ChrisC
Well-known member
Stayed in the town of Wallace, ID the night before skiing Lookout Pass, since I did not want to backtrack from Silver Mountain, ID so I took a chance. What a cool little town! A relatively vibrant few blocks of restaurants, shops, breweries, etc. The Hiawatha Bike Path seems to be a big summer draw. https://www.ridethehiawatha.com/
Sunday night/Monday was supposed to be the big wild card weather day of the week since a minor front was coming through. I figured Lookout Pass might have the best chance of catching any snow that might get squeezed out of the system. However, nothing materialized anywhere in the inland NW - and the sun even broke out at times. More Spring skiing!
Lookout straddles the ID/MT stateline and the Pacific/Mountain time zones. (The constant time zone switch was messing with my phone and apps) The mountain started operating on a 'Spring schedule" where they would open later and close earlier 930-330. OK - well at least they are operating. The vertical is about 1000 ft and the runs and lift rides go by quickly. I was also surprised at high percentage of grooming. Outside of a couple of bump runs, everything had been groomed.
I started the day on the East Facing Idaho side with the new SkyTrac quad. It appears a lot of Riblet doubles are getting replaced with this new NW/Utah company's chairlifts. Distinctive shape.
After a couple of runs, I switched to the South Facing Montana side. This area had begun to soften and by 11/12 - the ungroomed bumps were quite skiable. More riblet chairs
I kept studying the trails cut for Lookout's proposed expansion - hoping it would access some open terrain. However, everything looks like it will be more of the same - mostly tree-lined slopes (see topo map). There does appear that some open side-country areas will be accessible from the lifts.
During the afternoon I skied the North Side which had the steepest bump runs at Lookout. The snow on this aspect was mid-winter quality and chalky.
Later I returned to the front / Idaho side as the sun returned. Some of the gladed areas softened allowing them to be explored.
Overall, I was a little disappointed by Lookout Pass. Most mountain pass areas (Monarch, Stevens, Sugar Bowl, Alpental, etc.) have some great open terrain and trees....thought Lookout came up short comparatively. I also thought nearby mountains like Silver, Montana Snowbowl, Lost Trail, Discovery Basin, etc, were much stronger terrain-wise. However, it appears Lookout receives a lot more snow - and that's probably its strongest attribute.
While a fun mountain, I likely would not return unless it snowed substantially.
Sunday night/Monday was supposed to be the big wild card weather day of the week since a minor front was coming through. I figured Lookout Pass might have the best chance of catching any snow that might get squeezed out of the system. However, nothing materialized anywhere in the inland NW - and the sun even broke out at times. More Spring skiing!
Lookout straddles the ID/MT stateline and the Pacific/Mountain time zones. (The constant time zone switch was messing with my phone and apps) The mountain started operating on a 'Spring schedule" where they would open later and close earlier 930-330. OK - well at least they are operating. The vertical is about 1000 ft and the runs and lift rides go by quickly. I was also surprised at high percentage of grooming. Outside of a couple of bump runs, everything had been groomed.
I started the day on the East Facing Idaho side with the new SkyTrac quad. It appears a lot of Riblet doubles are getting replaced with this new NW/Utah company's chairlifts. Distinctive shape.
After a couple of runs, I switched to the South Facing Montana side. This area had begun to soften and by 11/12 - the ungroomed bumps were quite skiable. More riblet chairs
I kept studying the trails cut for Lookout's proposed expansion - hoping it would access some open terrain. However, everything looks like it will be more of the same - mostly tree-lined slopes (see topo map). There does appear that some open side-country areas will be accessible from the lifts.
During the afternoon I skied the North Side which had the steepest bump runs at Lookout. The snow on this aspect was mid-winter quality and chalky.
Later I returned to the front / Idaho side as the sun returned. Some of the gladed areas softened allowing them to be explored.
Overall, I was a little disappointed by Lookout Pass. Most mountain pass areas (Monarch, Stevens, Sugar Bowl, Alpental, etc.) have some great open terrain and trees....thought Lookout came up short comparatively. I also thought nearby mountains like Silver, Montana Snowbowl, Lost Trail, Discovery Basin, etc, were much stronger terrain-wise. However, it appears Lookout receives a lot more snow - and that's probably its strongest attribute.
While a fun mountain, I likely would not return unless it snowed substantially.