I used Indy last week to take a trip out to Idaho. They are not having a great snow year, but it was still well worth it. I flew into Boise (cheap tickets on Alaska) rented a car and drove to New Meadows which is a little past McCall. I stayed at the Hartland Inn. The Inn has 3 levels of rooms, B&B in the main house, mid level in the Carriage House and a strip of basic motel rooms. I stayed in the motel and it was clean and very reasonably priced. They offer a 20% discount for Indy Pass holders and a 15% discount for holders of any other pass. The Intersection offers great BBQ within distance, the Kahili is a local bar with a good steak night on Thursdays, Brown's Mountain made good burgers and has breakfast sandwiches, and Granite Mountain makes an excellent breakfast.
Brundage Mountain was my first stop. They got 3 inches the night before and I was stoked to experience "the best snow in Idaho". Brundage is laid out so the main face is mostly blue groomers running down the mountain, generally more more moderate in pitch skiers right and a bit steeper skiers left. The snow was fast and consistent and I spent my first few runs ripping fast arcs down the front. As fun as the groomers were, the real appeal is all the spaces between those groomers. There are some marked steeper bumpy pitches as well as virtually unlimited and endless trees, ranging from almost wide open, to what I would call perfectly spaced, to tight. My absolute favorite was the line below Cat Track on the far skiers left of the main face. It had been skied before I got there, but there were numerous pockets of blower to be found, as I navigated my way down. If one wasn't paying attention, it would be easy to wind up in a creek here, so don't get too far right in your excitement. There were also long stretches of widely spaced trees that were more skied out, but still fun to either side of the quad and great shots between Engen and Alpine.
Brundage's inbound gnar is mostly found in an area called Hidden Valley which is on the far skiers right side of the mountain. It is really fun, funky terrain, that in someways reminded me of MRG. Steep shots, followed by moderate pitches through the trees, dumping out onto an open steep mogul run, descending into tighter, steeper trees, rinse, repeat. There were also a ton of cliffs/rock drops, that I didn't really mess with, being old, solo, and 2500 miles from home. The various lines have names on the map, but it doesn't much matter. There is a very well marked boundary with an easy trail bringing you back out to the lifts, so there is no risk of getting lost in your enthusiasm and ending up with a long hike out.
Next I hit Tamarack. Tamarack has a long, weird, shady backstory, but is apparently back on its feet with a ton of money behind it. There is an ersatz Swiss village at the base, which aesthetically I don't love, but is way better than a closed ski resort. I started off again hitting some groomers to get the lay of the land, and then went to explore the Wildwood pod. Wildwood was fun with an area of moderate trees off to the far skiers right, and some fast blue cruisers that nicely followed the contours of the mountain. Towards the center of the pod were natural runs that were fairly open that were a ton of fun. Hoo Ya and Wahoo were right up my alley and there were plenty of options for cliff hits, for those with more testicular fortitude than I.
The upper mountain of the main face was next. The entire upper mountain is basically a huge bowl, with some bulges and outcroppings towads the middle. Right off the lift was a burnt glade that was super fun, as well as fast groomer options. On the skiers right side was an open bowl, that was steep in places, descending into multiple moderate tree runs. a steady wind replenishes the bowl on a regular basis, but also builds up a huge, intimidating cornice. I mean it was frigging house sized in spots. I beatered my way in from where it was only single digits high, and had a ton of fun finding my way through the trees into the ungroomed but mostly open Mystery Glades, or the fast blue Bliss. The mountain has a bunch of flat spots over here, so if you are staying right, it is a PITA to get back to the upper lift. The skiers left bowl also had a large, if slightly less terrifying cornice and was a bit steeper and open for longer, before quickly moderating in pitch. The runout led to groomers or trees that easily took me back to the upper lift.
Last on my list was 1 day at Soldier Mountain. Soldier is a family spot, that was apparently once owned by Bruce Willis. Slow doubles, cheep food and cheaper beer ($2 Guinness!!!), almost completely bald on the front face, with runs through the trees on skiers left. They were experiencing spring skiing in the middle of February, and had a few runs that were inaccessible due to dirt. Despite that, I had a blast, carving my way down past kids, grandparents, moms, dads, etc. The snow was mostly creamy, but there were some runs on the left, that were in the shade, that had chalky, fast snow. Soldier also has the coolest logo I have ever seen. It's Sgt stripes turned into a tree. I'm a state corrections Sgt, so I bought a t shirt and a water bottle.
Long story short, Idaho is fun, even in a not so great snow year. It is easy to get to, relatively inexpensive, and the concentration of Indy resorts makes it a no brainer IMHO.
Hidden Valley Brundage
Widely spaced trees near the Quad at Brundage
Skiers left cornice at Tamarack
Skiers left bowl at Tamarack
Monument at Soldier
Soldier logo
Brundage Mountain was my first stop. They got 3 inches the night before and I was stoked to experience "the best snow in Idaho". Brundage is laid out so the main face is mostly blue groomers running down the mountain, generally more more moderate in pitch skiers right and a bit steeper skiers left. The snow was fast and consistent and I spent my first few runs ripping fast arcs down the front. As fun as the groomers were, the real appeal is all the spaces between those groomers. There are some marked steeper bumpy pitches as well as virtually unlimited and endless trees, ranging from almost wide open, to what I would call perfectly spaced, to tight. My absolute favorite was the line below Cat Track on the far skiers left of the main face. It had been skied before I got there, but there were numerous pockets of blower to be found, as I navigated my way down. If one wasn't paying attention, it would be easy to wind up in a creek here, so don't get too far right in your excitement. There were also long stretches of widely spaced trees that were more skied out, but still fun to either side of the quad and great shots between Engen and Alpine.
Brundage's inbound gnar is mostly found in an area called Hidden Valley which is on the far skiers right side of the mountain. It is really fun, funky terrain, that in someways reminded me of MRG. Steep shots, followed by moderate pitches through the trees, dumping out onto an open steep mogul run, descending into tighter, steeper trees, rinse, repeat. There were also a ton of cliffs/rock drops, that I didn't really mess with, being old, solo, and 2500 miles from home. The various lines have names on the map, but it doesn't much matter. There is a very well marked boundary with an easy trail bringing you back out to the lifts, so there is no risk of getting lost in your enthusiasm and ending up with a long hike out.
Next I hit Tamarack. Tamarack has a long, weird, shady backstory, but is apparently back on its feet with a ton of money behind it. There is an ersatz Swiss village at the base, which aesthetically I don't love, but is way better than a closed ski resort. I started off again hitting some groomers to get the lay of the land, and then went to explore the Wildwood pod. Wildwood was fun with an area of moderate trees off to the far skiers right, and some fast blue cruisers that nicely followed the contours of the mountain. Towards the center of the pod were natural runs that were fairly open that were a ton of fun. Hoo Ya and Wahoo were right up my alley and there were plenty of options for cliff hits, for those with more testicular fortitude than I.
The upper mountain of the main face was next. The entire upper mountain is basically a huge bowl, with some bulges and outcroppings towads the middle. Right off the lift was a burnt glade that was super fun, as well as fast groomer options. On the skiers right side was an open bowl, that was steep in places, descending into multiple moderate tree runs. a steady wind replenishes the bowl on a regular basis, but also builds up a huge, intimidating cornice. I mean it was frigging house sized in spots. I beatered my way in from where it was only single digits high, and had a ton of fun finding my way through the trees into the ungroomed but mostly open Mystery Glades, or the fast blue Bliss. The mountain has a bunch of flat spots over here, so if you are staying right, it is a PITA to get back to the upper lift. The skiers left bowl also had a large, if slightly less terrifying cornice and was a bit steeper and open for longer, before quickly moderating in pitch. The runout led to groomers or trees that easily took me back to the upper lift.
Last on my list was 1 day at Soldier Mountain. Soldier is a family spot, that was apparently once owned by Bruce Willis. Slow doubles, cheep food and cheaper beer ($2 Guinness!!!), almost completely bald on the front face, with runs through the trees on skiers left. They were experiencing spring skiing in the middle of February, and had a few runs that were inaccessible due to dirt. Despite that, I had a blast, carving my way down past kids, grandparents, moms, dads, etc. The snow was mostly creamy, but there were some runs on the left, that were in the shade, that had chalky, fast snow. Soldier also has the coolest logo I have ever seen. It's Sgt stripes turned into a tree. I'm a state corrections Sgt, so I bought a t shirt and a water bottle.
Long story short, Idaho is fun, even in a not so great snow year. It is easy to get to, relatively inexpensive, and the concentration of Indy resorts makes it a no brainer IMHO.
Hidden Valley Brundage
Widely spaced trees near the Quad at Brundage
Skiers left cornice at Tamarack
Skiers left bowl at Tamarack
Monument at Soldier
Soldier logo
