Brundage Mountain Resort is targeting the day after Thanksgiving to open to skiers and snowboarders. That can be moved in either direction depending on what mother nature does over the next few weeks.
So far Brundage has received snow in five out of the ten days in November, they currently have a base of 23 inches with more cold weather in the forecast.
"That means we can get our base area snow making going," said April Whitney of Brundage. "We do have enough snow on the mountain to start track packing some of the slopes, that means we are just that much closer to being ready for when the next storm system rolls through."
Brundage finished building a new ski patrol building in the base area, it's the first step of their ten-year plan that will include breaking ground on a new lodge next spring.
Brundage also plans to replace the Centennial Triple with a new high speed quad next year.
"That includes our signature adventure dining experience, the Bears Den Dinners after Dark," said Whitney. "It is a really cool experience where guests load up on a snowcat after the slopes closed, the snowcat drives them up to our mid-mountain Bears Den Cabin and our culinary team serves a four-course meal."
Brundage also purchased two new groomers, one to replace an old groomer and make that corduroy powder Brundage is known for and another one to help them build terrain parks.
The resort also bought and renovated an old school house in New Meadows that they will use for affordable housing, a challenge that every ski resort faces when hiring seasonal workers.
"We are feeling pretty good about our employee situation this year," said Whitney. "We have had a lot more applications come through than we had at this point last year."
It's all part of the experience that has Brundage nominated as the best ski resort in the USA Today's Reader's Choice Awards, the resort currently sits in fourth place while Sun Valley is ranked ninth.
"First of all it is an honor to be on that list for the third year in a row," said Whitney. "It is great to see us up there in the top ten, but you know we would really love people to come out and show their Idaho pride and give us a few more votes and see if we can get higher on that list."
Here is a link to the Reader's Choice Awards where people can vote once a day up until November 21.
Brundage has almost sold out of season passes only a small amount remain available for purchase. They also want people to buy their day passes online which saves money, but also ensures that skiers and snowboarders will have a ticket because Brundage told us they will limit tickets on busy powder weekends and holiday weekends.
