raisingarizona
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- Aug 4, 2020
Rad! Thanks James
East Idaho Advice
- Thread starter LostCosmonaut
- Start date
I'm going to hazard a guess that your work is in Atomic City. Blackfoot (population 12,000) is the direct shot there from I-15 and that's still close to 30 miles one way. Your one way commute is closer to an hour from either Pocatello (population 55,000) or Idaho Falls (population 61,000). You are probably aware already that eastern Idaho including Idaho Falls and Pocatello is about 3/4 LDS, more than Salt Lake which is a bit under half Mormon.
I'll quote drive times from Blackfoot to ski areas.
Pebble Creek (0:46) I have not skied but the rep is for good terrain but unreliable snow. I first heard about it from a couple heliskiing in Alaska in April 2012. They lived in Pocatello and had not skied Pebble that entire season because it was so short of snow. The FTO admin has been there twice with very favorable reviews.
Kelly Canyon (1:01) I have not skied. It's relatively small and the elevation range of 5,600 - 6,600 is very low for that part of the US.
Pomerelle (1:49) This is a very mellow ski area but very reliable for snow with elevation range 8,000 - 9,000.
Grand Targhee (1:56) I suspect this will be your most frequent destination, probably the most consistent snowfall in North America and usually uncrowded. Not much steeps, but steep enough for powder, which is what matters with that climate. Downside is the bad vis, but that depends upon the individual and is easier to handle anywhere once you're familiar with the area.
The above are places I presume most people would be comfortable daytripping. But if you can handle another hour roundtrip:
Snowbasin (2:30) is my favorite Utah area outside LCC for terrain quality. It's a lot busier than it used to be but the high capacity lift system can generally handle it. Be aware of low base elevation and predominant east exposure if it hasn't snowed much recently.
Jackson Hole (2:31) Terrain lives up to the hype, just superlative. But avoid during:
1) Busy times as popularity is growing and the lift system is not that efficient.
2) Late season. Primary SE exposure can be deadly past mid-February when the valley inversions break up. In the best years the storms keep coming into early March. Later than that you need to be very lucky with a huge dump.
Beaver Mt. (2:35) I have not skied. It's another modest 1,000 footer in northern Utah.
Powder Mt. (2:38) Sprawling area where you can still find powder 3-4 days after a storm. But it's on the low side with varied exposures and not as much snowfall as they claim (350 vs. 500)
Sun Valley (2:38) Excellent fall line skiing and a huge capacity lift system so rarely any crowd issues. The area is blocked out from the prevailing NW storm track, so there is world class snowmaking. Don't think of that in eastern terms, because Sun Valley is high enough to avoid rain and midseason resurfacing "gunpowder" is calibrated to lower water content. Nonetheless during dry spells you may be confined to the groomers. The rare big dumps come from the south and you live close enough to score those on short notice.
Most skiers would be jealous of that list within reasonable drive radius. Pushing further out might be more comfortable with an overnight stay.
Big Sky (3:00) You should surely check it out sometime and form your own opinion. Mine is that the groomer skiing is mostly on the flat side, the expert skiing is hair-raising, but there's a gap at the high intermediate/low advanced level. For experts the 15-person capacity Lone Peak tram ran half hour lines on my 2001, 2006 and 2013 visits and last year during the pandemic it was way over an hour.
Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Park City, Deer Valley (all in 3:15 range) Living where you do, I'd make that trip midweek. Alta/Snowbird are my favorite ski areas anywhere but crowds have been on a steady rise for over a decade. I have a timeshare week at Snowbird which mitigates some of the issues (most skiing is midweek and there's no commuting). That 3:15 is without traffic and on weekends you WILL have traffic.
Maverick (2:58) is a 1,500 vertical area of average pitch and good altitude but slightly south of east average exposure. It's a decent area but if I were driving that way I'd keep going to Discovery (3:59), which is remote, uncrowded and with amazing terrain quality for both intermediates (Grizzly) and experts (Limelight). Both of these terrain pods face north so with moderate snowfall February/March is the best time there. Consider a weekend to hit both ski areas, staying where we did at Jackson Hot Springs between them.
Bridger Bowl (4:03) is worth checking out but not as good overall as Discovery IMHO. Bridger's best terrain requires hiking (The Ridge) or wearing a transceiver (Schlasman's lift). Bridger is busy on weekends as Bozeman is a college town.
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LostCosmonaut
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- Aug 1, 2020
Wanted to thank everyone again for the advice. It looks like I'm going to end up getting a place in Rexburg (northeast of Idaho Falls, apartment market for stuff that isn't a craphole or very expensive is surprisingly tight). Looks like I'll be a bit less than 90 minutes from Grand Targhee (for comparison where I'm at in NY I'm about 2 hours from Gore), and 40 minutes from Kelly Canyon (compared to about an hour to West where I am now.) A bit closer to the Montana areas suggest here, but also a bit farther from Pebble Creek or the places near SLC.
Too bad you weren't in Rexburg for the total solar eclipse 4 years ago. I was on Rendezvous Peak at Jackson but our backup plan was a horse ranch in Rigby, not far from Rexburg.
Rexburg is only 74 minutes from Targhee, but it's also 74 minutes from the Idaho National Laboratory. That's quite a commute for work, but perhaps in today's world you don't need to be there every work day.
Rexburg is only 74 minutes from Targhee, but it's also 74 minutes from the Idaho National Laboratory. That's quite a commute for work, but perhaps in today's world you don't need to be there every work day.
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LostCosmonaut
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- Aug 1, 2020
INL does have a bus service (which runs to most of the decent sized towns around there including Rexburg, Idaho Falls, and Pocatello), so that should help to mitigate the commute somewhat. Unfortunately I can't entirely do work from home in my specific job, but maybe 1 or 2 days a week.
LostCosmonaut
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- Aug 1, 2020
Looking through the liftblog site that got linked in the Vail thread and it looks like Idaho has some "interesting" ski areas.
In case the old black lift at Magic wasn't fun enough
(that area's apparently "operational" and there's even a video of someone running a snowcat there last winter)
Separately;
In case the old black lift at Magic wasn't fun enough
(that area's apparently "operational" and there's even a video of someone running a snowcat there last winter)
Separately;
Ripitz
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- Dec 23, 2020
That place looks radLooking through the liftblog site that got linked in the Vail thread and it looks like Idaho has some "interesting" ski areas.
In case the old black lift at Magic wasn't fun enough
(that area's apparently "operational" and there's even a video of someone running a snowcat there last winter)
Separately;
LostCosmonaut
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- Joined
- Aug 1, 2020
Agreed, it's in the middle of nowhere (and looks like it's a volunteer op so runs infrequently) but I really want to try it at least once. Imagine the biggest issue is how dry the area is, probably don't get much snow even if it stays cold.
raisingarizona
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- Aug 4, 2020
Rexburg is very Mormon, it’s a dry county or it was 20 years ago.
I like being around the Mormon folks here in AZ or in southern Utah but if you have kids in school moving to a Mormon community will be tough for them. Generally they are very warm to newcomers but if you don’t start showing up to church you’ll eventually get the cold shoulder from everyone.
There’s rarely crime in those places which is really nice. In my experience Mormon gals are….how should I say……more adventurous types.
