Whitefish Mountain Resort

Located right near Glacier National Park in Montana, this resort shows up in every “Best Places to Ski in the U.S” you can find. It’s a big mountain with plenty of long trails and snow early in the ski season given its altitude and proximity to Canada. Read our blog post on the trip to Whitefish for details on where to stay, what to do, and details on our experience skiing on Big Mountain.

Skiers in Montana are born with skis on their feet it seems, so the greens here can be a challenge enough (and fun enough) for an orange triangles skiers. We didn’t get a chance to explore the rest of the North Side because of weather and we suspect there are more Orange Triangles there. So if you have any input on this large mountain let us know by sending an email to the address in the footer.

There are 3 maps for Big Mountain for the three sides. The “Hellroaring” side is not pictured here since it is basically all advanced skiing.

 Gray Wolf –It can be a bit of a challenge to find the start of this one at the top of the mountain and Chair #1, but once you are on it this trail is a breeze with only 3 exceptions. The beginning is narrow and has no guard or buffer from the blacks that drop off to the right. Then there are two hard right turns that are steep but very short. So, if you feel like they’re too steep to confidently make a turn just point your tips downhill and scrub the speed off when it shallows out.

 Silvertip –This is a fun trail with a quick pace that breaks off from the snoozer in Caribou. Any steeper sections are short and wide and this blends into the bottom of Whitetail nicely to complete the ride down to the bottom of Chair #7.

 Whitetail –The bottom of this is a continuation of Silvertip, and because of weather we didn’t get a chance to check out the top. The very beginning of Whitetail is a fairly steep drop down from Caribou and the weather was less than perfect, so we didn’t run it top to bottom. Let us know if Whitetail should an orange triangle for the whole length.

 Toni-Matt –Listed as the easiest way down from the top of the mountain, Toni-Matt had very poor visibility both days we were on the mountain. There are blacks dropping off every which way and the signs can be difficult to find or read. But if the weather cooperates, this is a straightforward orange triangle without any step sections or other hazards down to the bottom of Chair #1. Staying left on Bench Run and joining back to Toni-Matt avoids a steeper section on Toni-Matt.

 Russ's Street –This trail is not signed as the “Easiest Way Down” from the top of the mountain and where Chairs #1 and #7 meet at the top. But I found it to be easier than Toni-Matt. However, like Toni-Matt it is weather dependent. The second day on the mountain had very poor visibility on Russ’s Street down to the top of Chair #5 which can make staying on the trail safely a challenge. Once below Chair #5 visibility should improve and you can wind your way around the outside of the mountain face with only a few steeper sections. Stay very far left as you approach Chair #5 if you want to head down to the village. But the best part of this trail is behind you once you reach this lift.

 Expressway –The Russ’s Street green section that continues into the village is pretty flat, so this expressway is a narrow, sometimes icy shoot down to the bottom of Chair #6 and the Base Lodge. I used the Inspiration cutoff from Russ’s Street to the greens which was fairly steep and partially ungroomed for a short challenge to wake up my legs. But I prefer Expressway.

info@skiwhitefish.com | PO Box 1400 Whitefish, MT 59937

877-SKI-FISH | 406-862-2900