Idaho: 73 Great Years And Still Sliding -
The birthplace of the American ski resort is alive and well, fostering an enthusiastic crowd of skiers and snowboarders as they clamber for some of the driest snow in the west. Idaho thrives with both world-class skiing and mom and pop comfort. No matter where you venture, you’ll find a world of friendliness among those from the potato state and its 18 ski areas.
Is your first guess Sun Valley for the resort that started it all for Idaho skiing? Close, but no cigar. It was really the tiny area of Lookout Pass in the Bitterroot Mountains where the first ski resort hatched.
The local ski pioneers chose Lookout Pass in 1935 as they were heading east by railcar from the mining towns of Wallace and Mullan. They would jump off the trains at the summit and ski down. Sitting on the Montana border, Lookout likes to boast that you can ski two states on one mountain.
Take the Summit Chair on the Idaho side then drop on over into Montana. The area is still intimate with 34 named runs on 540 acres, although it has tripled in size since 2003. A new front side terrain park, dubbed Exit 0, was added for 2009. Lookout's famous FREE kids ski school runs from January through mid-March.
Although Lookout was the first “resort,” Sun Valley 1.5 hours from Twin Falls and three hours from Boise, lays claim to getting the world’s first chairlift and also the most celebrities. A figure skater named Sonja Henie put the resort on the celebrity map with the 1941 film classic, Sun Valley Serenade.
Ernest Hemingway’s legacy and actress Demi Moore keep it there. Warren Miller made it famous as well by making his first movies while living in a trailer in the ski area parking lot and surviving on purloined oyster crackers from the restaurant.
Comprised of two hills, Baldy lures the experts with its backcountry terrain, and intermediates with its unending groomers. Dollar, on the other hand, beckons beginners. Stay in the Sun Valley Lodge, made famous in the movie and infamous when Hemingway shot himself; or the older mining town of nearby Ketchum, where the restaurants and club action live.
Sun Valley is also the Rocky Mountain West’s Nordic skiing mecca with more than 150 km of groomed trails for both the skating and classic techniques.
Soldier Mountain’s claim to fame has nothing to do with skiing. Its co-owner is Moore’s ex, movie action star Bruce Willis. He sure can pick ‘em. Soldier has 1,150 acres of inbound terrain and the snowcat tours help backcountry lovers access another 1500 acres.
Conveniently placed 70 miles north of Twin Falls and 50 miles southwest of Hailey (outside of Sun Valley), the resort caters to families, beginners and powderhounds.
Magic Mountain in South Central Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest has 11 runs and one double chairlift so it rarely gets noticed by anyone outside of Twin Falls. It also has $22 lift tickets and the loyal locals love it.
Pomerelle Mountain Resort, also in the Sawtooth National Forest, gets as much snow (with the same light moisture content) as areas in Utah, thanks to its 8000-foot base elevation. It lacks the steeps of its southern brethren, however. Beginners and intermediates adore the place.
If Pomerelle is the yin, Schweitzer is the yang of skiing. Only 10 minutes from the yuppie mountain town of Sandpoint, visitors from all over northeast Washington, including Spokane, make this their destination place.
Lodges, hotels, motels and condos, both at the base of the resort and down in town, offer hundreds of beds to rest before waking to ski the 2,900 acres and two giant bowls that comprise the ski area. The impressive views of Lake Pend Oreille and relatively non-existent traffic, maintain that sense of escape you’ll feel charging the mostly advanced and expert terrain.
Harbor Resorts of Seattle, owners of Stevens Pass, Mission Ridge, and the Freestone Inn, plans to spend $10 million total on resort expansion and improvements.
Another area in the Bitterroot Range, Silver Mountain, got its name from what first drew visitors to the area in the late 1800s. But, when the price of silver dropped and there was none left to mine in the 1980s, skiing took over.
You’ll have plenty of time to spot abandoned mine shafts from the Silver Mountain Gondola. The 3.1-mile lift is the longest gondola in the world. Guests hop on in Kellogg, off I-90 (70 miles east of Spokane and 30 miles east of Coeur d'Alene) and in 20 minutes, they’re skiing.
Kelly Canyon in the Targhee National Forest isn’t a major resort. It sees about 120 inches of snowfall a year and offers snowmaking on about 20 percent of the area. But that doesn’t mean only beginners can ski here on low-level terrain.
The mountains are made of shale so less snow is required to cover the area than if it were made up of jagged rock. With the drier climes and minimal vegetation, Kelly doesn’t need a huge base, just a lot of friendly people waving you on as you head up to ride the 1,100 vertical feet.
Another resort with non-existent liftlines, but several more acres, is Pebble Creek. “The Rock”, as it’s known by Pocatello locals who drive a mere 20 minutes for regular tastes of its light powder, has the potential to become a major player. But until someone makes a huge investment, the three-lift system will remain a local’s heaven.
Sun Valley's big, but Bogus Basin is bigger. More than 2,600 acres (900 of them groomed) await just 16 miles from Boise. The name stuck when early settlers thought they struck gold, but it turned out to be the fools’ kind. A century later, the name may be bogus, but the skiing’s not.
The relatively cheap lift ticket ($48) gets you 1,800 feet of vertical and night skiing on two-thirds of the mountain. Check out one of the major events at the Meredy Davidson Memorial Freestyle Aerial Facility.
Brundage Mountain Resort, located 100 miles north of Boise and eight miles from McCall in the central part of the state, claims the "Best Snow in Idaho." Test it on a snowcat to 19,000 acres of backcountry, hike out of bounds to another two million acres of wilderness, or stay inbounds at this mid-sized, family friendly area. The land is bordered by the Salmon River Canyon and Hell’s Canyon on the Snake River - two of the deepest canyons in North America.
Stay in McCall to ski both Brundage and North America’s youngest ski resort Tamarack. But do it quick. Tamarack is having major financial problems. The fledgling resort filed Chapter 11. Experts, take advantage of the 5,000 acres of lift-served backcountry terrain ASAP in case the resort goes on hiatus while seeking new operators and investors.
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