TravelWorld International Magazine Winter 2022

Getting ready for a mile-long cruising run
at Tamarack Resort, central Idaho
Mountaintop at Lookout
Pass, where walk-up lift
tickets are $55 to $73.
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his doesn’t mean
the skiing isn’t serious,
however, for those who
want to whip down
black diamond slopes
and cruise down blue trails so
long that the legs are aching by
the end. Some of the Idaho ski
resorts also have backcountry ski
areas accessed by a snowcat for
making fresh tracks in the snow.
While I consider myself an expert
and I worked a few seasons as an
instructor, there were a few trails
here and there that I skipped
because they looked too daunting
for a man of my current age,
one who doesn’t feel invincible
anymore.
I did jump at the chance to take a
snowcat up to a peak that didn’t
have a lift installed yet when I
was at Lookout Pass in northern
Idaho near Wallace. I was
already loving the great skiing
a $53 ticket gets an adult visitor
there, but taking the snowcat to
the top of a nearby peak for four
or five runs was only $100 for
the whole group of us (up to 14
people).
There are plenty of challenges on
the regular trails, however, for
any experienced skier looking for
a challenge. Brundage Mountain
has 68 trails on 1,920 acres (46%
of them rated “difficult"), with
lots of glades to ski in between.
Bogus Basin, just outside of
Boise, has 82 trails and even
more skiable acres. On my last
trip I got to ski at Schweitzer in
the north of the state, a huge
resort with 92 trails plus open
bowl skiing. We definitely didn’t get
to all of the trails in our two days
there, despite never encountering
a lift line the whole time thanks to
lots of high-speed lifts with plenty of
capacity.
As someone who grew up skiing in the
icy, crowded slopes of the northeast
USA, the conditions in Idaho seem to
be almost too good to be true. Most
days are either sunny or dumping
fresh powder, with views of mountain
ranges in every direction. I’ve now
skied at 10 Idaho resorts, almost
always on groomed slopes or powder.
The experience was exhilarating at
throwback Magic Mountain, an hour
from Twin Falls on Forest Service land,
but also at much fancier Tamarack, an
expansive resort with a full-service
hotel and rental homes.
The author and travel mates snowcat skiing at Lookout Pass.
Photo compliments of Lookout Pass, Matt Sawyer
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