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Whitefish Mountain Resort Reconsiders Uphill Policy

By Beacon Staff

Due to a recent violation of Whitefish Mountain Resort’s Uphill Policy, management is considering changes to the rule that allows skiers to hike up the mountain to make their turns.

On the morning of Feb. 19, ski patrol encountered a male and a female skier on the summit of Big Mountain. The patroller told the skiers that avalanche work was underway in the Hellroaring Basin and East Rim and asked the people to go down the Toni Matt Route. Later the skiers were asked to do the same by a second patroller. Soon after, in the Hellroaring Basin, the skiers were seen descending a closed slope near were an explosive charge was about to be deployed. The patrollers were able to extinguish the explosive before anyone was hurt.

The names of the skiers are being withheld pending an investigation by Whitefish Mountain Resort and the Flathead National Forest. The resort is engaging the U.S. Forest Service to reconsider the Uphill Policy because of this and similar incidents where skiers have disregarded the policy.

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