Blacktail Mountain opens Friday
Diane Edge, of Bigfork, skis gracefully down Emmons Ridge on Blacktail Mountain with a crew of fellow experienced skiers. (Mackenzie Reiss/Daily Inter Lake)
Blacktail Mountain Ski Area will open for the season on Friday, the Lakeside ski area announced Wednesday.
Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The Olympic Chair, Thunderhead Chair, Crystal Chair and Mighty Might Handle Tow are scheduled for operation.
Blacktail Mountain will be closed Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 before reopening for seven-day-a-week operations from Dec. 22 through Jan. 2.
The forecast for Friday call for partly sunny skies, a high near 14 degrees and northwest winds 6 to 10 mph.
BLACKTAIL MOUNTAIN Ski Area also announced this week it has joined the Indy Pass system, a multi-mountain pass that brings together 80 other resorts across the United States, Canada and Japan. Indy Pass resorts are independent and uniquely authentic, and many are owned and operated by multi-generational families.
Unlike other large multi-mountain passes, the Indy Pass focuses on quality experiences at independent, small and medium-sized ski areas, providing two days of skiing or riding for an affordable price.
“I am excited to offer this opportunity to Blacktail Mountain Ski Area passholders as an affordable way to get out and explore, and I am delighted to introduce our unique mountain experience to Indy passholders,” Blacktail Mountain general manager Jessi Wood said in a press release.
“Blacktail Mountain is the quintessential indie resort and we are stoked to add them to the Indy Pass,” said Indy Pass founder Doug Fish. “Our passholders will be blown away when they experience Blacktail Mountain along with our other mountains in the Northern Rockies.”
Current 2021/22 Blacktail Mountain passholders will be eligible for a special discounted Indy Pass Add-on pass with two days each at the other 80 Indy resorts.
Indy Pass resorts include Lost Trail Powder Mountain and Red Lodge Mountain in Montana and Silver Mountain in Kellogg, Idaho.
Washington-based Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort purchased Blacktail Mountain Ski Area in November.
Offering more than 1,000 acres of north-facing slopes and 1,440 feet of vertical drop, Blacktail Mountain has been a family-friendly resort since it opened in 1998.