Big Mountain has record year
Resort closes season on Sunday after 300,000 skier visits
Big Mountain Ski Resort closes out the season on Sunday, capping one of the best snow years in a decade and setting a record for skier visits.
"We had a lot of smiling faces on the mountain this winter," resort spokesman Brian Schott said. "The snowfall was the best we have seen in many years, with 361 inches of total snowfall. We still have 128 inches of settled base at the summit."
Local skiers helped push skier-visit days (a single day of use per skier) to record numbers, Schott said. The resort logged more than 300,000 skier days, a 40 percent increase over last year.
Twenty years ago, skier visits totaled 170,581 for the season; 10 years ago the number had climbed to 241,000. Last year, a lack of snow caused skier visits to drop to 213,500, about 45,500 fewer than in 2003-04.
Season passholders used their passes this season more than ever before and accounted for 57 percent of total skier visits.
"Our average season-pass holder paid $14.64 per day to ski or snowboard Big Mountain," Schott said. "That is an incredible value."
Adult season passes will increase $50 for next season, from $429 to $479 for tickets purchased by May 15.
Winter Sports Inc., the corporation that operates the resort, is investing more than $10 million on improvements, including the Superpipe that debuted this winter plus the day lodge, chairlift, carpet lift and expanded skier services and parking that will be up and running by next season, Schott said.
"Our new direction at the mountain under the leadership of Fred Jones is to take the mountain to the people," he said. "Big Mountain is coming home by making the skier and snowboarder experience its top priority."
A pond-skimming competition on Sunday replaces the time-honored furniture race this year as the season finale. The skier who can skim across the pond at the slowest speed without falling into the water will win $1,000.
The event is limited to 80 participants and skis or snowboards must be appropriately worn. Call the information center at 862-2900 for details.
Some lifts already are closed for the season, including Chairs 4, 5 and the Bigfoot T-Bar 2. Chair 11 also is closed due to the normal Forest Service closure of Hellroaring Basin on April 1.
Due to the upcoming construction of the new day lodge at the Outpost, Chair 6 and the Big Easy carpet closed March 26, but Nordic trails remain accessible.
At the Flathead Valley's other ski area, Blacktail Mountain near Lakeside, the last day of skiing will be Saturday, April 15. Blacktail is open this weekend and then next Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15.
"We have had a great year for snow and it is nice to see that everyone has gotten to enjoy it," said Jessi Spencer, snowsports director at Blacktail.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com