A winter storm delivered just in time for the holiday week rush at Whitefish Mountain Resort, laying down enough powder for the ski area to notch an all-time single-day visitor record. 

The resort set the new mark with more than 9,600 skier visits on Saturday, Dec. 27. That day also saw the highest number of season passholders ever counted in one day. Passholders accounted for about half of the day's total visits. 

A skier visit is counted when a lift ticket, frequent skier card or season pass is scanned at a chairlift for the first time on a given day. 

New Year's Eve also topped the charts as the second busiest day ever, with more than 9,500 skier visits. 

Saturday, Dec. 27 brought parking challenges, the resort noted. It was the only day in which all parking lots filled to capacity. 

“We continue to urge our local passholders to carpool or utilize the free S.N.O.W. Bus, especially on busy days with fresh snow,” said Chad Sokol, the resort’s public relations manager.

Christmas morning saw bare lawns in the Flathead Valley after an unseasonably warm and rainy December, and the resort entered the holiday period behind budgeted skier visits by almost 25%. 

But thick snow started coming down on Friday, Dec. 26 and temperatures plummeted. The summit of Big Mountain picked up over a foot of snow and the rest of the holiday week saw occasional bluebird skies and an inversion day. 

“Visitation was even stronger than we'd anticipated across all our lines of business starting the day after Christmas,” said Sokol. “We were fortunate to receive over a foot of snowfall and a few sunny days during this time, which no doubt generated enthusiasm and contributed to our successful week. 

“Thanks to new snow and our abundance of open terrain — at a time when much of the western United States is experiencing low snowpack — we were able to nearly overcome the deficit during the 10-day stretch from Christmas through New Year's weekend.” 

As of Jan. 7, the resort touted a 63-inch base at the summit and 127 inches of total snowfall so far this season.