Tricky weather forces ski areas to scramble

The precipitation onslaught over the weekend didn’t help Flathead Valley ski areas, although the rain finally turned to snow on Monday.

Whitefish Mountain Resort temporarily closed Chair 2 Monday due to thin snow coverage, but the resort still has ample snow up high and on the north side, according to Riley Polumbus, public relations manager for the resort.

The ski resort got a couple of inches of fresh snow Monday morning.

“The back side of the mountain is in pretty good shape. It’s skiing pretty well, and obviously we’ve had variable conditions on the front side of the mountain,” Polumbus said.

The resort is still planning to remain open until April 12.

“We’re looking into limiting our lift operations based on snow conditions,” Polumbus said. “It’s definitely variable conditions ... It’ll be a day-by-day thing. Obviously it all depends on Mother Nature and the weather that comes.”

Chair 8 on Hellroaring Basin is closed, as is the Lower Inspiration portion of Chair 9, the Easy Rider run.

Whitefish Mountain Resort on Monday reported a settled base of 67 inches at the summit and 22 inches in the village area.

Tricky weather also has affected Blacktail Mountain Ski Area near Lakeside.

Blacktail General Manager Steve Spencer said the ski area is closed at the bottom of the mountain but conditions are still good up top.

“We got rain yesterday all the way to the top, but we’ve still got a 60-something-inch base,” he said Monday morning. “We just had a trace of snow last night; nothing so far during the day.”

He said the forecast at Blacktail calls for a 50 percent chance of snow today.