Tamarack beckons
Strap whatever winter contraption you like onto your dogs. Idaho’s brand-spanking new Tamarack Resort – about 90 miles north of Boise – has a place for you.
When it opens Dec. 15, Tamarack will lay out 700 acres’ worth of ski runs, a 500-foot-long super pipe and a terrain park with rails, obstacles and other trick features.
There’s also 30 kilometers of groomed Nordic tracks (some of which welcome your actual dogs), 10 kilometers of snowshoe trails, 2.5 acres set aside for sledding and “snow play,” and plans for an outdoor ice skating rink.
Or you can just throw on your fuzzy slippers and prop them in front of the fireplace at one of the resort’s cottages or chalets.
It’s a real equal-opportunity footwear getaway.
And, according to the resort’s marketing material, it’s admired for not one, but three spectacular crown jewels.
Hard as it may be to imagine there’s widespread acclaim for a spot with as-yet-unopened doors, Tamarack certainly has the raw materials to turn that assertion into reality.
Besides the ski hill itself, Tamarack encompasses the northwest shores of Lake Cascade with an 18-hole golf course – scheduled to open this summer – occupying the meadow in between. It’s the first ski, golf and lake resort to be fully permitted in the United States in more than 20 years.
If you need more options, wander beyond the resort’s north, south and west borders into National Forest land near the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. “Near,” the term the resort uses, is somewhat relative but it’s safe to say you’re closer to Frank Church at Tamarack than you are right now, and you’ll find yourself in reasonable proximity to opportunities for wildlife viewing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, mountain biking, links-hitting and the like.
But we’re here to talk about skiing, aren’t we?
Initially, Tamarack Mountain’s people-movers will include two high-speed detachable quad chairs, one fixed-grip quad chair and two surface lifts. With the summit at 7,700 feet, you’re looking at 2,800 feet of vertical drop over diverse terrain. Eighteen percent of the initial 25 runs are rated for beginners, 55 percent for intermediate skiers and 27 percent for experts.
“We’re a new-style boutique resort,” says Steve Stuebner, Tamarack’s director of recreation development. “We’re not seeking to be a new Vail or Whistler. We have a limit this year of 1,500 skiers a day. By comparison, Bogus Basin would do 8,000 on a weekend day. We’re deliberately trying to create a quality experience where people have lots of elbow room on the slopes.”
Stuebner says they’ll bump the maximum skiers per day to 3,500 once Tamarack is fully built. Plans call for a total of 11 lifts and 2,300 acres of ski area within 15 years.
Once they’ve spent their estimated $1.5 billion budget, the folks at Tamarack will also turn out some 2,000 single-family dwellings, townhouses, condominiums and hotel rooms.
Your current options include about 60 single-family units constructed on three floor plans: 1,200-square-foot Owyhee Cottages, with two master bedrooms and a covered car port; Sawtooth Chalets, an 1,800-square-foot, three-bedroom lodging complete with wrap-around deck and outdoor fireplace; and Bitterroot Chalets, which incorporates dining and family rooms, three bedrooms, laundry facilities and 3.5 baths in its 2,400 square feet.
All feature exposed beams, hardwood floors, granite countertops and natural stone fireplaces.
No doubt you and your fellow travelers will require food, and Tamarack Resort has you covered. Discovery Square’s three restaurants, après ski pub, market and deli will gladly supply a variety of victuals.
You’ll also find the usual ski-related services – equipment rental, instruction, emergency medical attention, and ski patrol – in the square. And it goes without saying, of course, that you’ll have a chance, in the grand tradition of mountaineers everywhere, to go shopping.
Tamarack would like you to stop by and behold their newness, and they’ve put together Discovery Packages to entice you to do just that. The packages start at $99 per person, including lodging, unlimited Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing and snowshoeing.
Call (877) 826-7376 for reservations, or visit their Web site at www.tamarackidaho.com.