Whitefish Mountain Resort has the services and facilities expected of a major resort. Most are centred on the excellent Base Lodge and Upper Village area. The Base Lodge is a stand out. It has everything one could want. Vast and comfortable seating, eating and lounge areas, eateries, bar, shops, tickets, rentals, lessons, lockers and an outdoor area with open fire and shelter. A gold standard day lodge!
Whitefish Ski Rentals and Snowboard Rental
On-mountain at the Whitefish Ski Resort there are ski rentals available from the Base Lodge and also in the Ed and Mully’s building in the Upper Village. They have basic Rossignol ski and snowboard equipment that is reasonably inexpensive as well as demo gear from a few other brands. Other rental gear includes snowshoes and snowblades, and the Whitefish ski rental outlets also provide repairs.
Stumptown Snowboards is located in Morning Eagle in the Upper Village. They rent out snowboard equipment of a high calibre. The gear they rent is the same gear that they sell.
There are also a few Whitefish ski rental shops located in town or between town and the ski resort. These ski shops tend to charge a little less for ski and snowboard rentals than the resort.
Eating On Mountain
Here’s where an angelic choir joyfully sings ‘Alleluia, alleluia, alleee....luia’. Any traveller to the USA quickly has a gutful of the same on-mountain ski hill food. You know what I’m talking about. Burgers, fries, bowls of chilli etc are all fine for a day or two, but after that you need something better without having to head to a ‘fine dining’ establishment.
Thankfully the Base Lodge and Summit House at Whitefish Mountain Resort provide one of the few exceptions to this rule. It has won over the Powderhounds with its freshly made Szechuan beef, Thai chicken curry, Blackened Salmon with salad, soups, burritos etc etc. Look out for daily specials here and at Ed & Mully’s in the base village.
Hellroaring Saloon and Eatery is the other main on-mountain eating alternative.
The Bierstube is awesome for its burgers and hanging on the patio for lunch is divine, but you might want to keep this gem until later in the afternoon.
For those bringing their own lunch, a “brown baggers dining area” is kindly provided in the Base Lodge.
Facilities for Children
The Whitefish Kids Center is located in the Base Lodge and is the one stop shop for child care, kids’ ski rentals, kids’ ski school (ages 3-6), and lift tickets.
The child care is open from 8:30am to 4:30pm and caters for kids 6 months up to 6 years old. The child care is pretty inexpensive relative to other USA ski resorts. Reservations are recommended.
Kids from 3 to 6 years old can just receive child care or can participate in Ski and Play activities (skiers only). This is offered as a half day program or as a full day program that can include supervised lunch.
Whitefish Ski School
Whitefish’s Ski and Snowboard School is located in the Base Lodge.
The highlight is the amazingly cheap learn to ride packages that include 2 days of beginner lift tickets, equipment rentals, and 2 half day lessons on consecutive days. These are available for either adults or kids.
Other adult group lessons are offered as semi-private lessons with classes not large than 4 people per instructor. Kids group lessons are held in a standard format.
The Whitefish ski school also offers private lessons. For adults this is in full day, half day or a 2 hour format, whilst kids’ private lessons are 1, 2 or 3 hours in duration.
Whitefish Mountain Resort has adaptive certified instructors and the rental shop has adaptive rental equipment.