Resort posts record numbers despite December drought
Whitefish Mountain Resort closed their season April 8 with a settled base of 118 inches at the summit and 303 inches of total snowfall for the season — slightly above average and a big change from the dismal start to the season.
Resort management was more than pleased with skier traffic and their overall financial outlook. December was slow for sure, resort marketing director Nick Polumbus said, but traffic picked up in January as snow started to accumulate. Christmas Day saw only 31 inches of snow at the summit and 30 trails open. By mid-January, the mountain was 100 percent open.
The resort’s four-year average for paid skier-visits is about 127,000. If a normal December was factored into the equation, Polumbus said, they’d be in the 134,000 range this year. The record year for skier visits was in 2007-08 when the resort tallied 136,000 visits.
Management is aiming to raise the four-year average of paid skier visits to the 135,000 range.
“We have always believed that if we are going to get this resort to the point where it is financially viable, we need to get up to 135,000,” resort CEO Dan Graves said. “Then we’ll reset from there and try to go higher.”
Season pass sales also were up this season, with 6,800 compared to 5,200 in 2006-07. The resort seems to have weathered the nation’s economic downturn relatively unscathed, if not fiscally stronger — all with a stagnant real estate market. Their focus has been wholly on resort operations.
“Real estate has been very flat since 2007,” Graves said, “and in many ways that’s just fine. We’ve re-engineered the business model to focus on resort operations and any real estate sold would have been icing on the cake.”
Graves is ready to report a record year, and debt has been reduced from $11 million in 2007 to $1.7 million today.
“We’ve basically slayed that tiger,” Graves said. “We’re no longer a slave to debt. We’re in the driver’s seat. It feels so good to know we have the money to make choices.”
While the resort’s goal was to eliminate debt totally by next spring, borrowing rates are so low now it might make sense for the resort to finance improvements, Graves said. Without offering many details, Graves said some exciting skiing-related projects are on the horizon.
The summer business has played a big role in reducing debt, and the resort plans to keep expanding their offerings. This summer will bring a seventh zipline, two new mountain bike trails and a few more attractions for younger visitors, including a ropes course.
“We’re coming off two major events that could have really been a serious stumble,” Graves said. “Chair 1 going down in the summer and a lack of snow in December. But we’re going to end up with a record year financially.”
The resort will open for the summer season on June 16.