Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort is located in Northwest Montana, just north of the small town Whitefish. Until 2007 the resort was called “Big Mountain”, a name that you can still hear the locals use. It is one of the largest ski areas in Montana, offering something for any skier level and type.

Statistics

• Average snowfall: 300 inches (760cm)
• Vertical drop: 2,353 feet (717 m)
• Terrain: 3000 acres  (15% of that beginner, 35% intermediate, 40% advanced, 10% expert)
• Lifts: 12 total lifts, 3 of them high speed quads

Over the past few years Whitefish has gone through a lot. It has been transformed from a locals ski area to a bigger, more visitor orientated resort with a resort village and real estate developments. The locals can’t make up their mind about if the developments have been for the better or worse.  Some locals say that the day visitor parking lots have been moved too far from the center of the resort to create space for condos, lift tickets have gotten more expensive and that increased crowds are bothering them. On the other hand the new visitors always bring in more money, which has allowed Whitefish to update their lift system with the new high speed quads, making the trip to the top of the mountain a breeze. Even though we visited Whitefish during one of the busiest time of the year, between Christmas and New Year the lift lines were either non-existent or short. And the lift ticket prices are still reasonable compared to many other resorts big resorts, with the adult day pass costing $61.

Skiing Whitefish

One good thing about Whitefish that when all of the terrain is open the entire mountain is truly skiable. The lifts go up the mountain on each side of it, and there’s a network of trails that goes around the mountain. Between the groomed trails there’s terrain of every variety from open bowls to tree skiing. The profile of the mountain is in general great for skiing, with consistent fall lines and just a few flatter spots that might annoy some.  The views are amazing if visibility is good, with the Glacier National Park’s huge mountains looming behind the resort and Whitefish Lake to the south.

The mountain has 3 main areas, Front side, North Side and Hellroaring Basin.

The Front Side is the place to be for the beginner skier

Pretty much all of the beginner trails are located on the Front Side. There’s couple of chairlifts that serve beginner terrain only which will surely keep beginners and families happy. Its nice to have own, separate areas where you don’t have to be afraid of expert skiers wooshing by on their way to the double black diamonds. For those who prefer the green runs there are a good variety of them, also from the top of the mountain, so you don’t have to stick for the one and same run for the whole duration of your holiday.

View of part of the Frontside

The Front Side has some expert terrain too, separated from the beginner terrain, and it’s great for someone who’s looking to do quick, leg-burning laps off the fast chair 1 on a quiet powder day. On the far right side of the Front Side is the East Rim, which has some nice cliffed terrain, but watch out for the 80 feet high ones.. The area holds powder for longer than many other runs if you know your way around, but the traverse back to chair one is long and boring on a green run. The problem with top-to-bottom runs on Chair One can be the snow quality since the base station of the chair sits relatively low.

Click here for the full trail map of the Front Side.

The North Side of Whitefish

Intermediate skiers will find themselves at home here with a variety of blue runs. The North Side is north facing (obviously) and in shadow (just what you’d expect from backside, duh) and coupled with the fact that the base station of the chairlift serving this terrain is higher than other lifts in Whitefish results to usually the best snow conditions on the mountain. Because of small local weather variations the backside also gets a bit more snowfall than the frontside.

There are two gripes though – the skiable vertical here is only about 1000 feet (300m) and the runs tend to be steep in the beginning and somewhat low angle after that. Luckily this is the only area of Whitefish that is affected by this problem. The North Side is served by one high speed quad, and if the Front Side has lift lines then the North Side is a good place to escape them.

Click here for the trail map of the North Side.

Hellroaring Basin – pure off-trail skiing

Hellroaring Basin is where most of the off-trail skiing in Whitefish is. There is only one groomed run down the area, a blue run that is not really worth talking about. It mainly serves the purpose of getting skiers to the Hellroaring chair after a run off the trail. Rest of the skiing is black and double black diamonds.

One can drop into the horseshoe-shaped basin from any point along the cat tracks that circle it. There’s some great tree-skiing here, along with couple of chutes and open areas. It doesn’t get tracked out very fast, partly because to do laps in the basin you first need to ride up Hellroaring Chair to the side of the basin and then ski down to Chair 1 to get up to the top of the mountain again. An annoyance, but only a minor since it keeps some of the crowds away. Those who are comfortable on expert runs will like this area a lot on a powder day.

Laura, fog, and a lot of snow in Hellroaring Basin..

The whole Hellroaring Basin and the chairlift alway close on April 1st to protect the local grizzly bear population and let them have their peace. Obeying the closure is a good idea unless you first want to get clawed by a big, ugly bear and then get fined by big, even uglier Flathead National Forest ranger.

Click here for Hellroaring Basin trail map.

Conclusion

Summa summarum: There are many ways people feel about the recent development of Whitefish. In the end its still not the most megalomaniac resort with thousands of condos, but it’s not the mom-and-pop ski area either. With the lift ticket prices still reasonable and a medium-sized resort town and ski area you can still feel like you’re in the mountains instead of Disneyland. The crowds aren’t as bad either. Whitefish might have lost some of its local charm in the last years, but the fact that the skiing is great along with the views from the top of the mountain can not be ignored.