Brundage Mountain Resort welcomes skiers and snowboarders to the mountain on Friday for their earliest opening since 2005.
The snow is deep in Valley County and Brundage has received a significant amount, enabling them to get the lifts spinning well before Thanksgiving.
"We are feeling great we have had 53 inches of snow since Oct. 1," said Ken Rider the general manager at Brundage. "We’ve had two feet in the last ten days, we have a 35-inch base at the top and a 25-inch base here at the bottom."
Brundage will kick off their season by opening the Bluebird Express, the Bear Chair and Easy Street on Friday. They will open more terrain when they can as more snow falls. The crews at Brundage are gearing up to make sure everything is ready for guests on Friday.
"We are very thankful for this nice blessing of snow we are getting," said Rider. "After last year’s challenging year this is giving us a challenge on a different front and that’s just getting open early, but it’s one we are excited about and quite happy to have."
It couldn't have come at a better time as Brundage is finishing up the second phase of a ten-year plan. Last year they debuted a new ski patrol building and turned the Centennial Triple into a high-speed quad.
This year they will open the new Mountain Adventure Center. It's an 18,000-square-foot facility featuring retail, rental equipment, a tuning shop, lockers, restrooms, a daycare and guest services. It will be open on Friday.
"It’s a good time to get your season pass, go into the new Mountain Adventure Center, pick up some gifts for Christmas and get ready for the season because it is game time," said Rider.
The opening also comes at a time when kids around Idaho are finishing up school before the Thanksgiving break. So if you are looking for something to do, it's not every year that Brundage opens this early.
"Kids and families are going to be hanging out at home and now we are going to give them the opportunity to come up here to go skiing and riding," said Rider. "We are ready to get this show started."
Stay tuned to Idaho News Six as we are also working on a story detailing the Mountain Adventure Center and what it will mean for guests and Brundage Mountain Resort moving forward.
