“They say that people fall in love with this place in the winter, but they decide that they are going to move here in the summer.” A guy sitting next to me on a chairlift said this to me one day as I was picking his brain about what it was like to live in Whitefish. We have only been here one week, but it is safe to say we are already able to check the winter “fall in love” box.
Whitefish is the idyllic, small town in Montana where we decided to spend ten weeks of our winter. We just sort of stumbled onto it while researching things like most affordable ski towns and best ski towns. Whitefish showed up on these searches pretty consistently. It is on National Geographic’s list of “Best Ski Towns in the World.” This year, Ski Magazine ranked it as the number three resort in the west. And, a lot of the locals I have met keep saying things like, “You should see this place in the summer. It is even better.” Sounds a little too good to be true? From what I can tell from our first week, it’s true and it’s real good.
Whitefish is a town of about 7,000 people in northwest Montana. It is probably best known for its proximity to Glacier National Park, approximately 30 miles away. Whitefish was established in the early 1900s as a railroad and logging town. The downtown area still maintains some of the charm from that era, but it is now filled with local shops and restaurants to service the booming tourism industry. Don’t let its small size fool you, though. You can find all the services you need (Costco, Target, REI and even Jamie’s favorites, TJMaxx and Homegoods) in Kalispell, fifteen minutes to the south. Housing is expensive here, but it still seems reasonable compared to other mountain resort towns. Schools are good and the people seem very friendly. Put that all together and you have the makings of a very appealing little town. They still have Christmas decorations up, for goodness stake.
Despite the town’s charm, the real attraction of this area is the natural beauty. There seems to be a perfect mix of mountains, forests, and water here. The mountains of Montana are absolutely incredible. They have the enormous scale of the Rockies but feel older, almost more wise and refined, than the mountains of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Whitefish Lake is in town and helps provide a view from the ski hill unlike any other. Flathead Lake, one of the largest lakes in the west at nearly 200 square miles, lies just to the south of Kalispell. This area had our hearts the minute Flathead Lake, flanked by the snow-capped peaks of the Mission Range, came into view as we were driving up from Bozeman. If you have ever been to Glacier National Park, you have a good idea of how beautiful this area is.
“Where does a powder hound hide all his money? In the fog bank.”, a local of some thirty years commented to me on the chairlift yesterday. It was a cold morning on a storm day and we were enjoying the loads of light powder that had been dumped all over the mountain the night before. We could hear other people in the trees and on the lifts whooping and yelling, as giddy as kids on Christmas morning. The snow continued to fall and the cold temperatures had his walrus mustache caked in ice almost as much as my “year off” beard. His joke pretty much summed up what I have learned about Whitefish Mountain Resort. It snows a lot here but it also gets foggy a lot here.
Whitefish Mountain Resort used to be called Big Mountain and with good reason. Whitefish has 3,000 acres of skiing on over 100 trails. Much of this acreage exists in large bowls and areas of tree skiing, which is among the best I have ever skied. Even though half of the resort is rated black diamond terrain, or “most difficult”, there is a load of beginner (green) and intermediate (blue) skiing to keep everyone happy. Even on crowded weekend days, the mountain is big enough that the crowds seem to spread out, so lift lines seem almost nonexistent. They have signs here bragging about how they measure crowds in acres/skier instead of skiers/acre. MLK weekend is quickly approaching, so I guess we will see a real crowd test soon enough.
In the week that we have been here, it has snowed pretty much every day. As I type this, I am looking out the window at a steady stream of fluffy snow piling on top of the evergreens and rooftops of our neighbors. We have seen all kinds of snow this week, from heavy base snow early in the week to nice, cold blower powder later in the week. The locals have told me that the snow becomes lighter and dryer as colder temperatures arrive in February. I can’t wait for move of that! The resort gets about 320 inches of snow a year on average, so there is still plenty to come.
If there is a downside to the mountain, it is that it can get foggy, a lot. I would describe skiing in the fog more like skiing in a cloud. The fog gets that thick here. The local brewery even has a “Ski the Fog Hazy IPA” on tap. I was horrified the first day I skied in the fog (which, coincidentally, was our first day on the mountain). I was wondering what the heck we had gotten ourselves into. We had read about the fog and this first day was a prime example of how bad it could get. We skied one run in a total white-out where every direction looked the same. Look down – white. Look sideways – white. Look up – white. In those conditions, you almost hope to see nothing because that means you are about to hit something. Visibility here used to be measured by the number of chairs you could see in front of you on the chairlift. I have been told that 80% of the time, the visibility is four chairs or less. I have seen it down to barely one chair. As you can imagine, that can create some challenges.
Locals tell me that the fog helps you become a better skier. They proudly wear their low light ski goggles as a badge of honor. I guess it forces you to learn to ski by feel? I just know I have felt myself go airborne while skiing along and not seeing the pile of snow I launched off of. Maybe it is working – I landed it? I have since learned how to make the most of the fog days. Certain lifts are better than others for visibility, visibility is better lower on the mountain, and trees can guide your way in the fog. You have to be careful of tree wells which can suck you in while skiing the trees, though. We took advantage of a ski patrol demonstration to hammer this fact home for the kids one day. The fog helps create the magical snow ghosts (trees covered in rime ice) that blanket the mountain. The fog also probably keeps away the crowds looking for a glamorous bluebird ski vacation. I don’t think the locals would have it any other way.
I could go on and on about the skiing here but I will just sum it up by saying that I love this mountain. Jamie and the kids are in weekly lessons as part of a development program for the next ten weeks, so hopefully they will be joining me in the trees before too long. The kids have been progressing quickly, so I think they are ready now. Archer will drop into just about anything and Smith’s turns are getting as tight as something you would see in an old 1980’s Warren Miller film. Jamie keeps getting better but is still on the fence as to whether she ever wants to drop into the steeper stuff or not. We are blessed to be able to get up on the mountain as much as we do thanks to the flexibility homeschooling and our schedule provides.
Although we have spent a fair amount of time skiing, we have still had time to explore the area and meet new people. We have met new friends who have kids Smith and Archer’s age that recently settled here after full-timing on their RV for a year. We have hung out a couple times and have had a great time. I have met tons of locals on the chairlifts, many of whom have moved here in the last year or two. Universally, they love it. We do too. Jamie has already decided that she could move here, and she hasn’t even yet seen it in the summer. We will see what the next nine weeks brings, but my guess is that Whitefish will only grow us more like the rime continues to grow on the snow ghosts.
Are u living in an apartment?
Hey Vicki! We have rented a super cute two bedroom house here in Whitefish for the next ten weeks. We love the town so far.