No matter your coordinates in the Flathead Valley, when the snow and the cold and the creeping dark settle in for the season, you’ll be privy to a raft of winter activities, ranging from skiing and snowboarding, to Nordic skiing, to skating on wild ice or merrymaking at the annual Whitefish Winter Carnival.
And while the clearest manifestation of these formative months is in the meteorological metrics and their wayward contempt for our creature comforts, a dedicated force of winter wizards works behind-the-scenes to craft a foundation for a season of adventure and fun – by tirelessly grooming our ski runs, mapping our mountain terrain, forecasting our weather, assessing avalanche safety, and preparing the chairlifts of our local ski areas for a winter of heavy use.
One prominent portion of the valley’s demographic, skiers and snowboarders, is currently performing its own reverent rituals by praying heartily, and bibulously, for some snowy salvation in the form of epic storms, while others perform acts of divinity that pass unseen, like hiring the throngs of seasonal employees at Whitefish Mountain Resort, or by training the suite of patrollers who keep watch over us.
This week, the Beacon pays homage to some of the folks who toil in obscurity to prepare the Flathead Valley and its residents for our annual winter wonderland.
Be sure to check out this week’s Flathead Beacon for a map of ski resorts in the region and all the information you need to plan your next winter road trip.
Cold Cartography
For nearly three decades, James Niehues has made a living crafting hand-painted ski maps that are used around the worldBY JUSTIN FRANZ
Even though most of James Niehues paintings have never been displayed in an art gallery, just about anyone who has snapped on a pair of skis from Australia to America is familiar with his work.
Niehues, 67, lives in Loveland, Colorado and has spent the last 26 years painting trail maps used by ski resorts around the world, including Whitefish Mountain Resort. In three decades, Niehues has painted nearly 300 maps. READ MORE
The Art of Snow
Big Mountain’s fleet of snow machines and alpine snowcats work around the clock to make winter in Whitefish
BY TRISTAN SCOTT
WHITEFISH – Every winter, from dusk until frigid dawn, the luminous beams of alpine snowcats rove up and down Big Mountain’s vertical slopes, laying tracks of velvet carpet before furrowing the runs into ribs of corduroy.
On cold, clear nights, the yellow orbs are visible from this ski town’s valley floor, twinkling silently against the mountain’s south face, a Zen-like calm projecting down as the snow-fairies perform their elegant dance, the labor as natural as a firefly’s bioluminescence, the machines’ operators warm inside their cabs and Carhartts, a thermos of something warm at their side. READ MORE
Making History on Big Mountain
Grassroots effort to preserve Flathead’s ski history takes shape at the Flathead Valley Skiing Heritage Center
BY JUSTIN FRANZ
As the temperatures dip and the mountain peaks are dusted with the first snow of the season, skiers and riders around Northwest Montana begin to dream the about winter upon us. But a small group of volunteers are eagerly looking to the past as they set up the Flathead Valley Skiing Heritage Center.
The Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation is spearheading the effort to establish a ski museum in Whitefish and hope begin to remodel their building, located along Wisconsin Avenue, this winter. READ MORE
Gearing Up For Biggest Winter Yet
Whitefish Mountain Resort reveals new terrain, base lodge improvements for the 2014-2015 ski season
BY JUSTIN FRANZ
WHITEFISH – Opening day is still two-and-a-half weeks away, but it’s already starting to feel like winter at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Northwest Montana’s largest ski resort is gearing up for its biggest winter yet with new terrain, a new chairlift and improvements to the base lodge that officials say will only improve the visitor experience. Spokesperson Riley Polumbus said season pass sales are already up 4 percent over last year’s record sales. Last year, 345,000 skiers and riders visited the resort on Big Mountain. READ MORE
El Niño Might Not Appear This Winter
Forecasters now give warmer, drier winter a 58 percent chance of happening
BY MOLLY PRIDDY
A month ago, forecasters believed the United States could be headed into a drier, warmer winter than last year due to an El Niño weather pattern. That pattern, however, has changed.
Now, meteorologists and weather forecasters are back on the fence about the upcoming winter’s temperatures and precipitation, saying there is a 58 percent chance of an El Niño season, according to the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service’s Nov. 17 report. READ MORE