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Photo Essay

Ending the Season with a Splash

Costumed skiers and snowboarders skipped across a pool of water at the bottom of Big Mountain at Whitefish Mountain Resort in competition for a cash prize as part of the resort’s closing weekend festivities

By Hunter D'Antuono
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D'Antuono | Flathead Beacon.

Rarely is winter’s last hurrah flavored with a more bittersweet bite than that which settles on skiers’ palates during closing weekend at Whitefish Mountain Resort on Big Mountain, where costume-clad locals participate in a wide range of outlandish, season-ending celebrations.

From sporting competition to ceremonial tradition, the season’s entire spectrum of stoke was on prominent display this past weekend, right up until the moment the lifts stopped spinning at 4 p.m. on April 9 and a dozen bottles of Prosecco popped off at the summit. The two-day gathering was marked by such beloved customs as the annual pond skim, a perennial closing-weekend event that commemorated its 18th running this year, featuring dozens of costume-clad competitors trying to skim across a 91-foot pond on skis or a snowboard for cash prizes and to enthrall the raucous crowd.

Are you suffering from end-of-season withdrawal? Flathead Beacon Media Director Hunter D’Antuono has some good medicine on tap with a curated gallery of images he hopes will help ease the transition into spring. Check out the full photo gallery here.

Enjoy!

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Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s pond skim on April 8, 2023. Costumed skiers and snowboarders skipped across a pool of water at the bottom of the hill in competition for prizes and bragging rights as part of the resort’s closing weekend festivities. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.
Scenes from Whitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.

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