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| Snow biking at Jug Mountain Ranch on Tuesday. |
Hi all,
With the early natural snow and cold weather, Bogus Basin has been making snow 24/7 and they're hosting a "soft opening" this weekend, Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 19-20. It'll be the earliest opening for alpine skiing at Bogus in 28 years! Kudos to them!
Be aware the early opening is for eligible season pass holders only, however. Bogus is selling a limited number of reduced-priced lift tickets online. See more details here. BTW: Bogus plans to open alpine skiing for the season on Thanksgiving Day.
If you're like me, and you enjoy playing in the snow, there's just enough snow base in the mountains that it's possible to go xc skiing, snowshoeing or backcountry skiing. Right now, it's pretty easy to do your own outings near mountain passes. That's my recommendation this weekend. I'll give a trip report on McCall xc ski areas, a few details on snow conditions at Mores Creek Summit, and the Wood River xc ski trails are open for the season, too, north of Ketchum.
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| Steve and Wendy at Bear Basin last Saturday. |
McCall Trails
I xc skied Bear Basin last Saturday on classic skis with Wendy and Huck. They had about 1/3 of the trails rolled so far, and the snow depth was 9-12". The base felt very solid. We took "Just Right," the main trail over to Camas and climbed Camas over to Moon Ridge and then circled back to 4 Corners and through the Meadows back to the parking lot.
Felt great to be out on the xc ski trails again ... in mid-November!
Wendy with our friend Steve Jones
On Sunday, we xc skied in Ponderosa State Park with our friend Jonesy. The main trails have been rolled in the park, but they're pretty rough from people walking on them. Snow depth was 3-6" in the lower parts of the park, and 4-6" farther uphill. Still seemed fine on classic skis. Wouldn't recommend skate skiing there. We took the main trail out along the lake past Duck Bay, and then vectored off on Fox Trail to climb the hill back over to the main trail and back to the trailhead. There were a few spots where the sun had burned off the snow on the paved roads.
On Monday, I xc skied on the North Valley Trail, starting out by the Activity Barn, south of McCall. There was 3-5" of snow depth on the trail, and it's also kind of rough because people have been boot-hiking on it as well as biking, xc skiing and snowshoeing. That's all OK! The trail has been rolled, but it won't be groomed until there's more snow. That's the case for all these areas right now. And no new snow is expected until the middle of next week.
I snow-biked at Jug Mountain Ranch on Tuesday, and found a solid 4-6" base on their Nordic trails on the way up to JMR Reservoir. The trails have been rolled, but they are uneven like the other areas I just mentioned.
Even so, the surface was mostly firm and rideable. It was a delightful sunny day, and I got a great workout grinding up to the lake.
Mores Creek
The Mores Creek snotel site indicates there's over 20" of snow at Mores Creek Summit, northeast of Idaho City. I've been seeing videos of backcountry skiers shredding some nice powder on Pilot Peak and Sunset Mountain. I also saw pics of a snowshoe group that had climbed to the top of Sunset Mountain.
I have no information about what's going on with the Idaho City Park and Ski Areas ... I think the snowpack may be too skinny for grooming quite yet, but you could certainly go make your own trails by Skyline and Gold Fork trails or you could climb up to Stargaze yurt at Beaver Creek Summit on Idaho 21.
No matter what you do, please use caution and watch for unmarked obstacles!
Wood River Valley
The Blaine County Recreation District's Winter Trails link indicates that many trails in the Wood River xc ski trail system are groomed and open. It looks like a portion of the trail system at Galena Lodge is open as well. Pick up a trail pass and go!
The trails should be good for classic, skate skiing and snowshoes.
That's my roundup! Have fun!
- SS
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