Ski resort readies for opening day

A few feet of snow is at the summit of

Big Mountain and the snow guns are cranking on the lower slopes as

Whitefish Mountain Resort prepares for opening day Dec. 3. Resort

officials won’t make any hard decisions about how much terrain will

open until a few days before the lifts start turning.

“It’s wait and see,” resort

spokesperson Riley Polumbus said. “It depends on mother nature. It

could just start dumping snow.”

Forecasters with the National Weather

Service in Missoula agree with her sentiment. Accumulating snow is

likely in the mountains near Whitefish every day this week.

Manmade snow is adding to the natural

snow in the high-traffic areas around the upper village and Base

Lodge. Snow guns are also on the popular Toni Matt slope and in the

terrain park area near Chair 3.

The water to fill the snowmaking ponds

is pumped from Second Creek into Rainbow Pond, below the village,

and then pumped up to snowmaking ponds near the Good Medicine ski

run. Any water that runs into the ponds from snow-melt or rain is

fair game for resort snowmaking, but typically they must be filled

from Second Creek, which the resort has only limited access to.

Whitefish Resort will only make snow if

temperatures are in the 20s or lower to be as efficient as

possible.

“We’re concerned with the temperatures

being sustained so we are not wasting any water,” Polumbus said.

“We’ll make snow for as long as temperatures allow. We don’t have

that big of a snow-making production.”

Ski patrol has started to prepare the

slopes with signs and markers, but Polumbus warns that no avalanche

control measures are being taken. Anyone who plans to hike the

mountain needs to be aware of snow conditions.

The Glacier Country Avalanche Center

warned backcountry users last week that avalanche conditions could

already exist in the area’s mountains. Officials pointed to the

recent fatality of professional skier Jamie Pierre who was caught

in an avalanche while snowboarding inbounds at Snowbird Resort in

Utah’s Wasatch Range before the resort was open.

“This should serve as a “heads up” to

those who head out this week to seek turns on Big Mountain or

elsewhere,” GCAC posted on their Facebook page. “Similar conditions

likely exist in our region. Please be careful and do not take

anything for granted just because you may be in a ski area

boundary.”

Polumbus also reminds hikers to follow

the resort’s uphill travel policy. Equipment such as snow guns,

hoses, grooming machines, snowmobiles and high voltage lines

present a hazard to hikers and skiers.

With a repeat of La Niña and a cold and

snowy winter forecasted, the resort has set another record for

total season passes sold. More than 7,500 passes were sold before

last year’s opening day, the previous sales record.

“We’re ahead of last year, just a

touch,” Polumbus said. “That means we have more season pass holders

than ever before. La Niña helps, and having last year as good as it

was helps. Pass prices were only up $10, too.”