Whitetail Resort is currently embarking on a “summer of upgrades,” cutting a new trail and installing a new double lift to service the terrain park. According to General Manager Don MacAskill, this summer will include the most mountain improvements in the 10 years that he has been at Whitetail.
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Whitetail clears its first new trail in over a decade. Photo provided by Whitetail Resort.
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The new trail will begin at the top of Snow Park and wind its way through the valley, ending at the bottom of Fanciful. “It will be the longest trail on the mountain,” said Whitetail’s Marketing Coordinator, Matt See. Previously that honor was held by expert slope Far Side. The new trail, whose name has not yet been announced, will be a beginner trail, over 2,800 feet in length and over 80 feet in width. Whitetail recently finished cutting the trail, and has just started pushing dirt to sculpt it. Whitetail will then add 26 brand new Areco fan guns along the trail for snowmaking. The new trail will also be lit for night skiing and riding.
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At over 2,800 feet in length, the new trail will be Whitetail’s longest. Photo provided by Whitetail Resort.
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Whitetail will also be installing a new double chairlift this summer. The 1,000-foot long lift will be devoted to servicing the Jib Junction Terrain Park. In recent years, Upper Angel Drop has experienced congestion as guests have rushed from the top of the Whitetail Express lift to the terrain park. This new lift should thin out the crowds on Upper Angel Drop.
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Towers arrive for Whitetail’s new double chairlift. Photo provided by Whitetail Resort.
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Chairs for the new double chairlift. Photo provided by Whitetail Resort.
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Whitetail’s last significant terrain expansion occurred in 1994, when the resort added the Northern Lights beginner trail and Lift Off Quad. Those additions eliminated what had been significant crowding of Whitetail’s easiest terrain. In 1998, Whitetail expanded its in-ground halfpipe. In subsequent years, Whitetail focused capital improvements on expanding its lodge, adding snow tubing, improving snowmaking across the mountain, and adding lighting to its expert slopes.
Even as these upgrades are underway, Whitetail’s summer season is in full swing. The Whitetail championship golf course is open, along with Dusty Wissmath’s Fly Fishing School and Guide Service.
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Whitetail cuts a path for the new lift. Photo provided by Whitetail Resort.
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Always good to see new trails being cut! Awesome
Unless Whitetail is differentiating b/w slopes and trails, it doesn't appear that a 2800-foot trail would be WT's longest. The WT Express detachable quad is listed as 3295 feet long (skilifts.org), so any run off it would need to exceed that length...unless there's some sort of time-space warp going on. In any case, I'm looking forward to skiing this new run. Congratulations to Whitetail. Hope this new run doesn't duplicate the repetitious character of several of WT's other runs.
There's a bit of a runoff in the base area leading to the express quad terminal, which may not be included in the total length of the trails served by that lift. I also wonder if Upper and Lower Angel Drop, counting as one trail, isn't the longest. It's hard to tell from the trail map. Far Side definitely curves out and back, making it longer than it appears if you were to stretch it out. I also just updated the story to note that the new trail will be a beginner trail. According to Whitetail, its grade will serve as a nice transition between Velvet and Snow Park. Definitely green circle territory but it should be a fun cruiser.
The new trail was mentioned in this thread http://www.dcski.com/ubbthreads33/ubbthreads.php?ubbshowflat&Number37939Post37939 but the double is a bit of a suprise. Any word on where it came from? Too bad the web cams are no longer refreshing
Fabulous!!!!
Now about the aquisition and trails on the other mtn "across the street" (when at the top of limelight straight across) -- and a service gondala between the two peaks...
:-)
These are nice, sensible additions because Whitetail needs some lower angle meandering options to the current mostly straight-down-the-fall-line trail layout, even on easier Snowpark side of the area.
A dedicated chair will be a great convenience for an already superior terrain park.
Not to be greedy, but it would be nice if they'd also cut an easier, meandering trail from the top of the HSQ beside Fanciful and start tapping into all that hillside between the big hill and Snowpark area.
Out of curiosity and boredom, I measured the length of a few trails using my GIS software and digitized the centerline length using 1m imagery as a base. I measured the trail from lift top to lift bottom. I rounded to 3 sig. figs.
Far Side - 2760"
Upper/Lower Angel Drop - 3580"
Limelight - 3170"
This is great- should help to relieve some of the congestion off the Snow Park quad. I always thought Far Side was there longest run. 2800 feet doesn't seem like much. Regardless- good for Whitetail!
Of course more of any set of trails is good but WT has a problem on easy end I think. The easy bunnies are in fact far too easy beyond a rank beginner. Then that leaves Snowpark which is a nice slope but filled with 10000000s on a busy weekend. For the beginner, the jump up from the the two bunnies to snowpark is daunting and looks worse with crowds -- my opinion. Another green will help there I think. Good move! Now a few more cliff-jumps off the back of the mountain would be nice too! ;-)
Yea!! Hopefully my comments and suggestions helped.
By the way, they are still skiing out West. Sob - I am jealous. Yours, Connie
Good move on putting in a new trail.Much needed. But being the perennial sour-puss...whitetail....please make that service road between the two peaks-next to the HSQ, connect with the new trail!! That would be great for both mountain areas. The main mountain needs a doo-dah meandering trail from the top. Pretty please? Or are you saving that obvious move for the future?? Everyone has been waiting on that trail forever!
Whitetail has been talking about a lift for the park for years and God knows it's been debated on here enough. It's good to see they are making a solid move and putting in a double chair not just a rope tow. I'm going to be interested to see how this affects upper Angel. It sounds a little rough but it might be a good idea to restrict access to the park from Upper Angel, i.e. you could only enter the park from the park lift. You might even be able to offer a park lift only ticket, or a park only season ticket.
On the new trail nice work. A new green was needed. Looking forward to the groms on the HSQ this coming season. Next year make the Experts choice a HSQ and we'll be in business.
