McCall Winter Carnival starts on Friday, Jan. 25 with a huge slate of family fun activities

Snow sculptures are under construction! Ullr the Snow God by the Brundage Ski Patrol (Courtesy Brundage) 

Hi all,

I guess I'm acting like Mr. Obvious this week ... you know that annoying guy from the Bob and Tom show? Well, it's hard to beat the McCall Winter Carnival for family fun and entertainment. The Winter Carnival begins tomorrow on Jan. 25 for the 54th consecutive year and continues for two weekends through Feb. 3. Children's Torchlight parade starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday to kick things off.

The weather forecast looks fantastic this weekend, with sunshine every day and highs in the low 30s and lows in the teens and 20s. That'll be great for the Marti Gras Parade on Saturday, and just about any winter activity in the area. Still, dress warm!

Believe me, all of these tips are spot-on! 

#1 - Find a place to stay! Try the McCall Chamber, InIdaho.com, or vrbo.com for lodging options. Things fill up pretty fast for winter carnival, so get on that quickly if you haven't already. The area hotels may have rooms available, too.

Every day, the options for fun expand multifold with snowshoe golf, ice skating, touring the snow sculptures, beer gardens, monster dog pull, beard and hairy legs contest, snow tubing, a snow bike race and so much more. See the event schedule for details. This year's theme is "Legends, Myths and Super Heroes."

The Boise Weekly had a great list of tips in the latest edition that came out today. Tips include the pancake breakfast on Saturday, Jan. 26 at the McCall Senior Center, $24 early-bird special for prime rib at 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25 at the Anchor. There also will be lots of food vendors at Depot Park.

Brundage Mountain and Tamarack Resort are in great shape with fresh snow in the last week, so you can cruise some groomers and ski off-trail, whatever you like!

It'll be great conditions for downhill skiing, xc skiing, snowshoeing, snow-biking, sleigh rides and tubing at the Activity Barn and the North Valley Trail.

If you've never been to the Winter Carnival before, you'll get a flavor from this Outdoor Idaho program on Idaho Public TV.

Many other activities would be fun this weekend because of the sunshine. It'd be best to stay off the Boise Foothills trails. PLEASE! See Ridge to Rivers page on Facebook for the latest updates.

Skiing or snowshoeing in the backcountry should be fab this weekend, too. Try starting from Mores Creek Summit above Idaho City and scale Pilot Peak, Freeman Peak or Sunset Mountain. I bet it'll be fantastic conditions up there.

The Idaho City Park n' Ski Areas should be great as well. I would bet that the Gold Fork, Skyline, Banner Ridge and Stargaze trails are all in good shape for xc skiing or snowshoeing.

Hope you have a fun wintry weekend in the mountains!
- SS

Great lineup of wild and wacky activities at the McCall Winter Festival in 2016

This was the grand prize in a recent Winter Carnival. Pharoah's Tomb. 

Love this snow sculpture 

Marti Gras Parade ... People in McCall know how to have fun! 

Hi all, 

The McCall Winter Carnival kicks off tomorrow, and the weather forecast is calling for lots of snow this weekend! Perfect! If the forecast holds true, 10-20 inches of snow could fall in the higher elevations tonight, Friday and Saturday. That'll make things feel just right for the Winter Carnival, which runs for the next 10 days in downtown McCall. 

Even if you don't have any lodging lined up for the weekend, it's worth going up to the Winter Carnival as a day trip, especially on Saturday to watch the Marti Gras parade (noon - 1:30 p.m.), view the spectacular ice sculptures (theme is "Beyond Tomorrow"), and work in an activity such as ice skating, snow golf, alpine skiing at Brundage, xc skiing or snowshoeing at Bear Basin or Ponderosa State Park, and much much more. 

Activity Barn tubing hill is great for the whole family. 

Check out the activity schedule -- there's also a fat bike race this weekend, monster dog pull at 11 a.m. Sunday (any dog can enter), great food specials at various restaurants, food vendors on the street, live music, beer garden, and tubing at the Activity Barn. Or, maybe you've been growing a beard to enter in the longest beard contest or you're a woman who's neglected the razor to compete in the hairy legs contest.

I saw that there's a shuttle bus running from Eagle to McCall for $43. 

Quite simply, there's nothing else like the Winter Carnival in Idaho or the Pacific Northwest for that matter. Many thanks to the residents of McCall and the McCall Chamber of Commerce for always putting on a great show! 

Drew and Huck on the Salmon River 

Speaking of snow, I'm already thinking about running rivers next summer. In case you didn't realize it, the deadline for submitting private party permits for running the Selway, Middle Fork of the Salmon, main Salmon River - River of No Return, and Hells Canyon is Jan. 31st. It's called the "Four Rivers Lottery." See Recreation.gov for details on applying. It only costs $6 per application. 

Snowpack looks favorable for a great whitewater season! 

If you are lucky enough to draw a permit, you will be a very special friend to every whitewater boater who knows you, and you can leverage that to invite your friends or loved ones on a trip of a lifetime on any of those four rivers. Good luck! 

Friday also marks the beginning of the Sun Valley Nordic Festival in Ketchum/Sun Valley. They have a lot of fun stuff lined up for that week-long event, leading up to the 30K Boulder Mountain    

Tour on Saturday, Feb. 6th. They've got curling, Dutch oven cooking and skate skiing clinics lined up in Stanley on Feb. 1st, the Banff Film Festival is running on Sunday, Jan. 31st, there's a fat bike race nearly every day. 

Enjoy the snow! 

- SS