Looking Back: Lighting, improvements added to Big Mountain
Whitefish Pilot | UPDATED 3 hours, 41 minutes AGO
City councilors approved the use of $200,000 in resort tax money to rebuild Baker Avenue. The construction was expected to be finished by the end of October 1996. (Ann Arbor Miller photo)
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler
50 Years Ago
Sept. 16, 1976
A full-fledged lighting program for night skiing and a new center for day skiers led a list of improvements on Big Mountain as the resort prepared for the upcoming winter season. A professionally engineered system of lights was being installed on Chair 3 to light most of the slopes served by that lift, and some new additions to provide skiing between the beginner and upper intermediate classes. A total of 41 huge light fixtures were being installed by contractor Marcoff Electric of Columbia Falls, to provide night skiing on a regular basis throughout the season, six hours per night. Slopes around Chair 3 have been groomed, partly planted and a new slope cleared south of the upper terminal for advanced intermediates, according to Ed Schenck, president and general manager.
40 Years Ago
Sept. 17, 1986
Five Whitefish High School girls cross country runners recorded career best times at the Kalispell Invitational junior varsity competition. The Class A Whitefish team ran against a predominantly Class AA field at the Invitational, so their times were computed against JV runners from other schools. Sarah Maloney placed first with 19:38 on the three-mile course. It is "an improvement that suggests a potential state champion in mid-October," according to Whitefish cross-country coach Randy Carspecken. Tanya Rice broke the finish line in 21:10, "an excellent time, especially for a sophomore this early in the season," the coach said.
30 Years Ago
Sept. 19, 1996
Whitefish City Attorney John Phelps reached an agreement with two local business owners over delinquent resort taxes and was seeking payment from two other local establishments. Complaints were filed against Big Mountain One Stop owner Edward. Schleinger and Amelia's Bagel owner C.D. Anderson for allegedly not paying their resort tax. According to Phelps, Schleinger was delinquent for May, June and July. Anderson did not pay taxes for April, May and June. The two made their initial appearance on the changes and the city attorney was waiting to see how the two would plead to the charges. In addition, Phelps came to separate agreements with Stumptown station owner Tom Saunders and Charles Nordstrom, former owner of Valley Inn.
20 Years Ago
Sept. 14, 2006
The politics of wilderness continued to be a divisive force in the Flathead. Case in point was the eight-month-old task force put together by Flathead County Commissioner Gary Hall that first issued a roadless lands opinion and then took on a review of Flathead National Forest's draft Forest Plan. Three pro-wilderness advocates resigned from the task force before it issued its roadless opinion, and State Sen. Dan Weinberg, D-Whitefish, resigned as co-chairman once the roadless opinion was issued. Sen. Greg Baucus, R-Kalispell, was unanimously chosen to continue as chairman.
10 Years Ago
Sept. 14, 2016
Whitefish was considering a plan to annex a smattering of properties around town that were surrounded by city limits. Forty-four properties were being considered, with many of those located on Ramsey Avenue. During a work session, City Council agreed to move forward with the annexation procedure, which includes a public hearing and final vote later this fall. City Manager Chuck Stearns said the annexation is an attempt to add properties to the city that are considered wholly surrounded. "I went through all the boundaries of the city and looked at all the properties that you had to pass through the city to get to the property," Stearns said. "When you look at these, you might be surprised they're not already in the city limits."