Idaho Free Cross-County Ski Day is Saturday, plus update on Nordic conditions everywhere!

It's Free Cross-country Ski Day in Idaho on Saturday, Jan. 4! Free hot drinks at the Stargaze yurt! That's the mighty Quinn!

Hi all,

For those of us who pay close attention to snow conditions, snowfall, ski conditions, etc., it's been a bit of a slow start to winter in Southwest Idaho and most of the state for that matter. The series of storms we've had in the last few weeks, however, especially the big storm we had on New Year's Eve/New Year's Day, has put the mountains in pretty good shape for full-on winter recreation.

Wendy and I went up to Mores Creek Summit on New Years Day, as alas, we were not in McCall, where the really big powder dump occurred. There was a good 8-10 inches of new snow on the grade heading up Sunset Mountain, and it was pretty thick snow with high moisture content. Not the best for making turns, but it's the kind of base-making layer we need EVERYWHERE!

Let's hope we get some more big dumps soon! There's a small system that will bring a few inches of new snow to the SW Idaho mountains on Saturday, but we need more! Keep track on Idaho OpenSnow. 

In the meantime, here's an update on Nordic trail conditions and events coming up: 

• The annual Idaho Parks and Recreation Ski Free Day is happening on Saturday, Jan. 4, statewide. In the Idaho City Park and Ski Areas, you can attend an open house at the Stargaze yurt from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Stargaze is accessible to snowshoers and backcountry skiers from Beaver Creek Summit on Idaho Highway 21 between Idaho City and Lowman. Park in the pullout, hike 1.2 miles to the yurt, and learn about the Idaho Park and Ski Trail System from Tom Helmer, IDPR non-motorized trail coordinator. He'll be serving free hot chocolate, coffee and tea. Tom replaced Leo Hennessy in the last year.
• DeEtta Peterson, IDPR yurt coordinator, will lead a 1.76-mile snowshoe hike from the Banner Ridge Park and Ski parking lot, beginning at 10 a.m. She'll be leading several groups through 2 p.m. The Banner Ridge trailhead accesses the Banner Ridge and Elkhorn yurts, plus snowshoe and ski trails. DeEtta is super knowledgeable about all of the yurts and park and ski trails as well.
• To check on the latest snow and grooming conditions at the Idaho City Park and Ski Trails, call 208-514-2423. The latest recording I heard as of Dec. 30 indicated that there was a 26-inch base (prior to the New Year's storm event), so it's well over 30 inches now. Much-improved coverage! The trails are groomed weekly.  
• Ponderosa State Park will be offering free lessons and free equipment in McCall from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Gravity Sports and Hometown Sports have a great selection of gear to try out.  McCall Master Naturalists will offer free snowshoe instruction and guided tours. McCall Master Naturalists, St Luke’s McCall and Albertson’s will provide hot drinks and snacks. Hopefully, Scout the Fox will be visiting, too. 
• Race for the Diamonds at Ponderosa Park on Saturday - This sounds really fun! Registration at 5 p.m. Two-person relay teams are picked at random. Each skier races a 3K course. The winning team gets a $150 gift certificate from McCall Jewelry! Plus there is a 1K and 3K race for kids.
• Tamarack Resort has opened its Nordic Trails - About 15K's are groomed. Some of Tamarack's Nordic Trails are open to snow-biking as well. 
• All of the trails in Bear Basin, Jug Mountain Ranch (snow-biking, too) and the North Valley Trail (snow-biking, too) are groomed and in great shape! See McCall Nordic for the latest grooming reports on all of the xc areas in Valley County. 
• All of Bogus Basin's Nordic trails are open. See the grooming report here.  
• See the Blaine County Winter Trailink for the latest conditions in the Wood River Valley. Almost all of the trails are open in the valley now. 

- SS

Take advantage of FREE cross-country ski day Saturday at Idaho Parks, BCRD trails

Skate skiing works great on well-groomed trails. Glide wax is critical. 

Snowshoers hike through fresh snow to Stargaze Yurt, located 1.5 miles
from the trailhead. It takes about an hour to get there. 

Ah, the spellbinding view from Stargaze Yurt, near Idaho City

If you can walk, you can snowshoe. Ski poles help with balance. 

Classic xc ski technique - kick and glide. It feels really sweet when you get the knack for it. 

Hi all,

Saturday is a great opportunity to try cross-country skiing or snowshoeing at participating Idaho State Parks and the Blaine County Recreation District xc trails in the Wood River Valley.

Have you ever thought about trying xc skiing or snowshoeing? Now is the time to seize the day and give it a whirl -- it's great for exercise, getting outside and enjoying the beauty of the Idaho mountains, and it's an excellent excuse to get out of the yucky inversion in the Treasure Valley and enjoy cobalt-blue sky and warmer weather! Snow conditions are excellent!

There will be free lessons and equipment demo's at Ponderosa State Park and Lake Cascade State Park, close to home, or you can rent/grab your own equipment and try out the Idaho City Park n' Ski Trails and yurts near Idaho City. The Park n' Ski parking lots will be open for free (normally a Park n' Ski parking pass is required), and IDPR staff will serve hot cocoa at Stargaze Yurt and Rocky Ridge Yurt.

All of BCRD's xc ski and snowshoe trails will be open free of charge on Saturday in the Wood River Valley. A day pass costs $17, so that's a great value. The BCRD xc ski trail system is world-class, with more than 160 kilometers of trails available, including the trails at the Galena Lodge, north of Ketchum. See more details on Saturday's event below.

Free xc ski day is a national initiative that's been going on for many years to encourage newbies to try cross-country skiing and snowshoeing on local trails. My motto is: Give it a try! Anyone who can walk can snowshoe. A pair of ski poles helps with balance when snowshoeing. Cross-country skiing is a little more challenging, but it's not that difficult. Plus, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are relatively cheap ways to recreate outdoors in the winter, compared to downhill skiing, which can blow a hole in your wallet in one day.

I've been cross-country skiing since I was a kid growing up in Minnesota. The age-old traditional or classic technique involves a little kick and glide, a really sweet motion once you get the knack. In the mid-1980s, the skate-skiing technique came into vogue. Skate skiing is more physically demanding than the classic/traditional technique, but when you get the knack of skate skiing, and you're properly waxed, you can really sail down the trail -- at least on the flats.

On Saturday, at the parks where demo equipment is available, you could try the old kick-and-glide technique and try a pair of skate skis, and see what you like. Instructors will be on hand to help you with technique.

Here are the details:

• Idaho City Park n' Ski Areas -  Take Idaho 21 past Idaho City to the signed Park n' Ski areas. It's 17-23 miles past Idaho City to the different trailheads. The Rocky Ridge Yurt is 1.5 miles from the Whoop-Um-Up parking lot. This trail is best for snowshoeing. Yurt rental manager Judy Ditto will be the host at Rocky Ridge from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Stargaze Yurt is located 1.5 miles from the parking area at Beaver Creek Summit on Idaho 21. This trail is good for either xc skiing or snowshoeing, but not skate skiing. It's my favorite of the six yurts in the area because it sits on top of a mountain, affording great views of the surrounding area, and it has great skiable terrain directly below the yurt. Leo Hennessy will be hosting visitors at Stargaze Yurt from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dogs are allowed on the trails, so bring your pups if you wish. No equipment will be available at the Park n' Ski areas. Rent some before you go at Idaho Mountain Touring, Greenwoods or Boise REI. 
• Lake Cascade State Park - Free xc ski day activities will be hosted by IDPR staff at the Hasbrouck Ranch Nordic Trails on 981 Cabarton Road (this is the road to the Cabarton put-in on the Payette River, 15 miles north of Smith's Ferry). Equipment demos will be available and lessons from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sign up when you get there. Hot cocoa will be served at the trailhead. 
• Ponderosa State Park, McCall - Go to the park in the east side of McCall and park by the Activity Center. Equipment demos and lessons will be available from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Equipment will be provided by Gravity Sports and Hometown Sports in McCall, and instructors will be on hand from Bear Basin Nordic Center to teach the classic and skate ski technique. Volunteers from McCall Parks & Recreation and the McCall Outdoor Science School will lead snowshoe tours. Hot drinks will be served at the trailhead.
• Blaine County Rec District -  Free lessons and rentals will be available at the Croy trailhead in Hailey from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Folks can try either skate skiing or classic. The Croy trailhead is located off of Bullion Street west of Hailey. Call Sturtevants in Hailey to reserve your rental equipment, 788-7847.       

The point of all of this is to introduce folks to the sport on Saturday. For the newbies that participate, they'll know a great deal more than about xc skiing and snowshoeing than they did before. Then they can decide what they like best, what equipment to buy or rent, and go do it on their own. What a great community service! Thanks to IDPR staff, equipment vendors and volunteers for putting on such a worthwhile event!

Have fun and enjoy the sunshine!
-- SS

Free cross-country ski day on Saturday is a great opportunity to learn how to xc ski or snowshoe

If she can do it, you can too! Snowshoeing is easy! Poles help with balance. 

Cross-country skiing is fun!

Wendy skis the dog loop at Ponderosa State Park 

Cross-country skiers get some pointers

(Note: The IDPR web site is down Thursday, Jan. 3 all day. It is supposed to be back online by 7 p.m. tonight. Sorry about that.) 

Hi all,

Happy New Year! This week's tip focuses on free cross-country ski/snowshoe day Saturday, Jan. 5, at participating Nordic facilities in Idaho.

The whole purpose of the annual event is to provide an incentive for newbies to get into cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. Let me give you some reasons to go:

• It's free! In some cases, equipment rentals and lessons are free! Can't beat that! See below.
• Get out of the freezing temperatures and inversion in the Boise Valley, enjoy some sunshine and get some exercise cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. 
• The basic cross-country skiing technique is pretty easy to learn. Snowshoeing is even easier. Skate skiing is harder to learn but a lot like ice skating if you already know how to do that. Anyone who can walk can learn to snowshoe. Just strap on the skis or snowshoes and go! 
• Snowshoeing is very similar to going for a hike. If you like to hike, you should get into snowshoeing, so you can go hiking in the snow in the winter.
• Southwest Idaho has a number of great places to go cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Participating Nordic facilities on Saturday are the Idaho City Park n' Ski Areas, north of Idaho City, Cabarton Trails near Cascade, and Ponderosa State Park.  

"We're looking forward to it," says Theresa Perry, Lake Cascade State Park manager. "Learn to Ski Day is always a festive event and lots of fun."

Lake Cascade State Park is teaming up with the South Valley County Recreation District, Trinity Pines and Tamarack Resort to offer free equipment and cross-country skiing and snowshoe lessons on the Cabarton Trails at the Hasbrouck Ranch. The fun begins at 11 a.m. and runs to 2:30 p.m. To get there, take Idaho 55 about 75 miles north of Boise, past Round Valley, and turn left on Cabarton Road across from the Clear Creek Lodge. There is a beginner loop for folks who are just starting out, plus 5 miles of groomed trails, and other self-guided trails (no grooming), that you can check out.

In McCall, Ponderosa State Park also is providing free equipment and lessons from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m . Gravity Sports and Hometown Sports are providing cross-country ski equipment and lessons, and the McCall Outdoor Science School is providing guided snowshoe tours and lessons. So if you're in the 'hood, be sure to take advantage of this great opportunity to learn. All parking fees and trail fees will be waived for the day.


On Saturday, the trail fees are waived in the Idaho City Park n' Ski Areas, north of Idaho City, meaning you can explore 56 miles of trails in the Park n' Ski system; 26 of them are groomed for skiing. The easiest place to start is Gold Fork, located on the left side of Idaho State Highway 21 about 1.5 hours from Boise.

If you go to the Park n' Ski areas, be sure to rent some cross-country or snowshoe equipment at Idaho Mountain Touring or Boise REI.

Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation officials will be at the Gold Fork parking lot ready to answer any questions and provide information about ski and snowshoe trails in the vicinity. Here's a map of the trail system and yurts. IDPR folks also will be manning the Rocky Ridge and Skyline yurts and serving free hot chocolate for people who stop by. Free hot chocolate also will be available at the Banner Ridge trailhead.

The Rocky Ridge yurt is located 1.4 miles from the Whoop-Um-Up parking lot. There is a marked snowshoe trail leading to the yurt. Skyline yurt is 2 miles from the Gold Fork parking lot. The trail to Skyline is suitable for skate skiing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. It's rated "more difficult" because it's a continuous uphill grade Skyline. Dogs are allowed on the trails in the Gold Fork area but they're not allowed on the Banner Ridge trails.


Have fun!
- SS

Steve shares his weekly outdoor tips with Ken and Tim on 94.9 FM The River each Friday morning in Boise at approximately 7:10 a.m. If you miss the program, you can hear the segments on River Interactive.com. Detailed descriptions and color maps of Steve's hikes, bike rides and paddling trips are available for 99 cents each at www.stevestuebner.com, plus the full ebooks and hard-copy guidebooks.

Travel to the snow & enjoy free cross-country ski day this weekend in the Idaho sunshine...

Head for the snow near Idaho City, McCall or Ketchum/Sun Valley

to enjoy free cross-country ski day this weekend

Hi all,

Well, I put up a Facebook post yesterday, asking people how they're coping with little to no snow, and what they're doing instead, and I got a bunch of funny responses ... One guy said he's going diving in Cozumel, an island off the Caribbean coast of Mexico (jealous!), other folks said they're hiking and mountain biking but getting "impatient" with the wacky weather, others are snow-biking, road biking, doing rehab, cleaning the house -- all kinds of stuff.

It's one of those winters so far where you can do practically anything except ski/ride at our local hill ... hang in there Bogus!

On Saturday, it's supposed to be pretty warm and sunny, so you might as well take advantage of free cross-country ski day at the Idaho City Park 'n Ski Areas, Ponderosa Park in McCall or Galena Lodge north of Ketchum/Sun Valley. On Sunday, all of the Blaine County Recreation District cross-country ski trails are open free of charge, and at Galena Lodge, they're offering free lessons with free equipment in the afternoon. An intro to skate skiing will be offered at 1 p.m., and an intro to traditional kick-and-glide cross-country skiing (known as "classic") will be at 2:30 p.m. Call 208-726-4010 to register. More than 30 kilometers of xc skiing are open in the Wood River Valley ... the area received more than 2 feet of snow last week.

On Saturday, all of the Idaho City Park 'n Ski Area parking lots are open at no charge. Leo Hennessy says there is 18 inches of snow at the xc ski areas, and most of the trails were groomed on Tuesday. "It should be a fun weekend," he said. "People don't think we have snow, but we do have snow."

The objective of the free xc ski day is to get more people to try the sport of cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. To that end, there will be free beginning snowshoe classes at the Whoop-Um-Up parking site at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. (email Judy Ditto: judy.ditto@idpr.idaho.gov to sign up). And there will be an intermediate and advanced snowshoe class from the Beaver Creek Summit trailhead/parking area. Call Leo at 208-866-6471 to sign up for either one of those classes. You will need to bring your own equipment for the classes. Rentals are available at Idaho Mountain Touring and REI.

Hennessy recommends the Gold Fork area as a good place to cross-country ski on Saturday. There is a nice loop to the Whispering Pines yurt, where free hot chocolate will be served. You also could snowshoe to Whispering Pines.

At Ponderosa Park, free lessons and equipment for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing will be available from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Gravity Sports and Hometown Sports are providing ski equipment, and McCall Parks and Recreation officials are teaching the lessons. Snowshoe lessons and tours are being provided by the McCall Outdoor Science School. For more information, call 208-634-2164.

Bear Basin is not participating in free xc ski day, but trail manager Ed Roper reports that they will be grooming the trail system late Saturday afternoon to provide freshly groomed trails for moonlight skiing Saturday night. Show up around 7ish to sample the trails under a super-big moon. Monday is the official full moon.

If you want to go downhill skiing, Brundage Mountain just announced a new discounted lift ticket special for people who have a Bogus Basin Season Pass. Brundage is discounting daily lift fees by $30 for Bogus pass holders Monday - Thursday, so it would be $25 instead of $55 for adults, and $20 discounts on Fridays and weekends ... $35 instead of $55 for adults.

Tamarack Resort and Sun Valley have solid conditions with plenty of man-made snow to augment natural snow. I've heard good things about the skiing at Anthony Lakes near North Powder, Ore., too. (They're open Thursday-Sunday)

Next week, the new 30-day weather forecasts come out, so we'll have a better picture of what's in store for the next month. The National Weather Service was way off target on the existing 30-day forecast, which called for wetter than normal conditions. High pressure continues to dominate and no significant precipitation is in the forecast for the next week to 10 days. How many times have you heard that lately? Geez!

(end)

Steve shares his weekly outdoor tips with Ken and Tim on 94.9 FM The River each Friday morning in Boise at approximately 7:10 a.m. If you miss the program, you can hear the segments on River Interactive.com. Detailed descriptions and color maps of Steve's hikes, bike rides and paddling trips are available for 99 cents each at www.stevestuebner.com, plus the full ebooks and hard-copy guidebooks.