Ski resort to restrict uphill hikers, skiers
Whitefish Mountain Resort and the U.S. Forest Service have moved to restrict the increasingly popular uphill hikers and skiers on the Big Mountain.
The new policy, announced in a press release Tuesday, will restrict uphill traffic on the mountain to a single route from 6:30 a.m. until the resort closes in the afternoon and the ski patrol has conducted a sweep of the mountain, a change that will end after-hours skiing.
The approved route follows the Toni Matt run, hugging the uphill side.
Resort and Tally Lake Ranger District officials insist that the change is driven by safety concerns, rather than lost revenue, because it’s estimated that 90 percent of the uphill travelers are current winter season pass holders.
They said there has been an “exponential increase” in uphill traffic on the mountain of the last few years, and that is the main reason for the restrictions.
“It used to be that you’d see one or two people hiking the mountain on an average evening” after lifts had closed, said Chester Powell, the resort’s director of operations and risk management.
“Now, our grooming operators will tell you they see 30 or 40 people on an average night, and many more if it is exceptionally clear or a full moon.”
Some participants attach synthetic “skins” to their skis, which enable them to climb slippery slopes. Others use snowshoes for the uphill portion of their journey and switch to skis or snowboards to ride downhill.
This season, resort staffers have reported several near-miss incidents involving skiers near winch cats — grooming machines that use a powerful winch and steel cable for grooming steep terrain. The cables are under high tension and often bind and release.
As recently as Feb. 19, a grooming operator saw an after-hours hiker ski under his winch cable, and encountered aggressive resistance when he asked the skier to leave the area for his safety.
After-hours hikers sometimes also ski close behind or in front of grooming machines.
Other practices identified as dangerous include traveling uphill on runs with blind breakovers or blind corners, going uphill in the middle of runs instead of the edges and entering terrain that is undergoing avalanche control work.
There also is concern about people skiing on the mountain with no ski patrol regulation. “Patrol isn’t here to keep people out of trouble, and people have proven they don’t always make the best decisions on their own,” Powell said.
The Forest Service intends to back the resort’s policy with a special order that will allow Flathead National Forest personnel to assist with enforcing the policy.
“We fully support this preventative measure,” Tally Lake District Ranger Lisa Timchak said. “We are pursuing this policy in tandem with Whitefish Mountain Resort in the interest of public safety, and we plan to do what we can to help make sure people abide by it.”
Dan Graves, the resort’s president and chief executive officer, added: “Most people I’ve talked to have been sad to see evening hiking on Big Mountain go, but have agreed something like this is needed. We all feel that way. I’m very hopeful that those people will encourage each other to work with us on adopting the new policy, so that going uphill can remain a part of recreating here for a long time into the future.”
The restricted route on Toni Matt will be used between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for the first 14 days after the ski season ends, and there will be no restrictions after that. Uphill traffic will not be allowed before the ski season, when the resort is conducting slope maintenance and snowmaking operations.
Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com