Drive 14 miles up Blacktail Road from Lakeside and you park at the top of the ski area, not the bottom. The lot and lodge sit at the 6,780-foot summit of a 1,000-acre hill. Every run starts at your car and drops away from it.
That layout means opening day at Blacktail is a different event from opening day at most ski areas. The first chair can run while the lower mountain is still bare. Last winter, the top half carried the season from Christmas Eve to closing day, and the lower half was open top to bottom for one full weekend. As of this week, Blacktail still hasn't named a date for 2026-27. Whitefish Mountain Resort already has one, and the federal winter outlook leans warm and dry for the Northern Rockies.
A mountain that opens from the parking lot down
On a hill where the lifts start at the bottom, thin snow down low can keep the whole place closed. Blacktail works the other way. Snow at the summit is enough to start lifts, because skiers start up top and ski down only as far as the coverage goes.
Last December showed how that plays out. An atmospheric river brought record precipitation to northwest Montana, but the Flathead Beacon reported it fell as rain at all but the highest elevations. When lifts started on Christmas Eve, staff could run only the top half of the hill because coverage on the lower mountain was too thin.
The top half kept the season going. General Manager Jessi Wood summed it up for the Flathead Beacon in March:
"It was a great year to be an upside-down mountain, and we could ski the top half."
In the same article, Wood said the lower half was open for only one full weekend all winter. That came after a mid-March storm let staff run the whole area top to bottom. "We had this huge powder weekend, and it turned around and rained on us," she told the Beacon.
How last winter actually unfolded
The opening date moved twice before it held. Here is the 2025-26 season as Blacktail and the Beacon recorded it.
Date | What happened |
|---|---|
Dec. 12, 2025 | First opening target |
Dec. 19, 2025 | Revised target after warm weather and rain |
Dec. 24, 2025 | Actual opening, after a windstorm caused a multi-day power outage |
Early January 2026 | Summit snow depth reaches roughly 30 inches and hovers there for much of the season |
Mid-March 2026 | Storm allows top-to-bottom operation for one full weekend |
March 28, 2026 | Closing day, with lifts held still in the days before to save snow |
Even the Christmas Eve opening came in stages. Blacktail scheduled the Olympic and Thunderhead chairs for that day. The Magic Carpet, the Crystal chair and more terrain depended on conditions. Rain and windstorms also forced sporadic closures through the winter. So when a Blacktail opening date is announced, read it as the day the top starts turning. It doesn't promise the whole mountain.
The season still ended with a party. Closing day paired Telefestivus 2026 with the Mama Mingo flamingo hunt. Telefestivus brought 22 Designs and Scarpa demos, Rocky Mountain Outfitter as a sponsor, Flathead Avalanche at the grill and billyBillie playing live. Whoever found the golden flamingo won a 2026/27 pass.
What this fall has shown so far
The mountain has had its first snow. On Oct. 12, Blacktail posted that a "fresh blanket of snow" covered the mountain over the weekend, with temperatures dipping into the 20s. The same post said there's "still some time before the lifts start spinning." That storm had been forecast days ahead. The Daily Inter Lake reported on Oct. 8 that snow could reach western Montana valley floors, with more than six inches possible in Glacier National Park's mountains.
Fifty miles north, Whitefish Mountain Resort has picked its day. Its Oct. 19 update announced opening day as Friday, Dec. 4. As of today, Blacktail's snow report still gives no opening date.
The bigger picture comes from the Climate Prediction Center's Oct. 15 seasonal discussion. It describes a strengthening El Niño, which it calls "very strong," and gives 80% odds that at least a strong event continues through January to March 2027. For November through January, it favors above-normal temperatures across the western third of the country and below-normal precipitation for the Northern Rockies. NBC Montana's Sept. 25 outlook pointed the same direction for October through December, with warmer conditions across much of western Montana.
That outlook covers a broad region and doesn't forecast snowfall at Blacktail. CPC will replace it with a new set on Nov. 19. Still, warmer-than-normal temperatures are what turned last December's precipitation to rain below the summit. A winter that leans warm puts more pressure on the lower mountain than on the top. Blacktail's summit-first layout is the reason the hill could open last year at all, and it may matter just as much this year.
What to have ready before the first chair
Whenever the date lands, a few details from the season-pass page and last winter's operations apply:
- Pass prices rise by tier. The 2026/27 pass page lists $499 for adults, $399 for young adults, $329 for teens, $119 for children, $149 for seniors and $10 for tots and fifth graders. Prices go up as limited discount tiers sell out, with no single cutoff date. Age categories are set as of Dec. 1, 2026.
- The pass includes more than Blacktail. It comes with four no-blackout buddy tickets, 10% off retail, and weekday access at Mission Ridge, with holiday blackout dates. The page lists more partner benefits as "Coming Soon!"
- The card system is still new. Blacktail switched ticketing systems during the 2025-26 season, and guests and passholders picked up new RFID cards at the lodge ticket office on their first visit.
- Lunch is at the summit too. The lodge runs Muley's Bar & Grill, Mighty Bites Cafeteria and Blacktail Bean Coffee Shop. Blacktail Bean pours a blend made with Lakeside's own Glacier Perks.
- Staffing runs on the same calendar. Winter seasonal jobs generally run December through April in lift operations, patrol, snow sports, rentals, food and beverage and more. The mountain held a job fair on Oct. 17.
The town calendar runs on fixed dates
The mountain's date depends on weather, but the dates in town are already set. Here's what's on the calendar between now and early December:
- Saturday, Oct. 31: Lakeside's Trunk or Treat, 4 to 6 p.m., across from Lakeside Elementary. The Lakeside & Somers Chamber is inviting businesses, families and organizations to decorate a trunk, and you can reserve a trunk space through the Chamber's calendar. Lakeside Community Chapel is helping provide the space.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Harvest Dinner at Somers Firehall. The Somers-Lakeside Fire Department holds this every year on the first Saturday of November, which puts it on Nov. 7 this year. The department calls it its biggest fundraiser of the year, with Thanksgiving food and turkeys cooked on site.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: CPC's next seasonal outlook, replacing the October version.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Lakeside Christmas Tree Lighting, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Volunteer Park, with holiday music, according to Lakeside Community Chapel.
- Friday, Dec. 4: Whitefish Mountain Resort opens, a point of comparison for whenever Blacktail names its own day.
On Tuesday nights in between, Tamarack Brewing's Lakeside location runs trivia, which goes from September through May.
The one date nobody can set yet is Blacktail's opening. After that, keep an eye on the snow report for the lower half, since that's where the rest of the mountain opens up.
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