Conditions Report
Report from Wednesday, January 22 – Friday, January 24, 2025
It is impossible to step onto the base of Whitefish Mountain Resort—which the locals still call Big Mountain—without feeling like you’ve arrived at the North Pole. Due to a combination of air moisture, frequent fog cover, and cold air temperatures, the trees here are coated in snow the way Dairy Queen dip cones are coated in chocolate.
While I’ve skied the Bozeman area several times over at resorts like Bridger and Big Sky, this was my first trip to Whitefish. I had planned the trip a few months prior with a good friend of mine, Chris Reichling, and was fortunate enough to connect with Whitefish’s PR lead Chad Sokol to guide us around for our first laps as we learned the resort.
Chad took us up several of Whitefish’s 11 chair lifts, introducing the steep sections of East Rim and some ripping groomers like Inspiration and No Name. Some of the favorite chairlifts we toured were the aptly named Chair Four, Snow Ghost Express, Chair Five, East Rim, and Chair Eight, Hellroaring.
As Whitefish is notorious for its fog, Chad told us how lucky we were when the clouds made way for blue skies around 11 a.m. on our first day. Even more fortunate was that the sun streak continued for the remainder of our trip, and all three days we skied had excellent visibility. This was an added touch as the peaks of Glacier National Park are visible in the distance, and coincidentally, the skis I ride are the Glacier National Park edition of the Icelantic Nomad 105s.
That night, we met Chad at the Great Northern Bar and Grill, where we learned they served $4 beers and live music Thursday through Saturday. As big fans of live music (and beer), we took Chad up on that information and returned on Thursday and Friday nights to see two great local acts, John Dunnigan and The Max.
After enjoying the steepest of Whitefish’s 3000+ skiable acres on our first day, Chris and I noted the Level-1 avalanche danger in the area. We decided to tour the surrounding “side country,” accessible from the top of chair 11. We arrived at the gates, ensured our beacons were beeping, and then hiked a 15-minute boot back to our side country descent. The terrain was steep and mostly untouched, and it led out to a snow-covered road, which made for an easy 45-minute skin back to the resort boundary.
Chris and I decided to stay in bounds on our third day. Despite no new snow in about two weeks, we still found soft turns under Chair Seven, which provided for show-boaty laps and fun mogul gaps. Even in the dry spell, our consensus was that the mountain had great terrain. We both hope to be in the area in future days when fresh snow allows for more features, bigger airs, and softer landings.
Conditions
Weather Outlook
Other Stats
Winter 2024 / ’25, as of January 26:
- Skiable Acres: 3000+
- Inches season to date: 300+
- Named runs: 110+
- Nearest airport: 19 Miles away from Glacier International (FCA)
- History: Opening date of Sunday, December 14, 1947 — 77 seasons and counting!
