New retail plaza planned for Big Mountain

The latest version of a new master plan for Big Mountain creates a retail and lodging plaza at the bottom of Chair 1 aimed at creating better synergy between skiers and service-based facilities.

Instead of concentrating lodging into one big resort hotel and convention center, the new plan breaks up the hotel offerings into about 10 buildings, most of which would be situated in the current parking lots below the village area. One building in that area would provide meeting space and a recreation center.

"We're trying to keep it in smaller modules," said Fred Jones, president and chief executive officer of Winter Sports Inc., the corporation that operates the ski resort.

Jones unveiled the latest designs at informal meetings Friday and Monday in Whitefish. He's meeting with the design team this week to further tweak the plan.

After Winter Sports failed to get approval last fall for its proposed three-story, 80-unit Great Bear Inn, the corporation embarked on a redesign of the base area and is now refining its 1992 master plan. The revised master plan will become part of Whitefish's new growth policy.

The planning team was told to figure out the best way to incorporate skiing into the village area, Jones said. That's where the Chair 1 plaza plan comes into play.

"We want to concentrate people in one area so it's vibrant and works effectively," he said.

Chair 2 would be rebuilt to the east of its current alignment so it also would connect with the plaza area. A small hotel east of the Chair 1 base is planned as part of the plaza, and retail shops would be built with lodging units above them.

Big Mountain Chalet, the oldest building at the resort and home to the popular Hellroaring Saloon, would likely be demolished. Jones said historic memorabilia from the restaurant and chalet will be incorporated in some fashion at the plaza level. There has been discussion off and on about moving the Chalet elsewhere on the mountain, but Jones doubts the weathered 1949 building would survive the move.

Since the plan for multiple lodges eliminates most of the upper-level parking, skiers would park in lots below the Outpost day lodge. Chair 6 is destined to be realigned and rebuilt as a high-capacity pedestrian lift with gondolas to accommodate both skiers and nonskiers.

Ski slopes to the east of Chair 6 are targeted for approximately 78 condominiums. They would be reached by a new road looping across Chair 6 to an area close to the bottom of Chair 4.

"The key to our ski business is getting more skiers here during the week," Jones said.

The 1992 plan envisioned about 2,000 residential units on the mountain with full buildout.

"My sense is that this plan is well within that," Jones said. "Our intent is to do most in the condominium format."

Expansion of the Outpost will commence this summer, doubling the size of the day lodge. Once that's completed, it will house the day-care center, ski school, a larger rental shop and lounge overlooking the new beginner ski hill.

Designers envision a ski trail around the back of Stoltze's Knob, creating an area for beginner and intermediate skiers.

Also on the drawing board are cross-country trails to better accommodate beginner and intermediate Nordic skiers. Jones said the current trail system was laid out as a training area for the Calgary Olympics many years ago and tends to favor the more advanced skiers.

Winter Sports will submit its new master plan to the city of Whitefish for approval this spring. Jones expects full buildout to take as long as 20 years.

It's an expensive undertaking: The cost for rebuilding Chairs 2 and 6 will be upwards of $10 million.

"It will still be a small ski resort. When you compare [the new plan] with the '92 plans, it's very similar. It's just that over the years we got away from that," Jones said, referring to the $300 million village the Hines corporation had in mind for Big Mountain. "We've come full circle."

Hines severed its ties with the resort two years ago.

Three land-use planners bring varied expertise to the master-plan project. Ron Slade of Bozeman has done ski-resort work in the Big Sky area and the Midwest; Gage Davis of Scottsdale, Ariz., specializes in ski-resort planning; and Don Vita of San Raphael, Calif., is a resort specialist.

Other consultants include Carver Engineering, Sands Surveying, Land and Water Consulting, Kalispell architect Nick Fullerton, landscape architect Bruce Boody and RRC Associates, a Boulder, Colo.-based market research firm.

More public meetings will be forthcoming, Jones said.

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