ChrisC
Well-known member
Based in Missoula, MT for a couple of nights, I skied some of the local areas for the first time. Missoula really is one of the better Rocky Mountain college towns - might be more likable than Bozeman.
First up was Discovery Basin about 1.5 hours away...and I had some high expectations given the reviews on this list and others.
It was interesting that the Philipsburg area had the coldest temperature readings of the trip (nearly single digits) - but some of the lower snowfall totals up in the mountains. Definitely a place of consistent gradual snowfall accumulation with cold preservation - and to wait to ski later in the season.
Spring skiing was a little different than other places on my Northwest trip. Due to cold temperatures, the south side of Discovery Basin did not really soften until almost 11/12pm. Therefore I skied the Granite lift groomers in the AM. It's not really a place to get out of bed early on a spring day since the Granite/Limelight lifts open a bit later.
Discovery Basin also has a weird policy regarding grooming on the Granite lift - no grooming over the weekend March 13/14 - but groomed steep cruisers for a Monday and Tuesday, March 15/16. The result was Center Stage and Truefisher were freshly groomed - and Orphan Girl the previous Day. These runs are on par with the best steep groomers in the US. (A groomed Center Stage compares quite favorably to Telluride's Plunge, Sun Valley's Warm Springs, Vail's Riva Ridge, etc.)
Pics of scenic Rumsey front side and Granite sectors:
I soon moved over to the Limelight zone but then realized some of the terrain faces East and could be sun impacted. In particular, runs like The Fingers and The Pitch are better saved for the afternoon. Assumed everything was north facing. Anyways, spent the rest of the day skiing each line in the Limelight Bowls with a few south side corn groomers/bumps mixed in. The best snow and coverage were on Guns And Roses -to- Spooky Hollow sector.
Important note: Reached the Limelight lift at 11am - the liftie said I was the first rider of the day! :-k \/ You could make a full lap in about 10 minutes really racking up the vertical. (Minor issue: I wish Disco could groom a runout from the east bowl, but it does not look possible. It remained frozen crud all day.)
Tried to document all of the various Limelight runs over the day to entertain myself since roundtrips are so quick. Here are a series of runs:
I skied some of the main face/south side runs over the course of the day, the corn stayed good/untouched in places to almost 1-2pm. Surprising.
Visited historic Philipsburg at the end of the ski day. Fun town reminiscent of the remote ski towns of Colorado (Crested Butte, Telluride) in the 1980/90s. Had a beer at the local brewery - quite busy on a sunny weekday.
Really enjoyed Discovery Basin - the corn on the Front Side, bowls of Limelight, and north-facing groomers of Granite. However, not sure how they ever made the decision to develop the Silver Chief section on the mountain. For a place with few skiers, developing terrain almost no one can use due to lack of snow seems inexcusable.
First up was Discovery Basin about 1.5 hours away...and I had some high expectations given the reviews on this list and others.
It was interesting that the Philipsburg area had the coldest temperature readings of the trip (nearly single digits) - but some of the lower snowfall totals up in the mountains. Definitely a place of consistent gradual snowfall accumulation with cold preservation - and to wait to ski later in the season.
Spring skiing was a little different than other places on my Northwest trip. Due to cold temperatures, the south side of Discovery Basin did not really soften until almost 11/12pm. Therefore I skied the Granite lift groomers in the AM. It's not really a place to get out of bed early on a spring day since the Granite/Limelight lifts open a bit later.
Discovery Basin also has a weird policy regarding grooming on the Granite lift - no grooming over the weekend March 13/14 - but groomed steep cruisers for a Monday and Tuesday, March 15/16. The result was Center Stage and Truefisher were freshly groomed - and Orphan Girl the previous Day. These runs are on par with the best steep groomers in the US. (A groomed Center Stage compares quite favorably to Telluride's Plunge, Sun Valley's Warm Springs, Vail's Riva Ridge, etc.)
Pics of scenic Rumsey front side and Granite sectors:
I soon moved over to the Limelight zone but then realized some of the terrain faces East and could be sun impacted. In particular, runs like The Fingers and The Pitch are better saved for the afternoon. Assumed everything was north facing. Anyways, spent the rest of the day skiing each line in the Limelight Bowls with a few south side corn groomers/bumps mixed in. The best snow and coverage were on Guns And Roses -to- Spooky Hollow sector.
Important note: Reached the Limelight lift at 11am - the liftie said I was the first rider of the day! :-k \/ You could make a full lap in about 10 minutes really racking up the vertical. (Minor issue: I wish Disco could groom a runout from the east bowl, but it does not look possible. It remained frozen crud all day.)
Tried to document all of the various Limelight runs over the day to entertain myself since roundtrips are so quick. Here are a series of runs:
I skied some of the main face/south side runs over the course of the day, the corn stayed good/untouched in places to almost 1-2pm. Surprising.
Visited historic Philipsburg at the end of the ski day. Fun town reminiscent of the remote ski towns of Colorado (Crested Butte, Telluride) in the 1980/90s. Had a beer at the local brewery - quite busy on a sunny weekday.
Really enjoyed Discovery Basin - the corn on the Front Side, bowls of Limelight, and north-facing groomers of Granite. However, not sure how they ever made the decision to develop the Silver Chief section on the mountain. For a place with few skiers, developing terrain almost no one can use due to lack of snow seems inexcusable.