Blacktail ski season reaches early end
Blacktail Mountain Ski Area closed for the season on Saturday, one of several Montana resorts to succumb early to an unusually balmy spring.
Steve Spencer, Blacktail general manager, said that despite a strong start for Blacktail’s season, the recent warm weather was too adverse for him to justify continuing the season.
“We were going to open up Saturday morning, but we had high winds, trees were going down and the rain was going sideways, so we decided that’s it,” he said.
“It’s been a battle this spring. Even though our snow was good, the weather in the valley has been so nice it’s hard to get people thinking about snow again. They’ve been polishing their motorcycles and shining their boats for three weeks now.”
He said the snowpack at Blacktail held up relatively well thanks to the mountain’s north-facing slopes, despite the season’s snowfall total falling short of last year by about a third. The mountain got off to a late start in mid December, but was helped by big snow dumps in December and January.
The final snow report on Saturday listed 63 inches of snow at mid-mountain.
And while local participation was down during the second half of the season, Spencer said overall visitation to the mountain was partially buoyed by people from surrounding states where this year’s snowfall totals have been especially dismal.
“We feel really fortunate — Northwest Montana had probably some of the best snow in the West if you look around at Washington, Idaho, Colorado and California,” he said.
He said some 100 seasonal workers who operate the lifts, restaurants, bar and rental shop on Blacktail Mountain typically return the next year after migrating to seasonal summer jobs on the lake or with the U.S. Forest Service.
At Whitefish Mountain Resort, skiers and snowboarders still have another two weeks to hit the slopes.
The Whitefish resort will close April 12. Spokeswoman Riley Polumbus said the snow on the back side of the mountain is still in good shape, with close to two feet of new snow in the last two weeks.
“There’s a lot of people on spring break up here skiing right now, and with a lot of resorts closing around the West, we’re one of the few still open,” she said Monday.
Whitefish Mountain Resort will host end-of-season events during the next two weekends.
On Saturday the resort’s Winter Brewfest will bring together 18 breweries pouring samples from noon to 5 p.m., followed by the Dummy Derby, an annual spectator event that sends dressed-up dummies down the mountain on skis.
The popular Pond Skim will close out the season on the following Saturday, April 11, as costumed participants ski and snowboard into a pond and compete for a $1,250 grand prize.
For brewfest tickets or more information about upcoming events, visit skiwhitefish.com.
Joining Blacktail Mountain for early closures of Montana ski areas were Turner Mountain, Great Divide, Maverick Mountain, Teton Pass and Snowbowl.