Greetings, Beacon Nation! If it’s not raining outside your window right now, it will be soon enough as warm, wet conditions converge on the region for the next several days. It’s a bummer for the Flathead Valley’s burgeoning snowpack, and a drag for our region’s winter sports fanatics. But sometimes, the clearest view of the present is through the foggy lens of history.
That’s the perspective that listeners and viewers can expect when they tune in to the premiere episode of the Whitefish Ski Heritage Center and Museum’s new “Soul of Hell Roaring” podcast. To help fuel excitement for winter, the museum’s director Tim Hinderman recruited a murderer’s row of local powder hounds to remind us that last year’s season at Whitefish Mountain Resort wasn’t all spiced cider and powder pie (remember Dry January?). Yet, the ski area on Big Mountain ushered in a near-record-breaking volume of skiers and riders during the 2024-2025 winter, clocking more than 500,000 skier visits (a skier visit is counted each time an individual uses a lift ticket or pass at a ski area). And the snow was pretty dang good, too!
Stick around for a synopsis of the episode below and be sure to check out “Soul of Hell Roaring” for yourself. The first episode, “It Happened Last Winter,” is available on YouTube and can be downloaded wherever you get your podcasts.
Students of Big Mountain history need no introduction to Tim Hinderman, the director of the Whitefish Ski Heritage Center and Museum. His father, Karl, was one of the early Whitefish ski pioneers and his bonafides as a local historian are well-established and highly regarded. Although Hinderman’s specialty is Big Mountain’s origin story, it turns out that he’s equally adept at mining its recent history for insights into local ski culture.
To help him accomplish that, Hinderman recruited a panel of experts for the debut episode of his “Soul of Hell Roaring” podcast. Joining him are Whitefish Mountain Resort President Nick Polumbus; WMR’s Director of Sales and Marketing Matt Gebo; Whitefish Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kevin Gartland; and OpenSnow.com’s Montana forecaster Bob Ambrose.
“The result is a refreshingly candid, delightfully informative and unexpectedly entertaining synopsis of Whitefish Mountain Resort’s (aka Big Mountain’s) second-busiest season in 78 years of operation,” according to the episode’s log line.
Across all U.S. ski areas, data from the National Ski Areas Association indicates that the 2024-25 season marked the second-highest visitation on record, with a total of 61.5 million skier visits, a 1.7% increase over the previous season. That number trails the record-setting 2022-23 season by 3.9 million visits, or just under 6%. However, that post-Covid surge was widely considered an anomaly across the travel and recreation industries.
Last season’s regional impacts followed a similar trend, including at Whitefish Mountain Resort, due in large part to a sneaky good snowpack that delivered the goods early and often.
Opening day arrived Dec. 5, 2024 on the heels of a storm that allowed skiers and riders access to most of the resort’s terrain from the get-go. The month of December closed out with a total snowfall at 105% of the ski area’s 30-year average.
“The snow kept coming at a pretty good clip through Christmas,” Ambrose said. “They were the typical Big Mountain storms; two inches here, three inches there, an inch here. We call it ‘The Miracle Inch’ when you only get an inch up top but it skis like there’s a lot more than an inch.”
“We were ahead of the game and everyone on the mountain was pretty happy,” he added. “That’s when we went dry in January.”
The first month of 2025 delivered just 16 inches of snow, or 44% of the 30-year average before the tide turned again.
“February came roaring back,” Ambrose said of the 73 measurable inches of snow that accumulated that month, amounting to 110% of the average. Although February petered out with a weeklong stretch of warm weather and blue skies, March delivered a full-court press that included an 11-inch dump on a Saturday morning. The month closed out by clocking 117% average snowfall.
“We really did pretty well,” Ambrose said of the season.
Check out the entire episode to learn more about the Chair 2 mechanical issues that bedeviled resort officials, as well as updates on off-season brush clearing, WMR’s corporate philosophy, staff housing, the S.N.O.W. Bus, and how the ski area selects opening and closing days.
I’m Tristan Scott, here to deliver the rest of your well-above-average Monday edition of the Daily Roundup …
Logan Health Primary Care Providers Look to Unionize
The group of primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants are seeking representation through the Union of American Physicians and Dentists
As Conservation Groups Rally Support for Roadless Rule, Sen. Daines Pushes for Repeal
A Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee this week considered a slate of 26 public lands and wildfire bills, including a bill to permanently enshrine the decades old Roadless Rule
This holiday season, celebrate the spirit of our community by shopping local. Every purchase you make from a neighborhood business helps support local jobs, families, and the unique character that makes the Flathead Valley such a special place to call home. From thoughtful gifts to festive experiences, our local shops have everything you need to make the season bright. Here’s some information on how to keep it local this holiday season.
Keeping you connected to Northwest Montana.
Whether you’ve been here for decades, or you’re new to the Flathead Valley, our reporting is here to help you feel smarter and in the loop about the issues most important to Northwest Montana. With your support, we can build a more engaged, informed community.
