Skiing opener delayed

Whitefish Mountain Resort will not open Saturday as planned because there isn’t enough snow.

“We are watching the weather very closely and fully intend to open the mountain as soon as it is possible,” the resort’s website notes. “Given our current conditions, we feel like we’re one good snowstorm away from having a solid enough base depth at the bottom of Chair 7 to open that area of the mountain. That is what we are focused on right now.”

The summit of Big Mountain has a meager settled base of 25 inches, and there’s little snow at the village area.

The National Weather Service’s forecast for the next few days doesn’t offer much hope for a major snowfall. There’s a 40 percent chance of snow tonight in the Flathead Valley and only a slight chance of snow on Sunday.