It’s snowing again, and Bogus Basin has extended its season pass sale through Thursday at the $229 price.  The week-long sale that had been scheduled to end last night at midnight saw a dramatic change once snow hit the mountain late last week, general manager Alan Moore reports; last Monday, pass sales were about half of normal, but as the week progressed and 9 inches of new snow fell, that turned around to where sales were above normal on the sale’s final day. “As we all know, snow changes everything for Bogus,” Moore said. “We just want to make sure that no one is left out that would have bought a pass with the changed conditions.” The low-priced season passes allow skiers to ski right away, plus all through next season; it only takes five trips to the mountain to break even on buying a pass. Click below for Bogus’ full announcement.

This was the view up at Bogus Basin yesterday as the sun slanted through the clouds. Despite a thin snow cover so far this year, the local non-profit ski resort delivered an outstanding weekend of skiing, with warm, sunny, spring-like conditions on Saturday and a more wintry feel on Sunday complete with crisp air and new snow.

The new snow, which fell overnight Saturday night, left the resort’s access road very slick Sunday morning, but it had cleared off nicely by the afternoon, rendering all the more inexplicable the fatal accident in which a 50-year-old Boisean in a blue Porsche careened off a 400-foot embankment and was killed. It’s a narrow and winding road, and buses and other slow vehicles sometimes slow down traffic, but with a little patience, everyone usually gets down safely. Be careful out there.

While we shiver and sniffle in the frigid temperatures of the inversion-plagued Boise valley, there's a whole different world just 16 miles to the north at Bogus Basin. This view from the top of Chair 1 yesterday afternoon snows the smog-filled valley below in which the city is hidden. The non-profit ski resort's snow cover may be a bit thin, but it is just gorgeous up there. Yesterday, it hit better than 45 degrees with deep blue skies, bright sunshine and fresh, clean air. There were people skiing in sunglasses and no hats; everyone was shedding layers, unzipping coats and slathering on the sunscreen. Rock skis still are in order, and there are few runs they're now able to groom, but the terrain park is open on frontside to the joy of a whole lot of kids, and the snow is holding up beautifully in the Superior and Triangle areas on the back side, especially for those who enjoy skiing bumps. Best of all is the weather - it was really hard to leave yesterday and head back down the hill…

Now here's some news: Bogus Basin has announced that having received more than 9 inches of snow over the last few days, it now has enough to open the No. 3 Superior chair for night skiing. That high-speed chairlift, on the back side of the mountain, has previously only been open for daytime skiing; click below for the full announcement from Bogus.

Even though I know it'll be there, there's something startling about coming up out of a frigid, foggy inversion, with snowflakes floating around in the low, gray sky in Boise, into brilliant sunshine above it all up at Bogus Basin. It was like an island of blue sky and sun up there today, with an ocean of cold fog lapping at the edges of all the surrounding mountains down below us.

Bogus is still going strong despite the thin snow cover, but rock skis still are in order.  

Bogus Basin has announced that it'll open for night skiing on Wednesday, Dec. 26th, and also that day will open the No. 3 Superior chairlift, the resort's newest high-speed quad and the last major side of the mountain not yet open for skiing. Starting Wednesday, a full day/night lift ticket will be $48; a night lift ticket will be $22; click below for the full announcement. That makes tomorrow - Christmas Day - the last day for discounted, $30 lift tickets; the resort will be open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

It's amazing how much difference a few inches of snow can make. Our local ski mountain was starting to look a little like a bran muffin in places on Saturday, but after 3 inches of snow overnight, Sunday morning it was transformed into a glittering, frosted cupcake (albeit with a few nuts and raisins still poking through). This shot was taken Sunday; it's the view from Paradise. Really. From the run called Paradise on the back side of Bogus Basin. Since then, a few more inches of snow have fallen, and then a few more inches. The wind did its part, redistributing the snow around the mountain, and today was an awesome powder day.

This shot of sunrise at Bogus Basin this morning was taken before the lifts opened, but not before skiers already were getting their gear ready and heading out to the lift base. Despite early-season conditions, it was a very fun opening day for Boise's local non-profit ski resort, with some untracked powder up-top early, a variety of conditions around the mountain and through the day, and a whole lot of smiling skiers and boarders. There was even plenty of room to spread out, with Chair 6, Pine Creek, on the backside opening today along with the whole front side.

The kids I rode up with on the first chair ride this morning had counted - they said we were on the 10th chair (woo-hoo!). And kudos to Bogus for opening up despite the thin early snow; everyone I talked to, without exception, was just glad to be up there and out on the slopes again, even if it meant some rocks and the like were still poking through (bring your rock skis).

Next up: More snow. We're ready…

It's looking mighty pretty up toward Bogus Basin today, with the recent new snow shining in the sunshine, and now Boise's non-profit ski resort has announced that it'll open up for skiing on Friday.The resort will open its front side plus the No. 6 Pine Creek chair on the backside, and skiers are advised to expect early-season conditions; lift tickets will be discounted to $30, and hours will be 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can read the resort's full announcement here. Local skiers have been anxiously awaiting this news, after last year's record-late Jan. 19 opening.

Brundage Mountain Resort announced today that it will open for the ski season on Friday. “We got 9 inches of new snow since Thursday,” the resort reported. “At this point, we have just enough snow to open three of our five lifts, but more snow is in the forecast for this week, which could make the difference on those other two lifts.” This shot from Brundage today shows the groomed slopes of the Main Street run; there's more info here.
  

A backcountry skier advocacy group, the Winter Wildlands Alliance, has filed suit in federal court, asking a judge to order the U.S. Forest Service to create plans for snowmobiles limiting their travel on public land, the Associated Press reports. “One snowmobile can track up an area in an hour that a dozen skiers could use for two weeks,” said Alliance Director Mark Menlove. “It is a competition for a limited resource. Beyond untracked powder, we also think that quiet is a forest resource that should be managed.”

Snowmobile groups have lined up with the Forest Service opposing the move, saying there's enough forest to go around for everyone. Click below for a full report from AP reporter John Miller.

Here's an obituary from the Idaho Mountain Express/AP: KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) ― Robert Earl “Bob” Smith, an orthodontist whose passion for skiing powder snow helped turn him into a goggle and sunglasses pioneer, died last week of complications related to heart surgery. Smith's family confirmed his April 18 death in California to the Idaho Mountain Express (http://bit.ly/InsEWq ). He was 78. After frustrating goggle-fogging experiences while skiing, Smith in the 1960s used dental tools and foam to create a double-lensed ski goggle whose inner lens was protected from the cold. Drew Smith, his son, says the goggle resulted from his need to see while skiing deep powder. Smith built the Smith Sport Optics headquarters in Ketchum in the early-1970s. But before he struck a deal for the manufacturing of Smith goggles in the late-1960s, Smith would often trade his goggles for lift tickets.

Spring skiing, costumes and frivolity were the orders of the day as Bogus Basin held its end-of-season sendoff on Saturday, marking the close of a late-starting but still-fun ski season for the local non-profit ski resort. Bogus has announced a bonus weekend, when it will reopen next Saturday and Sunday with just the No. 1 Deerpoint and Coach chairs operating, along with the Easy Rider carpet; tickets will be discounted, and there's more info here.
  

Some years, Bogus Basin doesn't get any spring skiing, because winter runs right up until closing day, and then it's all over. Not this year. Over the weekend, as temperatures nudged and topped 70 degrees in the valley, Bogus Basin skiers enjoyed a cornucopia of corn snow, a slathering of soft slush, and the warm feeling that spring has sprung…

Bogus Basin has just announced that it will open its new Superior high-speed quad chairlift tomorrow for the season. In addition to the new lift, the resort also will open the Pine Creek and Bitterroot Basin areas of the mountain on Saturday; night skiing will start Wednesday.

Bogus Basin has announced that it will open for the season tomorrow - Thursday, Jan. 19, the non-profit Boise ski resort's latest-ever opening; there's more info here. Charlifts 1, 2, 4, 7 and the Easy Rider carpet will operate; hours Thursday and Friday will be 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and lift tickets will be discounted to $30 until more of the mountain opens. The resort is asking folks to wait until after 8 a.m. to head up, so its snowplows can work both sides of the road.

Snow update: Bogus Basin has gotten 9 inches of new snow, for a base of 12 inches and a summit depth of 16 inches. There's no announcement yet as to a possible opening for the local, non-profit ski resort that's gone dry so far this year, but one could come tonight during the “Get Louder for Powder” party on the Basque Block in downtown Boise; mountain supporters are being asked to wear ski clothes and goggles to the 5-8 p.m. bash of live music, food, beer and wine. It's still snowing in Boise, too; there's about 3 inches of wet snow on the ground outside the state Capitol. And at noon, Brundage Mountain at McCall reported 15 inches of new snow since 5 p.m. yesterday, 24 inches in the last 24 hours.

Tamarack Resort - which unlike Bogus Basin is open for skiing, thanks in part to snowmaking - is joining Brundage Mountain in offering discounts to out-of-luck Bogus Basin season passholders. The resort has announced it'll charge $25 on Thursdays with a Bogus pass, down from the usual $49; and $35 Fridays through Sundays and holidays; there's more info here.

With Bogus Basin still closed and its skiers out of luck, Brundage Mountain is reaching out: The McCall ski resort is offering a special deal to Bogus season passholders, starting Thursday: $25 weekday lift tickets (non-holiday), down from the usual $55, and $35 on weekends or holidays. In addition, Brundage will offer the $25 rate to Bogus Basin passholders the second Sunday of each month; there's more info here. Meanwhile, still-closed Bogus has announced cost-cutting measures in light of its continued closure due to lack of snow; among them, the general manager and chief financial officer at the non-profit ski resort will work without pay. Pete Zimowsky of the Idaho Statesman has a full report here.

Friday will be Brundage Mountain's second-latest opening day in the ski area's 50-year history; the latest was Jan. 8 in 1977. The McCall-area ski resort announced this afternoon that after receiving 9 inches of new snow in the past 48 hours, it's ready to open to skiers Friday morning; it now has 18 inches at the base and 24 at the top, and it's still snowing. “We may not have as many runs groomed as we normally do on opening day,” said April Russell, resort spokeswoman, “but we're eager to get our skiers and riders on the slopes so they can enjoy some holiday turns.”

Brundage will have about 1,200 of its 1,500 acres open on Friday, with just limited grooming; the front side of the mountain will be open from 9:30 to 4:30 p.m. There's more info here.