Big Mountain opening uncertain

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

Official opening date is this Saturday, but Mother Nature may not cooperate

Latest weather update: As of presstime, Whitefish Mountain Resort was reporting 2 inches of fresh snow with an 8-inch base at the summit. The forecast calls for a 30 percent chance of precipitation on Friday. In the best-case scenario, the ski area will most likely open only a few runs on the front and several runs on the backside on Saturday. "It's possible but not likely that we will fully open," spokesperson Donnie Clapp said on Wednesday morning. The most recent updates can be found by calling 862-SNOW or visiting www.skiwhitefish.com.

Like a pan of bread dough without yeast, Whitefish Mountain Resort has everything it needs to kick off another successful season except for one key ingredient — a bunch of the white stuff.

In a repeat of last year, Mother Nature has decided to keep officials at the resort and locals in the valley waiting in nervous anticipation before the mountain's scheduled opening on Saturday.

"We're hopeful for the Dec. 6 opening," resort spokesperson Donnie Clapp said. "It's supposed to get very cold starting Tuesday afternoon. There's also some significant accumulation of snow in the forecast. We're being optimistic."

The temperatures have not quite been cold enough to use the snowmaking machines yet, according to operations manager Chester Powell.

"You really like the temperatures to be below 25 degrees Fahrenheit for a 24-hour period for the snowmaking to be efficient, and we haven't had that." he said. "There's about eight inches at the top of Big Mountain right now, and if another storm brings any amounts at all, we can get on it. They're calling for cooling and more snow."

Clapp said a plan exists for a limited opening if there's insufficient snow by Saturday.

"Assuming we get some accumulation this week, we'll open Ed's Run on Chair 2, open one run, Chipmunk, on Chair 6 with snowmaking, and open most of the backside with natural snow. There's quite a bit back there. We're prepared to push the opening date back, but we do need everybody out there praying for snow."

Clapp said some climatologists have indicated there will be a weak form of the La Nina weather pattern that provided a record snowfall last season.

"We started out real slow last year," he said. "We got a lot of snow in the five days before we opened last year. I don't think it's healthy to compare this year to last year though, because last year was just one of those lucky years."

So far, the resort is faring well as far as lodging reservations and pass sales go despite the dire state of the national economy.

"We've sold a little over 7,000 season passes, which broke last year's record," Clapp said. "Our advance lodging reservations are right on budget, within five percent of last year."

Colorado, by contrast, is reporting a slowdown of 25-30 percent in lodging reservations according to Clapp.

"We're going to be really full in December, and we're pretty much booked for the holiday season," he said. "We don't want to act like we're impervious to the effects of the economic slowdown, but right now we're looking good."

Last season's big snowfall really paid off for the resort.

"This previous fiscal year, we paid down debt and paid interest on debt for the first time anybody can remember in at least 10 to 15 years," Clapp said. "Even with the inevitable loss in the summer. Number one, first and foremost, it was a good snow year. A strong Canadian dollar helped, and the fact that we opened our doors later rather than saying we would open on Thanksgiving and then pushing it back."

Clapp said the exchange rate for the "Loonie" isn't as favorable for Canadian tourists this year.

"Hopefully, Canadian visitors that hadn't been here in years were reminded how awesome this place is, and a beer at the Bierstube is still cheaper than it is in Calgary," he said. "Canadian business hadn't been a significant factor for us until last year, so if it drops this year, it will be a return to normal."

A recent drop in oil prices also bodes well for the resort, as that directly affects their operational costs.

"We use quite a bit of diesel in our snow-grooming machines, so that'll help us out a bit," Clapp said.

There are several minor improvements to the mountain this year. The resort made no major infrastructure changes, so they had the time to focus on the little things, Clapp said. Among the changes:

? A significant amount of brush was cleared on the Elkweed-Langley area that should open it up for more intermediate skiers.

? Many more highly-visible signs and markers pointing people to the easiest way down and clearly marking routes.

? A new Cat trail that will make it easier for beginners to bypass the so-called Ant Hill at the summit. The new cut will start near Gray Wolf and run east on the backside of the mountain, under Chair 7, to the base of the often crowded and relatively steep Ant Hill.

? A new lift operations manager, Sid Ryerson, has been hired to streamline the process of getting thousands of people up the mountain every day. Ryerson is a longtime Winter Sports Inc. employee.

? The shuttle system at the resort will be more structured. Buses will run every half hour around the village.

? A new resort-operated restaurant has replaced MacKenzie River Pizza in the Base Lodge that will offer stir-fry as well as traditional ski lodge food, and a taco bar has been added to the Summit House.

Last year, the resort spent millions of dollars on major upgrades to Big Mountain Road, taking out several tight curves and widening lanes.

A brand new base lodge was also built at the bottom of Chair 6 befor last season, and a new high-speed quad replaced the old Chair 1.

Clapp said 50 workers from South America will be flying in this weekend to begin their training. They'll join a force of more than 500 workers already working at the resort.

He emphasized that resort managers are all very excited and optimistic about the upcoming season, but they'll have to be patient until the snow gods are appeased.

"We're not fooling anybody — you can see green slopes on the hill from town," he said. "But we are hopeful."