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Stay Cool This Winter

Your guide to epic resorts, gnarly lines, sweet watering holes and a stylish season on the slopes

By Myers Reece
Conor O’Neil of Columbia Falls jumps off “Buckle Your Boots” cliff in the Evan’s Heaven area at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Photo By Craig Moore - GlacierWorld.com

Editor’s Note: This is one of the stories featured in the winter edition of Flathead Living magazine. Pick up a free copy on newsstands throughout the valley.

There are 470 ski areas in the United States, down from more than 600 in the 1980s, due to consolidations and closings. Montana stakes claim to 15 of those 470, three of which are nestled in the state’s northwestern corner: Whitefish Mountain Resort, the smaller Blacktail Mountain and the even smaller Turner Mountain. Extending eastward, the state’s two other ski areas along the 48-degree latitude line are Choteau’s Teton Pass Resort and Havre’s Bear Paw Ski Bowl. The rest are scattered among the typically higher-elevation mountain ranges farther south, from Lookout on the Idaho border to Red Lodge in the Beartooth Mountains east of Yellowstone National Park.

Flathead Valley residents and visitors, however, needn’t limit their ski adventures to within state borders, nor do they need to dip below the 48-degree latitude line to find new snow. A hundred miles west of Turner is Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain, while 100 miles north of Whitefish lies British Columbia’s Fernie Alpine Resort. If you want to change up your winter routine, you can get out of the state for a day on the slopes and be back in the Flathead in time for dinner.

READ THE REST AT THE NEW FLATHEADLIVING.COM >>