tg wrote:
I would add Red Mountain, Big White, and Fernie in BC, Tamarack (new resort)
in Idaho, and Peak Snowcats in Idaho as well ($225) for day trip if I
remember correctly. I have also heard good things about Schweitzer and
Silver Mountains in Idaho as well as far as being smaller and more "local".
That would be a nice loop.

If you want extreme backcountry skiing then try Silverton in Colorado.
Only one chair but all ungroomed 100% expert only terrain.

foot2foot wrote:
"Dave M" wrote in message

There are some great smaller (ie less well known and much less crowded)
ski areas in western Montana that are more than worth the stop if you
are traveling that way anyhoo. I think that Foot2foot skied them all
and could offer some suggestions. If not, I could give you the lowdown
on a few. Big Mtn is nice but often crowded when I have been there.
Take a stop at Schweitzer in North ID, maybe then head to MT maybe Great
divide for some altitude before Big Mtn.


Discovery. Whatever you do don't miss the backside of
Discovery. Hopefully they'll have enough to go by that time,
one would think so.

There's a little place I'm trying to think of, way northeast
Montana, it's powder heaven, although not huge or really
steep, it's wide open and only going on weekends. It's
a ski club hill. *If*, they've been dumped, it would make
a good stop. Libby Montana or something. Quite the
characters, they are. They used to have the world's longest
Tbar, now it's chair city.

That is probably Turner Mountain:

http://www.skiturner.com/

I like the loop, staying in Rossland to ski at Red Mountain and
Whitewater and then one night in Sandpoint to ski Schweitzer and back to
Spokane. From Sandpoint it would be easy to drive to ski Big Mountain
and/or Fernie.

Dave in Spokane

Here's a trip we've been doing the last couple of years. Start In Jackson Hoe,
then over the pass to Targhee. From there we head north and hit Big Sky and
Bridger. Then its off to wherever the pow is. From a base in Bozeman we can
day trip to Discovery, Lost Trail, Showdown, Great Divide, or of course
continue at Bridger or Big Sky. Also this year Moonlight Basin will be worth
skiing since they added a new lift that doubled their area. The trick with
these smaller areas is to hit them after they've been closed for a couple of
days and the snow has been falling. For example, Lost Trail opens on Thursday
after being closed since Sunday. If you wanted , you could ski about 7 areas
in 10 days which is what we usually do. BTW Bridger opens tomorrow with all
their lifts open and Big Sky is 50% open. Big storm expected Saturday night.

Stu





foot2foot wrote:
"Dave M" wrote in message

There are some great smaller (ie less well known and much less crowded)
ski areas in western Montana that are more than worth the stop if you
are traveling that way anyhoo. I think that Foot2foot skied them all
and could offer some suggestions. If not, I could give you the lowdown
on a few. Big Mtn is nice but often crowded when I have been there.
Take a stop at Schweitzer in North ID, maybe then head to MT maybe Great
divide for some altitude before Big Mtn.


Discovery. Whatever you do don't miss the backside of
Discovery. Hopefully they'll have enough to go by that time,
one would think so.

Dave_in_Spokane wrote:

(snip)

I like the loop, staying in Rossland to ski at Red Mountain and
Whitewater and then one night in Sandpoint to ski Schweitzer and back
to Spokane. From Sandpoint it would be easy to drive to ski Big
Mountain and/or Fernie.

Dave in Spokane


Red hasn't been getting much snow yet but maybe out of this storm that
is (supposed to be) coming through tonight into tomorrow. Schweitzer
might even open gasp after the weekend. It is too bad that the OP
cna't/won't/doesn't want to leave the US to try the hills of our friends
to the north. Oh well, more for me.

Dave M.
Also is Spokane but not "Dave in Spokane"

tg wrote:

"Dmitry" wrote in message
news:orMrd.432690$wV.46106@attbi_s54...


I'm doing my homework for a ski/snowboard road trip sometime in the
end of Dec or first week of Jan. We'll be heading east out of Seattle
(WY, MO, ID, CO, UT). We have about a week, maybe a little more.

Basically, I'd like to solicit some suggestions for mountains worth
visiting, and maybe also general sites/places that are "must see"
this time of the year. So far, Silver and Jackson Hole are on my
"must go" list. We have a strong preference for less mainstream
mountains with more locals on them and less tourist crowds. Also
advanced terrain and quality of snow are of great interest. We'll
have only one or two people who are intermediate level, everyone
else advanced.



I would add Red Mountain, Big White, and Fernie in BC, Tamarack (new resort)
in Idaho, and Peak Snowcats in Idaho as well ($225) for day trip if I
remember correctly. I have also heard good things about Schweitzer and
Silver Mountains in Idaho as well as far as being smaller and more "local".
That would be a nice loop.

Sounds like fun.




Silver is not worth it IMHO. The runs are shorter, more cat tracks to
get anywhere less "interesting" terrain. Great if you have kids but
then so is Mt. Spokane. The best part of Silver Mt. is the summer music
series -- it is almost enough to make the gondola ride worth it sometimes.

Dave M.

Dave M wrote:


Red hasn't been getting much snow yet but maybe out of this storm that
is (supposed to be) coming through tonight into tomorrow. Schweitzer
might even open gasp after the weekend. It is too bad that the OP
cna't/won't/doesn't want to leave the US to try the hills of our friends
to the north. Oh well, more for me.

Dave M.
Also is Spokane but not "Dave in Spokane"


I see that Lookout and Silver Mtn. and already open and 49 will be open
on Sunday, but none of them have much snow.

So much for the big storm dropping 8-14 inches in town today! I
probably jinxed it by getting gas for the snowblower, adding air to its
tires and starting it yesterday.

Oh well, maybe I'll just go to the EWU football game today and go skin
up Mt. Spokane on Sunday for a few turns.

Dave in Spokane

Go Eagles

Dave_in_Spokane wrote:

Dave M wrote:


Red hasn't been getting much snow yet but maybe out of this storm
that is (supposed to be) coming through tonight into tomorrow.
Schweitzer might even open gasp after the weekend. It is too bad
that the OP cna't/won't/doesn't want to leave the US to try the hills
of our friends to the north. Oh well, more for me.

Dave M.
Also is Spokane but not "Dave in Spokane"



I see that Lookout and Silver Mtn. and already open and 49 will be
open on Sunday, but none of them have much snow.

So much for the big storm dropping 8-14 inches in town today! I
probably jinxed it by getting gas for the snowblower, adding air to
its tires and starting it yesterday.

Oh well, maybe I'll just go to the EWU football game today and go skin
up Mt. Spokane on Sunday for a few turns.

Dave in Spokane

Go Eagles

Even tho a loyal EWU employee, I won't make it to the game. Exciting
stuff tho.

I don't know what the heck jinxed it but I was disappointed this am. Now
they are projecting a possible rain-only event in town. That will melt
even the little whiteness that we still have up here on the South Hill.

Schweitzer is only claiming 2" and snowing with still only 7" at the
base -- but the snow report updating there has been pathetic thus far.

Some of my students went up to Lookout and said that it was terrible
with the 8" at the base. Maybe better now tho. They claim 12" at the
bottom which is still not worth the trip, especially since the new
glades are still not open to check out.

Nothing new reported at Red Mtn which is surprising and hard to believe
if it really snowed so hard in Republic yesterday.

Oh well, I guess I had better go finish the tile in the bathroom in
between compulsive weather and snow report checking. It is really hard
to do tile while wearing skis.

Dave M