Ski area projects mostly on schedule

Chairs 1 and 6 are ready to run, but Chair 2 will be delayed a few weeks

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

With a new name and $20 million in improvements, Whitefish Mountain Resort is primed to celebrate the area's 60th anniversary when the ski area officially opens Dec. 8.

An important improvement is the $5.2 million Chair 1 project. Fifteen workers from Doppelmayr C-Tech, of Salt Lake City, Utah, showed up this summer to replace the terminals, cable and chairs with brand-new components in what was called a turnkey project.

Mark Hazelby, a Whitefish resident who is usually around town in winter and gone all summer working at ski resorts across the continent, headed up the Doppelmayr crew. Hazelby was here in 1989 when Chair 1 was changed over from fixed-grip chairs to a high-speed quad.

All the equipment is in place, but a load test in mid-November discovered some problems.

"The guys at Doppelmayr assured me it was just a formality in the certification process," Winter Sports Inc. spokesman Donnie Clapp said, "so it came as a little bit of a surprise when they announced that the test revealed a few glitches that need to be worked out."

Clapp was confident Chair 1 would be running by opening day. Doppelmayr crews had a little "tweaking" to do, but "lift mechanics are not worried about opening day," Clapp said. A ribbon-cutting celebration is scheduled to take place at the base terminal at 9:30 a.m.

One hiccup in all that celebrating is that Chair 2 will not be ready by Dec. 8. Doppelmayr crews were delayed by all the extra work on Chair 1, Clapp said, and were expected to begin stringing cable on the lift by this week. The chair will definitely be running by Christmas, Clapp said.

"It's a surprise, but in reality, it's not a huge deal because Chair 2 has not traditionally been open at the beginning of the season anyway," Clapp said. "If you're looking for a creative way to spread this news, you can say what I've been saying: 'Oh my God, have you heard? Chair 2's not going to open until … when it usually opens.'"

The $1.6 million Chair 2 project called for re-aligning the lift to begin at a new skiers plaza near the bottom of Chair 1 and the top of Chair 6. New towers were installed, but the bulk of the equipment was the used high-speed quad terminals and chairs from Chair 1.

The chairlift project ran into problems early on after the Forest Service recognized the historical significance of the Rocky Mountain Chalet, home of the Hellroaring Saloon. As originally proposed, Chair 2 would run straight through the 58-year-old building, and WSI made plans to demolish the chalet this summer.

WSI officials said talk about removing the chalet had been going on for more than a decade. The chalet, which sits on resort property, was originally built with insufficient insulation and didn't lend itself well to lodging or office space, WSI explained.

The Forest Service spoke with the State Historical Preservation Office, in Helena, and by May had determined the chalet had historical significance. Rather than delay the Chair 2 project, WSI opted to move the chairlift. Locals were relieved to hear the Hellroaring Saloon will open again at the same location.

Chair 6 has also seen some changes. WSI crews moved the top terminal down to the skiers plaza next to Chair 1. That work is right on schedule, Clapp said.

With Chair 6's top terminal gone, the area was graded to enlarge the "ski-way" between Chair 2 and the Hellroaring Saloon.

One important change skiers will see before they even reach the ski area is a vastly improved road up the mountain. The $9.7 million Big Mountain Road project is nearly 100 percent completed, except for a few guard-rail end caps, Clapp said.

The upper two-thirds of the road was widened from 10-foot travel lanes to 12 feet with eight-foot shoulders. Several hairpin turns have been eliminated, which means a consistently steep grade without flat sections, but overall the road is safer, with room to pull over in an emergency.

Work on the 35,000-square-foot Day Lodge, which replaced the Outpost and is now called the Base Lodge, was not completed in time for last ski season, but the $11.5 million facility is now completely open and ready for skiers.

The lodge's third floor is level with Chair 6, making it easier for skiers to access the lift. In addition to a viewing lounge for guests, who want to watch skiers on the beginner slopes, along with expanded locker space, there will be a new MacKenzie River Pizza restaurant

There's also been changes to the upper parking lots. With a portion of the Birch Lot recently sold to Edelweiss Condominiums, WSI has decided to make Cedar Lot the new fee parking lot. Dogwood Lot will remain free, Clapp said.

"The parking situation should be much improved for locals, because with all the ticket sales, rental equipment and ski lessons located down at the Base Lodge, most out-of-town skiers will park down there," Clapp said.

The amount of parking at the bottom of the hill has remained the same, but a new entrance will make it easier for a shuttle to run a loop through the lower parking lots to the Base Lodge. A second shuttle will run between the Base Lodge and Big Mountain Village.

For more information, visit http://www.bigmtn.com.

New program offers free season passes to Whitefish fifth-graders

This year, the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation (FVSEF) is planning to offer a free season pass at Whitefish Mountain Resort to any local fifth-grader who does not already have one, according to Paul Coe, one of the individuals behind the outreach effort.

The idea was conceived by Coe, along with several other local parents, including Pat Carloss, David Dittman, Amy Eddy and Ron Matelich. Collectively, they have 12 children in the Whitefish school system, but none in the fifth grade.

"It's something I've thought about and bounced off of people for the past couple of years," Coe said. "I grew up in Hamilton, and I always really wanted to live in a ski town. Now that I do, I feel like every kid who grows up here should have the opportunity to appreciate what they're lucky enough to have right in their back yard."

Coe and the other parents, along with Whitefish Mountain Resort and the Whitefish Community Foundation, have made seed donations to FVSEF to get the program started. He hopes that more people will get involved and donate to the cause.

"My long-term goal is to have a self-sustaining, endowed program that provides season passes to every student at Whitefish Middle School and its alternatives," Coe said.

This year, FVSEF will give a season pass to every child in the fifth grade who does not already have one for this season.

The program will be open to students of public, private and home schools.

Students in the fifth grade should get a letter explaining details of the program in the next few weeks.

Coe hopes that this year's donations will allow the foundation to provide passes for all fifth graders next year, and that further efforts will allow the program to expand to other grades in the future.

"The idea is to reach out to those kids that would otherwise not be participating in skiing and snowboarding this year, and make it easier for them to get into it," he said.

Coe said he and the other parents approached Whitefish Mountain Resort about putting this together, and they were very proactive about making it happen this year.

The resort has earmarked some of their yearly donation to the Whitefish Community Foundation for the program, and will offer the passes to FVSEF at a reduced rate.

Coe serves on the board of directors of Winter Sports, Inc, the company that owns the resort, and was also involved in raising funds to build the skatepark at Whitefish's Armory Park. He has high hopes for this and other programs.

"I think Whitefish can be an example. I think we can show the way to other communities," he said.

For more information on the program, contact the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation at 863-9350 or Whitefish Mountain Resort at 862-2900.