HELENA — These past few days have been a bit brutal. From frozen hands to back-breaking shoveling, the snow can make life a bit more difficult. But all the ice and snow do culminate in something pretty exciting: another season at Great Divide Ski Area.
“So, this year when mother nature came early with this cold spell, this natural snow, we really took advantage. And we're very excited to get open early,” says General Manager at Great Divide Ski Area, Travis Crawford.
Great Divide is opening this Saturday, November 12, at or before 8:45 a.m. in order to hold true to tradition and be the first ski area to open in Montana for the season.
“We already have the banner made so we gotta make sure we're honoring that,” says Crawford.
Crawford says the storm this week and round-the-clock snow-making efforts have put nearly 4 feet of snow in some areas. And they are on the lookout for more.
“Different forecast models we look at are all agreeing that we have an above-average chance for a great snowy winter this year,” says Crawford.
In addition to opening up tomorrow, they will also have lift operator orientation at 9 AM on Saturday and instructor orientation at 9 AM on Sunday. Anyone interested is encouraged to show up, even if they haven’t sent in an application yet.
Skiing will be from 10 AM to 4 PM on Saturday and Sunday and will cost $20. The first 100 people will receive a free donut. And there will be live music.
They will have the Good Luck chairlift running and Good Luck run and Broadway run open, with the hopes of adding on more runs soon.
“We’re just excited to kick off Montana ski season. We're really excited for a true Montana winter here,” says Crawford.
Now, admittedly, there’s still some work to be done before the rest of the mountain can open up. But, as it stands, things are looking pretty good for the rest of the season.
