Looking Back: Opening day on The Big a success with fresh snow

10 years ago

Dec. 7, 2011

Although the unemployment rate in Flathead County remained high, BNSF Railway had been on a hiring spree that year. The company added as many as 415 employees in Montana, 41 of them locally. BNSF had been hit hard by the recession with weekly shipments dropping 30% company wide in 2009, but a BNSF spokesperson said they were optimistic about a full recovery and expected transportation volumes would climb back to pre-recession levels by 2013.

20 years ago

Dec. 6, 20, 2001

Blacktail Mountain remained closed due to inadequate snowfall and resort officials were disappointed when they inspected the mountain and only found around 10 inches of snow at the lower lift terminals. Meanwhile Big Mountain Resort had a successful opening day with total whiteout conditions. The snow was excellent with fresh snow gathering throughout the day according to several skiers and the resort had about 41 inches of snow to greet enthusiasts for opening day.

30 years ago

Dec. 5, 1991

The group of residents had just hung the Whitefish holiday decorations throughout town, most had been involved in the annual project since its inception which had been more than 30 years prior. The group called themselves the Whitefish Christmas Decorating Committee and the project relied upon several volunteers. Donations of more than $5,000 helped with supplies as most of the decorations were handmade; that year they added eight large snowflakes, four snowmen and two lanterns that would hang on either side of the “Noel” sign on Spokane Avenue.

40 years ago

Dec. 3, 1981

Whitefish city planners were recommending a much larger resort residential zone on the Big Mountain turnoff. Originally most of the land in that area was under the WA-Agricultural designation which allowed one dwelling unit for 20 acres, but landowners had told the board of future plans for condominium development there. The board changed their recommendation that would be sent to the City Council to zone it as WRR-1 which was intended for resort purposes.

50 years ago

Dec. 2, 1971

Big Mountain had a big opening weekend over the Thanksgiving holiday with up to 900 skiers per day that enjoyed excellent snow conditions. The Big was one of the few resorts in the northwest region to open for skiing early in the season which attracted several vacationers. The opening weekend had set a new record for total number of skiers at the resort.