The Big Mountain (Whitefish Mountain Resort) is Outside Media’s home hill. It’s our “Cheers”–a place where people know each other. We love the snow, the fog, the sun, the Bierstube Rings and the Hellroaring Nachos. There are a lot of unique aspects to this locals’ mountain that include short lift lines, friendly staff, small town feel and an unrestricted uphill ski policy. So it’s no wonder the new uphill traffic rules are causing some panties to bunch up.
Whitefish Mountain Resort recently revisited its uphill traffic policy. Skinning or snowshoeing up the ski runs before the mountain was open, during operating hours, after operating hours and post season and has been a wildly popular pastime for many locals for many years. We love it. But it’s been a growing point of contention. Here is a little background on what has been happening at The Big.
Statement from the first press release from Whitefish Mountain Resort outlining some guidelines:
“The policy developed by resort management and the US Forest Service will restrict uphill traffic within the resort’s Special Use Permit boundary to a single route on the mountain, as well as limiting the hours when the activity is allowed.”
Obviously, a lot of locals felt very strongly about this, and mounted a campaign. A Facebook page called Protect The Right to Responsible Uphill Traffic at Whitefish Mountain Resort was created and quickly garnered more than 600 fans with passionate rally cries. Folks wanted the Mountain and the US Forest Service to listen to their side of the story and compromise. Many people felt that the restrictive guidelines shouldn’t be made without a public comment period.
The safety issue has been mounting for awhile, as groomers reported concern over how dangerously close skiers were coming to the grooming equipment. Our groomer friends say they would see 30-40 hikers a night. With an already stressful job of maneuvering expensive, heavy groomer cats all over the mountain in the middle of the night, they tell us having to watch out for after-hours skiers just increases the stress and risk of the job.
One of our groomer friends explained to us how dangerous it was to have skiers around the cats, especially when a winch-cat operation is underway. A winch-cat operation consists of two groomers; using one groomer-cat as the anchor and winching the other down a steep run using a heavy cable. This technique is used when a run is too steep to groom without the support of a winch. When the cat is lowered, the heavy cable gets buried in the snow and goes out of sight under immense pressure. Then, when the lowered cat then gets pulled back uphill– at the crest of the hill–the buried cable comes free from the all the pressure and erupts out of the snow. Our friend said on one occasion in the five minutes it took to lower and re-lift the cat, there were ski tracks over the buried winch-cat cable. If that particular skier had been on or near that cable when it shot up out of the snow, he would have been seriously injured or killed.
So, it became apparent that a few bad apples ruined it for everyone, and a policy was drafted and set to be implemented on March 1st. With a huge public outcry, Whitefish Mountain Resort and the US Forest Service re-evaluated the policy and issued a NEW press release allowing for a comment period until April 4th-the last day of operation for the season.
Some statements from the second press release:
After announcing the policy last week, the resort received a high volume of feedback from members of the public, as did the US Forest Service. Much of the input received has centered around finding a way to allow safe uphill traffic in the early evening hours, as well as ways to allow the public an opportunity to comment on the new policy.
“We’re not completely satisfied with this policy, and neither are our users.” said Donnie Clapp, Whitefish Mountain Resort Public Relations Manager. “We had to put something in place quickly, because there was some very dangerous activity going on that needs to stop, but we’re very open to improving it.”
Well put, Donnie! And power to the people for speaking up.
Stay tuned for the latest guidelines coming up this spring.
Holler for responsible uphill traffic, for public involvement and a mountain that listens to locals while trying to keep them safe!
