Looking Back: No more furniture races on the mountain
Whitefish Pilot | UPDATED 3 days, 10 hours AGO
Wild and crazy rides down big Mountain aboard sofas, easy chairs and even bathtubs will be a thing of the past since the furniture races were canceled in 2006.
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler
50 Years Ago
April 8, 1976
Following heated discussions, motions and tabling of motions, the Whitefish City Council Forum formally reestablished their policy of having city employees present requests through the proper channels, which are through supervisors and through council committees. This policy was reconfirmed after the city's garbage collection crew requested a change in collection hours and a standardizing of the hours year-round. Their original requests asked for a change to 4 a.m. until noon. Superintendent of Public Works John Boyd felt that this earlier hour would create problems in the wintertime and suggested standardizing the hours to 6 a.m. until 2 p.m.
40 Years Ago
April 9, 1986
Flathead County commissioners will be urged by the City of Whitefish and Whitefish Chamber of Commerce to agree to distribute proceeds from a proposed gas tax according to where the gas is sold. Voters would decide in June if they would approve the two-cent gasoline tax which is earmarked for road and highway improvements. The proposal was initiated by the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce to help repair the city's bumpy streets. However, the proposal approved by the commissioners did not specify how the money will be returned to governing bodies.
30 Years Ago
April 11, 1996
With high expectations and a sense of fun, the Whitefish Economic Development Committee embarked on a vision quest. Their search was one they hoped would create a Whitefish that goes beyond imaginative contemplation to something more concrete. It's a vision that the committee hopes Whitefish can grow and within without losing the sense of identity that brought it here in the first place. The focus of a workshop at the Rocky Mountain Lodge was to reach a common vision of what Whitefish should be and what it will look like in 2020. Committee member Jerry Hanson and chair John Weaver had great expectations for achieving not only “2020 vision,” but for bringing together a core group of residents who could make that vision come true.
20 Years Ago
April 6, 2006
Big Mountain would end the ski season with their annual celebration, but spectators wouldn’t see any furniture careening down the hill. Instead, they saw racers skimming across a manmade lake of ice-cold water. The resort had a great snow year with higher skier numbers and more than a dozen great powder days. Snowpack reached 127 inches at the summit and 30 inches at the village. A dramatic contrast to the previous few years of drought. Big Mountain spokesperson Chance Cook said the furniture races were canceled because of problems with spectators throwing snowballs. He also said the event was no longer family friendly from a safety standpoint, and the resort wanted to have an event with broader participation.
10 Years Ago
April 6, 2016
The Whitefish Lake Institute issued a warning about protecting the future of Whitefish Lake. “The most critical concern facing the lake is apathy,” Lori Curtis said. “Water quality is complicated, but the lake is not. Participation is what will keep the lake from going south.” Curtis, science and education director for Whitefish Lake Institute, said it's important for folks to ask questions and get involved with protecting and improving lake quality.