Resort sets record for skier visits
A steady flurry fell Sunday morning at
Whitefish Mountain Resort, denoting a fitting end to a season that
was defined by the mounds of snow piled up all across the ski
area.
More than 150 inches of settled snow
depth remained on the summit of Big Mountain, and an impressive 65
inches was still in the village area as the final chair was
loaded.
For many of the skiers and boarders who
came out to ride the lifts on closing day, it was a time to reflect
on a season of seemingly endless powder days.
“It was a very good season,” Bryan
Schutt said. “I had at least 10 top-10 days.”
Paul Jenkins agreed that the season was
“awesome.”
“We need more La Ninas and fewer Hell
Ninos,” Jenkins joked.
Steve Felt, of Bigfork, said it seemed
like spring never came, winter never stopped, and that “it’s still
going.”
The resort hit closing day with an
above-average snowfall total of 355 inches — more than 400 inches
unofficially. The total doubled last year’s meager snowfall that
was tapped out after only 175 inches, but it fell short of the
record seasons in 2008 and 1996.
The nearly 13 feet of settled snowpack
at the summit, however, is the most the mountain has tallied in the
past 20 seasons. All that snow pushed the resort’s total
skier-visits to a new record.
Skier-visits were 5 percent above the
previous record set in 2005-2006 and 12 percent above last
year.
Resort spokesperson Riley Polumbus said
snow-totals certainly affect skier traffic.
“That’s a big part of it,” Polumbus
said. “But we also continue to be a good value with a great
on-mountain experience.”
The record skier-visits translated into
increased revenue at the resort for the season. Revenue is 8
percent above last year’s total, including 8.5 percent up in
lodging and 10.5 percent ahead in ticket sales.
“We had strong growth in all segments
of the business,” Polumbus said. “All markets were up, too,
especially Canada.”
Season-pass holders tallied some of the
most vertical recorded on Big Mountain, with about 1.6 billion feet
between 9,000 pass holders.
Jay Foster was the top dog with 4.7
million feet recorded on his pass. Fred Frost was in second with
4.5 million feet and R.J. Brewer was third with 4.1 million
feet.
Local sporting-good retailers fed off
of the snow totals, too. Joe Power, the store manager at Sportsman
Ski Haus, in Whitefish, reported an uptick in both ski sales and
rentals.
“Anytime the snow’s better, the
Canadians come down here,” Power said. “The extra week at the end
of the season was great for us.”
The resort plans to stay open next
season until April 8.
While deep snow still blankets Big
Mountain, the resort has no plans to crank up the lifts again until
the summer season starts, citing a significant decrease in traffic
as the days grow longer.
“We have to look at when school
spring-breaks are, that’s the main thing,” Polumbus said. “We build
our budget around when skier-visits are maximized. Skier-visits
dropped quite a bit last week, which shows us it’s time to close.
It’s a business decision.”