Blacktail Mountain Ski Season 2026-27: What Lakeside Can Expect

"It was a great year to be an upside-down mountain, and we could ski the top half." That's how Blacktail Mountain Ski Area General Manager Jessi Wood summed up the 2025–26 season to the Flathead Beacon last March.

Most ski areas sit with their base at the bottom of the hill. Blacktail's parking lot is at the 6,780-foot summit, so on the drive up Blacktail Road from Lakeside, you reach the highest snow first. In a normal year that's a quirk. In the winter now forecast for Northwest Montana, the federal outlook points to the top half of the mountain carrying the season again.

Last winter, read from the summit down

The 2025–26 season shows how the mountain behaves when warm weather wins. Blacktail opened on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24, 2025, after a windstorm and power outage pushed the start back. A recent storm had left enough snow to run the top half of the 1,000-acre hill, but coverage on the lower mountain was too thin to open it.

December did bring moisture. An atmospheric river set precipitation records, but below the highest elevations it fell as rain. Then the faucet shut off for the rest of January.

One weekend of top-to-bottom skiing in an entire season tells you what the lower runs depend on. Rain and wind also forced scattered closures through the winter. In the final days, the lifts stayed parked to save the remaining snow for closing day. Blacktail's own 2024 mountain page describes the area as running on 100% natural snow. On a natural-snow hill, the sky decides how much of the mountain opens.

What NOAA is saying about this winter

The Climate Prediction Center's September 10 ENSO discussion put the Pacific under an El Niño Advisory. It said El Niño is strengthening, with "a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event" this fall and winter. It also gave a 75% chance that the October-to-December period produces a historic event, stronger than any El Niño on record back to 1950.

CPC's September 17 long-lead outlook brings that down to our corner of the map. From November–January through February–April, it shows "a classic El Niño signature." The highest chances of above-normal temperatures, 50 to 60 percent, sit over "interior portions of the Northwest and along much of the northern tier of states." It also leans modestly toward below-normal precipitation in the interior Northwest.

The outlook also gives a reason for caution. The three big El Niño winters since 1950 (1982–83, 1997–98 and 2015–16) all came with a positive Pacific Decadal Oscillation. This year's PDO is negative, with an August index of -1.11. CPC wrote that this "may dampen the typical impacts of a strong El Niño in certain areas," and it calls the interior Northwest dry signal "rather weak."

These are odds, not a promise of a bare December. CPC scheduled its next ENSO discussion for October 8 and its next seasonal outlooks for October 15, so the picture will update within days. For local history, the Daily Inter Lake reported in 2023 that then-NWS Missoula forecaster Bob Nester put Northwest Montana snowpack in past strong El Niño winters at roughly "75-90% of average." That describes what has happened before, not a forecast for this winter.

Put last winter and this outlook together, and the summit-first layout carries much of the weight for Lakeside's ski season.

A pass price that rises while you wait

Blacktail has changed how it sells passes, and that matters more in an uncertain winter. The old sale dates and deadlines are gone. Each discount level has a limited number of passes, and the price goes up as each level sells out. The renewal window for existing passholders ran April 13 through 15, and general sales opened April 16.

These were the current prices on the season pass page as of its October 1, 2026 update. Age categories are based on age as of December 1, 2026.

The price climbs as each tier sells out, so these numbers describe one moment in the sale. A pass also includes four free full-day buddy tickets with no blackout dates and 10% off in the retail shop.

One benefit stands out in a warm forecast. Blacktail passholders ski free Monday through Friday at Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort in Wenatchee, Washington. Blackouts are December 26, 2026 to January 3, 2027; January 16 to 18; and February 13 to 15. The tie dates to November 2021, when Blacktail was sold to the owners of Mission Ridge. The pass page says more partner-mountain benefits are "Coming Soon!"

OnTheSnow lists a projected opening of December 26, but the site says its dates may not be official or final. Last year's opening on December 24 is the nearest real benchmark.

The trails at 5,000 feet

The lifts aren't the only winter terrain on Blacktail. North Shore Nordic Club maintains the Blacktail Nordic system, about eight miles above Lakeside at 5,000 feet, with 25 kilometers of groomed trail. Named routes include the Alpine Loop, the Spur road and the upper Powerline route. The club works with the Swan River Ranger District and DNRC. Its home page says there's no trail pass or fee, and the system runs on donations, grants and volunteers. That page dates from 2025, so check it again before relying on the no-fee policy.

The trails are about 1,800 feet below the summit lot, so they'll need real snow this year. Last season they started with a new bridge over Noisy Creek and new grooming staff. A $931 grant from Flathead Electric Cooperative is paying for new trailhead signs, including a map at all three trailheads, to improve skier safety. On September 16, the club put out a call for dependable paid, part-time Blacktail groomers for late November through mid-March. Hours depend on snow, and weekend shifts typically run about 5:30 to 10:30 a.m.

The ski area is hiring as well. Its employment page says winter seasonal jobs generally run December through April, with applications opening this fall. It lists an employee shuttle from Lakeside and non-tipped positions starting at $15 an hour, DOE.

The climb that started at Tamarack

Blacktail's season this year began with bikes. On October 3, the Lakeside Somers Chamber of Commerce brought back the Blacktail Climb after a seven-year break. The race ran in 2018 and 2019 before going on hiatus. The summit race started at Tamarack Brewing Company in Lakeside and covered 13.1 miles with 3,000 feet of climbing on gravel and pavement, ending at the ski area. A 10K course climbed 1,500 feet and finished at the turnoff for the Blacktail Mountain Nordic Trail.

Each racer got a lift ticket for the coming season. The afterparty was part of Tamarack's "Tamaracktoberfest," with music from the Fetveit Brothers. Part of the proceeds went to the Blacktail Quick Response Unit, a nonprofit of volunteer first responders who serve the mountain during the snow season. "So much of our community uses Blacktail Mountain," chamber executive director Ali Coleman told the Beacon, "and having this resource there is huge."

Earlier, the ski area's fall calendar included the Treetop Music Festival, September 25 to 27, and the Kalispell Ski Club swap at the Kalispell Fairgrounds, October 2 and 3. The swap had a Friday evening presale with free entry for Blacktail passholders and KSC members. With those events done, the next Blacktail dates to watch are the opening-day announcement and CPC's October outlooks.

Last winter, the top half of Blacktail carried the season, and this winter's odds point the same way. If you're thinking about a home on the west shore and want to know which roads, trailheads and lake views feel like home in a thin snow year, Dalon Pobran is happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.