Pomerelle Mountain Resort dates back to 1940, it became a family run resort in 1974 and it continues as a mom and pop shop today.
Woody and Sandy Anderson bought the resort in the 70s, Woody passed away in 2019, but the family atmosphere remains for this resort southeast of Twin Falls that receives an average of 500 inches of snow every year.
"It’s very unique," said Zack Anderson the manager of Pomerelle. "We are very close knit and we are all here for the same reason, we have we have a passion for this sport, we have a passion for skiing and snowboarding, and a passion to bring that to the community and all of our guests."
The summit at Pomerelle is at 8,762 feet, making it the second highest summit of any Idaho ski resort behind Sun Valley, the altitude and the location consistently helps Pomerelle be one of the first resorts to open every year, and this season was no different.
"You are looking at a unique powder paradise here, we are so fortunate that we have one of the highest elevation bases in Idaho and because of that we have very consistent snow," said Anderson. "More often than not, when you see the Wasatch front is going to get a heavy dump, we are usually blessed with that snow two."
This week we check out Pomerelle Mountain Resort in our Idaho Backroads series. The elevation, history and the family atmosphere make this southern Idaho resort unique. pic.twitter.com/trJnRGmklG
— Steve Dent (@idahodent) January 5, 2023
Pomerelle features two triple chairs, a magic carpet and terrain parks, the more advanced chair takes skiers and snowboarders up 1,000 feet providing a lot of different terrain from an open bowl, to steep narrow chutes and gladed runs.
EZ Rider, the other triple, takes people to beginner friendly terrain where the groomers are not very steep and we saw a lot of families out on the slopes.
"It’s still affordable to bring your family," said Kindsey Taylor from Twin Falls who was there with her seven-year-old daughter Quinn. "It is something the family can do all together, be outdoors and it is like shopping small, you support small."
Adult tickets cost $50 if pre-purchased at Pomerelle, they have a base lodge that serves food and they feature night skiing five days a week from Tuesday through Saturday.
It's important to support smaller resorts because of a trend with two corporations taking over the ski industry in the past decade, Vail Resorts owns 37 resorts across the country and Alterra owns 15, but none in Idaho and Pomerelle is off to a good start.
"This last week we have seen some of the best crowds we have ever had," said Alexander. "It really has been a phenomenal season."
Going to a mom and pop resort is an experience, the triple chairs take longer to get up the mountain than the high speed quads we see at so many other resorts, but that's a tradeoff at a family-run resort where prices are so affordable.
"We want to make sure people have a place they can come and bring their family and learn a life time sport," said Alexander. "Because that is what this is, this is something you can do with your kids, grandchildren and you can do it until you can't walk anymore."
Pomerelle also has a special promotion every Tuesday for the rest of the season called ladies day, every Tuesday women can get discounted tickets, lunch, and an hour and a half lesson.
