From Fairmont Hot Springs, we started at about10:30 am. We took the I-90 to US #93/MT 200 North. Around Missoula there was no snow on the ground. Before that, there had been snow on the ground surrounding the I-90 and also blowing snow. On #93 there was some snow on the ground (but not as much as in Vail). The atmospheric river was supposed to start on Saturday but really didn’t. Along the roads as we were driving, we were surprised to see cows and horses out in the fields in the winter. We entered the Flathead Indian Reservation where non-natives outnumber native Americans by 2:1. It was about 30° F as we were driving north to the 48th parallel! Irony of irony--not enough snow--and not as much as in Vail. After Whitefish, we turned right to go up to Whitefish Mountain Resort/Big Mountain on #487. Then there was some snow on the ground but it was meager.
Whitefish Skiing Overview
With no atmospheric river there was no boot top cold smoke--defined as: "Cold smoke is a term for cold and dry powder that we occasionally get up here in the Montana Rockies. Boot top is … around 6” or so that reaches your boot top. Kind of a “medium” deep but super fun and light powder experience - Montana style". We call it not "boot high white smoke" and we never experienced it in Montana and have only rarely experienced it in Vail>
We made a poor choice in deciding to ski Whitefish Mountain Resort. It is too low and the Flathead Lake effect causes fog and clouds to hang on Big Mountain. On the positive side, the lake effect also causes the Snow Ghosts that really are impressive and unique. But skiing Whitefish means that invariably visibility is limited. When visibility is limited in Vail we ski by the trees. In Whitefish the trees aren't too helpful because the fog/clouds enshroud them too.
The writer, Elliot Rappaport describes fog as "a low mass of cloud droplets dense enough to block out all evidence of the surrounding world" in Reading the Glass. A perfect description of skiing Big Mountain/Whitefish Mountain!
We didn't ski the blacks or double blacks at all. We didn't ski the trees in Hellroaring Basin or anywhere else. We actually skied very little during our two weeks there. When we did ski, we started on Chair 3 which was old and slow, without a foot rest. Or we were on Chair 8 which had Chair 3 problems and was bumpy as well. We rode the new Chair 4 and at the top we looked for an area map. They forgot to install one. Chair 1 was good and we only encountered a line on President's Day weekend. The area needed snow desperately when we were there. It did snow but inches, not the feet it needed. The bumps got a little softer with a couple of inches of snow but not inviting. The new snow was creamy not champagne. We were skiing runs that were narrow so even a few skiers made it unpleasant.
Whitefish Detail
We arrived late afternoon on the Saturday of President’s Day Weekend, We unpacked and went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Abruzzo. The earliest reservation we could get was 8:45 pm, usually an hour too late for us. On our arrival day, that worked because we went to the Safeway to shop before dinner. We liked Abruzzo and it was really crowded. On Sunday, let’s call it Day 1, we took a few runs. The snow was hardpack and the runs were icy. Also it was crowded. On Monday, Day 2, we took a wonderful mountain tour with Mustachioed Mike. The mountain was also very crowded. The runs were narrow and the beginners were everywhere. There was a little new snow and that helped us edge. Day 3 the lifts were closed because of wind. We went out to dinner at Latitude 48 in Whitefish and had a nice meal. The previous two nights, Audre cooked at home. The kitchen functions...
Day 4 the wind and cold closed most lifts. On Day 4 we tried to go snowshoeing in Glacier National Park but the Going-To-The-Sun Road was closed for construction (in winter?) and we couldn’t get into the trailhead parking lot for the Lookout Trail (it wasn't plowed). So we had lunch at Packers Roost and came home after the maid’s left. Day 5 the mountain was closed again because of cold, wind and wind chill temperature of -47° F. We had been talking about going snowshoeing at the north end of Whitefish Lake.... We stayed in our apartment all day and Audre made a cod fish stew that Dimitri liked.
Day 6 the mountain was closed again because of cold and wind in the morning but the main lift #1 opened in the afternoon. Even so, the cold temperature didn't entice us to the mountain. We snowshoed at the north end of Whitefish Lake on Swift Creek Loop. It was a forest walk amongst the Douglas firs. We went to China Wall for lunch. Dimitri thought the hot and sour soup and the Vietnamese roll were good. Audre did not agree. We went to Wasabi for dinner that night and, it was unanimous. It was awful and too expensive. Day 7 the mountain was open but it was a Saturday and we thought that it would be too crowded. This was confirmed by 2 locals when we skied the next day. We snowshoed again on Day 7. This time from Big Mountain trailhead. It was nice but there was almost no uphill so we got very little exercise even though we were out for almost two hours. On Saturday night we went to the Whitefish Lake Golf Club Restaurant. We had a nice meal and enjoyed it.
Day 8 we went skiing and the clouds/fog was so thick we couldn't see the tips of our skis. We skied 2 runs and went back to our apartment. We tried to photograph the Snow Ghost Trees and our efforts failed. Day 9, there was morning sun but no new snow. We skied 2 runs and then it started to snow. The flat light turned into no visibility. The conditions made "hard pack" sound good. Dimitri exclaimed at one point "this is Eastern skiing". He got that right. Again we tried to capture the Snow Ghost Trees.
According to the University of Montana website, Snow Ghosts are formed when there are heavy accumulations of super-cooled water droplets called rime. During periods of extreme cold, rime from hydrothermal mist accumulates on the branches of trees and freezes. "Hydrothermal mist" is fancy for fog and Whitefish gets a lot of it. So, on days where the air is super cold, the humidity causes vapor to freeze immediately onto whatever it comes in contact with--like the trees. We gather that the humidity is due to the influence of Flathead Lake.
When we got home after two runs on Day 9, it stopped snowing and the sun came out. We went out for dinner to Last Chair and had a good and enjoyable meal with an Indian-inspired entrée.
Day 10 was snowing so we went on a GREAT snowshoe that Dimitri found at the north end of Whitefish Lake. It was a snowy paradise on a road-like thing next to BNSF railroad tracks. It was beautiful, three trains came by to entertain us and there was a disused 1912 train tunnel to photograph. We had a wonderful two hour snowshoe. We came back to our apartment and Dimitri went to the rooftop Jacuzzi. Audre abstained; her skin condition looked like, with any provocation, it would erupt again. For dinner we had a good and enjoyable meal at Ciao Mambo.
On the Day 11 snow report, 6 new inches were announced, with 2 coming overnight to refresh the skied-off slopes. It looked foggy at the bottom but we decided to give skiing a try. We saw on the webcam that the top was sunny whereas the village was enshrouded in clouds and fog. So we went to the top and had one good run then the clouds and fog descended and there was really no visibility whatsoever. We said "this sucks" and went back to our apartment. We know you'll say that "this is a first world problem". Okay, we don't have famine, pestilence or war either. And we are neither cold nor wet (inside). But our choice in ski areas was a mistake. For dinner we went to Indah Sushi which was also an unfortunate choice; we didn't think it was good.
Day 12 we didn't ski. In the morning, there was no visibility even from our apartment windows; it was snowing. We decided that we had had it with trying to ski at Whitefish Mountain Resort. We didn't go snowshoeing either. The 8 am snow report said: "The upper and lower mountain currently has incredibly low visibility (even by Big Mountain standards)." Now that is refreshing honesty in reporting!
So on Day 13 we packed up and Day 14 we left early.
Our Ski-in, Ski-out Accommodations
Our apartment #202 at the Morning Eagle Lodge reminded us of Simba Run in Vail—about the same size although a newer vintage. No shuttle was required, however. It was right on the run to lift #3 (and people walk right outside of our second floor apartment window). We have figured out how to set the Venetian blinds so that the bottom is closed but the top is open to let in light. Otherwise, we would be in a fishbowl. There was underground parking and one elevator in the building (the sole elevator was one of the slowest we have ever encountered).
We were at the end of the hall so we only had neighbors across the hall (as well as above us). On the other side of our apartment was a stairway that went outside to the run (to Chair #3). When we walked into the apartment, there was an entry area with a bench in front of us to sit on with hooks above for our jackets. To the left, was the (large) second bathroom and to the right was the kitchen and the closet door with the washer/dryer inside. The kitchen was standard with very old appliances. The bar counter, next to the kitchen was where Audre put her computer. After the kitchen was the living/dining area with a gas fireplace and a door to the deck outside. The furniture was comfortable enough. The dining table was a small, lightweight one (and could not ever seat the 6 people that this apartment was supposed to accommodate). The second bedroom was large enough and, on the floor under the window, we put all of our suitcases and the apartment cleaning stuff, which had been taking up space in the closets (like the vacuum), that we didn’t need. We also stored our ski clothes and boots in the second bedroom. We had to buy light bulbs for the lamps; otherwise there was no light in the second bedroom. Off of the living/dining room on the other side, was the master bedroom. It was large and had a desk for Dimitri. The master bathroom was also large. We had a view of the lower slopes from all of our windows. On our first day, we used the hot tub on the roof. It was 103.5° F and not crowded. Also, it didn’t have bubbles. On other days, there were 10 people in the hot tub. It accommodated us all. We were happy until Audre started itching from the hot water and dry air.
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