Resort sets record for skier visits

A steady flurry fell Sunday morning at

Whitefish Mountain Resort, denoting a fitting end to a season that

was defined by the mounds of snow piled up all across the ski

area.

More than 150 inches of settled snow

depth remained on the summit of Big Mountain, and an impressive 65

inches was still in the village area as the final chair was

loaded.

For many of the skiers and boarders who

came out to ride the lifts on closing day, it was a time to reflect

on a season of seemingly endless powder days.

“It was a very good season,” Bryan

Schutt said. “I had at least 10 top-10 days.”

Paul Jenkins agreed that the season was

“awesome.”

“We need more La Ninas and fewer Hell

Ninos,” Jenkins joked.

Steve Felt, of Bigfork, said it seemed

like spring never came, winter never stopped, and that “it’s still

going.”

The resort hit closing day with an

above-average snowfall total of 355 inches — more than 400 inches

unofficially. The total doubled last year’s meager snowfall that

was tapped out after only 175 inches, but it fell short of the

record seasons in 2008 and 1996.

The nearly 13 feet of settled snowpack

at the summit, however, is the most the mountain has tallied in the

past 20 seasons. All that snow pushed the resort’s total

skier-visits to a new record.

Skier-visits were 5 percent above the

previous record set in 2005-2006 and 12 percent above last

year.

Resort spokesperson Riley Polumbus said

snow-totals certainly affect skier traffic.

“That’s a big part of it,” Polumbus

said. “But we also continue to be a good value with a great

on-mountain experience.”

The record skier-visits translated into

increased revenue at the resort for the season. Revenue is 8

percent above last year’s total, including 8.5 percent up in

lodging and 10.5 percent ahead in ticket sales.

“We had strong growth in all segments

of the business,” Polumbus said. “All markets were up, too,

especially Canada.”

Season-pass holders tallied some of the

most vertical recorded on Big Mountain, with about 1.6 billion feet

between 9,000 pass holders.

Jay Foster was the top dog with 4.7

million feet recorded on his pass. Fred Frost was in second with

4.5 million feet and R.J. Brewer was third with 4.1 million

feet.

Local sporting-good retailers fed off

of the snow totals, too. Joe Power, the store manager at Sportsman

Ski Haus, in Whitefish, reported an uptick in both ski sales and

rentals.

“Anytime the snow’s better, the

Canadians come down here,” Power said. “The extra week at the end

of the season was great for us.”

The resort plans to stay open next

season until April 8.

While deep snow still blankets Big

Mountain, the resort has no plans to crank up the lifts again until

the summer season starts, citing a significant decrease in traffic

as the days grow longer.

“We have to look at when school

spring-breaks are, that’s the main thing,” Polumbus said. “We build

our budget around when skier-visits are maximized. Skier-visits

dropped quite a bit last week, which shows us it’s time to close.

It’s a business decision.”