IDAHO, USA — Idaho was blanketed with snow over the weekend - and that snow is something the local ski areas have been hoping for all season.
After a December drought, things are now looking up for this season on the slopes, with more snow on the stake - and more powder to enjoy at our local ski areas.
"This kind of forecast is what we've been waiting for all season long," Brundage Mountain spokesperson April Whitney said.
Bogus Basin, Tamarack Resort, and Brundage Mountain all got a boost from the weekend's snow.
Stoke on the slopes is as high as the powder after Bogus Basin picked up about 11 inches of snow from storms over the weekend.
"Busiest day of the season, so far," Bogus Basin General Manager Brad Wilson said. "We actually parked-out at about 10 o'clock [Sunday] morning, which we only did twice last year. There's a lot of pent-up demand to go skiing, and when this powder hit the slopes - people wanted to come."
A similar story happened at Tamarack Resort, which also saw its best day of the season Sunday after being blanketed with four inches of snow in a day.
"It's off the hook," Wolfe Ashcraft, VP of resort operations for Tamarack said. "The number of memes and texts and everything - and people coming into the shop to get their skis waxed and ready to go. We saw a busy weekend as well with the snowfall, and I suspect with the forecast and the holiday weekend coming up that this whole week is going to be busy."
At Brundage Mountain, skiers and snowboarders can enjoy the eight fresh inches of powder that have fallen over the past 48 hours.
"That amount of snow has really transformed the slopes," Whitney said. "We've been able to groom runs we hadn't groomed before, open runs we hadn't been able to open before."
Another thing Brundage just opened is the new Centennial Express High-Speed Quad. The new four-seat chairlift will be will cut down the time to reach the top of the mountain from 16 to six minutes.
"It cuts down on the amount of time you're spending in line, it cuts down on the amount of time you're spending riding the actual lift," Whitney said. "So there is more time just skiing, enjoying that great snow."
Enjoy the great snow - with more on the way. The local ski resorts could be expecting up to a few feet of snow in the forecast later this week.
"The season is a long one," Ashcraft said. "We're really looking forward to more snow coming and getting people up here to experience it."
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