Hundreds of snow lovers are already enjoying the spectacular visuals in our new history book: Brundage Mountain: Best Snow in Idaho.  Now, you can take a sneak peek before you purchase your copy.

Follow this link for a special look inside the pages of this 176 page book. It’s available for purchase at several book stores in the Boise and McCall areas and you can purchase it on-line here.

This hard cover book, written by author Eve Chandler, includes more than 250 photos and illustrations documenting the proud history of skiing in McCall and the birth and growth of Brundage Mountain Resort.

Indulge in the storied tales of how the ski area was built and the colorful personalities who helped turn a dream into reality. This beautiful preview will give you a hint of the enchanting images you’ll find in your copy of Brundage Mountain: Best Snow in Idaho.

It’s a perfect gift for a fellow snow lover or a beautiful addition to any coffee table collection.

We’re inviting the public to join us for our grand opening event – and offering FREE chairlift rides. We’re asking visitors to donate one can of food per lift ride, or make a $1 donation. Proceeds benefit McCall’s own Heartland Hunger Resource Center.

The Blue Bird quad will be in operation from 10 am – 5 pm, with the last chair loading at 4:30 pm.

The lift takes visitors to our 7,640 foot summit, which provides sweeping views of the Payette Lakes, Salmon River Mountains, Seven Devil’s and Oregon’s Eagle Cap mountains, among others.

We also have more than 20 miles of hand-built single track bike trails descending from the summit.

Bike rentals are available for purchase, along with tasty burgers and other barbecue fare.

You can check out our rental packages and regular pricing here.

Summer chairlift hours are Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10 am – 5 pm – June 28 through Labor Day.

Here at Brundage Mountain, we are WAY ahead of schedule when it comes to our spring melt-off. We seem to have skipped right over ‘mud season’ (at least for now). I can’t remember ever seeing green grass in the base area the first week of May. And while it’s tough to pinpoint exactly how many weeks ahead of ‘normal’ we are, digging through our photo files had revealed some striking comparisons.

Here is a photo taken from the entry road yesterday afternoon (May 8, 2013):

Here is a photo taken last year from roughly the same spot. (May 9, 2012):

As you can see, there was significantly more snow on The Face and Easy Street, which are both pretty much bare right now.

You’ll see an even bigger contrast if we look back two years. This photo was taken May 11, 2011:

Here’s one more quick comparison. May 8, 2013:

May 11, 2011:

Not only was the base area ground covered with snow, we still had a snowpack on the roof of the lodge!

All of this bodes well for anyone interested in downhill mountain biking. We plan to open our season on Friday, June 28 and unless the weather pattern changes drastically, we should be able to open all of our trails in time for the Grand Opening. We’ll bring you some more updates as that date draws closer, but in the meantime, enjoy this seemingly mud-free mud season!

- April

We are kicking off our summer season with a hometown food drive!

We’re inviting the public to join us for our grand opening event – and offering FREE chairlift rides. We’re asking visitors to donate one can of food per lift ride, or make a $1 donation. Proceeds benefit McCall’s own Heartland Hunger Resource Center.

The Blue Bird quad will be in operation from 10 am – 5 pm, with the last chair loading at 4:30 pm.

The lift takes visitors to our 7,640 foot summit, which provides sweeping views of the Payette Lakes, Salmon River Mountains, Seven Devil’s and Oregon’s Eagle Cap mountains, among others.

We also have more than 20 miles of hand-built single track bike trails descending from the summit.

Bike rentals are available for purchase, along with tasty burgers and other barbecue fare.

You can check out our rental packages and regular pricing here.

Summer chairlift hours are Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10 am – 5 pm – June 28 through Labor Day.

My niece and her family (husband and two children under 17) live in Upstate New York and ski at a small resort in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.  At a celebration of her parent’s 50th wedding anniversary,  I tabled the idea of skiing out West.  They loved the idea and were convinced once I provided details of Brundage and McCall.  They were able to take advantage of your early season Select Cards offer, and affordable lodging in McCall.

We spent their Spring Break (Feb. 16 -23) at Brundage.  The snow conditions were initially below average by Brundage standards, yet they felt it was “awesome”!  We had just a marvelous time, skiing every day in conditions that gradually improved to excellent.  (You mentioned the Friday/Saturday great snow conditions in one of your previous blogs).

I felt great satisfaction with introducing them to Western snow conditions, something I was fortunate enough to experience some 15 years ago.  Equally satisfying to feel was their delight with Brundage.  Their son has told me they are planning a return visit for next year.

I had a great week sharing my love of Brundage and McCall with them, knowing how wonderful their first experiences would be.

Already dreaming of next season.

Best regards,
Bill Doyle
Atlanta

We invite you to share your photos and memories by sending us an e-mail here.

“8 inches of fresh snow on the closing day! Had to drag my kids and wife out of the house, to get up there that Sunday, but it proved to be an awesome day for a family ski day.  My three year old was pulling off hockey stops, my wife learned to snowboard, and the fluffy snow had my seven year old son and I tricking off the side of Easy Street. The only sad part was that it was the last day! Already stoked for next season.”

- Shea

We invite you to share your photos and memories by sending us an e-mail here.

We’re inviting our guests to share their favorite memories from the 2012/2013 Winter Season. This one from Amanda W. gave us a real chuckle…

“I’ll remember Diva Day 2013 when my sister and I took the last run in our sports bras. Besides the whistles and the hoots, a teen snowboarder actually fell out of his boots as we passed! It was a day to be remembered. “
-Amanda W.

We invite you to share your photos and memories by sending us an e-mail here.

It usually hits me just after my leg muscles have softened, that sore spot where my boots pinch my right toe has healed, and I’ve remembered how to traverse solid ground without waddling like a duck.

It can take a couple of weeks, or up to a month, depending on the winter.

Without fail, not long after one ski season ends,  true fanatics start pining away for the next one!

With no less than six long, warm months ahead, we’re forced to satisfy our yearnings by reminiscing. We are inviting you to share the moments YOU won’t forget so we can walk down memory lane together.

Looking back, the snowfall statistics from this Winter won’t be particularly memorable. And while snow conditions were enjoyable overall, we can count the number of ‘epic’ powder days on one hand. Still, there is one thing I will CLEARLY remember about this season, and that is the extraordinarily good times spent with friends.

BEST DAY

Every rider has their ‘best day of the season’. If I had to single out one particular day, it would be Tuesday, January 29th.
I promised myself that I would only use the word ‘epic’ on the blog and snow reports once this season. (Don’t you think it’s overused?).

We got 8 inches of light, fluffy snow on top of 5 inches from the day before and it was blower, champagne pow. My reluctance in dropping the ‘epic’ bomb came because it was only January. With so much season remaining – should I spend my ‘epic’ allowance? We debated on the chairlift between runs (wiping the powder from our grinning faces).

Yes, the snow really was exceptional. But what about those days when it snows an inch an hour all day long? When you get free refills because the powder erases your tracks before you can lap back around to hit your favorite line over and over?

As it turned out, the fact that the storm clouds thinned after sunrise added to the day’s charm. Visibility was great. The snow was unbelievable. Check out these video highlights and let us know what you think:

For me, this day was extra special because my assignment was to gather photos and videos with other members of the Brundage team some of my favorite ski buddies.

Forget ‘no friends on powder days’. I prefer ‘best friends on powder days’. (Perhaps because my friends rip…)

Here are some of the photos we gathered with the help of friend and professional photographer Sam Marvin.

BEST WEEK

As amazing as THAT day was, there’s nothing quite like back-to-back-to-back… (to back?) …powder days. For that, my memory cranks back to the winning streak we had from February 22 – February 28.

Friday, February 22 was the warm-up day. We had 5″ of fresh snow after a long stretch of dry, sunny days. The locals were out in force and I got the chance to Work Hard/Play Hard with some of my newer co-workers.

We had a lot of laughs and pretty darn good snow.

By the next morning, the snow spigot had opened, another 8″ of snow had fallen, and the race was on for the coveted fresh lines. The sun was shining brightly and this day verged on the magical.

We were shocked to find sparse crowds on the mountain by Sunday, February 24th. Where did everyone go?

I got over my alarm quickly after one additional inch of snowfall refreshed our tracked slopes with conditions like this:

Naturally, at Brundage, it doesn’t take much to find amazing untracked powder lines like you see in this video, either:

Storm clouds moved back in the next day, dropping 4″ of fresh snow. We enjoyed a little Monday morning storm riding:

Powder was plentiful for the rest of that week, we had cold temperatures and modest mid-week crowds.

What made this week even more spectacular, for me, was anticipation. I wasn’t sad to see this precious powder getting tracked up in-bounds. Weeks earlier, I had booked a private snow cat with nine of my best powder-loving friends. Each day we got a little more excited, each night we watched a few more inches fall.

By Thursday, the snow in the backcountry was PHENOMENAL. Sharing it with good friends only enhanced the memories.

And having two of my best ski buddies get engaged atop Granite Mountain made that trip EPIC in a whole new way.

These moments are what I’ll recall every time I look back on this season. But the real point of all this is that we would love to hear and SEE your most vivid memories. We invite you to send a brief write-up and photos or videos to april@brundage.com. We’d be happy to share them as all of us reminisce along the long road to Opening Day 2013.

Thanks again for a great season!

- April

Brundage Mountain is now closed for the 2012/13 Winter Season.

Regrettably we will not be operating for any bonus weekends.  Although we have had 8 inches of new snow fall this past weekend, temperatures have been above freezing in the base area during the day.  With the forecast not looking promising, the new snow will have receded by this weekend.

As you can see from these photos, a diminishing 8″ is not going to keep us covered.

Base Area

Bottom of Jammer

Lower Bear

Easy Street

Main Street

We want to thank all of our guests and employees for making it one of our most memorable seasons yet. We plan to be open for summer chairlift service on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays starting June 28, conditions permitting.

-The Brundage Family

That’s exactly what we got today as 6-8″ of fresh snow lined the slopes with a creamy layer of fresh snow.

We’ve been holding the line with our slope conditions after a 14 day stretch with no fresh snow. (It’s been 41 days since we got more than 6″ in a 24 hour period).

We’re not sure yet if the weather will line us up for Bonus Weekend operations (more on that in a moment).

But as our guests stood in line patiently this morning, one thing was certain: they weren’t going to take any chances.

After some technical difficulties moved the line over to Centennial (thanks for your patience, everyone)…

We were treated to a wintery scene as we headed up toward the tree line.

It wasn’t long before the first riders plunged straight in to the fresh snow and straight down under the lift line.

Tracing a fine line in the soft creamy snow.

The key to success in this creamy spring powder was to keep your tips straight down the fall line.

The most direct line from top to bottom was on the groomed runs, which were also soft and creamy without crossing the line into the ‘heavy’ zone.

On the lower slopes, we found the kind of snow that challenges your muscles as you head back down toward the lift line.

As much as we enjoyed the change of pace brought by this fresh snow, we’re not sure yet, where our storyline will go from here.

We haven’t ruled out operating next weekend. The big question: Will warm temperatures outlined in this week’s forecast allow us to hold on to this new snow?

We’ll be watching slope and weather conditions closely over the next few days, and we plan to drop a line about our decision no later than Wednesday afternoon.

- April