Whitefish Montana a/k/a Big Mountain

[LuckyRVA]

Planning a trip to Whitefish next March. It's probably a bit early to be planning the trip but I'm already excited about it.

Anyone ever been? Good stories, bad stories, story stories? I understand the place can get foggy as hell. Is it as bad as some people make it out to be?

Is the nightlife decent?

I also plan on doing a cat riding trip one day with Great Northern Powder Guides. Anyone have any experience with these guys. They seem to have nothing but great reviews online.

HOME - Cat Skiing Montana | Snow Cat Skiing Montana | Cat Skiing

[LuckyRVA]

anyone?

10char

[marcg]

I had a friend who spent a season there, he said it's not nicknamed the "Big Fog" for nothing.
Pros:
He said the terrain for snowboarding is awesome, the views are fantastic (when there is visibility), pretty affordable lift tickets and it's not very crowded at all.

Cons:
There are many days where you literally have 1 chair visibility, vertigo/dizziness is a big possibility.
It's pretty expensive to fly into Kalispell airport.
Average snowfall totals aren't huge, around 300"

[LuckyRVA]

Thanks for the response. A family member has a place to stay in Whitefish for two weeks so I'm planning to stay for a week.

I did notice the flights were pretty expensive and was hoping they would go down a bit. But, may be not.

And 300 inches of snow is huge compared to what we get here so I'm not let down by that at all.

[HoboMaster]

I've heard it's pretty similar to Schweitzer, which makes sense because we definitely get a lot of can't see shit days. Keep in mind that just because it has a lower average snowfall, doesn't mean theres no powder. We never get big dumps here (2+ feet), but what we do get is back-to-back days of 6-12inches. Which in my opinion is better, because you get consecutive powder days. If the snow is wet also, having a thinner layer is far easier to ride in then 3 feet of goop.

[killclimbz]

I agree with Hobo's point on snow. Plus I doubt Whitefish sees the amount of traffic that areas in Salt Lake, Front Range Colorado, or Tahoe see.

Everything I've heard is that it's a pretty killer place. Should be a fun trip.

[chupacabraman]

Yeah it's pretty good. Enough snow (really varies year to year... 400cm on a bad year but 1100cm on a good year). Often flat light and foggy. Fairly mellow yet fun terrain. Like Killclimbz said it's not too busy there, so powder lasts longer and terrain is prime to rip.
Be sure to check out Castle, Fernie, Whitewater, and Bridger Bowl while you are in that area - all kick ass hills (better than Big Sky, Schweitzer, Whitefish... others in area)

[LuckyRVA]

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by chupacabraman

Be sure to check out Castle, Fernie, Whitewater, and Bridger Bowl while you are in that area - all kick ass hills (better than Big Sky, Schweitzer, Whitefish... others in area)

If you were to hit up two of those hills which would it be?

[chupacabraman]

Originally Posted by LuckyRVA

If you were to hit up two of those hills which would it be?

Whichever had the better conditions. If conditions are equal at all though...
The best terrain at Whitewater and Bridger Bowl is hike access and/or out of bounds but they do have some decent lift accessable stuff too. Whitewater by far gets the most snow from that group (high quality too). Fernie is the best 'all around' hill from that group... great for any ability, lots of snow (sometimes heavy/wet), decent park, etc. Castle has good steeps, drier snow, but a crappy park and lifts. None of those hills are too bad for crowds usually.

[LuckyRVA]

Thanks