Deep powder greets skiers on opening day

Opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort this year will be defined by the snow storm that arrived in the nick of time.

Resort officials and anxious skiers alike were able to breathe a sigh of relief Friday when temperatures finally dropped and a heavy snow started to fall. By Saturday morning, opening day, the village area was covered with a blanket of white and snowmaking machines were set to full blast.

Winter had arrived right on schedule.

More than 30 inches of new snow fell on Big Mountain from Dec. 5-10, adding up to a settled base of 60 inches at the summit. Skiers who braved the long lines Saturday were treated to untouched, knee-deep snow in the glades on the north side of Big Mountain. The resort opened with limited terrain featuring 12 groomed runs serviced by Chair 7, but a few more runs on the front side opened later in the afternoon.

The limited terrain didn’t deter folks from coming out to kick off the resort’s 65th season. Resort officials say nearly 2,500 skiers hit the slopes opening day.

One group of dedicated skiers and snowboarders lined up at Chair 1 at 1 a.m. on Saturday, hoping to catch the first chair of the winter. Luke Benson, Aaron Benson, Brock Sandry and Luke Sandry took shifts holding their place in line through the night.

Aaron started getting excited for opening day as soon as the first flakes fell in town on Friday.

“I was at a basketball game and looked outside and was like, ‘Oh yeah!’” he said.

Brock was at work at Super One grocery when it started to dump snow.

“I was counting down the hours until I got up here,” he said.

The group said their first run would probably be Whitetail.

Just behind them in line was another group that showed up at 2:30 a.m. By 8:30 a.m. the lift line was 50 yards deep and the anxious energy was palpable.

At 9:24 a.m. the first chair was loaded — six minutes ahead of schedule.

As of Monday the resort was skiing on 47 groomed runs, including Toni Matt. More terrain was opened on the front side, including Big Face, East Rim and Elephants Graveyard.