Blacktail Mountain Ski Area finished off its winter season with a new record for skier visits and revenue, which is partly being attributed increased Canadian visitation.

“We’re probably up 5 percent from last year, which was a record year,” said Steve Spencer, manager of the ski area west of Lakeside. “All in all it was a great year. We didn’t have all the powder days we would have liked, but we had enough snow all winter.”

The ski area closed Sunday even though Spencer had tentative plans to continue operations for a couple weekends after that date.

“It was three weeks of 60 to 70 degrees in the valley. Everybody started raking their yards and going golfing, and then Monday morning we had 8 inches of new snow” at Blacktail, Spencer said. “It happens every year.”

Without doing any advertising north of the border, Blacktail has had a sort of organic growth in its Canadian market over the last few years.

“It’s been growing pretty good for the last three years,” Spencer said. “It seems like if we get them once, we get them back, especially the families ... they network with each other and it’s been kind of word-of-mouth growth for us.”

Spencer noted that Canadians have been skiing on the Big Mountain for years, and eventually many of them migrate to Blacktail for a visit.

“They’re coming to shop, they’re coming to ski,” he said. “They are staying in Kalispell and going to both ski areas.”

Unlike Whitefish Mountain Resort and its many summer recreation attractions, Blacktail has been mostly dormant during the summer months, but that may start to change this year.

The ski area hired a food and beverage company, John’s Angels Catering out of Whitefish, over the winter.

There are plans for weddings and other catered events at Blacktail’s mountain-top facilities this summer, Spencer said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.