This past year we were able to celebrate the holiday season in the wonderful snow-covered Whitefish Mountain Resort. We spent seven days in the winter wonderland and took part in some lively New Years Eve entertainment for a fun family night.
Whitefish Mountain Resort has an annual New Years Eve celebration held at the upper village. The evening started early at 5:30pm, where they had Rail Jam setup for amateur skiers and snowboarders to have a chance at winning some prizes and most importantly bragging rights. All ages from kids to adults participated and we watched the different group do their tricks, spins and jumps off the rails. A lively announcer kept us looped into who was up next and a few names of tricks since we were clueless! This may have been the most focused my kids were on the entire trip as they stood there and watched. The kids sipped hot chocolate and we had a few fresh beers all bundled up in our winter gear.
As soon as that wrapped up the spotlights completely went out and as we stood there we watched the Torchlight Parade where about 50+ skiers/snowboards come down the hill directly behind the rail jam with torches in a single file carving back and forth across the mountain. Anyone can volunteer to take part, so if you are an intermediate to expert skier/boarder you to can sign up… maybe another year for us ;) It is a very unique way to see this in the darkness and the only light are these torches sailing down the hill.
When the last torch holder came to the bottom, the fireworks commenced like clockwork! We went from watching them go to the bottom then looking literally straight up! It was the closest I have ever been to fireworks in my life. The sky was lit up with different colours and variation of fireworks provided a wonderful ending to our family evening.
Another great thing was the fireworks ended at about 7:30pm! Which is perfect for families so we could then go back to our condo and have a late supper and into bed for the kids; while we played cards and had some further drinks to ring in the new year.
They do offer other events on the hill afterwards at Ed & Mully’s and live music at Bierstube for pre-purchased event tickets. If we didn’t have the kids we would have gone since from what I heard it was sold out and a good time!
New Year’s at Whitefish Mountain Resort was a unique experience for us and the kids as we celebrating with locals, international travellers and getting the mountain vibe to ring in 2016. The best part was I didn’t even have to dress-up, just some warm winter clothes!
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