Whitefish Mountain Resort pass prices remain same as last season

Season pass prices at Whitefish Mountain Resort for the 2020-2021 season will not increase.

An adult winter pass is priced at $675 through Sept. 30, the resort announced Wednesday. Senior and college student passes are $575. Teen passes are $370 and junior passes are $195. Super seniors age 70 and over ski for $135. Children 6 and under are free.

Discounted season passes, programs and teams are available through Sept. 30. Dan Graves CEO for Whitefish Mountain Resort, said the resort is still planning to proceed with the Hellroaring lift and trail project his summer even in light of early closing last winter.

“Our goal has always been to provide quality products and services at a value even when the weather doesn’t cooperate or a pandemic hits,” Graves said. “I look forward to next winter and the world hopefully getting back to normal.”

After Nov. 15, an adult season pass increases to $1,300.

The ski area is scheduled to open on Dec. 10 and the season is expected to run through April 11, 2021 conditions permitting.

The resort closed early on March 15 for the 2019-20 season about three weeks earlier than planned as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Graves said the early season end is not something anyone wants to experience again.

“It was a bummer for all of us who love to ski and ride,” he said. “I know that I wasn’t ready to stop skiing in mid-March.”

Graves said it was also a “bummer for the resort because it eliminated three weeks of revenue that is important to its cash flow.”

“As one can imagine, we have a relatively brief period of time to earn enough to maintain our large infrastructure of buildings and equipment, and continue to invest in improvements for you to enjoy and for the resort to stay competitive in the marketplace,” he said. “So, closing the last three weeks of the season and taking a hit of over $1 million to the bottom line certainly impacted our planning for the year. That said we recognize our guests were also impacted significantly which is why we wanted to keep rates where they were and stress our payment plans.”

The resort is pledging to donate $25 to the North Valley Food Bank for the first 100 passes paid in full.

The resort has added a new refund policy. Any passholder that purchases by Sept. 30 and decides, for any reason to request a refund, the resort will honor the request in full, no questions asked as long as the request is made prior to opening day.

After the ski season begins, the standard refund policy goes into effect.

The resort offers “3 Ways to Pay” for season passes: pay in full, pay “Half now, Half Later” (with auto-payment on Nov. 1), or the Installment Plan of six equal payments with the final payment on Nov. 1.

The Ski & Ride School programs and teams also are on sale at the lowest prices of the year through Sept. 30.

Mike Davies, snow sports director for Whitefish Mountain Resort, said both kids and adults programs continue to grow.

“The popularity of our Freestyle Teams and steady growth adult programs and clinics just go to show that our community thrives in the outdoors,” Davies said. “We are looking forward to getting back to the mountain and pursuing our goal to provide a positive, safe and fun environment to learn and develop lifelong skills for skiers and snowboarders of all ages.”

Programs and teams can be paid through payment plans.

Pass prices at Whitefish Mountain Resort have gone up by increments of $10 and $15 each season for the past several years. An adult pass was priced at $550 in 2010.

For more information visit skiwhitefish.com or call 406-862-2900.