Winter Van Life: Whitefish Mountain Resort

When We Visited: March 2020, March 2023

On March 12, 2020, we hesitated to leave Sandpoint, Idaho, after skiing Schweitzer. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic the day before and it seemed the country was on the cusp of melting down. We debated committing to a month’s stay at Bonner County Fairgrounds RV Campground and purchasing spring skiing passes from Schweitzer. Instead, we chose to continue our winter travel plans and head for our next stop – Whitefish, Montana. If the coronavirus situation worsened, we’d adjust.

Whitefish Mountain Resort was going to be the first ski resort we ever skied and snowboarded in Montana. Bridger Bowl and Red Lodge Mountain would be second and third. After Montana, our goal was to finish our ski season in Canada and drive straight to Alaska for the summer.

On March 12th, we checked into Whitefish RV Park, and on the 13th, I sent this text to my mom:

After the storm cleared, we were ready to ski and ride. It was March 15th. We had a lazy morning and headed over to Whitefish Mountain Resort for the afternoon. We parked in the RV lot. I stayed behind with Bruce Leroy in the van, and Kyle started his walk to the lifts. Not much later, I received this text after Kyle picked up his lift ticket:

While Kyle enjoyed his last turns of the season, I sat in the parking lot watching online as ski resorts announced closures. Vail resorts were the first to shut down, and most all other ski resorts followed that same day. I sent the following texts to my mom:

The US/Canada border closed on March 21st, and our summer Alaska plans were abolished. Then Montana declared a stay-at-home order on March 28th. Fortunately, just days before the stay-at-home order was declared, we had committed to a month-to-month stay at Whitefish RV Park and were able to remain in the state. Had we not, we would’ve been considered a non-essential visitor and forced to leave. Around the country, some campgrounds and RV parks closed down, leaving full-time RVers displaced if they didn’t have a sticks-and-bricks house or a friend or family member willing and able to share space.

We stayed in Whitefish until after the 14-day travel quarantine was lifted in Montana on June 1st. If you want to know how we passed the time, you can read about our Van Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Thank you to Whitefish Mountain Resort for allowing uphill skiing after discontinuing lift service. I was still able to ski Whitefish and Montana for the first time.

Exactly three years after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, we returned to Schweitzer first, and then Whitefish. As we traveled across the Idaho panhandle from Schweitzer to Whitefish, I feared impending doom as we repeated our travel path. Fortunately, our visit was uneventful and was mostly filled with spring skiing and bluebird skies. We didn’t plan it intentionally, but it was an interesting way to relive what we did a few years ago but under much better circumstances.

Plan Your RV/Van Life Road Trip to Whitefish

skiwhitefish.com
Base Lodge: 1015 Glades Drive, Whitefish, MT 59937
Lodging Check-In/Village: 3889 Big Mountain Road, Whitefish, MT 59937
(406) 862-2900
info@skiwhitefish.com

Pass affiliation: Loveland 2023/24

Lift Operations: 8:45 am – 4:30 pm daily. See Whitefish’s Hours & Dates page for more information.

Mountain Stats

• Average annual snowfall: ~300 inches
• Terrain: ~3,000 acres
• Vertical: 2,353 feet
• More stats

Driving to Whitefish

From the town of Whitefish, it’s a pretty easy 15-minute drive to the ski area. You’ll gain elevation once you turn onto Big Mountain Road for about 4.5 miles. There’s nothing super scary about this short mountain drive.

Parking at Whitefish

There are several parking lots at Whitefish Mountain Resort. If you’re in an RV, you will want to park in the Aspen Lot. Visit Whitefish Mountain Resorts’ Parking & Shuttles page for more information.

Using Your Reciprocal Partner Benefits at Whitefish

During the 2019/20 and 2022/23 seasons, our Loveland season passes came with 3 free days at Whitefish. You can redeem your reciprocal partner benefits at any ticket window. Just bring your reciprocal season pass and a photo ID. Whitefish will give you a scannable paper ticket with a ski tie. You must return to the ticket window each day you want to ski/ride with your reciprocal partner benefits.

Tips for Skiing/Riding at Whitefish

See Whitefish’s Winter Trail Map to follow along.

For the best views, including those of Glacier National Park, head to the Summit House.

You can also view Whitefish Lake from several areas on the Front Side.

During spring weather, I watched from the Aspen Lot as the sun hit the mountain in the morning. It gave me a good idea of where the snow would be softest.

Of ungroomed terrain on the Front Side, I liked Mully’s Moguls, Ptarmigan Bowl, North Bowl Face, and East Rim Face. My favorite groomers were Toni Matt all the way down, or Toni Matt to Big Ravine, as well as Inspiration.

Of ungroomed terrain on the North Side, Marmot and Black Bear to Hollywood and Kodiak were firmer but still doable. I thought the groomers and the rest of the North Side were too firm.

I was looking forward to doing Hellroaring Basin, but conditions were not ideal. Unless maybe, we just didn’t know where to look. We’re saving it for a powder day.

Whitefish can get brutally cold. According to a ski resort employee we met at Whitefish RV Park, they will sometimes shut down to avoid a situation where skiers and riders could be stranded on a chairlift in extreme conditions. Dress warm!

Where to Sleep in Your Van/RV

Whitefish allows overnight RV camping in the Aspen Lot for $25 per night (plus tax). Visit Whitefish’s Parking & Shuttles page and scroll down to RV Parking & Overnight Hard-sided Camping for more information.

You must check in and pay the fee at the lodge before parking. Security is very diligent about checking permits. When driving up Big Mountain Road and once you enter the mountain resort area, follow the brown signs that say “Lodging Check-In”. The address is 3889 Big Mountain Road, Whitefish, MT 59937. You’ll check in here:

To get to the Aspen Lot, you’ll go back down Big Mountain Road the way you came up and turn left on Glades Road. Follow the blue “Aspen Lot” signs. When you enter the Aspen Lot, the RV camping area will appear immediately on your left.

You must park between the two signs that designate the RV camping area. This section is unlevel and can probably fit about 10 RVs depending on their size and if everyone cozies up to each other. The flattest spot we could find was at the very far right, but it likely varies depending on how much snow is on the ground. Don’t bother trying to park outside of the signs. Security will ask you to move.

There are no amenities aside from a single dumpster.

Restrooms are available in the Base Lodge during regular business hours. It’s about a quarter mile downhill and a 5-minute walk.

Note: RV camping used to be in the Willow Tail Lot. It is now in the Aspen Lot.

Whitefish RV Park – 8.6 miles / 20 minutes in Whitefish – I am so grateful for this RV park! Thank you to Denise and Tom who put so much care into making it a comfortable place for its residents and for making us feel at home during the pandemic.

Whitefish RV Park is not fancy with unpaved sites that are a mix of dirt and gravel. If it’s warm out and snow is melting, your driveway promptly becomes mud. Tom gave us a palette to step on before entering our van to prevent too much mud from getting inside. He frequently dragged a grate around the property to prevent puddles from forming.

The park roads can also get rutted and they get especially deep along the exit route. We have no trouble navigating the ruts, but if those type of roads make you uncomfortable, this might not be the place for you.

The bathrooms are dated but cleaned daily. There are two shower stalls and two toilets in both the men’s and women’s restrooms. I rarely crossed paths with anyone on the women’s side. Kyle probably encountered more people on the men’s.

The washers and dryers are available 8 am to 10 pm and were generally unused midweek. It seemed most people did laundry on the weekends when they weren’t working. During COVID, there was a coin shortage, so we couldn’t always get a roll of quarters from Denise to operate the machines. However, we could walk down the street toPin & Cue to use their change machine.

Since we paid to stay monthly in 2020, we could accept articles arriving via USPS, UPS, and FedEx.

AT&T cell service works well here. However, the cell tower closest to the RV park was unavailable a couple of times. Once was due to a terrible car accident which took several hours to resolve. Another time was due to the weather. It happens.

Whitefish RV Park also offers free WiFi. It worked great aside from a few consecutive days in 2020. Denise had it repaired as quickly as possible and checked with each resident to make sure we could connect.

If you want to reserve a spot the same day of your arrival, don’t make a reservation online. It’s better to call the RV park. We booked a specific site as we drove from Blacktail to Whitefish in March 2023, but when we arrived, our site was occupied. Denise had extended the occupier’s stay, but the reservation system wouldn’t allow her to take the site out of inventory. Other sites that appeared available online were unplowed, which isn’t uncommon at many RV parks during winter. It’s probably a good rule to always call the RV park before arriving, especially when snow is on the ground.

Many Whitefish Mountain Resort employees live here full time. It’s a great place to get some local tips and meet people from all over the country who work seasonally at ski resorts, national parks, and more.

If you happen to stay at this RV park or any place in the city of Whitefish, you’ll likely notice a siren that promptly sounds at 10 pm each evening. The first time we heard it, we were instantly reminded of a tsunami warning during a trip to Maui. For the first few nights, it invoked feelings of anxiety. After a while, we accepted the siren as a bedtime reminder.

We did a lot of walking during the first three months of the pandemic while adhering to stay-at-home orders in Whitefish. We were fortunate to have access to miles of pedestrian-friendly walking routes and bike paths with beautiful views of the Whitefish River, Whitefish Lake, parks and beaches, and the surrounding mountains. We rarely drove anywhere. Each day we would walk in a different direction from our base at Whitefish RV Park.

Loop “B” of the Apgar Campground – 35.9 miles / 1 hour in Glacier National Park – When we winter camped in Glacier National Park in March 2020, we were directed to the Apgar Picnic Area. According to the link provided above, it seems the winter camping area is now moved to Loop “B” of the Apgar Campground.

While the Apgar Visitor Center was unstaffed during our visit, the restrooms were open, and there was a water bottle filling station good for one-liter Nalgene bottles or smaller.

AT&T cell service was not great at the Apgar Picnic Area. Occasionally, I could send and receive a text using a booster. Service near the Apgar Visitor Center was stronger but also not great. I could not get any work done at Glacier.

While you’re at Glacier National Park, ski or snowshoe the Going-to-the-Sun Road. This is one of my bucket list items, and I was so bummed we skipped it at the beginning of COVID when there were a crazy number of people. Regardless, I still enjoyed snowshoeing quieter parts of the park instead.

Working Remotely at Whitefish

AT&T cell service does not work well for us at the ski area. I could send and receive texts only if I was in the right spot in the Willow Tail Lot using a booster. We drove around to each parking lot after the 2019/20 season was over and found that service was best in the Birch Lot. However, I wouldn’t count on being able to do a video call here. Emails might work. If there are many people at the resort, I would be worried about the network overloading. In March 2023, we had to set up our Starlink.

AT&T cell service works great throughout the town of Whitefish. If you prefer, there are a couple of co-working spaces – Basecamp Coworking and CoWorking Whitefish (Ashley Creek Executive Office Solutions).

Where to Eat in Town

Jersey Boys Pizzeria – We like their pizza but I also fell in love with their J-Boys Cheesesteak last time we were there. If the sun is out, you can eat along the street at one of their picnic tables.

Conveniences Near Whitefish

The town of Whitefish should have most everything you might need within about 15 to 20 minutes of the ski area. Otherwise, Kalispell has even more options and is only 35 minutes away, and Missoula is about 3 hours south.

For groceries, we like Safeway (Hwy 93 S) in Whitefish. If you’re in a large rig and there isn’t a lot of space in the parking lot, there is typically easy street parking on the south side of the building on W 15th Street. We also like Costco Wholesale (membership required) and Natural Grocers in Kalispell.

If you don’t stay at Whitefish RV Park, we like Pin & Cue and Naturally Clean Organic Dry Cleaners, both in Whitefish, for our laundry needs. Pin & Cue is also a bowling alley with a restaurant, sports bar, and arcade. It will probably be the most fun you’ve had doing laundry.

If you have a pet, Kalispell has a Petco, and we like Whitefish Animal Hospital in Whitefish.

If you need RV service or supplies, we like Van City RV in Kalispell. If you have a Mercedes Sprinter van, DeMarois Mercedes Benz in Missoula is one of only two Mercedes in the state of Montana. The other is in Billings. Fortunately, both have Sprinter techs as not all do.

Closest Ski Areas to Whitefish

• Blacktail Mountain Ski Area (Powder Alliance 2023/24, Indy Pass 2023/24) – 51.4 miles / 75 minutes in Lakeside
• Fernie Alpine Resort (Resorts of the Canadian Rockies 2023/24, Epic Pass 2023/24) – 106 miles / 2 hours in Fernie, BC Canada
• Kimberley Alpine Resort (Resorts of the Canadian Rockies 2023/24, Epic Pass 2023/24) – 145 miles / 2.75 hours in Kimberley, BC, Canada
• Pass Powderkeg – 154 miles / 3 hours in Blairmore, AB, Canada
• Lookout Pass (Ski Cooper 2023/24) – 168 miles / 3 hours on I-90 at the border of ID & MT