New Big Mountain Master Plan More People-Friendly

By Kate Downen, 4-24-06

Whitefish’s Big Mountain presented its new master plan to the Whitefish City-County Planning Board on April 20th, but decisions on the plan were postponed in order to sort out zoning issues. The new plan, which is intended to make the ski area’s village more people-friendly, includes three new lifts, dispersing development around a downsized village concept, and establishing an enlarged beginner skiing area away from the village.

A plaza at the base of Chair 1 (Big Mountain’s primary, high speed quad lift), would be the new focus of the mountain, and development surrounding the village would be in clustered residential pods, connected to the core village by winter and summer trails and a new road.

The new plan proposes preserving open space along with existing local haunts, such as the Alpinglow, Edelweiss and Kintla Lodges. “The overall vision for Big Mountain is to create a quality mid-sized resort, preserving a friendly family atmosphere and excellent skiing and recreation facilities with a family focus,” states the plan. This mission is a departure from the previous plan that called for an expansive hotel and conference center. The plan was denied because the proposed building would have been massive, blocking views from other Big Mountain venues.

Whitefish’s City-County Planning Board seemed in favor of the new plan, which is more “small town” than the earlier proposal. On May 18, the board will reconvene after having hopefully sorted out issues surrounding zoning, parking and potential Chair 3 developments.
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