Steve's Outdoor Tips: Tamarack opens Friday, Idaho City Park and Ski trails are groomed for the weekend and more!

Should be one heck of a powdery weekend in the mountains! 

Hi all, 

For this week's outdoor tip of the week, here are some newsy items to know: 

• Big storm coming Friday-Monday this weekend in Southwest Idaho. The storm is forecast to drop 18-24" of new snow in the Boise Mountains and at Bogus Basin, Tamarack, Brundage, the West-Central Mountains, Sawtooths, Soldier Mountain and Sun Valley. Everyone is going to benefit! The main storm event will be Friday night-Saturday and Saturday night, but it will keep snowing through Sunday and Monday. A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect all weekend. See my latest report on the Idaho Daily Snow. 

          For those of you who like to avoid crowds, Soldier Mountain might be a great pick this weekend. They're supposed to get at least 2 feet of new snow!  

Skiing with Quinn below Stargaze Yurt near Beaver Creek Summit. 

• The Idaho City Park and Ski Areas have been groomed this week and will be ready for xc skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking this weekend. Bear in mind that the trails are groomed once/week, so the snow will pile up over the weekend. That'll make for a snowy experience! Bring a shovel! See the IDPR Non-Motorized Trails Facebook page for updates. 
  
  

  

  Fresh powder and groomers await skiers/riders at Tamarack Resort on Friday.
  (Photo courtesy Tamarack Resort) 

  
  
• Tamarack Resort is opening its slopes for the first time for alpine skiing on Friday, Dec. 9. The Tamarack Express, Summit Express and Discovery lifts will be running this weekend. Wildwood is not open yet. The main terrain park will be open on Lower Showtime and beginner terrain park on the Discovery lift. Tam Nordic trails are open and groomed for xc skiing.  

         They'll have a DJ playing Saturday by Tamarack Express Lift to celebrate the season getting under way, and there will be s'mores on the snowfront Saturday and Sunday from 3 pm - 5pm. Tamarack also is hosting a ski film festival this weekend. See the Tamarack web site for more information.   

• Night skiing starts at Bogus Basin on Friday, Dec. 9. Bogus is 100 percent open. Should be a heck of a powder weekend!   
• Steve wrote a major feature story about Jo Cassin and Stan Kolby's 35-year journey of running Idaho River Sports in Boise and growing it into the Center of the Universe for the river-boating community. See the full article in the Idaho Press Outdoors. Steve wrote the story in first person since his own whitewater boating history occurred at the same time that IRS opened in 1987 and continues to this day. 
• Be sure to stay off Muddy Trails this weekend. It may be rainy and muddy in the lower trails.  Check on the Ridge to Rivers Facebook page for the latest conditions. The trail off of Bogus Basin Road over to Stack Rock would be a good bet for snowshoeing or maybe boot hiking.     
• The Boise Bicycle Project is looking for more kids bikes for the Christmas give-away. If you've got some bikes that you can give away, take them over to BBP! See more on the BBP Facebook page.    

That's it! Have fun! 

- SS