SKI SEASON: Resort has limited opening Saturday
<p><strong>A groomer</strong> works a trail near chair 3 at the Whitefish Mountain Resort on Thursday. Chair 3 will be running when the resort opens on Saturday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
Whitefish Mountain Resort opens Saturday at 9 a.m., although meager early season snowfall will keep some of the ski runs closed for the time being.
Resort spokeswoman Riley Polumbus said Thursday that Big Mountain has gotten 25 inches of snow at the summit and extra snow from snow-making machines is allowing the opening of chairs three, six and seven. Chair One will be available for both uploading and downloading skiers and snowboarders, since most of Whitefish Mountain’s front side is still closed, but Polumbus said the north side is looking better.
“The forecast is looking pretty good, but it’s hard to say how it’s going to pan out, but it looks like there might be some snow in the next few days,” she said. “It doesn’t take much to get it in good shape, so hopefully we’re just one or two good storms away from opening more terrain.”
The resort has received slightly less snowfall this year than last year at this time, but she said the conditions are comparable to opening day in 2014. Whitefish is faring much better than some of its peers elsewhere in the state, Polumbus said.
“We’ll maybe get a little overnight, with some expected for Friday and Friday night, and hopefully — fingers crossed — on opening day,” she said. “Certainly the beginner terrain at the bottom of the mountain is looking really good and a lot of that is due to a bunch of snowmaking.”
The beginner terrain near Chair Six and the Magic Carpet area both will open Saturday, along with the beginner-level Depot Terrain Park.
As a result of the partial opening, the resort will discount lift tickets, but had not determined the prices as of press time.
Opening-day skiers and snowboarders will have the chance to check out the newly remodeled Summit House. Over the summer, the resort sank $1.2 million into renovations at the facility and the Ski Patrol headquarters.
All the resort’s restaurants, as well as a new coffee shop in the village, will be open Saturday.
For more information and status updates, visit skiwhitefish.com
Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.