Big *pow* allows more alpine and xc ski areas open in Idaho

Bear Basin xc trails are groomed and open for the season in McCall. There's a free Demo Day on Saturday. 

Here's Drewby snowshoeing in Ponderosa State Park. The park is open to xc skiing and snowshoeing now.

Hi all,

A significant storm system has been dumping up to a foot of new snow in the Boise Mountains, West Central Mountains and Central Idaho mountains over the last couple of days. The new snow is welcome and much-needed to build more base for Idaho's ski areas. 

The new snow inspired Tamarack and Brundage Mountain to open (tomorrow) on Friday for the season, which is exciting for me as a second-home owner in McCall. Bogus Basin, Sun Valley
and Pomerelle are getting significant quantities of snow out of the storm cycle as well, so the alpine ski season is pretty much launched with most of the major ski areas open and operating before the Christmas holiday in Southern Idaho. Yay!

Watch for my posts on opensnow.com and my Facebook page for daily updates on snow storms heading our way and ski conditions.

The good news is that it's supposed to continue to snow hard tonight in the mountains, so we could get quite a bit more snow out of this storm cycle through the weekend. The chance of new snow tapers as we move toward Sunday.

I do have some news to share about cross-country and snowshoeing conditions in the McCall area and in Idaho City.

Cross-country skiing or snowshoeing will be doable in McCall this weekend, so I'm excited about that, too! Bear Basin, Ponderosa State Park and the Nordic trails by the Activity Barn and North Valley Trail have been rolled. Bear Basin trails, located a little higher in elevation above town, have been groomed once, and will be groomed again tomorrow.

Bear Basin is reporting a 13-inch base with 5 inches of new snow today. Bear Basin will be hosting a Demo Day on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Gravity Sports and Hometown Sports of McCall providing free equipment to try out. No trail passes will be required either ... so Bear Basin is a good bet for Saturday!

The trails have been rolled at Ponderosa State Park, and they're open to xc skiing or snowshoeing, according to park officials. No boot hiking allowed.

See McCall Nordic for the latest grooming report. 

The Idaho City Park and Ski Areas likely will be groomed early next week, according to Idaho Parks and Recreation officials. The Park and Ski trails have been getting a big dose of new snow over the last couple of days, officials said, with about 2 feet of new snow in places. The new snow is wet and heavy -- perfect base-making snow. I saw the Mores Creek snotel site was showing 10 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours. Sweet!

I'm sure there will be some backcountry skiers and snowshoers checking out Sunset Mountain and Pilot Peak this weekend.


Nordic skiing and snowshoeing in the Wood River Valley keeps getting better, and more trails will open as snow permits around Galena Summit and in the valley. The Blaine County Winter Trailink provides a quick glimpse of what xc and snowshoeing trails are open so far and the latest grooming conditions.

Have fun!
- SS

Hi Ho! Go play in the snow! Latest storms create lots of fun for xc skiing, snowshoeing and more!

Fresh pow! 

Time to find fresh tracks this weekend. Be safe out there! 

Hi all,

The slow start to winter this year has certainly tried my patience, and I'm sure you feel the same way. But finally, we got a great dose of snow in the last few days, with more on the way, so it's time to get out and play in the snow!

The kids already get that as they've been making snowmen and sledding in the foothills. But finally, there's enough snow in the mountains to enjoy xc skiing, snowshoeing, backcountry skiing and alpine skiing.

Leo Hennessy of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation tells me the Idaho City Park n' Ski Areas got hit with 14 inches of new snow in the last two days! Finally, they'll be able to groom more than 35K's of trails in the area. Leo said they'll be grooming through the weekend to make sure they get all of the trails smoothed out and ready to xc ski or snowshoe.

But this means that all of the key Park n' Ski Areas, including Gold Fork, Skyline Loop, Banner Ridge Loop, Whoop 'em Up and the trails leading up to Stargaze Yurt are all ready and poised for you to enjoy.

Getting read to skin up to Stargaze Yurt 

Getting there: Go east of Boise on Idaho 21 to Idaho City. Stop at the Sinclair gas station in Idaho City to pick up a Park n' Ski pass (either daily or season passes are available). A three-day pass costs $7.50 and a season pass costs $25. Pretty cheap, and the parking passes pay for the grooming operations, so it's a good cause.

Mores Creek Summit received another 5 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. And there's more on the way. So Pilot Peak, Sunset Mountain and Freeman Peak should all be great skiing. That's where I'm going to go! Be safe, dig a pit and check on avalanche conditions before you ski down.

High winds coming Saturday afternoon: I'd get out and play in the snow today and early tomorrow, because Saturday afternoon, high winds are moving in from the West Coast, and that may create white-out conditions and severe avalanche issues.

Here's the high-wind winter storm warning from the National Weather Service ... * SNOWFALL AND WIND... STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES BY SATURDAY NIGHT. MANY AREAS NORTH AND WEST OF SUN VALLEY POSSIBLY COULD SEE 15 TO 20 INCHES. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 TO 40 MPH AND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH ESPECIALLY FOR THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS. 

* LOCATIONS INCLUDE... SUN VALLEY... KETCHUM... GALENA SUMMIT... STANLEY... .BANNER SUMMIT... SMILEY CREEK AND COPPER BASIN.

The lucky ducks who have the yurts booked this weekend are going to have a blast! 

In the Idaho Statesman Outdoors section on Thursday, I read the following snow forecasts coming up for the greater SW area through the weekend:

• Brundage Mountain - 9-27 inches
• Tamarack - 8-17 inches
• Bogus Basin - 10-21 inches
• Pilot Peak - 9-19 inches
• Sun Valley Galena area - 4-11 inches
• Stanley - 11-21 inches

Sock it to us, I say to the great Ullr, the snow Norwegian snow god. Bring it on! 

New snow also provides a fresh base on the xc ski trails in McCall and the Wood River Valley. 

McCall Nordic reported 4 inches of new snow today. All of the trails at Ponderosa State Park, Bear Basin and Jug Mountain Ranch have been freshly groomed for you to enjoy. If you're going to be in McCall, the xc skiing should be sweet! 

In the Wood River Valley, the Blaine County Recreation District reports improved conditions with fresh snow. The entire Harriman Trail is being groomed from Galena Lodge to Sawtooth NRA headquarters. Prairie Creek is open. Most of the lower valley trails are still closed. Alturas Lake xc trails are groomed and ready to go, too ... wouldn't that be a nice place to go!

Have fun out there! Hope you get some fresh tracks!
- SS