Resort marks positives even with early end to season due to pandemic
Sunday should have been the last day of the ski season at Whitefish Mountain Resort until it was forced last month to close early as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Still the resort recorded some positives even in a shortened season and is looking ahead to next winter.
The resort was up 5% in skier visits, about 385,000, compared to the same point in the season last year, which itself was a record year before the resort officially closed for the 2019-20 winter season on March 15.
Randy Helgath was the season vertical leader, racking up 3,033,289 feet even in the shorter season. Helgath was the only skier to eclipse 3 million feet.
The decision to close early, rather than on the original closure date of April 5, came in the hopes of helping to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which at the time had not been detected in the Flathead Valley.
WMR Marketing Director Nick Polumbus said the early closure was an emotional blow for everyone.
“We’re all just completely bummed about the season closing early. We’ve dedicated our professional lives to providing this activity to people and to come up short on completing the season is in a lot of ways devastating,” Polumbus said. “Beyond that, this is what we love to do also so that makes it an extra kick in the knees. To say we miss our skiing family would be an understatement.”
As of Tuesday morning, there were 31 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Flathead County and 319 in the state.
The closure forced the cancellation of all events for the remainder of the season, including the Pond Skim and Dummy Derby, and closed all restaurants, rental and retail shops.
The resort’s lodging department has contacted current guests and existing reservations to make alternate travel agreements, and the resort says it has relaxed its cancellation policies and will continue to honor its “relaxed policy” with summer reservations.
The closure came at the same time as a number of other closures of schools and non-essential businesses in Montana, and many other resorts in the country also chose to shut down their slopes.
Moving forward, Polumbus said there’s still positive plans coming down the road for the resort.
The resort this spring is set to begin a multi-phase project to enhance skiing in the Hellroaring Basin area.
The project is set to include the reconfiguration of the current Hellroaring Chair location, adding a new chairlift, and adding eight ski runs.
The resort says the initial phase of the project includes constructing a service road from the top of Swift Creek Express/Chair 2 to the Grand Junction area, clearing timber for new runs and lift line, as well as gladed areas adjacent to runs, and resloping areas on the Hell Fire run to eliminate the negative grades.
“As time passes and we start to ease our way back to whatever normal will become, we promise that the skiing will be extra sweet when December 2020 rolls around,” Polumbus said. “In the meantime, we are still planning on completing Phase 1 of the Hellroaring Basin Project and we absolutely will be ready with all of our other preparations to make next season the best we possibly can make it.”
For more information, visit www.skiwhitefish.com.