Despite getting off to a slow start, the Whitefish Mountain Resort had a banner winter judging from skier statistics that were released Wednesday.

The resort reports that it had 294,000 skier visits, well above its five-year average and the fourth-best winter ever.

And that’s with a weeklong delay in opening and a lack of snow that continued well into December.

“We’re quite pleased with this year’s results. Despite a difficult start to the season, the snow and the skiers still came in very good numbers,” said Dan Graves, the resort’s president.

“We’re lucky to be positioned in the northern Rockies for consistent year-in and year-out snowfall and certainly we are trending positive over the course of the past several years regarding the number of people visiting.”

In January, seven feet of snow fell on Big Mountain, and on Feb. 26, there was a 20-inch dump, the most recorded over a 24-hour period for several years.

March had the most days of measurable snow — 23 out of 31 days for a total of six feet, three inches.

There was more snowfall over the three-month period than in the same months of the 2011 season. The resort ended the season on April with an 118-inch base of snow at the summit.

Season pass holders also made the season a success. The resort continued its trend of selling more season passes than the prior year; this year’s sales were unprecedented.

The resort also received several accolades during the season.

Ski Magazine readers ranked the resort in the top 10 for grooming and scenery, National Geographic Traveler named Whitefish one of the world’s 25 best ski towns and its Winter Carnival one of the top 10 in the world.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at [email protected].