February 15, 2020 Big Mt.,aka Whitefish

I have skied Big Mtn for 30 years, but they changed the name to Whitefish. The new name was a marketing "idea" so it would not be confused with Big Sky. Hmmmm.

Now that we are Super Seniors the 1-day ticket price is $25. Fantastic deal.

The free parking is at Base Lodge. Village parking has a fee. The day started at 9am and we took a lift to the Village, rode the Swift Creek express lift for 30 minutes of skiing, and then the Big Mountain express started loading at 9:30am. This was the "plan" -- we ride "singles" and meet locals and tourists from around the country. The Big Mountain express gives you access to: chair 5 East Rim with steep cliff and tree terrain. The North Side has chair 7 Big Creek express and chair 11 Flower Point with steep tree lines and intermediate trails. The Hellroaring Basin brought back memories of when I skied this terrain 30 years ago. Steep treed terrain where you have to know the area. Today we skied the Hell Fire trail which is an intermediate trail -- very, very long with a mix of rolls and tree islands. At the end of the run Jill and I looked at each other and said that was "fantastic". The top of the mountain was in the fog for about 10% of the hill.

This a very "Big Mt", and it would take days to ski all the downhill and backcountry terrain. I talked to 3 backcountry folks riding the Big Mountain lift for touring, plus I saw another person skinning up a trail for the other side.