Ski season is on the horizon here in Idaho

BOISE, Idaho — The 70th annual ski swap at Expo Idaho is a signal that soon the slopes will be full of skiers and snowboarders.

We put together a story featuring Sun Valley Resort, Brundage Mountain Resort and Tamarack Resort to find out what's new and to take a look at some of these resorts' recent accomplishments.

For the second year in a row, Sun Valley earned the top spot in Ski Magazine's top resort of the year in North America.

"It is such a testament to the amazing community in and around Sun Valley Resort," said Bridget Higgins of Sun Valley. "It is a true community effort from being number one in dining to grooming to lift service to high up and family-friendly and apres, it is truly an honor and we are so humbled by it."

Last year Brundage Mountain Resort was named as the best resort in the United States by the readers of USA Today, that competition for the top resort is currently underway and Brundage who is known for its snow is in the top 10.

"We would love to be back up toward the top of that list again so as the weather turns colder and we start to see snowflakes we would sure love it if people would log on and vote for us," said April Whitney of Brundage. "Anytime a medium-sized resort like Brundage gets nominated for these types of lists it's an honor."

If there was an award for the most improved Tamarack Resort would have to be near the top of the list as they have put more than $40 million into the resort in the last three years and they have record visitation to show for it in the past year.

“It’s awesome to see everything coming together with the master plan that was originally envisioned now taking shape," said Scott Turlington of Tamarack. "What is even more exciting is watching our guests and seeing how they react to it."

This year Tamarack has improved their snow-making equipment, they have a pair of new groomers, improved technology, the domes that were there for so many years are gone, but a lot of their money has gone into improving the Village.

"The newest thing that no one that no one has seen yet is called Tamarack Outfitters," said Turlington. "It’s our new sport retail rental shop, it’s about 7,000 square feet and the owners told us haven't ever seen anything like this."

Brundage has a new groomer and a smaller machine with a cab that can be also used for grooming or cat skiing, Brundage has done substantial brush cutting over the summer, but they wanted to highlight their new website.

"The main changes on the new website are the mobile navigation we think we have come up with a navigation system that is much more intuitive and easy to use especially on your phone," said Whitney. "It is going to be so much easier to find the information you need."

Sun Valley will feature new terrain through the Healthy Forest Initiative with the National Forest and they remain psyched about their new lift that opened up a bunch of new terrain last year.

"For those that weren’t able to visit us last year, we opened 300 acres of brand new terrain with big open bowls and gladed skiing," said Higgins. "It was truly incredible for those that got to ski it last year, so we welcome everyone who didn’t get a chance to come and visit us."

These ski resorts are planning on opening around Thanksgiving, but that also depends on what happens in the next several weeks with the weather.