Brundage Snow Blog

Most of that precious winter snow has now melted off of Brundage Mountain, and we’re hard at work gearing up for a summer FULL of fun events!

From scenic chairlift rides and lift-served mountain biking, to our popular Bike Festival (18th Annual), to whitewater rafting on the Salmon River, Brundage is your gateway to summer fun. This year, our fabulous Kid’s Art Camp returns, and don’t forget, Brundage Mountain is a gorgeous place to hold your own summer event.

Summer Chairlift Grand Opening - July 2

Our trail crews are already out on the mountain, manicuring the mountain bike trails to get them into top shape for our Summer Chairlift Grand Opening. This year, we’re kicking off the summer season with a special event – we’ll be firing up the BlueBird High-Speed quad from noon – 5pm on Thursday, July 2nd and offering FREE LIFT RIDES that entire day!

Stop by the Bike Shop to get your free scenic lift or mountain bike tickets.  We have a new fleet of mountain bikes available for rent. The non-biking public can enjoy a ride to our 7,640 foot summit and enjoy a picnic or just take in the spectacular views.

Tasty Beer & Brats will be available for purchase, thanks to our friends at Salmon River Brewery. You’ll find a variety of  artisan beer styles, Double Smoked Bacon Brats, Volcanic Brats, kettle chips, and more!

Regular summer lift hours are Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. With a bonus day to close the season on Labor Day, Monday, September 7th.

Brundage Mountain Bike Festival - July 11 & 12

The 18th Annual Brundage Mountain Bike Festival is ready to roll on July 11th and 12th, thanks to our partners at Wild Rockies Racing.

This fun tradition features a new course for the Cross-Country bike Race, the Brundage Mountain Festival Run, the old-school Super D and the ever-popular Brundage Bomber Downhill. Full details and registration information are available here.

Kids Art Camp 2009 - August 15 & 16

In August, we invite children to explore the beautiful mountain setting and express their artistic side at Kids Art Camp 2009 on August 15th and 16th.

All art supplies are provided for this low price, which includes a free scenic-lift ride and guided nature hikes as well as expert art instruction.

Plan Your Custom Event at Brundage Mountain

Brundage Mountain offers a gorgeous setting for your family or company event. Spectacular scenery surrounds the summit, where many brides and grooms choose to hold their wedding ceremonies.

The lodge and lawn offer many options for all kinds of great events. We have several weekends still open, so don’t hesitate to contact us, our catering staff will help you plan your special event.

Whitewater Rafting on the Salmon River

You can beat the heat all summer long with a half- full- or multi-day whitewater adventure on the Salmon River – Idaho’s River of No Return. Our licensed guides will see to it that your trip is safe and full of fun!

And, be sure to check out www.inidaho.com anytime you need lodging for this or any other Idaho vacation.

We all  love to cruise those deliciously carvable groomed runs under the sunshine, but in the springtime, the conditions on your favorite run can change dramatically throughout the day. It can take a little bit of strategy to  find enjoyable turns all day long. Locals and loyals have it figured out, and here are some tips on ‘how I ski it’.

Early in the day, the front side can be quite…well…FIRM. That’s why we chase the sun over to the South side of the mountain.

The Lakeview runs tend to soften up first, and there’s a nice variety to choose from.

This is what we’re looking for, snow that’s carvable but not yet sticky.

Choosing the lift line or Dropline can be a good move a few runs in. If things start to get a little sticky, the extra steepness allows gravity to help you keep your speed up.

(Plus, who doesn’t love the view of Payette Lake and Long Valley???)

Just when the Lakeview runs are getting a little mushy, 45th Parallel starts to really hit its stride.

A few hours earlier, and this run was not NEARLY as relaxing.

The Bear Chair runs also offer a lot of choices. I like to start on those that get the most sun, then move farther North where they have had the most shade.

By early afternoon, the Frontside starts to strut its stuff. Engen and Alpine were skiing great by 1:00 pm. I just love rippin’ some high-speed turns down those nice, consistent fall lines.

Alpine stayed divine a little longer than Engen, mainly because you don’t have to navigate any flats at the bottom. (That can be a little tricky when it gets a little sticky.)

Overall, we found plenty of runs that kicked up that perfect, carvable, ‘hero slush’. But by mid-afternoon, plenty of people chose to be heroes on a different kind of run: the beer run.

And with sunshine and gorgeous views to spare…who can blame them for celebrating a day well skied???

– April

As the ski season nears the end, don’t fret, Celebrate!  Pond Skimming is the best way to cap off a great ski season and look forward to the next.  Crazy costumes, 96′ of water, and a great turnout of “Crazies”.  Thank you to everyone who participated, put on, and got down at this years Pond Skim and Crazy Daze celebration.

-Cory

We had a chilly start to this year’s Pond Skimming Contest. Here are a few photo highlights. You’ll notice there is a sheet of slush on top of the pond for the first few runs. But the cloudy skies didn’t scare away the skimmers or dampen the spirits of the crowd…

You can view more of the Pond Skimming excitement by checking our our Pond Skimming Photo Gallery here. See you next year!!

– April

April 12th is a day that many people celebrate for many different reasons.  At Brundage we celebrate Easter for the families.  Over 1,000 eggs were hidden all over Easy Street and with nearly 50 kids searching it didn’t take long for the eggs to end up in baskets, pockets and even helmets.  Here is a photo recap of the event and some of the smiling participants eager to celebrate Easter.

The search is on…through the Easy Street trees.

A family affair, when the more eyes you have on the prize means more prizes be won.

Eggs are stashed where ever there is room…

If it is good enough to protect the most important egg, why not a dozen of them.

The silver egg…

The golden egg…

Thank you to all of the families that came up to the mountain to spend Easter Morning with us.

Happy Easter!

-Cory

The weather wasn’t exactly what you picture for a “Spring Fling”, but Crazy Daze revelers didn’t let a little bit of foggy, soggy weather dampen their spirits this weekend.

Hordes of people turned out to take part in our Crazy Daze events. Here’s a look at some of the fun times had by hearty mountain folk who know that it doesn’t take a lot of sun to have a lot of fun!

Lots of people donned costumes just for the fun of it:

Our favorite duffer (and lift operator) Carolyn, showed off her skills at the bottom of the Bluebird. We’re sort of relieved that no one realized this scary dude is in charge of lift maintenance.

Others were hoping for victory in our annual Costume Contest:

The family below took the Grand Prize. We dubbed them the “Brundage Doppelgangers” for their spot-on impersonation of some of our favorite employees, complete with name tags.

Which one is the real Scott Bourne?

The Poker Run is always a favorite Crazy Daze event.
Our Yurt Captain, Mike Green, who was one of the employees impersonated above, hands out cards to these happy players. The goal is to cruise the mountain, compiling the best poker hand possible.

Other events included The Tray Race (which could be called the “Waiter-Cross”). The goal is to ski or ride down Bear balancing two cups full of water on a tray.

It’s MUCH harder than you might think…

This is what victory looks like!

These events, and our Treasure Hunt, helped build excitement for the main event, our Annual Pond Skimming contest. I took about a gazillion pictures of that, and should have them all posted tomorrow!

The Pond that we’re building for our third annual Pond Skimming Contest THIS SATURDAY!

We hope you’ll be here to see our annual Pond Skimming Contest and the rest of our fun Crazy Daze Events in person this weekend, but for those of you who always want to know “How Did They Do That?”, here’s a little insider info on the construction of our pond.

First, we use a snowcat to move the snow and build up the ‘base’ of our pond. The pond is 20 feet wide and 3 feet deep.

Luckily, we had a Miracle March as far as snowfall goes, and our snowpack is over 60″ in the base area, so we have plenty of snow to work with.

While the snowcat moves the snow into place, our crews take careful measurements to make sure the lips of the pond are level.

It takes quite a bit of person-power to do the fine tuning and to pack down the base of the pond so the liner will fit properly.

The edges of the pond are important, too. The snowcat is moving snow into place for the viewing platform…

And packing it down so it’s stable and holds its shape.

The entrance ramp is also important. If the ’skimmers’ don’t get enough speed, it’s impossible to make it all the way across the 96-foot pond.

Once the liner is snug and secured, the pond area is roped off and the water turned on…

It takes nearly 45,000 gallons to fill this 6,000 cubic foot pond…

…which will soon attract daredevils and spectators alike.

So put on your Crazy Daze gear, and prepare to smile from ear to ear!!!

See you tomorrow! — April

I have come up with a list of reasons why I love Spring skiing.  Some people look at Spring as a time to plant a garden or head to the golf course, but here is why you should stay in the mountains…

Chillin’ at the summit…

Admiring the scenery…

Hanging out with the family…

The sunny smiles…

The railroad tracks…

The snowball fights…

No lift lines…

The gun show…

And of course, the sunshine…

There are endless reasons to love Spring skiing.  The Brundage Mountain family extends the invitation to bring yourself and your family up and enjoy it however you see fit.  Don’t forget your sunscreen and your smile!

-Cory

The sun was shining and the competition was inspired for our first annual Brundage Mountain O-WIMP-IC games.

Competitors gather at the top of the Bear Chair waiting for the starting gun…

First event - the Limbo stick…

And she makes it!…

Then, we were on to a series of gates, before the ring toss…

Nice form!

Watch out for the roller coaster…not for the faint of heart…

Then, the snowball toss. Notice this snowball after it goes right through the target!

Then, competitors entered the tunnel….

Emerged victorious on the other side…

Negotiated a few more gates  (sometimes with the help of Mom or Dad)…

Rang the cowbell at the bottom…

Even if it seemed really high…

Pop off those skis and boards…for the rope jumping challenge…

(look how high this guy jumped. I think we have a new world record here)…

And finally, the hula hoop finale!

Thanks to all the families who came and made today’s events so much fun! We hope you’ll make our O-WIMP-IC tradition part of your family tradition.

Until next year…

– April

We absolutely got DUMPED on this week with 18″ of fresh powder. And believe me, it IS powder.

Friday, we only had 1″ of fresh snow, but cold overnight temperatures had sucked the moisture right out of the 5″ from the day before. The result: boot-deep powder pitches all over the mountain.

These two guys found some nice fluffy stuff less than 30 yards from one of our main groomed runs. (Above and below).

Crowds really thin out this time of year, so the turns got even sweeter as you ventured a little farther toward the southside of the mountain…

Check out “Dixie”, above and below. It looks like it’s sort of tracked out…but looks can be deceiving…

See how this skier glides right through the powder…

Kicking up fluffy stuff with every delightful turn…

Plenty of knee-deep powder still out there in the trees…

The weekend forecast is for sunnier skies, but COLD overnight temperatures. So go ahead and wear your shades and sunscreen, but please don’t remind the snow that it’s Spring.

– April