Big Mountain posts record summer visits

Whitefish Mountain Resort recorded its busiest summer on record this year, and for the first time in history made a profit in July and August.

“This summer was exceptional,” resort spokesman Donnie Clapp said. “July was the first non-winter month we know of that was in the black operationally. August was the second. We set a precedent, then repeated it.”

The resort has made substantial strides recently in attracting a portion of tourists visiting Glacier National Park to make a day trip to Big Mountain. With seven summer activities available, it’s easy to entice an entire family to make the drive from the Park, Clapp explained.

Every attraction on the mountain saw an up-tick in traffic from last summer. The alpine slide was easily the most popular in terms of volume, with 55,604 rides. Scenic lift rides weren’t far behind at 46,889.

“The lift ride is one of our strongest products,” Clapp said. “As people come up for the more exciting attractions, they also go on the lift ride to the summit for the views and lunch on top of a beautiful mountain.”

Zip line tours were up over last summer by about a thousand riders — about 11,000 zip-line tours were taken. Clapp noted that the expanded zip-line tour, with two more spans than last summer, likely bumped interest locally.

“We benefited from people who rode the zip lines last year and were excited to try the new lines,” he said.

The resort also offered more zip-line tours, with as many as 14 groups per day at the season’s peak in July.

The Walk in the Treetops natural attraction made a surprise rebound after its numbers dropped last summer due to competition with the zip lines. This summer, the resort implemented a scheduling change to make it easier for visitors to both ride the zip lines and take the Treetops tour on the same day. Clapp said the resort will continue to improve scheduling conflicts for next summer.

While all of the attractions were busier, mountain biking had the largest gain from last summer. There was a 73 percent increase in day-use mountain biking, Clapp explained, and pass-holder use was way up, too.

“We’ve put in a lot of hard work over the past three years on our mountain bike trails,” Clapp said.

Sections of the summit tail were rebuilt this year, and a beginner trail near the Base Lodge was constructed. The Runaway Train downhill trail was also improved and expanded.

Clapp said the resort plans to progress its mountain biking opportunities in the coming years.

“We’re still in the infant stages of mountain biking on Big Mountain,” he said. “It’s really exciting because we see it as a future cornerstone of our operations.”

The resort also helped put a number of valley resident to work this summer. More than 50 employees were added to the resort’s payroll in order to keep up with the additional visitor traffic.

Two full-time, year-round jobs also were created for the ski and snowboard school director and ski patrol director to manage the zip lines. These jobs were previously seasonal.

New seasonal summer positions included 16 full-time and two part-time employees to work Chair 6 and Chair 9 for the alpine slide and zip lines. Twenty-two part-time guides were employed to run the expanded zip line tours, two full-time employees were in the information center, bike patrol added one position, and food and beverage hired four full-time and five part-time positions.

Whitefish Mountain Resort has sold nearly 7,500 winter season passes this year — within a few dozen of matching the high-water mark set in 2008. The resort expects to sell an additional 500 passes before the end of the year.

“We’re very excited about that number,” resort spokesman Donnie Clapp said. “Historically, after a below-average snow year, we see a decrease in pass sales. We are more than happy to see an increase.”

Big Mountain accumulated 173 inches of snow last winter, about 125 inches below average. With a cold and snowy La Nina winter predicted this year, Clapp said it’s likely pass sales were boosted in part by the forecast.

“I know that I’m excited,” Clapp said.

Most of the passes were sold to local skiers, with about 10 percent of the Flathead Valley holding a pass.

“That’s much higher than most resorts can claim,” Clapp said. “We’re proud and thankful for that. The locals are our lifeblood and are what make this place so special and unique.”

Clapp noted that the resort’s marketing mantra of “value” helped keep the pass numbers up this season, too. The adult price for a pass increased by only $15 over last year to $550.

In comparison, an adult unlimited pass at Big Sky Resort costs $1,399, while an adult pass at Schweitzer Resort in Sandpoint, Idaho, is $699.