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Opening Day Postponed at Big Mountain

By Beacon Staff

Four inches of new snow on Big Mountain in the last 48 hours didn’t cut it.

Warm temperatures and an overall lack of snow led Whitefish Mountain Resort to postpone this Saturday’s planned opening day.

The resort announced on Thursday that officials would evaluate conditions on a daily basis and open the ski resort as soon as possible.

“We are one big snow storm away from having enough snow for a skiable base,” resort manager Chester Powell said.

Earlier this week, resort spokesperson Riley Polumbus said the mountain still needs over a half foot of snow on the back side to safely open. In previous years the mountain has partially opened the back and downloaded people from the summit down Chair 1.

“We would like to open Chair 7,” she said. “However, we need more snow back there.”

The summit currently has a 25-inch base but the front side has even more severe needs, she said.

“The front side is not ready at all. We’re still quite thin,” she said. “We have a ways to go there.”

The last time opening day was postponed was in the 2008-09 season. The mountain opened three days later than originally planned.