Weekend snow pads ski slopes

A blast of weekend snow and today's forecast for snow accumulations of as much as

4 inches is good news for area ski resorts.

A blast of weekend snow and today's forecast for snow accumulations of as much as 4 inches is good news for area ski resorts.

Although the Kalispell area received just a few inches of snow over the weekend, other areas in the valley received anywhere from 6 inches to 2 feet.

In addition, the National Weather Service said a strong and complex winter storm system will move into Western Montana early this morning, impacting some areas through Wednesday morning. Snow accumulations of 2 to 6 inches are expected in the Flathead and Mission valleys by Wednesday morning, with locally higher amounts in the mountains.

BIG MOUNTAIN at Whitefish reported 6 inches of snow over the weekend, bringing the summit base to 30 settled inches. The resort opened nearly a week ahead of schedule with a limited number of runs. Currently, everything on the back side of the mountain is open except Kodiak, a short advanced run, and George's Gorge, an intermediate route through a creek bed toward Chair 7. Open backside runs include one expert route, three advanced runs, four intermediate runs and one beginner run.

The front side of Big Mountain remains closed except for Moe-Mentum and Russ' Street, both intermediate runs, and the advanced North Bowl Face.

A temporary terrain park on Whitetail (on the north side) offers four hits and rails.

"We're making snow in the village area and on Easy Rider lift," Big Mountain spokesman Brian Schott said. "We're hoping to open Easy Rider by the weekend so we have some beginner terrain. Hopefully it will dump on us and we'll get the whole place open."

Big Mountain jump-started its season by opening Nov. 19.

"We had 2,500 total skiers that first weekend, which is a real solid opener," Schott said.

Thanksgiving Day brought more than 1,500 skiers to Big Mountain's slopes, and more than 2,800 skiers were counted over the weekend.

"It's a good start," Schott said.

Big Mountain's special ticket prices last through Saturday; "then the good deals go away," he added.

Blacktail Mountain Ski Area at Lakeside will open Friday, Dec. 9, about a week ahead of the resort's typical mid-December opening. The resort got 6 inches of snow on Sunday, bringing the depth to 33 inches at midmountain.

"We're really excited to have quality snow conditions to open on," Blacktail general manager Steve Spencer said.

Blacktail, in its eighth year of operation, holds its "Wake Up Ol' Man Winter" party on Saturday, Dec. 3, starting with pizza and music at 7 p.m. Season-pass photographs will be taken from 5 to 7 p.m. that day.

For folks who look forward to a variety of ski experiences, Turner Mountain near Libby is expected to open by mid-December. Today's forecast calls for 5 to 10 inches of snow in the Cabinet Mountains and a winter storm watch in that area.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.