DSSC News

Whitefish Trip Report

Thursday Night, Jan. 24th
We had two groups arrive at Whitefish and our Condos ahead of the main trip party. The Schumachers along with Melinda Didier and Edie Hilker arrived safely, as did Carroll Curry, John Morris, and Marta Tindell. The rest of our party had a hassel free start to our trip with our train leaving basically on time.
An honorable mention is extended to Bruce Pierson. Bruce’s flight from Washington, DC, was delayed, thus causing him to miss an early flight connection. Bruce arrived in Pasco just as the train departed the depot. So, what did Bruce do, well, the only thing one can do, Bruce raced the train to Spokane and won. He successfully caught up with us and joined the party. Way to go Bruce, that’s dedication!!!

Friday Morning and Day, Jan. 25th (Day 1)
The train out of Seattle was delayed in leaving Sea-town by 2 hours, so this caused our layover in Spokane to last a lot longer than scheduled. All ended up working out for the best, though. Amtrak seems to have a nact for making up time on the tracks and we ended up right at one hour late into Whitefish. I was particularly happy with this as it grated us all an extra hour of sleep and did not cause a problem in making it to the lifts on time.
The weekend and weekdays prior to our trip the mountain received fresh snow, with 7 inches falling Tuesday night. This made to the start of some great skiing on excellent groomed packed power runs and untouched powder in the trees for those who looked for it. We did run into the big white out condition that only Big Mountain can offer, but it was obvious it did not affect our skiers in the slightest.
Friday’s time on the slopes ended to a resort hosted welcome reception where several trip goers got to take advantage of heavily discounted ski lessons and mountain tours during the remainder of or trip.

Saturday, Jan. 26th (Day 2)
Saturday morning opened to some of the same weather conditions, but excellent groomed runs. It was evident that the CAT crew at Whitefish worked overtime during the night to provide awesome conditions in the morning that lasted through the whole day. Personally, I’ve never seen a better job!
Ski lessons and mountain tours were taken Saturday morning by those who purchased them. Melinda Didier and Edie Hilker grabbed a group private ski lesson. The ladies relayed that they absolutely loved their instructor, that he was upbeat while challenging and encouraged them to trust themselves more. As he always does, Jay Reinhardt took advantage of the big terrain and world-class ski instruction and grabbed a private lesson himself. Jay reported that he was able to learn a new technique which is allowed him to ski the moguls better. Also, I took advantage of the awesome ski instructors along with Dave Moon’s daughter, Stephanie, from Seattle. We were able to get a private lesson for the three junior trip goers. The kids had a blast with their Instructor and came back with big smiles and skiing that had improved three-fold....Score one for Parents!
Ski conditions were steady and great most of the day with most of the group taking advantage of the new east lifts and the T-Bar section of the mountain. This section had been closed for several days leaving the week’s accumulated powder untouched. Those that made it to that side of the mountain were richly rewarded with steep and deep runs that allowed some soft cruising through the open trees, as well as some very challenging deep rutted terrain.

The awesome snow ended with an outstanding Après party at the famous mountain side Hellroaring Lodge and Saloon. I am so grateful to Pat, the Owner, and her staff. Once again, their hospitality was over the top and they took care of us as only the Hellroaring can. They provided us with our own little room and the food and drinks just kept coming. A good time was had by all.

Sunday, Jan. 27th (Day 3) and Monday Morning
Our third day started with more great snow and broken cloud conditions. Throughout the day the conditions just kept getting better and better with the cloud pack leaving the mountain summit. It truly ended up being a bluebird day!
Leaving the mountain and finishing up our time in Whitefish seemed seamless, with all enjoying the many excellent restaurants in downtown Whitefish. No complaints towards the train ride home either. Amtrak got us back safely into Pasco only 45 mins late, which is very good, and allowed all to start their week back home with minor delay!
Without question, Whitefish 2019 was a very enjoyable and successful trip.

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