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

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.