Brundage, ID, Feb. 7, 2021

Tony Crocker

Administrator
Staff member
Super Bowl Sunday was a good time to ski Brundage because the primary Bluebird chair liftline was 7 minutes vs. reported Saturday peak of half an hour. Weather was almost the same as at Tamarack Saturday, 20F and overcast. The fog just touched the top of the mountain at Bluebird but not farther south at Lakeview.

Main Street about ¼ of the way down Bluebird:
IMG_8785.JPG


After a couple of laps we moved to Lakeview, where we got a sunny break view of Payette Lake.
IMG_8786.JPG


Despite the SE exposure all the snow we skied on Lakeview, groomed and ungroomed, was soft packed power with maybe an inch new overnight.
IMG_8787.JPG


Returning to the front side we skied 45th Parallel to a slightly lower elevation than the base facilities. From there you can ride a 14-minute slow chair back to the top or the shorter Bear chair and then ski to the Bluebird high speed lift. Warming hut at the top of Bear with view up the Sidewinder and Alpine runs:
IMG_8788.JPG


Liz needed a thaw break so I explored Hidden Valley near the far northern boundary. When I went in to meet Liz I was surprised not many of the socially distanced tables were occupied at 12:30. We then skied the cruiser North and the mogul run Northwest Passage. The latter has a very constrained steep choke point at the top so we went around that through the trees.

After another 45th Parallel/Bear chair lap we skied a diagonal fall line under the Bluebird chair labeled Ranger Trail, though it’s not really a precise location.
IMG_8789.JPG

IMG_8793.JPG

All the trees in this vicinity are widely spaced and fair game.

Our last run was on Main Street most of the way, diverting onto The Face at the end.
IMG_8794.JPG

The Face is low with SW exposure but all soft packed powder today.

I finished with 18,600 vertical and drove back to Boise, arriving just at the end of the first half of the Super Bowl. We unloaded and were in the room with takeout burgers shortly after start of the second half. Liz was delighted with the 3 Idaho areas, all skied for the first time. These were not great days for pictures but it was excellent skiing.

Liz flew from Boise to Florida today because her mother died last week. This was not a surprise in view of her condition when Liz last visited at New Year’s. I drove to Tahoe City today and will ski midweek, going home before President’s weekend and hopefully getting the second Moderna vaccine sometime next week.

I plan to be back on the road by the following weekend and hopefully Liz can rejoin me.
 
Sorry to hear about Liz mom. It is never any easy thing no matter the ages or health conditions, IMO.

As to the TR, tough to get a good overview sense from the pictures due to the overcast. Though ID is a state I've yet to ski. That along with AZ and SD are the only ones in the west where i need to make some turns. I include SD due to the 1K plus vert area in the black hills.
 
Back
Top