I grabbed the camera on my first ski day of the season two weeks back, and headed up to one of our local ski hills, Brundage Mountain Resort.
The mountain is a short 25 minute drive from our little chalet we call home, here in McCall, Idaho U.S.A.
Brundage is a classic ski mountain situated on Forest Service land, in the Salmon River mountains. Skiers enjoy over 1,500 acres of ski-able in bounds terrain, and a cat ski program, with over 17,000 acres of guided skiing. The ski culture here is well aged, like a bourbon barrel imperial stout, offering up a laid back, but powder hungry vibe. Conversations grading powder type, “cold smoke”, “fluffy goodness”, “back-seat deep” can be heard in the ski lines, and Smoky’s pub. You may not hear much in the lines though, because a long line wait is 3 minutes, and often no wait at all.
The tree skiing on Brundage is top notch, with over 50 years of careful thinning on the mountain side, delivering well thought out, and exciting lines, generally filled with powder shots, even days after the storm has rolled through. Brundage continues to be known for its hefty single storm, and season totals, of smile producing snowy dumps. One is happening as I write this, and our town is buzzed up on the over 2 feet of snow that has fallen in town the last 7 days. More than twice that has landed up high, offering run after run of powder, even in coveted lower elevation shots that are already skiing well early in the season. See you in the trees!
Radical Earth 