Big Mountain will be open for skiing top to bottom
<p>Henry Holt charges through knee-deep powder on opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort in this file photo. Conditions will be different this year.</p>
Whitefish Mountain Resort is poised to have a solid opening day for its 67th season after more than three feet of snow blanketed the resort in November.
About a foot of snow fell on Big Mountain last weekend, increasing the settled base to 43 inches as of Monday. The lifts are set to fire up at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6.
Top-to-bottom skiing is expected for the opening, although how much terrain and which lifts will run on Saturday morning has yet to be determined, resort spokesperson Riley Polumbus said. One thing for sure, the new Flower Point chairlift will be hauling skiers.
“Flower Point will be running — definitely,” Polumbus said.
The triple chair will open up an additional 200 acres of terrain on the north side of the mountain that previously was only accessible by hiking. Polumbus said the snow depth on Flower Point is tracking ahead of other areas at the resort, making it ideal for early-season skiing.
About a foot of snow has accumulated at the resort’s base area. The depth is enough to cover most of the lower slopes, but the tops of beargrass and shrubs, and some mountain bike trails are still apparent.
Resort crews are blasting the area with manmade snow to fill in the high-traffic areas. Crews made snow for nine consecutive days in early November when a cold snap hit. They fired the machines back up last weekend to hit areas around Chair 1 and Chair 2, and on the upper Toni Matt slope. Beginner terrain could be limited on opening day, Polumbus said, but Chair 6 will run.
“We will make snow as long as we need to and as long as the weather allows,” Polumbus said.
All resort amenities are expected to be open, including the newly renovated Base Lodge. The Base Lodge Café’s square-footage was doubled, and a new coffee bar will serve guests on the Base Lodge Patio. A new room with mountain views will provide indoor seating for coffee bar customers as well as overflow seating.
Also new this season, the resort expanded its grooming fleet with the purchase of two machines, including a PistenBully PB100 with an 8-foot blade to groom hard-to-reach spots such as skier tunnels. Further improvements include the new Fir parking lot near the Base Lodge that will accommodate up to 300 cars.
Single-day lift tickets this year are priced at $71 for adults, $60 for seniors, $63 for teens, $37 for juniors and free for children 6 and under. A ticket to ski on beginner terrain alone costs $21.