Big Mountain sees record visitation over the holidays

Whitefish Mountain Resort marked its busiest day ever on Monday, Dec. 30, when more than 7,650 skiers hit the slopes on Big Mountain.

The ski area posted three days with more than 7,000 skiers over the holiday week, and six days with more than 6,000 skiers. The previous record for skier visits in a single day was 7,165, set in December 2012.

Also a new record, more than 5,000 paid skier visits were recorded on Dec. 30. Paid skier visits are destination skiers or locals without a season pass.

Resort spokeswoman Riley Polumbus cited good snow coverage and an unusually long holiday break as helping boost skier numbers.

“People knew we had good snow and wanted to go somewhere fun for New Year’s,” she said.

The month of January typically is less busy, but another surge of skiers is expected to arrive in February for the Whitefish Winter Carnival on Feb. 7-9 and again on Feb. 15-17, with Presidents Day and Family Day in Canada both falling on Feb. 17.