Road Trip 2018: Back in the USofA – Whitefish Montana
Monday, January 29: On the Road Back in the USofA and to Whitefish, Montana
With the Subaru loaded, we decided to have breakfast in the Legends Restaurant in the Lake Louise Inn that offered a nice breakfast buffet… I like choices… great service as well…
We hit the road at about 8:30am and programmed the GPS Mapping program, setting our end destination to Kalispell, Montana, where our next accommodations was set up… There was no 35cm of snow on the road and we were thinking that the server from last nights dinner, might have misread the report at maybe 3.5cm of snow… there was snow on the roadways and our concerns about the drive diminished.
Snow was on the roadways in places but for the most part, easy going as we climbed back up over the pass and back through Radium Hot Springs… We made a short stop in Radium before heading to the Canadian/US Border…
We presented our Passports at the US Border entrance at Roosville and headed south on Hwy 93 towards Whitefish, Montana… Lunch was on our minds and stopped at Cafe Jax in Eureka, Montana… We had stopped here in a previous road trip and they deliver great food and fun service!
A few miles north of Whitefish the GPS Voice told us to make a right turn off the highway and so we did… not sure if this GPS System detects traffic and delays, but the route took us to the west of Whitefish, bypassing the highway going through the town and brought us back on Hwy 93 south of Whitefish and on to Kalispell…
We had reservations at yet another Holiday Inn Express, just few miles south of Whitefish and at this junction there was everything one could want with shopping centers, restaurants, lodging and more… including a Cabela’s… And, no wonder… Kalispell is the gateway to Glacier National Park and this area has been growing as more and more retired folks are moving to this area… Dan was also interested in picking up some real estate information from this area, as you never know where one may migrate to in the future…
We drove into Whitefish that evening to meet with old, but young, friend, Dan Hansen, who formerly worked at Mammoth, rode his bike across the US one year and works with the local tourism agency… We met him in the Great Northern Brewing Company, so Dan could interview him for his blog over a beer… This main street of Whitefish was pretty lively for being a Monday night, but lots of locals live within walking distance, but that did not explain why we had to circle around the block just to find parking…
Dan Hansen had recommended Tupelo Grill or Abruzzo Italian Kitchen for dinner and we walked up the block to take a look and both looked a little too elegant… Must have been good as the place was packed… We had also dined at Latitude 48 on a prior visit and the place was packed, too… I guess people in Whitefish go out to dinner on Mondays…. We walked the other side of the street and found a reasonably priced restaurant that was next to a Casino… Mama Blanca’s… sort of a Mexican-Cuban Restaurant… https://mamablancas.com
Our server was a cute energetic & perky gal named Emerson… I went for the California Burrito – Filled with Carne Asada, French Fried Potato, Black Beans & Avocado… covered with both red and green chili sauce… Hit the spot!
Hula-Gan enjoyed meeting Emerson!
It had been a long day of traveling from Lake Louise back to Whitefish/Kalispell and we were planning to hit Whitefish Mountain, formerly the Big Mountain in the morning.
Tuesday, January 30: Whitefish Mountain Resort… The BIG Mountain!
After an HIE Breakfast, we headed to Whitefish Mountain… originally the BIG Mountain… The GPS Mapping system took us on side roads to avoid traffic through town… We arrived and the Lodge Parking lot… maybe row 4 and there was some fresh snow falling this morning… We headed to the guest services desk to check in and pick up our lift tickets… This resort has a reciprocal ticket deal with Diamond Peak and if you have a pass you get 4 days of skiing here…
We met up with Riley Polumbus, Marketing & PR Manager, for a tour of the mountain… She is a telemark skier and can keep up with the best of them! She is also very accommodating in taking her time to escort us around the mountain. http://skiwhitefish.com
Whitefish Mountain Resort receives 300” average snowfall each year and offers 2353 feet of vertical from their Summit elevation of 6817 feet… 3000 acres of terrain with 105 marked trails, plus a vast amount of bowl and tree skiing all serviced by 15 Lifts & Tows. It does ski Big!
Clouds were moving over the mountaintops and there was some blue skies openings offering varying light conditions… Maybe we would actually see some sunshine and blue skies today…
We rode up Chair 6, Base Lodge; then Chair 2, Swift Creek Express, to the top and skied a warm up run down Hibernation and the snow was firm below with an inch of fresh on top… nice grip and good carving snow… We rode up again and skied down Hellroaring… Snow conditions, just as good!
We then shifted to Chair 1, Big Mountain Express to the top at 6817 feet… and skied down Moe Mentum to Chair 5, East Rim… This is a realigned lift that offers a Pod of terrain for all ability levels and has a lot to offer… We then skied down Goat Haunt to base of Chair 7, Big Creek Express and rode back up to the Summit House for a coffee break and for Dan to get his interview done with Riley…
While in the Summit House, I was surprised and pleased to run into Montana Dana Turvey, from Lake Tahoe… A friendly face and long time friend who taught skiing as well as media associate being a photographer and writer covering World Cup Alpine competitions… following local former US Ski Team member Jonna Mendes… She also is a ski industry soft goods buyer and at one time had a retail location in Round Hill called “Womens Sport”. She also has a Art Gallery and home on the eastern side of Glacier National Park that she inherited with the passing of her mother and spends summers in Montana… Great to run into her and get some hugs this morning… After this break, Riley had to leave us, but we skied back down to the base and rode back up for more…
Dana Turvey giving Hula-Gan her secret stash locations
One aspect of Whitefish, is that they are rich in the history of the resort with signage on the mountain paying respect and honoring those who started and built the mountain… With the sun finally popping in and out, we continued to ski some top to bottom runs, stopping for photos and shooting some video to post on our facebook pages… Whitefish Lake below and Flathead Lake on the horizon, surrounded by the awesome mountain ranges and views towards Glacier National Park… It was a fun and fulfilling day skiing Whitefish…
Lloyd “Mully” Muldown (portrait at McKenzie River Pizza)
We drove back to Kalispell and the HIE not only offers chocolate chip cookies to their guests in the afternoon, but also a little more substantial snack… this day they had the fixings to make chicken tacos… Yesterday they offered make your own roast beef sandwiches… a little different but a welcomed snack after a day of burning turns… I took my laptop to the open breakfast area and was on deadline to write my February article for the Lake Tahoe Entertainer Magazine and spent a couple of hours banging out the info… It had snowed in Tahoe, finally with up to two feet and that was something to talk about and I wrote a tribute to Warren Miller…
The Dubs were playing that evening and Dan wanted to find a sports bar to dine and watch the game… I was not looking forward to driving back to Whitefish and found the McKenzie River Grill, a chain restaurant, that was located in a nearby shopping center just up the street… That’s where we headed…
https://www.mackenzieriverpizza.com/eat-kalispell-north/
Pizza, Flatbreads, Burgers, Salads, and much more were offered… and we were able to sit at the bar to view the game… I selected their Humble Pie Pizza… I am addicted to Spinach & Garlic when it comes to pizza… Unfortunately, the Dubs lost tonight to the Utah Jazz…
Wednesday, January 31: Whitefish 2nd Hit & to Kellogg, ID – Silver Mountain.
We packed up and checked out, but headed back to Whitefish for a morning of turns before hitting the road to Kellogg, Idaho and Silver Mountain Resort… We parked in an upper lift and were able to ski down to the lodge…
We had some welcomed sunshine today and headed up the lifts… just a trace of new snow this morning and not worth it for the locals to cut work and show up… A lot less folks skiing this day… We did several laps on the front side and as well as off Chair 5 and as Chair 7. Stopping at the Summit House for coffee and by chance running into Dana again… We ended up skiing till about noon.
We did the change of clothes in the parking lot and stopped in Whitefish for fuel and at a real estate office for Dan to pick up some information… We also stopped at a Subway and grabbed lunch before hitting the Highway…
Here is Dan Giesin’s Get Ski Tickets.com Blog on Whitefish:
https://www.getskitickets.com/blog/five-things-we-love-about-whitefish/
The drive to Kellogg, Idaho would take a few hours… South on Hwy 93, cut across on Hwy 28/135 to St. Regis at I-90… We had driven this route several times on previous road trips and stopped in St. Regis to take a break from the drive… This Gas Station / Travel Center has a lot to offer and is a good break for travelers… They boasts the best Huckleberry Milk Shakes and I was tempted to indulge….
Interstate 90 is a good roadway, but with lots of truck traffic winding down the St. Regis River corridor… Heading back towards Coeur d’Alene but to Kellogg about 30 miles east…
Kellogg is a Super Fund site where there are area that have been repaired and reclaimed from it’s mining heritage… Dave Smith’s Auto consortium is also located here and I have had many friends order and pick up vehicles in Kellogg…
We found the Morning Star Lodge at the base of the Gondola of Silver Mountain and checked in… http://www.silvermt.com/Lodging/Silver-Mountain-Lodging
History is also observed in the hallways of the Morning Star Lodge with lighting next to each room reflecting their mining heritage:
There is also an indoor water park at this resort and we could see the water tubes from our room… The room was a little tight with 2 twin beds in a studio condo, but. we were able to make it work… All conveniences were just steps away… Retail & Rental Shop, Breakfast Place, Bar-Pub Restaurant, Coffee – Yogurt Shop, etc… After walking around and getting the lay of the land, so to speak, we wound down at Noah’s Canteen, next to the Gondola… http://www.silvermt.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=lqiUTGD3C0I%3d&portalid=0
I was open to Mountain Burger this evening… before turning in…
Thursday, February 1: Skiing Silver Mountain – formerly Jack Ass
Dress for skiing and in boots, we headed towards the ticket window where, Willy Barlett, their PR Manager, had left a couple in my name… He was not able to join us this morning due to fighting off a bad cold, but Dan & I had skied this mountain several years ago, and would be able to negotiate it lifts and runs system… Dan had skied this mountain before there was a gondola when it was called Jack Ass Mountain… some 30 years ago and remembers having to drive up the access road…
We stopped for coffee and a breakfast sandwich in the Mountain Café and received good service… We found out that these folks migrated from North Lake Tahoe and now call Kellogg their home…
We rode up the Gondola to the top… There wasn’t much snow in town or the base of the gondola but riding up was similar to Heavenly’s Gondola with no snow in town and increasing amounts the higher you got… The Gondola passes over the small town of Wardner and we wondered what they had to give up to have towers built and have the Gondola constantly running above… Another cloudy day with the threat of light snow falling and once again a difficult to see kind of day…
Silver Mountain receives an average of 340” of snow annually, has over 1600 acres of terrain over two mountains, 73 named runs, plus 2200 vertical feet serviced by 6 lifts & tows… This resort is year round with it’s indoor water park, mountain biking, hiking, scenic Gondola rides and more and offers a daily lift ticket at only $56.
At the top we skied down to Chair #2, rode up and took a warm up run down Klondike and then another down Silver Bell… Flat light and starting to snow, we skied down Saddleback and road Chair #3 back up…
We took a break at the Mountain House Grill and the staff was extremely friendly and welcoming… there wasn’t many folks out on the mountain this day and when we came back out, our skis were the only pairs that were left on the snow… There may have been 100 skiers/riders on the mountain this morning…
We ventured over to Chair #4 and rode to the top to ski down Centennial. The snow was good on this run, so we rode back up and skied down it again… we had the run to ourselves… We then skied The Ridge to Home James to the Base of Chair #3 and back up to the Mountain House Grill for lunch… Afterwards, we several more runs off Chair #2, before downloading the Gondola…
Hula-Gan and I were jonesing for Chinese food, since I always look for Asian cruising on our road trips and we did find one in Kellogg… Wah Hing Restaurant! When we got there, I was amazed at the number of cars parked out front, on the street and the place was full… this was a good sign! Hula-Gan got his Asian food fix this evening…
We headed back to the Morning Star Lodge and stopped in the Bar at Noah’s Canteen, before turning in… Tomorrow will be a long days drive, south… down to Salt Lake City, Utah and our final destination to ski Alta.