This old DCSki thread is a nice summary of the local backcountry skiing. dcski.com
Fam - Dope! Maybe we can hook up after Dec : would love the local finds! You so rock hard! Yah yah I know I said I am giving it up but .. err maybe I can't do that.
JohnL wrote:
This old DCSki thread is a nice summary of the local backcountry skiing. dcski.com
Starting in January, will be living just outside Sandpoint and skiing Schweitzer as my main mountain. Retire in December! Mountain and water living, since Lake Pend Oreille is across the street from my new home.
Congrats on finding a snowy place for the next phase of life!
I'm headed to Idaho in March to check out Tamarack and Brundage. Inspired by the fact that they are on the Indy Pass. Also going to check out Bogus Basin for a day. Bill is providing the AWD car and driving per usual.
Noticed that Alterra decided to incorporate Selkirk Powder's snowmobile and cat skiing operations next to Schweitzer into the resort. That may move a flight to Spokane higher up on the bucket list.
Denis wrote:
Nice John. Please keep posting once you’re out there. I like the northern Rockies very much. Great terrain, snow and no UT or CO crowds.
Denis, my main reasoning for choosing ID. I love the snow and terrain of UT, but getting too darn crowded. Some of your posts from 15+ years ago got me acquainted with the area. Lots of small uncrowded ski areas near the ID/MT border. Want to check them out. I’ve already skied Silver and 49 Degrees North in the past, both are fun local areas with great tree skiing.
jimw wrote:
" ... We enjoyed 49 Degrees North ... " is that the slope angle or a compass direction? If it is a slope angle I'm in that rocks hard!
Crush wrote:
jimw wrote:
" ... We enjoyed 49 Degrees North ... " is that the slope angle or a compass direction? If it is a slope angle I'm in that rocks hard!
It’s the latitude. It’s the Canadian border, the northernmost extent of the lower 48 except for a small blip In Minnesota. The ski area is very close to that line. In the Manifest Destiny era of the 19th century we wanted more. There was a slogan, “54 40’ or fight”. I’m glad that we don’t have Canada. It’s a very nice country, we’d screw it up. 😁
Crush wrote:
jimw wrote:
" ... We enjoyed 49 Degrees North ... " is that the slope angle or a compass direction? If it is a slope angle I'm in that rocks hard!
As Denis said, latitude, not attitude. Fairly mellow mom and pop area, with some tasty trees. But Diamond not that extreme from what I’ve heard. Come visit and find out. M invited.
Heya - are you retired? Free to do what you want and ski what you want? Just curious - I think I am in the same position EXCEPT maybe Pacifica CA where I can watch whales spout and jump in my sea-side cracker-box condo. 😛
JohnL wrote:
I’ll hijack my own thread a bit to give many thanks to Denis. This area of the country was unknown to me until I read some posts on DCSki way back when from Denis. I visited in 2022 and fell in love with this area. Denis, mucho gracias. Feel free to come visit, even to ski groomers. I owe you a skier’s salute for all I’ve learned from you.
Below is from an email to a friend a few years ago.
I consider the 2013 MT road trip to be the highlight of my ski career in many ways. I never got to Showdown, Turner Mtn, Lookout, Blacktail, Red Lodge, Great Divide. I did get to Bridger Bowl, Discovery, Lost Trail Powder Mountain, Montana Snow Bowl and Whitefish. I enjoyed them all. Lost Trail was my favorite. I spent about 14 days there in total and never heard the sound of steel edge on hardback or ice; just a soft swish or nothing at all. There are at least a dozen more smaller areas in MT. Even in my list above, perhaps 2 or 3 are known to serious skiers from either coast. The rest, they never heard of.
Snowfall in MT is 400-500 inches right on the continental divide, which closely follows the MT/ID border. Going east from there it decreases rapidly, as much as half by 100 miles east, due to the rain shadow effect. The powder is better than UT in my opinion and equal to the interior ranges of BC. Crowds? The busiest of the above, Bridger and Whitefish have at most 20% of UT/CO. The others much less; Lost Trail 5% at most. It is only open Thursday-Sunday. It always snows sometime on Monday-Wednesday. Locals refer to Powder Thursday, because it always is. I’ve got the sticker on my fats. The lodge is small and funky, more like Whitegrass than Whitetail. Everybody knows everybody.
Denis wrote:
Below is from an email to a friend a few years ago.
The busiest of the above, Bridger and Whitefish have at most 20% of UT/CO.
Bridger is a nice gem. Bogus Basin too. I have been to both of those. I was not expecting that one but it was good.
Denis wrote:
Below is from an email to a friend a few years ago.
I consider the 2013 MT road trip to be the highlight of my ski career in many ways. I never got to Showdown, Turner Mtn, Lookout, Blacktail, Red Lodge, Great Divide. I did get to Bridger Bowl, Discovery, Lost Trail Powder Mountain, Montana Snow Bowl and Whitefish. I enjoyed them all. Lost Trail was my favorite. I spent about 14 days there in total and never heard the sound of steel edge on hardback or ice; just a soft swish or nothing at all. There are at least a dozen more smaller areas in MT. Even in my list above, perhaps 2 or 3 are known to serious skiers from either coast. The rest, they never heard of.
Snowfall in MT is 400-500 inches right on the continental divide, which closely follows the MT/ID border. Going east from there it decreases rapidly, as much as half by 100 miles east, due to the rain shadow effect. The powder is better than UT in my opinion and equal to the interior ranges of BC. Crowds? The busiest of the above, Bridger and Whitefish have at most 20% of UT/CO. The others much less; Lost Trail 5% at most. It is only open Thursday-Sunday. It always snows sometime on Monday-Wednesday. Locals refer to Powder Thursday, because it always is. I’ve got the sticker on my fats. The lodge is small and funky, more like Whitegrass than Whitetail. Everybody knows everybody.
Alas, the powder locusts have found Bridger and likely Whitefish since your original trip. It’s Bozangeles now. And Boise been among the fastest growing metro areas for several years now, so Bogus and Brundage/Tamarack most likely feeling the growth.
Crush wrote:
Heya - are you retired? Free to do what you want and ski what you want? Just curious - I think I am in the same position EXCEPT maybe Pacifica CA where I can watch whales spout and jump in my sea-side cracker-box condo. 😛
JohnL wrote:
I’ll hijack my own thread a bit to give many thanks to Denis. This area of the country was unknown to me until I read some posts on DCSki way back when from Denis. I visited in 2022 and fell in love with this area. Denis, mucho gracias. Feel free to come visit, even to ski groomers. I owe you a skier’s salute for all I’ve learned from you.
Retire in December. Then I can spout 7 days a week like a whale, but only if I feel like it. You two on the move again?
Is your cell cell still 202 area code? Sent a brief drunken text to your old number. Maybe current…
Retire in December. Then I can spout 7 days a week like a whale, but only if I feel like it. You two on the move again?Is your cell cell still 202 area code? Sent a brief drunken text to your old number. Maybe current…
As you see yep - nice! this is great we have so much in common -- two burned-out software dev types I wonder if Scott will join us soon 😁
Crush wrote:
Retire in December. Then I can spout 7 days a week like a whale, but only if I feel like it. You two on the move again?Is your cell cell still 202 area code? Sent a brief drunken text to your old number. Maybe current…
As you see yep - nice! this is great we have so much in common -- two burned-out software dev types I wonder if Scott will join us soon 😁
From a little birdie, he already has…
And much younger than us.
Join the conversation by logging in.
Don't have an account? Create one here.
