Resort seeks input on master plan

The Daily Inter Lake

The public has another chance to weigh in on the master plan for Big Mountain Ski Resort at a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish.

The session will include a short presentation of the updated master plan concept as well as plans for the major Outpost day lodge expansion scheduled for this summer.

The audience will be able to review conceptual maps and provide comments to Winter Sports Inc., the resort's operator.

The latest version of the master plan 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.

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

The updated master plan will be processed through the city of Whitefish as a neighborhood plan. It's anticipated that the Whitefish City-County Planning Board will hold the first public hearing on the plan in April.