magic carpet at the base, a lean lift network for a mountain of this vertical and trail count. The terrain splits with 20.31 km rated intermediate as the largest single band, 11.24 km advanced, 9.1 km easy, and 0.53 km novice — a mix that leans more toward advanced skiing than many similarly sized areas, consistent with descriptions of the two peaks running from gentler groomed terrain low on the mountain into expert-rated bowl skiing higher up. The longest run on the mountain covers roughly 1.5 miles from top to bottom, over a skiable footprint of about 2,200 acres (8.9 km²) that averages around 215 inches of snowfall a season. Fifty trails across eight lifts works out to better than six trails per lift, a high ratio that usually means several trails share a single lift line rather than each lift feeding just one or two runs, and the average trail length of roughly 0.8 km is well short of the mountain’s longest descent, meaning most of the network is made up of shorter connecting runs rather than long top-to-bottom pitches.
Discovery doesn’t run on a fixed daily schedule the way larger destination resorts do. Its own operating notes describe a weekends-only start to the season, with days and hours expanding as conditions and staffing allow through the winter, a scheduling pattern more typical of a community-run mountain than a corporately operated one.
What stands out about Discovery is less any single trail than its position relative to everything else. The three nearest airports — Butte’s Bert Mooney at 67.5 km, Missoula at 96.9 km, and Helena at 104.3 km — are all modest regional fields, and the nearest cities of any real size are Spokane, Billings, and Boise, each more than 350 km away. That isolation means Discovery draws primarily from Montana’s own regional skier base and destination visitors willing to route through one of those smaller airports and drive the rest of the way, rather than day-trippers from a nearby metro area. Philipsburg and the Georgetown Lake area serve as the practical lodging base for anyone staying overnight near the mountain.
Discovery isn’t affiliated with Epic, Ikon, or Indy, so lift access runs through direct ticket sales rather than a multi-resort pass, which is typical for a mountain of its size and location. Combined with the terrain split favoring intermediate and advanced skiing over a large beginner footprint, Discovery reads less as a first-time destination resort and more as a regional mountain built for Montana skiers and visitors already committed to seeking it out.
Key stats
Official website — Last checked 2026-09-13
Lifts by type
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| chair lift | 7 |
| magic carpet | 1 |
Runs by difficulty
| Difficulty | Distance |
|---|---|
| easy | 9.1 km |
| novice | 0.53 km |
| advanced | 11.24 km |
| intermediate | 20.31 km |
Maps
View official Discovery Ski Area trail map (PDF) →
Run & lift overview
Discovery Ski Area: 50 runs, 8 lifts. Generated from community-mapped OpenStreetMap data, not Discovery Ski Area's official map artwork. © OpenStreetMap contributors, OpenSkiMap (ODbL).
Typical conditions by month
Monthly conditions data for Discovery Ski Area is not yet available.
Lift tickets & passes
Discovery Ski Area has no multi-resort pass affiliations on record.
Getting there
Nearest airports
- Bert Mooney Airport (BTM) — 67.5 km straight-line
- Missoula Montana Airport (MSO) — 96.9 km straight-line
- Helena Regional Airport (HLN) — 104.3 km straight-line
Nearest cities
- Spokane, Washington — 353 km straight-line
- Billings, Montana — 370.5 km straight-line
- Boise, Idaho — 375.3 km straight-line
Also covered by
Where to stay
A dedicated lodging guide for Discovery Ski Area is not yet available.
Nearby resorts
- Lost Trail — 84 km straight-line, 535.4 m vertical
- Great Divide Ski Area — 89 km straight-line, 425.2 m vertical
- Montana Snowbowl — 102 km straight-line, 773.6 m vertical
- Big Sky Resort — 180 km straight-line, 1324.7 m vertical
- Bridger Bowl — 187 km straight-line, 592 m vertical
FAQ
- How big is Discovery Ski Area?
- Discovery has a 743.1 m vertical drop between a 1,742.5 m base and 2,485.6 m summit, with 50 runs totaling 41.18 km. Eight lifts serve the mountain: seven chairlifts and one magic carpet.
- Is Discovery Ski Area good for beginners?
- There's a reasonable beginner base for a resort this size — 9.1 km rated easy and 0.53 km novice, close to a quarter of the total terrain — served by a magic carpet at the base.
- Is Discovery Ski Area good for advanced and expert skiers?
- Yes, proportionally more than most: 11.24 km of the 41.18 km total is rated advanced, and Wikipedia describes the mountain's upper terrain across its two named peaks, Rumsey and Jubilee, as running from beginner groomers down low to expert bowl skiing higher up. The longest run on the mountain stretches about 1.5 miles.
- Where is Discovery Ski Area located?
- Discovery sits in Granite County, Montana, near the town of Philipsburg and Georgetown Lake, inside the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest on the west side of the Continental Divide. It's reached via Montana Highway 1.
- What's the nearest airport to Discovery Ski Area?
- Bert Mooney Airport (BTM) in Butte is closest at 67.5 km, followed by Missoula Montana Airport (MSO) at 96.9 km and Helena Regional Airport (HLN) at 104.3 km. The resort's data-designated gateway is Spokane International Airport (GEG), considerably farther at 358.4 km, reflecting how remote the area is from any major air hub.
- Is Discovery Ski Area near any large towns or cities?
- Not really — the nearest sizeable cities are all well over 300 km away: Spokane, Washington at 353 km, Billings, Montana at 370.5 km, and Boise, Idaho at 375.3 km. Philipsburg is the practical local base for lodging, being close to Georgetown Lake right by the mountain.
- Which ski pass covers Discovery Ski Area?
- None of the major multi-resort passes currently list Discovery as a partner, so tickets are purchased directly from the resort.
- Is Discovery Ski Area open every day during the season?
- Not always. Per the resort's own scheduling notes, it typically opens on weekends only at the start of the season, then expands to more days and longer hours as conditions and staffing allow through the winter.
Data sources
Last verified: 2026-09-15
Base facts from OpenSkiMap (ODbL), OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata (CC0), OurAirports (public domain) and GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). See /data-sources/.