From the top of The Glacier Chaser, the hardest choice is deciding on which wide-open, rolling, impeccably groomed trail you should lay out a string of razor sharp, horizontal-flying Euro carves. A hint: There's no wrong answer, but just be sure to keep your speed on the cat track at the bottom. Whitefish Mountain Resort doesn't have scare-the-pants-off-you steeps, but it does offer exhilarating terrain and powder that stays long after a snowstorm. After a few warm-ups, duck into the bowls and trees almost anywhere across the mountain for some smooth powder turns, or head to the expansive out-of-bounds areas.

If you're working your way back from the part of the mountain served by Russ's Street, avoid long flats by dropping down Expressway and either taking Chair 4 or Chair 6 back up the mountain. Beginners will probably have problems carrying speed on the green-circle Home Again when trying to return to the beginner-area day lodge.

Parks and pipes
Whitefish Mountain Resort has a terrain park and superpipe off Chair 3 on the front side of the mountain. The Fishbowl Terrain Park on Hope Slope serves up tabletops, hits, gap jumps, rails, boxes and berms. The 450-foot-long superpipe is above the terrain park on the Ranger Trail headwall. The pipe's walls are at least 17 feet high and are maintained with a Zaugg pipe grinder. The pipe has snowmaking and a sound system to keep the blood flowing. Both the park and pipe are lighted for night riding.

Photo courtesy of Big Mountain Resort