Snow flies just in time for skiing

The Daily Inter Lake

The Big Mountain's prayers for snow were answered just in time for today's season opener.

Snow began piling up Tuesday night at the Whitefish ski resort, and by late Wednesday afternoon, 6 inches had fallen at the summit, bringing the depth to 33 inches by 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The snow depth at the bottom of Chair 7 was 12 inches by late afternoon.

And the forecast calls for more snow.

"It looks like this weather system will stick around for awhile," Big Mountain spokesman Brian Schott said. "It's heavy snow, and that's what we like in the early season."

Chairs open today on Big Mountain include the Glacier Chaser (Chair 1), 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Big Creek Express (Chair 7) 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Village Lift (Chair 6), is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to allow skiers to park at the Outpost and have lift service to Chair 1 and the village area. There's not enough snow to ski on Chair 6, Schott said.

Snow conditions at higher elevations are machine-groomed powder and packed powder.

Five open runs on Chair 7 include Goat Haunt, Caribou, Whitetail, Silvertip and Gray Wolf. Additional runs will open as conditions permit. Beginner terrain is not accessible.

"Operations is trying to create a situation where they can load with skis (at Chair 6) and unload at the village," Schott said. "An intermediate unloading station is questionable at this point and staff will be there to direct guests as necessary. Shuttle service is recommended back to the parking lots."

Schott said crews hope to get Russ' Street open for skier access to the front side. If that doesn't happen, guests will download back to the village via Chair 1 until there is adequate snow cover.

"A best-case scenario is we'll have Russ' Street and the North Bowl open, but it's so hard to predict," Schott said.

The Summit House, as well as all village shops, services and restaurants, will operate. The Outpost is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets will be available at the Outpost in the morning. Big Mountain Rentals' hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

While skiers' preliminary prayers for snow appeared to have been answered, the praying continues Saturday night at the official Pray for Snow party on Big Mountain.

Blacktail Mountain Ski Area at Lakeside won't open until there's more snow on the ground, general manager Steve Spencer said.

"We got a good dump last night and it all helps, but we're all natural snow and we want it to be a good quality opening," said Spencer, adding that Dec. 3 would be the earliest the resort would open for the season.

Skiers can get updated snow reports at the Blacktail Web site, www.blacktailmountain.com, or call the resort at 844-0999.

Turner Mountain at Libby is also not yet open for the season, and typically opens in mid-December. Tentatively, the resort will open Dec. 17. A new ski lodge is under construction at the resort and should be completed during the early part of the ski season.

The 40-by-50-foot two-story lodge includes restrooms, a ski patrol area, snack bar and day-lodge area with seating for 100 people.