Turner Mountain Ski Resort is an alpine

ski area A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...

in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, located in northwest

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, north of Libby. The mountain is known for its fall-line powder skiing. Libby is located along the western portion of

U.S. Route 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highways, U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern ...

in the Kootenai Valley between the

Cabinet Mountains The Cabinet Mountains are part of the Rocky Mountains, located in northwest Montana and the Idaho panhandle, in the United States. The mountains cover an area of 2,134 square miles (5,527 km2). The Cabinet Mountains lie south of the Purcell M ...

to the south and the

Purcell Mountains The Purcell Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. They are a subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which includes the Selkirk, Monashee, and Cariboo Mountains. They are located on the west side of the Rocky Mounta ...

to the north. Turner is 22 miles north of Libby that once was a mining and logging town. In the late 1930s, an enthusiastic group of Libby skiers formed Kootenai Ski Club (later Libby Ski Club) in order to develop a ski area. In the 1950s they started a plan to develop Turner Mountain into a ski area, and it was opened on New Year's weekend of 1961. The summer after the first season, a T-bar was added. Turner Mountain Ski Area is volunteer-run and managed by a nonprofit organization called Kootenai Winter Sports Ski Education Foundation, Inc.. The resort received funding from the City of Libby Economic Development Fund to develop a new lodge facility. It was completed in February 2006. The

T-bar A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...

to the summit, over a mile (1.6 km) in length, debuted in 1961. It was succeeded by a double

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. Th ...

in the fall of 2001.

References

External links

* {{Montana Ski areas navbox Buildings and structures in Lincoln County, Montana Ski areas and resorts in Montana Tourist attractions in Lincoln County, Montana