Brundage Mountain Resort is an

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

ski area A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...

in the

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, located in west central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

in the Payette National Forest. Brundage first opened in November 1961 and is northwest of McCall, a twenty-minute drive in average winter conditions. The summit

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of Brundage is above

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, with an overall vertical drop of . Five

chairlifts An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

serve the of primarily west-facing terrain, overlooking New Meadows, Adams County, and past the Snake River into

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. The area's annual snowfall is . The summit of Brundage Mountain straddles the county line with Valley County to the east, in which McCall lies. Brundage also offers backcountry powder skiing on of terrain north of the lift-served ski area, serviced by

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. Half-day, full-day, and two-day trips are available to areas including Granite Mountain at and Slab Mountain at . The two-day trip spends the night in a mountain

yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger ( Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia ...

. These areas are among the highest average snowfalls Brundage is accessed from State Highway 55 via the turnoff to Goose Lake Road, west of central McCall. Goose Lake Road climbs slightly over 1000 vertical feet (300 m) in when it diverts to the ski area's parking lot, at an elevation of just over . During the summer months, Brundage has chairlift-served mountain biking on over of specially built single-track trails.

History

In the late 1950s, alpine skiers in the McCall area had just the Little Ski Hill, with its modest vertical drop.

Bogus Basin Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area is a ski area in Boise County, Idaho, north-northeast of the city of Boise. Bogus is operated by the Bogus Basin Recreation Association, a non-profit organization, on private and leased land in the Boise Nat ...

near

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...

was over three hours away (in good conditions) by vehicle, and Sun Valley was considerably farther. One of these McCall skiers was Boise agribusiness tycoon

J.R. Simplot John Richard Simplot (; January 4, 1909 – May 25, 2008) was an American entrepreneur and businessman best known as the founder of the Simplot, J. R. Simplot Company, a Soda Springs, Idaho-based agricultural supplier specializing in potato produc ...

(1909–2008), who had a vacation home on Payette Lake. Financed by

Simplot The J. R. Simplot Company (commonly referred to as Simplot) is an agribusiness company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. History Simplot was founded in 1929 by 20-year-old John Richard Simplot near the agricultural community of Declo in south ...

, the Brundage Mountain project took shape under the guidance of longtime McCall resident, Warren Brown (1912–2000) and ski legend Corey Engen (1916–2006). A former Olympian and instructor at the Little Ski Hill, Engen laid out the trails on the mountain during the summer of 1961. Favorable snowfall allowed Brundage to open on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

on November 23, with a double

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. Th ...

T-bar A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...

, and a

rope tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-c ...

. The lift tickets were priced at a then-lofty five dollars, similar to Sun Valley's rates; Engen stayed on as resort manager until 1970. The original

A-frame An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lette ...

lodge was expanded with a two-story addition in the fall of 1971, and lift tickets went up fifty cents, to $5.50. A second double chairlift, ''Brundage Creek,'' was added in 1976, in parallel with the original ''Pioneer.'' The ''Centennial'' triple chairlift was added in 1990 to the southern edge of the terrain, which increased the area's terrain by 30% and added of vertical drop by lowering the base. The ''Easy Street'' chairlift was installed at the beginner area in 1994, adding a lower parking lot at its base. The parallel double chairlifts were replaced in the summer of 1997 by a single high-speed detachable quad, the ''Blue Bird Express'', which ascended to the summit in a rapid seven minutes. In April 2006, the

J.R. Simplot Company The J. R. Simplot Company (commonly referred to as Simplot) is an agribusiness company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. History Simplot was founded in 1929 by 20-year-old John Richard Simplot near the agricultural community of Declo in south ...

sold its 50% interest in Brundage Mountain to the ski area's long-time co-owner, the DeBoer family. (Diane (Brown) DeBoer is the daughter of co-founder Warren Brown.) That August, a long-anticipated land trade with U.S. Forest Service was completed. It gave Brundage Mountain the ownership of around its base area, allowing the opportunity for future resort development. In return, the USFS gained important private in-holdings in the Payette National Forest. In 2007, Brundage invested more than $3 million to install two new fixed-grip triple chairlifts, ''Lakeview'' and ''The Bear''. The ''Lakeview'' lift opened up of south-facing terrain, with sweeping views of Payette Lake, McCall, and Valley County. ''The Bear'' connects the ''Centennial'' base area to a ridge above the main base area. A platter lift which served the expert ''Race Course'' and easier runs was removed. A small lodge, ''The Bear Den'', was added at the top of the lift. Excluding the ''Easy Street'' chair, total uphill capacity for the area was increased from 3,100 to 6,700 riders per hour.

Future

Future expansion plans at Brundage Mountain include a chairlift to the north, serving the summit of Sargent's Mountain (formerly known as "Brundage Mountain"). The new chair will open new expert terrain and reach higher than the present summit, the top of the ''Blue Bird Express'' quad. The owners of Brundage Mountain have also received approval from Adams County for a PUD on the private land in the base area. That will allow fo
future construction
of ski-in/ski-out lodging and expanded base area facilities.

Lift statistics

*The

mountain bluebird The mountain bluebird (''Sialia currucoides'') is a small migratory thrush that is found in mountainous districts of western North America. It has a light underbelly and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills and are bright turquoise-blue and so ...

is the state bird of Idaho *Idaho celebrated its

centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

of statehood in 1990

U.S. Ski Team

* Patty Boydstun-Hovdey -

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and

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alpine racer ** 1970 U.S. slalom champion - 8th in slalom at

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Euro ...

idahoptv.org
- Hometown Hills - Little Ski Hill - accessed 2012-03-24

References

External links

*
McCall Magazine
– The History of Brundage Mountain Resort – Winter/Spring 2007
Visit Idaho.org
– official state tourism site – Brundage Mountain

– photos of Brundage Mountain's lifts
Ski Map.org
– vintage maps – Brundage Mountain
Idaho Ski resorts.com
– Brundage Mountain {{Authority control Ski areas and resorts in Idaho Mountains of Adams County, Idaho Mountains of Valley County, Idaho Mountains of Idaho Mountain biking venues in the United States Buildings and structures in Adams County, Idaho Buildings and structures in Valley County, Idaho Tourist attractions in Adams County, Idaho Tourist attractions in Valley County, Idaho Payette National Forest