Bounce back into winter mode, search for the best *pow*; Look for great stay-and-ski deals

Fresh turns in nice powder puts a smile on your face! (Courtesy Brundage Mountain) 

Skier shreds 7 inches of new at Brundage today. (Courtesy Brundage Mountain)

Hi all, 

I've been having a great time playing in the Boise Foothills lately, but with the cool and wet weather happening now and through the weekend, you might as well bounce back into winter-mode and go skiing this weekend. Are your skis waxed for speed? 

The weather forecast looks really promising for powder hounds at Brundage Mountain, Tamarack Resort, Bogus Basin and the West-Central Mountains, in particular. There isn't as much snow forecast for Sun Valley and Stanley, but there are some great lodging deals cooking in Sun Valley. More about that in a moment. 

Holy Powder Handstands, it is bombing snow in McCall! Brundage received 7 inches of new today, and it's nice, light snow with temperatures hovering around 20 degrees F. Damn! Shoulda been there today! They could get 8-14 inches Friday, 4-8 inches Saturday and 2-4 inches on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. All told, that could be 14-26 inches over the weekend! The great snow god Ullr is looking kindly upon Brundage. Wow! 

Bogus got 5 inches of new today (Thursday), and it could get another 10-20 inches of snow by Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service. I also see "rain/snow" mix at times on Friday and Saturday, so I hope you can avoid that. But there should be a steady dose of new storms rolling in and dumping snow Friday and Saturday. Watch the weather, Bogus' web cams and catch the best powder window that you can. 

Tamarack Resort also is going to get dumped on, with 10-21 inches forecast through Sunday. 

The forecast for Sun Valley calls for 3-6 inches of new snow through Sunday. But if you don't like skiing in a lot of powder, then Sun Valley might be the right call. It's a huge mountain with tons of great slopes, finely manicured groomers and plenty of challenge in the Baldy Bowls and bump runs like Holiday, Exhibition and Limelight. 

Best of all, you can save a ton of money on lift tickets by doing a combo stay-and-play package. Right now, you can stay overnight and ski a day at Baldy for $65/night, and kids 15 and under ski free! Contact VisitSunValley to book a room. 

McCall has some excellent lodging deals going on as well. Visit the McCall Chamber of Commerce's stay-and-play lodging page, and you'll see some package deals with lift tickets to Tamarack and Brundage ranging from $63.50/night to $90 a night and more. 

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Sagebrush and bitterbrush planting efforts improve habitat
 for mule deer, song birds and other wildlife. 

Closer to home, there are a couple of volunteer opportunities going on this weekend. Mary Dudley of Idaho Fish and Game could use more volunteers for planting sagebrush and bitterbrush in the Pony fire complex area north of Mountain Home on Saturday. People are meeting at the Nature Center at IDFG on Walnut Street at 8 a.m. Dress warm for foul weather, bring a lunch and water. Call Mary to RSVP if you'd like to go, 208-327-7099. There's another planting day planned April 5th, if you'd rather not plant in rainy weather. 

On Friday afternoon, Mike Pellant from the Healthy Hills Initiative in Eagle needs 10-15 more volunteers to plant forbs at the Eagle Sports complex near Floating Feather and old Horseshoe Bend Road from 3-7 p.m. They have 1,300 forbs to plant in a native plant education area. Call Mike for more information or to let him know you'd like to help, 208-867-1571.