Whitefish Opens For Its 70th Anniversary Season With Six Lifts Including Newly Relocated Chair 5 Lift
Whitefish Mountain Resort will open for its 70th Winter Season with more than $2.6 million in improvements including the newly relocated Chair 5 lift. The “new” East Rim Chair will be among the six chairs opening to access 29 runs at the top of the mountain. Downloading on Chair 1 will be required. Chair 1 will be open for uploading 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The price of a daily ticket will be reduced to $62 for adults ages 19-64, $58 for teens ages 13-18 and seniors ages 65-69 and $35 for juniors ages 7-12. Super seniors 70 & older and children 6 & under are free.
“Another winter is upon us and we are excited to offer our guests more improvements again this season including the relocation and upgrade of Chair 5 to the East Rim, and Phase 1 of the Ed & Mully’s lodge remodel,” Whitefish Mountain Resort CEO Dan Graves said. “During these early season conditions, we look forward to running Chair 5 in its new location because that area generally has better conditions due to its eastern profile. It is just another benefit of this lift to our guests along with providing badly needed lift access to the east side of the mountain. We look forward to the improvement of flow around the mountain with the chair in its new location.”
Chairs 1, 5, 6, 7, 11 and T-Bar 2 will open. The new East Rim chairlift will allow skiers to access 10 runs including Moe Mentum, East Rim Face, East Rim, Whitey’s, N.B.C., First Creek, Don’s Descent, Moose, Evan’s Heaven and Lee’s Way. On the North Side of the mountain Caribou, Goat Haunt, Gray Wolf, Big Horn, Black Bear, Marmot, Silvertip, Whitetail, Kodiak and Hollywood will be open. Over in the Flower Point area Big Creek, Inside Road, One Grand Parade, Ridge Run and Whiskey Spring will open along with Lodi Ridge, Lynx, and Trapper’s Trail with access from the Big Foot T-Bar. Russ’s Street will be open from the summit to the intersection of Moe Mentum.
Chair 1 will open at 9:30 a.m. and Chair 6 at 9 a.m. to provide guest with access to the Lift Plaza and Chair 1 from the Base Lodge and lower parking lots. There will not be any terrain open to ski down to the Base Lodge. The resort will provide shuttles to transport guests between the Lift Plaza and Base Lodge as well as lower mountain parking lots.
With the Grand Opening of the East Rim Chairlift, Whitefish Mountain Resort has invited two VIPs to ride the first chair. Long-time season passholder Don Wood of Lakeside, Montana, was one of two skiers on the inaugural ride on Chair 5 on December 11, 1981. Woods will be joined by Tim Hinderman, executive director of the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation. Hinderman’s father Karl Hinderman was a ski instructor for the 10th Mountain Division troops at Camp Hale and opened the first ski school on Big Mountain, December 14, 1947. Tim Hinderman spearheaded the soon to be open Ski Heritage Center—a museum that will tell the story of our mountain’s unique ski history.
Downloading on Chair 1 will be available throughout the day. Due to weight-load requirements passengers will be loaded every third chair on the way down. Chairs 5, 11 and T-Bar 2 will close at 2:30 p.m. and Chair 7 will close at 3 p.m.
Additional terrain may become available on Thursday, Friday or by the weekend and will be determined by ski patrol.
“We’d like to remind everyone to respect all closures and safety signage. Please ski and ride with care, within ability levels, and remember that early season conditions exist and unmarked obstacles and other natural terrain features may be encountered at any time,” said David Stephens, Whitefish Mountain Resort ski patrol manager. “It’s a long season and we want you to enjoy every day, please do not enter closed trails. Season passholders who enter inbounds closures risk losing their pass privileges and persons leaving the resort boundary are reminded that you are on your own.”
Uphill skiing will be available, however due to the front side closure, uphill traffic will remain on the East Route only during operating hours until the front side opens. Due to the inbounds closure of Moe Mentum, downhill access on the East Route is not available, therefore all uphill skiers must download on Chair 1. The Benny Up Route (formerly Toni Matt Route) will remain closed until the front side of the mountain is open.
Food & Beverage services will be 100 percent open starting bright and early with Base Lodge Coffee and Village Coffee. The Summit House will be open serving guests at the top of the mountain, and the newly remodeled Ed & Mully’s Bar & Grill will be open for lunch and après ski. Additionally the Base Lodge Café and Base Lodge Bar be open with their regular hours.
The Kids Center & Daycare will be open as well as intermediate lessons at the Ski & Ride School. Additional services available Opening Day include the Base Lodge Rentals, Village Rentals as well as Base Lodge Traders, Snow Ghost Outfitters and Summit House Gifts.
