Top50 Ranches gives you an insight as to what it’s like owning and running Mountain Sky Guest Ranch!
Marketing Manager: Stacy Townsend
Ranch: Mountain Sky Guest Ranch - Montana, USA
What's the most important thing you have that brings guests back year after year?
80% of our guests return year after year for the family experience that we provide. As digital devices are abandoned, and warm and vibrant staff guide them through their ranch experience, deep bonds are formed within families. There is also a vast array of activities and adventure, gourmet cuisine, comfortable accommodation and sprawling facilities that make people come back time and time again.
Where do you see our industry going in 3 years, 7 years and 20 years?
We see the industry growing in popularity over the next 3, 7 and even 20 years. Many families are finding guest ranch vacations for the first time, and quickly realize it is an unbeatable all-inclusive family vacation.
If you could invest a million dollars into your ranch, where would you put it and why?
We would give it to our staff, who are the heart of the ranch and to our community. Throughout the year, our staff give back to the communities in which they live and work - through physical involvement and through grants made to non-profit organizations by the Mountain Sky Guest Ranch Fund. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for the residents of Park and Gallatin Counties in Montana, and we would love to put additional resources into our existing efforts.
Do you have a funny/odd/crazy story or anecdote from a ranch vacationer, or one from your own experience.
One of our guests said how she looks back and thinks it's so funny that they were worried whether or not their children would like it here, as the camp is wonderful, and all the staff members were great with them.
What new projects are you working on at the moment?
The Rising Sun Golf Course, added in 2011, has been an incredible addition to our activities list. As part of our all-inclusive packages, the course - designed by Johnny Miller - is exclusively for the use of our guests. Nine holes feature six tees each, so you can make it a quick round, or challenge yourself with an eighteen-hole loop at championship yardage. We have full sets of Callaway golf clubs, electric carts, a driving range, practice area and and indoor driving bays at the clubhouse, and best of all, the chances are high that you'll have the entire facility to yourself for a morning or afternoon!
We also have a youth leadership camp on the horizon, which has been designed to provide life-changing experiences for disadvantaged youths through wilderness excursions.