schubwa
New member
After an unbelievable week of riding at home, me and my wife and youngest boy struck out for McCall, ID. We rented a condo there with the idea of checking out some new areas. We met our older son there, he had come out with his boss, who owns Side Effect Boardshop. It was no problem leaving Bend as there was snow forecast in Idaho for everyday for the next week.
Friday (Brundage Mt): I had two seats with Brundage Catskiing and I decided to take Spenny, who is fourteen, as his mother wasn't feeling well. He was apprehensive as he's never gone catskiing, but that didn't last long once we started down. The snow was exquisite, about 8" new over another 2' from the last few days. It was a half day trip but my luck finally ran out as we wound up with an exceptionally WEAK group. I thought the guides Greg and Nicky were super friendly and they made Spenny feel like a pro (he's an awfully good rider!)They gave us tickets for the rest of the day at Brundage (you get back around 2PM). They felt bad because we only got five runs! John, who owns the local ski shop Alpine Science, took Spenny and I for a tour and we found some steeps and more soft snow. We had met him on the cat.
Saturday (Tamarack resort): It snowed 1" and we decided to go to Tamarack, expecting a "Park City" type of experience. It's a lot more slick and new compared to Brundage, but fun nonetheless. Their base elevation is 4900', low even by northern standards. The lower runs were firm groomer, but up on the Summit chair it was a different world, with squeaky cold partially-tracked pow from the day before. We immediately started to hike both directions off the top and found nice cornices to drop with dreamy west central mountain freshies below. Then we had lunch at the luxurious Lodge at Osprey Meadows. This place is all about selling real estate but there is a whole lot of fun terrain in and out of bounds. They have guided AT and catskiing as well.
Sunday (Brundage): After a solid overnight snowstorm, we all decided to ride at Brundage again. It is on the way home (6.5 hours) and with it's higher base and snowier reputation, it was a no brainer. There are basically two main chairs to chose from but that little area skis much bigger than it is! So if Tamarack is like Park City, Brundage is like Brighton. Without a big city and airport nearby. There are some seriously huge drops off the northern part of the area, well inbounds. It's short but refreshingly steep terrain, especially for regulars from Mt Bachelor. The rest of the area has an assortment of fallines and ravines to play with. All this and good snow quality.
Monday (Today at Mt Bachelor): I was planning to take the day off as I've been on my snowboard seven out of the last eight days (Day 66) and I'm beat. But with 13" new (at 16 degrees), I had to go. I had my share of knee deep turns and faceshots. A memorable day. We've now had 330" of snowfall here and have a 130"/140" base so we're feeling pretty good.
It's wonderful to see all the other areas in the West get into the act; I want to go on one last road trip.
Friday (Brundage Mt): I had two seats with Brundage Catskiing and I decided to take Spenny, who is fourteen, as his mother wasn't feeling well. He was apprehensive as he's never gone catskiing, but that didn't last long once we started down. The snow was exquisite, about 8" new over another 2' from the last few days. It was a half day trip but my luck finally ran out as we wound up with an exceptionally WEAK group. I thought the guides Greg and Nicky were super friendly and they made Spenny feel like a pro (he's an awfully good rider!)They gave us tickets for the rest of the day at Brundage (you get back around 2PM). They felt bad because we only got five runs! John, who owns the local ski shop Alpine Science, took Spenny and I for a tour and we found some steeps and more soft snow. We had met him on the cat.
Saturday (Tamarack resort): It snowed 1" and we decided to go to Tamarack, expecting a "Park City" type of experience. It's a lot more slick and new compared to Brundage, but fun nonetheless. Their base elevation is 4900', low even by northern standards. The lower runs were firm groomer, but up on the Summit chair it was a different world, with squeaky cold partially-tracked pow from the day before. We immediately started to hike both directions off the top and found nice cornices to drop with dreamy west central mountain freshies below. Then we had lunch at the luxurious Lodge at Osprey Meadows. This place is all about selling real estate but there is a whole lot of fun terrain in and out of bounds. They have guided AT and catskiing as well.
Sunday (Brundage): After a solid overnight snowstorm, we all decided to ride at Brundage again. It is on the way home (6.5 hours) and with it's higher base and snowier reputation, it was a no brainer. There are basically two main chairs to chose from but that little area skis much bigger than it is! So if Tamarack is like Park City, Brundage is like Brighton. Without a big city and airport nearby. There are some seriously huge drops off the northern part of the area, well inbounds. It's short but refreshingly steep terrain, especially for regulars from Mt Bachelor. The rest of the area has an assortment of fallines and ravines to play with. All this and good snow quality.
Monday (Today at Mt Bachelor): I was planning to take the day off as I've been on my snowboard seven out of the last eight days (Day 66) and I'm beat. But with 13" new (at 16 degrees), I had to go. I had my share of knee deep turns and faceshots. A memorable day. We've now had 330" of snowfall here and have a 130"/140" base so we're feeling pretty good.
It's wonderful to see all the other areas in the West get into the act; I want to go on one last road trip.
