Resort season pass sales steady
<p>The first snow of the season fell on the slopes of Big Mountain Oct. 3. All of the snow melted by Sunday afternoon.</p>
Early-season winter pass sales at Whitefish Mountain Resort were spot on with last year’s totals despite a modest increase in price and predictions of an El Niño weather pattern developing.
More than 7,000 paid passes were sold as of the end of September. When including those who receive free passes — super seniors and kids — the total is up about 130 over last year.
Resort officials said they were pleased with the totals.
“Those numbers speak to the passion this community and valley has for skiing,” resort spokeswoman Riley Polumbus said. “Skiing is a lifestyle and we’re happy to see people coming back up here for more.”
A Big Mountain season pass this year includes a new perk of five free passes to Red Lodge Mountain Resort in Red Lodge.
“It’s a really cool perk,” Polumbus said. “And they’ve been getting some good snow lately.”
Other perks include 10 percent off dining, retail and rentals, and 20 percent of ski school, and lodging through Jan. 31, 2013. Pass holders also receive two discounted friends and family tickets.
With ski season a few months out, resort workers have been busy preparing for opening day.
Some minor improvements were made to the Summit House including new paint and trim. On the slopes, gladed areas were thinned of brush from Chair 3 all the way to Elkweed.
The lifts fire up Dec. 8 and closing day is set for April 7.
Last year the season started a week late due to low snow depths in December. By the end of the season the resort finished with 303 total inches of snow — right about average.
Polumbus said predictions of El Niño are waning and had no effect on season pass sales.
The National Weather Service had reported last month that El Niño conditions would strengthen through October, which means Western Montana could see a drier and warmer than normal winter. The last El Nino event in 2010 brought only 173 inches of total snowfall to Big Mountain.
“There are ongoing signs of a possibly imminent transition toward El Niño in the atmosphere as well as the ocean,” the Climate Prediction Center noted in their September report.
In Northwest Montana the average precipitation during an El Niño event is typically 74 percent of normal, while average temperature is 2.5 degrees above normal.
El Niño is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, opposed to La Niña, which is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific.