Western-Slope Idaho Resorts To Offer More Terrain, Mountain Lodging
Terrain takes center stage at the ski and snowboard resorts that string along the western slope of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho.
After a couple of years of brisk new and replacement lift construction -- spurred by stable ownership -- the 2024 construction season turned to opening more ground and sprucing up lodging.
Big news at Schweitzer is in the backcountry. After getting bought by the Ikon Pass folks, Idaho's northernmost resort in Idaho has purchased the portion of Selkirk Powder snowcat operations that has operated off the backside of Schweitzer for 21 years.
This means Schweitzer snowcats will deliver powder hounds to some 4,350 acres of open pastures and steep glades on a daily basis. The snowcat access road is six miles long, with drop-ins all along the way into some 75 steep-and-deep lines.
Daily snowcat trips will be capped at 24 with up to eight runs and 10,000 vertical feet on an average day. Non-skiing snowmobiles tours will run for two-hour or half-day sessions.
After doubling capacity with a new high-speed chair last season, locally owned Brundage Mountain Resort crews put up a new 18,000 square-foot base lodge this summer. Named the Mountain Adventure Center, it will centralized all skier services under one roof: ticketing, ski school, day care, rentals, retail, snacks and rest rooms. On the lower lever, skiers and riders will find a tuning shop and lockers. Indy Pass honored here.
Just to the south, Tamarack Resort continues its revitalization with a new, 12,000 square-foot mid-mountain lodge. Located at top of Tamarack Express and bottom of Summit Express, the new facility is the first on-mountain stopover on the 1,100-acre mountain. It serves up all manner of sustenance, from gourmet to ramen bowls to grab 'n' go.
Located near Donnelly, Indy Pass-member Tamarack also has added terrain and six new named runs, as well as day care and kids center at the base.
A member of the Powder Alliance, Silver Mountain has renovated the Mountain House Lodge and thinned out trees to open up a powder glade between Saddleback and Paymaster on the lower mountain. And, Lookout Mountain that sits astride the Idaho-Montana border has also opened new glades and expanded parking.
