Resort looks for partial opening on Saturday

Even without any additional snow this week, the Whitefish Mountain Resort will partially open on Saturday, a resort spokesman said Tuesday.

“There’s quite a bit of snow at the summit, about 31 inches. There’s enough snow to ski the blues and greens,” said Donnie Clapp, referring to most runs on the back side of the mountain.

Clapp said skiers will be downloaded on Chair One, the high-speed chairlift from the front-side village area to the summit.

“We’re excited to have some terrain open on the day we’ve been planning to open,” Clapp said. “And we will open any terrain once it’s got enough snow to ski safely.”

The mountain forecast predicts clear skies and low temperatures through Thursday, with a chance of snow resuming on Friday. Those conditions are good for making snow at lower elevations on the mountain.

“We are starting today,” Clapp said Tuesday. “Today is the first day since last winter that it’s been cold enough to make snow. If temperatures hold we will be making snow for several days here. But it’s important to remember that our capacity for making snow is very limited.”

There is currently about six inches of snow in the village area, “and it increases to 31 inches as you move uphill,” Clapp said.

Last year, the resort did not open for several days after a long-planned early December opening because of a lack of snow. The mountain progressively opened as terrain accumulated snow.

Clapp said that resort managers will decide on ticket rates on Thursday. With only a limited amount of terrain open, “I would not expect it to be full price,” he said.