Whitefish Mountain Resort breaks visitation record again

Whitefish Mountain Resort broke its visitation record with more than 500,000 skiers and snowboarders riding Big Mountain during the 2022-23 ski season, which ended Sunday.

Last year, the resort saw around 464,000 visits.

The increase was driven primarily by over 15,000 pass holders, which was itself another record, according to resort spokesperson Chad Sokol.

“We’re excited to see local skiers and riders getting the most value out of their passes,” Sokol said.

This season was the first with the new Chair 4, nicknamed the Snow Ghost Express. The high-speed six-person chairlift was intended to alleviate base area bottlenecks and spread skiers around the mountain. Sokol said resort management feels that the lift was effective in dispersing traffic around the resort’s terrain.

The resort had a few chairlift hiccups this season, which led to skiers being evacuated off the chairs on a couple of occasions.

Sokol previously described the issues with the new lift as “growing pains” that were addressed with additional training from the chairlift’s manufacturers.

Chair 2 was also shut down on several days last season, which the resort hopes to address by doing scheduled maintenance during the summer months.

The resort also plans to add a second “magic carpet” conveyor connecting the beginner ski area under Chair 9 with the loading area of Chair 4. Sokol says the addition will significantly expand the area that novice skiers will be able to enjoy.

Passes for next season are also already on sale, with early season pricing for adult passes rising $20 in price to $739, until Sept. 30. Senior passes are priced at $629, while people older than 70 will be able to purchase a season pass for $165.

THIS YEAR’S VERTICAL CROWN was retained by Michael Donnay, who racked up an impressive 5,700,000 vertical feet skied this winter. Last season, he also led resort-goers with 6,800,000 feet, which ranks as the second most since records have been kept, according to independent tracking website Big Mountain Vertical.

Leading seniors was Geoff Vevera, with 3,777,928 vertical feet, and the “super senior” class was once again led by Fred Frost with 3,344,433 feet. According to Big Mountain Vertical, Frost is the all-time leader with 76,313,363 feet skied in the last 20 seasons combined.