We just got back from another great Big Trip to Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. This trip finished up all the remaining resorts in the continental western US. By the numbers: 15 days, 3,000 miles driven, 10 ski days, 9 resorts, and 8 that were completely new to us. This was the most new resorts we’ve ever skied on a single trip. Only 12 left to do!
Sampling the goods at Lost Trail Powder Mountain – January 2022
These trips are fun, but they are a LOT of work. Planning, scheduling dog sitting, driving in bad weather, checking in and out of many, many hotels, figuring out lift ticket strategies, and many other details keep us busy in the winter.
After last year’s COVID shut-out, we really felt like it was time to get back to work. The forecast in Tahoe was for weeks of dry weather (which unfortunately continues), so it was a good time to head north and east where the snow was a little better. Crossing the border is still difficult so we decided to ski every resort left that we could drive to in the US: Powder Mountain Utah, Lost Trail Montana, Ski Discovery Montana, Whitefish Montana, Montana Snowbowl, Silver Mountain Idaho, Schweitzer Idaho, and 49 Degrees North, Washington.
Beginner and Intermediate paradise at Powder Mountain, January 2022
Highlights:
- Lost Trail Powder Mountain on the Montana/Idaho border was a real hidden gem. This was one of the most fun days we’ve ever had on the project, with 10″ of powder and empty slopes. This day was a great example of why we like exploring new resorts.
- The town of Whitefish is really cool with a lot of great restaurants. We wish we could afford a ski property there! At the ski resort we took the mountain tour and learned all about the resort and town from some dedicated locals. The resort has a team of 22 (!) mountain hosts who give tours and educate tourists.
- Montana Snowbowl was another hidden gem. It’s steep, uncrowded, and has some really interesting terrain and surprisingly good lunch fare.
- Silver Mountain is a really interesting resort starting with the long gondola ride from and back to the town of Kellogg. The terrain is steep with a lot of steep groomers. There is also excellent long traverse-to terrain on the backside of Wardner Peak.
- Schweitzer is a major resort with a great lift network, plenty of snow, steeps and grooming, and we would definitely like to go back and explore the resort more on a sunny day. Our best lunch was at the summit sit-down restaurant there. Great food and not expensive.
- The steepest stuff we skied was off the Limelight Chair at Discovery. Almost every trail off that lift is legit double-black diamond terrain. It reminded us of Taos or Crested Butte.
- Used all 6 pairs of skis we brought with us! One of the benefits of driving vs flying is to throw all of our skis in the sky box so we can choose the best skis for the snow conditions. Powder, firm groomer, off-piste, or icy slopes, we’ve got the ski for it!
Steep terrain off the Limelight chair at Discovery, January 2022
Yes, there were some lowlights like being woken up at 2AM by drunk and rowdy hotel guests in Anaconda Montana. We also got yelled at by the terrain park worker at 49 Degrees North for going through the terrain park TOO FAST (who knew that was a thing??). AND at the same resort getting yelled at by a guest who almost ran into us (we were downhill, having the right of way). Working our way through thick fog with zero visibility on steep terrain at Whitefish and Schweitzer was unsettling. Free breakfasts at hotels — gets old very quickly. Super late lunch (2:30) at Discovery due to big crowds in a small lodge and no other food options. Well, these were all part of the experience and we have learned to make the best of it!
Great grooming at Silver Mountain, January 2022
Tahoe is in the midst of a multi-week dry spell with no snow at all, and none on the horizon. It looks like maybe 50 days at a minimum, which is insane after what happened in December. Our next trip is to Vermont in early March. Based on our past experience, that means it will dump in Tahoe! The upcoming Vermont trip will be another ambitious plan to ski 5 new resorts.
Backside of Wardner Peak at Silver Mountain, January 2022
Did you hit up the town of Wallace when you skied Silver? Definitely one of the most hidden AND amazing ski towns left in America that hasn’t been destroyed corporations. A few days in town are definitely worth a visit.
I think Wallace was a little TOO hidden because unfortunately we missed it. Driving by on I-90 we had no idea such a cool place was right there. We stayed right near the gondola in Kellogg.
Wallace must be a great place to call home with Silver and Lookout Pass ski areas so close! Next time we will stay there instead of Kellogg.
I am looking forward to your Schweitzer, Silver Mountain, and 49 Degree reviews. All seem interesting and under the radar.
I have been following your project for some five years and your trip reports have been especially helpful. Thank you for sharing this project. I had recently visited Powder Mountain in Utah (on Indy pass) and looking at my snow tracks, the 2200 ft vert is from cat skiing: top of Lightning Ridge to bottom of Paradise lift, while this is not pure lift-serviced vert, no walking uphill is needed to reach this.
I met a gentleman who skied snowbird daily for some 30 years and switched to powmow, according to him, the lift placement and visitor limit was specifically put in to preserve powder. At powmow, people can’t yo-yo the same express lift and trackout all fresh powder in a few hours like they do at snowbird. This strategy worked out for me, as I visited a week after the last snowfall but still found large area of untouched powder, without much trouble or traverse.
Hi Evan, thanks for the info on the vert. I did the cat skiing there once and it was the best part of my day. That terrain is steep enough to be really ideal on a deep powder day like I encountered.
The Powder Mountain review gets a lot of attention because most people don’t agree with our take on it. I get it — compared to Snowbird it’s a very relaxing experience. All the big-name resorts are starting to get so crowded that a nice uncrowded smaller resort is just the ticket to get the fun back!