Whitefish ski resort sets holiday visitation record

Ample snowfall and robust skier traffic added up to a successful holiday week for Whitefish Mountain Resort, despite one of its main chair lifts remaining out of commission for the busiest stretch of the season.

About 62,400 skier visits were tallied at the resort on Big Mountain between Christmas Day and News Year's Day to set a new record for the time period. The busiest day over the week was Monday, Dec. 30 with nearly 9,500 skier visits counted.

The previous record was notched during the 2022-23 season with 54,300 skier visits during the holiday week.

Nearly every named trail was open for skiers to enjoy as the slopes were coated with about 2 feet of fresh snow during the week. As of Wednesday, the summit boasted a 73-inch settled base — the most snow among ski areas in the state.

"The holidays were a busy time on the mountain as expected, with many guests visiting Whitefish on family vacations and heaps of fresh snow keeping everyone excited," said Chad Sokol, public relations manager for the resort. 

A skier visit is counted each time a lift ticket, season pass or frequent skier card is scanned for the first time on a given day. Sokol noted that many people skied on multiple days during the holiday period, accounting for multiple visits.

Resort officials are still unsure when Chair 2 will be operable. The high-speed quad lift that accesses a good portion of the ski area's intermediate and beginner terrain has not opened this season due to an unfinished modernization project that began over the summer.

Resort President Nick Polumbus sent a letter to passholders in December explaining that shipment delays and scheduling issues had stymied the timeline and that the chair would not be open for the holiday rush. As of last week, the resort's maintenance team was still working with the Dopplemayr lift manufacturer to wrap up the project.

"We don't yet have a date set for the final load test to be conducted on Chair 2, but we expect to know this within the next day or two," the resort posted in an update Wednesday.

Without Chair 2, night skiing has been limited to Chair 6 at the Base Lodge and Chair 3 terrain. Ski racing teams that typically use Chair 2 have been practicing on upper portions of the mountain near T-bar 2.