Skiers flock to mountain on opening day
A snowboarder hits a box on Whitetail during opening day on Dec. 6 at Whitefish Mountain Resort. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
A skier carves down Moe Mentum during opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
A snowboarder gets some air on Moe Mentum during opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
A snowboarder carves his way down to Chair 5 during opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
A skier hits the rails on Whitetail during opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Skiers hike up to Chair 1 for opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Caylie Williams slept in her vehicle overnight to be ready for Whitefish Mountain Resort’s opening day last Thursday.
Skiers and snowboarders wait in line for first chair during opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Two skiers glide off the lift at Big Mountain’s summit during opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
A smooth tele-skier makes some turns down the Ant Hill on opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
While opening day at Whitefish Mountain Resort had many skiers excited, some literally couldn’t wait to hit the slopes.
In the case of Yance Hendershott and Tyge McCarvel, that meant getting to Chair 1 at 5 a.m. to secure the first chair of the season — four and a half hours before the lift began running.
Hendershott said he’s been first in line a couple times already, and while only the north and east side of the mountain had runs open for day one, he’s just excited to ski.
“Just finally getting back on the resort, not having to skin for every run,” he said.“It’s going to be fun no matter what because it’s opening day.”
Others in line were just as dedicated.
Caylie Williams slept in her car in a nearby parking lot to be ready for opening day.
While she wasn’t first in line, Williams said she was more focused on getting her skis on and enjoying Big Mountain.
“Everyone was asking me, ‘Are you trying to get first chair?’ I said no, I just want to wake up on the mountain and ski. It didn’t matter to me, I just wanted to wake up on this beautiful mountain and say, ‘OK, it’s go time,’” she said. “I just hope we get a lot of snow, a lot of beautiful weather and some good powder and really good ski days.”
Hendershott, McCarvel and Williams were among the 1,658 skiers that rode the mountain on Thursday, just a few shy of last year’s 1,669 opening day skier count.
Whitefish Mountain Resort opened for the 2018-19 season with five lifts and 19 trails available for skiers. Due to a lack of snow on the mountain’s front side, skiers had to download on Chair 1 at the end of the day.
Uphill travel on the mountain also remains closed because of safety and low snowpack on the front side of the mountain.
Temperatures at the mountain’s summit hovered around 8 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the day, and about three feet of snow had settled at the top.
More runs should be opening on the mountain soon, with snow forecasted to fall this week. Total snow at the summit on Tuesday was 50 inches.
For information on open runs and lifts on the mountain, visit www.skiwhitefish.com.