MarzNC
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2020
Warm spring conditions continue this week in Idaho. Meaning highs in the high 30s, with plenty of sunshine. After checking out Brundage on Sunday with Bill, he and I went back on Monday together with the intermediate Ski Divas. Since the Lakeview area faces south, there was soft snow by 9:30 on groomers and off-piste by mid-morning. The only area that never softened enough for us to check out was Hidden Valley, which faces north. On Sunday morning, a ski patroller was quite clear that going there was not a good idea. "Frozen" and "ruts" were key parts of the description of current conditions. Although we still took the groomers on the edge of that area in the afternoons.
In general, we experienced more than enough to understand why people say that skiing Brundage in good snow conditions, especially deep powder, is great fun. Didn't see much that would qualify as double-black at Taos, but for me that means essentially everything would be fun to ski without having to think too hard. Also means that doesn't need as much snow to have good coverage.
In recent years, Brundage updated the lifts to the top to detachable high-speed quads. Unfortunately Centennial was down most of Sunday with some mechanical problem. I was glad it was running on Monday. While it's possible to get to all the terrain without Centennial, making a full loop takes a while so we didn't do much on that side until Monday. The Lakeview lift is a fixed-grip quad, which gets the job done.
The Beartopia area of greens and blues off the Bear triple chairlift was perfect for my intermediate friends. They opted to drive back on Tuesday as well, instead of skiing again at Tamarack from slopeside lodging. Blue groomers feel steeper in Idaho than blues in Utah and Colorado.
Heading towards Lakeview after riding up Bluebird Express from the base
Centennial not running on Sunday, March 9
Looking up towards the middle of North
There was a group who had to wait for a guy wasn't up for the slick steeper section, a couple of them can be seen in the circle
Trees that are skiable with decent snow, photo taken from Centennial lift
Bumps more or less soft enough on the front side
Unusual use of old lift towers
Some of the patrol sleds are hung and can be lifted or lowered as needed depending on the snow depth
In general, we experienced more than enough to understand why people say that skiing Brundage in good snow conditions, especially deep powder, is great fun. Didn't see much that would qualify as double-black at Taos, but for me that means essentially everything would be fun to ski without having to think too hard. Also means that doesn't need as much snow to have good coverage.
In recent years, Brundage updated the lifts to the top to detachable high-speed quads. Unfortunately Centennial was down most of Sunday with some mechanical problem. I was glad it was running on Monday. While it's possible to get to all the terrain without Centennial, making a full loop takes a while so we didn't do much on that side until Monday. The Lakeview lift is a fixed-grip quad, which gets the job done.
The Beartopia area of greens and blues off the Bear triple chairlift was perfect for my intermediate friends. They opted to drive back on Tuesday as well, instead of skiing again at Tamarack from slopeside lodging. Blue groomers feel steeper in Idaho than blues in Utah and Colorado.
Heading towards Lakeview after riding up Bluebird Express from the base
Centennial not running on Sunday, March 9
Looking up towards the middle of North
There was a group who had to wait for a guy wasn't up for the slick steeper section, a couple of them can be seen in the circle
Trees that are skiable with decent snow, photo taken from Centennial lift
Bumps more or less soft enough on the front side
Unusual use of old lift towers
Some of the patrol sleds are hung and can be lifted or lowered as needed depending on the snow depth
