Whitefish skier visits down over holiday break

“Pray for snow.” Those three words are familiar to anyone who has lived in a ski town; you see them scrawled on dirty car windows or you hear them uttered at local watering holes. 

But this winter, that prayer is being uttered with more urgency than normal as ski areas across the state struggle to open amid a stretch of unusually dry and warm weather. And while such conditions may seem trivial to non-skiers and riders, they are a concern for communities that rely on winter tourism. 

As of this week, some ski areas in Montana that normally have most or all of their terrain open to visitors are operating with a limited number of runs, while some resorts haven’t opened at all.

Nick Polumbus, president of Whitefish Mountain Resort, said a slow start to the ski season is perfectly normal, but he’s never seen it drag on into January as it has this winter. Usually by the new year, just about all 3,000 acres of terrain on Big Mountain are open, but this winter many trails, mostly on the front side, remained closed because there just isn’t enough snow. Polumbus said business is down about 30 percent compared to a normal year. That was especially tough over the holidays, which tend to be some of the most profitable times of the year for the resort. 

“We’re not going to set any holiday records, but I’m still optimistic for the rest of the season,” he said. “I’ve gotta be.”

While some ski areas, especially in the eastern United States, rely on human-made snow, places like Whitefish Mountain Resort depend more on natural powder. Polumbus said the ski area, which has invested heavily in snowmaking operations in recent years, is doing everything it can to make snow but there are logistical challenges to that. Sometimes it is simply not cold enough to make snow, which was the case during parts of December. When they can make snow, Polumbus said the mountain’s crews focus on heavily trafficked areas and beginner runs. 

Ciche Pitcher, president of Discovery Ski Area near Philipsburg, said his ski area would also like to increase its snowmaking abilities, but those types of investments don’t always make sense for a ski area of its size. While Discovery is usually open seven days a week this time of year, presently it’s only open on Saturdays and Sundays. As of this week, only 15% of the ski area’s regular terrain is open. The resort has also had to reduce hours for seasonal employees; during a good snow year, there might be well over 100 people working on the mountain, but presently there are only about 20 working on any given operating day.

“We’re doing the best we can with what we have,” Pitcher said. “If we just got one or two good storms, I think we’d be in good shape.” 

Pitcher said he’s seen bad snow years before but what was unique about this one is that resorts all over the West were struggling at the same time. And he realizes that other places have it worse than Discovery. In fact, some Montana resorts, including Blacktail Mountain in Lakeside, Maverick Mountain near Polaris and Turner Mountain near Libby haven’t even been able to open this season. Some resorts, including Discovery, Showdown in Neihart and Bridger Bowl near Bozeman that are open have begun offering free day passes to season pass holders at those closed resorts.

One ski area in the state that is doing better than many is Big Sky Resort. Spokesperson Stacie Mesuda said the resort got a storm right before Christmas that put anywhere from seven to 10 inches on the mountain and helped open more runs. As of this week, there are 113 runs and about 2,000 acres of terrain open, although that’s still less than half of the available acreage. 

Delayed openings and limited terrain impact businesses beyond the slopes, as well, said Julie Mullins, executive director of Explore Whitefish. She said hotel reservations in Whitefish were down in late 2023 and that was continuing into the new year. In recent weeks, tourism bureaus like Explore Whitefish have been trying to promote things beyond recreational activities that require snow, including the community’s culinary and arts scene. But Mullins said there’s no denying that skiing is the big draw. Like most people in the industry, she was keeping her fingers crossed that a few storms could turn things around and that Whitefish could still enjoy a busy winter tourism season. 

“We’re not shooting flares from the deck quite yet,” she said. “We’ve just gotta keep doing our snow dances.”

Meteorologist Brian Conlan with the National Weather Service in Missoula said that the snow water equivalent (the measurement of how much water is in snow) is 30 to 40% below normal in the west-central part of the state and 60% percent below normal in northwest Montana, thanks in large part to El Niño weather patterns. However, NWS predicts an “arctic intrusion” for much of western Montana through the weekend and into early next week that could bring some much-needed snow. 

“It won’t be an exceptional storm compared to what we’re used to seeing in January, but it’ll be a big change compared to what we’ve had so far this winter,” he said. 

Justin Franz is a freelance writer, photographer and editor based in Whitefish.