Southern Idaho Road Trip - On The Road Video Trip Report

Each year we take a trip through Idaho, hitting several of the areas in the state.  This year our list includes Silver, Lookout Pass, Cottonwood Butte, Snowhaven, Tamarack, Bogus Basin, Pebble Creek, Kelly Canyon, and Grand Targhee.  So far, we've made it through Pebble Creek and will be at Kelly Canyon today and Grand Targhee on Thursday with a cat day at Targhee on Friday.  All these areas are skied over a period of nine days!  Lots of travel. But lots of fun too!

With Silver to start, here is what we found:

Last Friday, Lookout was the place and was it good!  Judge for yourselves:

Later Friday night, we drove to Grangeville and had some fun at Cottonwood Butte on Saturday.  If you don't know about Cottonwood, it's just up the road from a corrections facility and the people there let us have some fun with it.  

Later that day.... Snowhaven just south of Grangeville.  These are very small, community run ski hills and our tour is a bit like Glen Plake's Downhome Tour when we go to these places.  These are so fun and down-to-earth love of skiing locations that it's really a blast!  Here's what we got at Snowhaven:

To be continued...

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolo 

I see our Resorts section is missing Cottonwood and Snowhaven. We'll need to fix that!

Please do.  Both of these are small community ski hills where a lot of kids have learned to love our sport.  Get this; full rental gear (skis, boots, poles) rent at Cottonwood Butte for $19.......for the SEASON!  Everyone who works there works as a volunteer.  It's the soul of skiing when you go to these places and it's really cool to experience it when you're used to bigger, more glamorous resorts.  These hills are a kick and the people who run them are as down to earth as you could possibly imagine!

Community ski hills are basically open to the public but many are ran as non-profits with costs held at a minimum including all volunteer labor.  They're there for the enjoyment of people in the area in the winter in largely rural communities but are definitely open to the public and they love to have you come!  If you're ever in any of these areas, go take some runs and talk with the folks.  It's a blast!

Nolo: I'd love to check those out.  We'll see what we can do!

rossymcg - Yes, small resorts with a t-bar or just a chair or two and just a few runs.  But what's cool is that they hold powder for extended periods of time.  Really not too many people who hit the new snow so it sits for days.

spknmike - Yes, they are somewhat similar to Lookout several years ago.  It's just fun to go hit so many areas in a compressed period of time.   The people who run these are absolutely awesome! It's a labor of love and that's what makes it all so much fun.  As much as I like our heli and cat trips to B.C., these are also a blast for completely different reasons.  I highly recommend trips like this; it's really an opportunity to take skiing back to its roots.

Dean - The whole escaped convict and pursuing corrections officer is a spoof that was a kick to set up and shoot.  Cottonwood Butte is about a half-mile up from a correctional facility and their theme is "Escape to Cottonwood Butte".  So we did!

John J - There is snow at Pebble Creek but not as much as normal.  The side country and back country are really thin right now so we didn't get outside the boundaries to test it.  The last time I was here, we got to go exploring a bit and discovered some really excellent terrain.  Still, there was enough snow that we had a great time and took advantage of the awesome views.

"GoldMember, some real nice footage and stories that has had me sniffing in to ski community resorts, i could fly over state side rent a car and tour a few of them, pretty much like you have done, its something im going to consider in the future."

Cool!  

Quote:

Originally Posted by PVnRT 

Gold Member.  I really enjoyed your videos.  Do you happen to know who did the music for the Silver Mountain video.  Thanks

Actually, no I don't know.  It's part of a licensed music package that the editor picks out.  I'll try to remember to ask him who it is since I think it's a great song too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tog 

 

 

Thanks for posting them GoldMember!

The stripped outfit is mildly disturbing. I kept expecting Charlie Chaplin to come out. I suppose George Clooney is more likely.

 

All in good fun.  We had a blast shooting that piece.  Cottonwood Butte is really quite a cool place.  It may not be for everyone but we had a good time!

It's hard to say if there's a favorite.  So much depends on the conditions on the day you hit them.  The smallest ones are cool for very different reasons than the bigger ones, such as the people there are so fun and friendly (not that they're not at the other areas, it's just different) and it's more like the roots of skiing.  As for lesser heard-of ski areas, I would probably pick Pebble Creek for its terrain and the side/back country that's available.  But again, it's really difficult to pick one.    

Sorry I didn't get back to that earlier, PV.  I got distracted toward the end of the trip with a family emergency but fortunately, the editor had my back.

Ha!  Thanks, Pete.  You know we can't keep it a secret forever.  That's why I try to propagate stories of man-eating wolf packs roaming the forests and grizzly bears hanging around the base of the lifts just waiting for 'lunch' to drop in.  When people figure out that 'lunch' could be them, slows 'em down a bit. 

Funny story; I used to be involved with a national trade organization, not long after the OJ Simpson trial and the Randy Weaver standoff.  Virtually all of my colleagues in this were from the east and some skied a little bit on trips to Colorado or wherever.  They knew I was really into skiing and did the heli/cat stuff, etc.  They would ask where I normally ski and I would tell them Schweitzer to which they then asked where it was.  I told them it was in North Idaho, not far from Canada.  I then further explained that my place was just about half-way between Ruby Ridge and Mark Fuhrman's house, not long after he moved to Sandpoint.  I got some pretty strange looks with that response.