It's 4 p.m. Chairlifts stop spinning. Patrollers begin clearing the slopes. Skiers and snowboarders walk back to their cars, hop on the S.N.O.W. Bus or gather at the Bierstube for après fun. Little noticed in the waning light are the massive tracked vehicles that crawl up the mountain, moving enormous amounts of snow in preparation for the following day.

For Whitefish Mountain Resort's grooming crew, the day is just beginning.

Our talented snowcat operators work through the night to lay down the high-quality corduroy you've come to expect here. They're true magicians, capable of transforming vast, irregular fields of snow into smooth, carvable downhill trails. They steer giant machines weighing thousands of pounds around trees and up mountainsides, erasing the tracks of the previous day so you can experience fresh cord each morning.

Check out this video to learn more from Slopes Manager Gardner Beougher!