Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area is a

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. ...

Boise County, Idaho Boise County is a rural mountain county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,610. The county seat is historic Idaho City, which is connected through a series of paved and unpaved roads to Low ...

, north-northeast of the city of

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' ...

. Bogus is operated by the Bogus Basin Recreation Association, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization, on private and leased land in the

Boise National Forest Boise National Forest is a National Forest covering of the U.S. state of Idaho. Created on July 1, 1908, from part of Sawtooth National Forest, it is managed by the U.S. Forest Service as five units: the Cascade, Emmett, Idaho City, ...

. Ski season generally runs from

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 a ...

weekend until the weekend preceding April 15, depending on snow conditions. The area also has

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

on of Nordic trails.

History

The area probably got its name during the 19th-century gold rush. Crooks in the hills above Boise City, known as "spelterers", would make bogus gold dust by heating lead filings with a bit of real gold dust.

Alf Engen Alf Marinius Engen (May 15, 1909–July 20, 1997) was a Norwegian-American skier. He set several ski jumping world records during the 1930s and helped establish numerous ski areas in the Western United States. Engen is best known for his ski ...

, the father of the American powder technique, selected the site for the ski area at Bogus Basin in 1939. It opened to the public in December 1942 with 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 ...

, and a

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 ...

was installed in 1946."Building Bogus Basin," by Eve Brassey Chandler, Donning Co., 2009, In the early 1950s, Bogus had a 30-meter Nordic

ski jump Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

, designed by Corey Engen, and his brother Sverre was Bogus' ski instructor. The first

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. The ...

at Bogus was installed in the fall of 1959 at Deer Point, and night skiing debuted in December 1964. The resort currently operates 7 chairlifts and 4 magic carpets. Four of the chairlifts are high-speed quads (#1 ''Deer Point'', and #6 ''Pine Creek'') were installed in 1996 and 1999, #3 ''Superior'' in 2011, and #2 ''Morning Star'' in 2019. Bogus Basin has of mixed runs, bowls, and glades, with groomed. The lift-served vertical drop is on the east-facing "back side," with a 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 § Vertic ...

of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised ...

at the top of Shafer Butte, the highest point of the Boise Ridge mountains. This back side of Shafer Butte was opened in January 1977, following the installation of Pine Creek (#6), a double chairlift, the previous summer. A fixed-grip double for 23 seasons, it became a high-speed quad in the summer of 1999. On the front side, Bogus Basin's southern lift-served summit is at "Doe Point," adjacent to Deer Point, which is slightly higher and covered with communications towers at an elevation of . Both vantage points overlook

and the entire

Treasure Valley The Treasure Valley is a valley in the western United States, primarily in southwestern Idaho, where the Payette, Boise, Weiser, Malheur, Owyhee, and Burnt rivers drain into the Snake River. It includes all the lowland areas from Vale in ru ...

, over below. Bogus' base area and main day lodge (

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 J. R. Simplot Company, a Soda Springs, Idaho-based agricultural supplier specializing in potato products. In ...

Lodge, formerly ''Bogus Creek'') are at , at the base of the north-facing slopes served by the Deer Point Express (#1), a high speed quad installed in the summer of 1996. The original double chairlift on #1 was installed in 1959 and upgraded in 1981. Showcase (#4), a double chairlift that had replaced a surface poma lift in 1972, is east of and parallel with the Deer Point Express. The original Deer Point lift was relocated and renamed Coach (#7) in 1996, servicing the beginner learning area. It honors Bill "Coach" Everts, an early area manager (1953–58) and longtime director. At mid-mountain, a second day lodge (''Pioneer Lodge'' - 1973) sits at with a sizable parking lot, a cluster of condominia (1975), and the Jason Harper Training Center. From this Pioneer area, there is direct access to the gentle south-facing slopes served by a high speed quad chairlift, Morning Star (#2) and the north-facing slopes of the Bitterroot (#5), a double chair lift (vertical: ), which runs only on weekends and holidays. In addition, there is connecting trail access to the base of the Superior Express (#3) lift. With its vertical rise, the Superior Express serves the advanced and expert terrain on the northern face of Shafer Butte, unloading at . It replaced a

Riblet The Riblet Tramway Company of Spokane, Washington, which operated from 1908 to 2003, was once the largest ski chairlift manufacturer in the world. The company was founded by Byron Christian Riblet, who was born in Osage, Iowa, in 1865 and earne ...

double chairlift built in 1965, and cut the ride time of the original lift in half.

Night skiing Night skiing is the sport of skiing or snowboarding after sundown, offered at many ski resorts and mountains. There are usually floodlights – including LED lamps – along the piste which allow for better visibility. It typically begins after ...

was added to the Superior area with the installation of lights in the summer of 1986, and Morning Star was converted from a double to a triple chairlift in 1999. Historically, Bogus Basin's average annual

snowfall Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

is , but since 2011, the snowfall has been well below average. Due to limited

water resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...

, there is no significant snow making, only small portable units for patching.

is available on on runs served by five of the chairlifts (none on #5 or #6). Three

terrain park A terrain park or snow park is an outdoor recreation area containing terrain that allows skiers, snowboarders and snowbikers to perform tricks. Terrain parks have their roots in skateparks and many of the features are common to both. From thei ...

s are also available; two on the Deer Point mountain, one for advanced, the other for beginner to intermediate skill levels. The Sunshine Park is located on the Morning Star side of the mountain. The main day lodge at Bogus Creek was built in 1962 and expanded in 1991; its ground floor contains the ticket office and ski lockers. In 2002 it was named for agribusiness magnate

(1909–2008), because without him there might not be a Bogus Basin. When the fledgling ski area was struggling to pay its debts in 1953, Simplot bought its ski lifts and other mountain improvements from the Kingcliffe Co. and leased them back to the Bogus Basin Recreational Association for $1,500 per year for ten years. His intervention averted almost certain financial demise and won the everlasting gratitude of a generation of skiers. Simplot was later the driving force behind Brundage Mountain northwest of

McCall McCall is a Gaelic surname, of Irish and Scottish origin. Notable people with this surname include: * Andy McCall (footballer, born 1911) (1911–1979), Scottish footballer and manager * Andy McCall (footballer, born 1925) (1925–2014), Scottish ...

, which opened in November 1961.

Chairlifts

* Bogus Basin has 7 chairlifts, and 4

magic carpet A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet and common trope in fantasy fiction. It is typically used as a form of transportation and can quickly or instantaneously carry its users to their destination. In literature One o ...

Other activities

The GoldRush Tubing Hill opened in the fall of 2003, constructed just west of the main parking lot for about $100,000. Annual revenues from the hill were expected to be four to five times that figure; revenues for its fourth season (2006–07) were just under $140,000. The Glade Runner is a year-round operating mountain coaster that opened in November 2017. The base station was constructed a few yards from the

Lodge, and the mountain coaster features of track. Other summer activities are available at Bogus, including

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histo ...

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

(no lift service), and a

disc golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

course. The disc golf course opened in July 2005, centered at the mid-mountain Pioneer Lodge; the upper area of chair 5 ''(Bitterroot)'' hosts the north nine, and the south nine is on the upper area of chair 2 ''(Morning Star)''.

Bogus Basin Road

Bogus is accessed by Bogus Basin Road (an extension of Harrison Boulevard), which twists from the

city limits to the resort, only NNE

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Olive ...

. The two-lane road turns 172 times and gains in elevation as the

terrain Terrain or relief (also topography, topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The ...

changes from dry

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus '' Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub '' Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an al ...

foothills to snow-laden mountain

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. Originally a

gravel road A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Unit ...

constructed by CCC crews (funded by the

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard * Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance A ...

) from 1938–40, Bogus Basin Road was first paved in 1962 and improved in 1998. Before its paving, it was a one-way road in ski season, with the direction changed to downhill in the early afternoon.

Season passes

In March 1998, Bogus' general manager Mike Shirley reduced the cost of an adult season pass from $500 to $199, lowering the

break-even Break-even (or break even), often abbreviated as B/E in finance, (sometimes called point of equilibrium) is the point of balance making neither a profit nor a loss. Any number below the break-even point constitutes a loss while any number above it ...

point to just seven visits (and kids' season passes fell to just $29). Bogus Basin sold nearly nine times as many passes for the 1998–99 season versus the previous year, halting the pass sales at 25,000 (2,854 for the 1997–98 season). The new pricing strategy generated almost four times as much revenue (nearly $3.6 million) from season pass sales, all before June, six months before the season would begin. Total skier visits went from under 192,000 to over 303,000 (up 58%). Although the sales of day tickets ($31 each) expectedly fell (almost 50%), Bogus' total revenue increased by $2.6 million (up 55%) to $7.3 million for the 1998-99 ski season. Shirley's deep-discount strategy was effective: resorts from coast to coast lowered their prices for multi-day, multi-area, and season passes. Locally, ski equipment sales increased significantly as skiers upgraded their gear. The $199 price was in effect for fifteen years, until raised to $229 for the 2013–14 season. Seniors (age 70 and over) skied for free at Bogus through March 2015; the policy was changed that summer. For the 2015–16 season, season passes for seniors were priced at $199 and one-day lift tickets at $44, a discount of ten dollars off the regular daily rate.

United States Ski Team

Members of the U.S. Ski Team from Bogus Basin include: *

Jeret Peterson Jeret "Speedy" Peterson (December 12, 1981 – July 25, 2011) was an American World Cup aerial skier from Boise, Idaho, skiing out of Bogus Basin. A three-time Olympian, he won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Pe ...

– (1981–2011), freestyle aerials, 2005 World Cup champion, 2010 Olympic silver medalist * Dane Spencer – (b. 1977) –

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

– currently a World Cup assistant coach with the U.S. Ski Team *

Erik Fisher Erik Fisher (born March 21, 1985) is a World Cup alpine ski racer with the U.S. Ski Team. From Middleton, Idaho, he primarily competes in the speed events of Downhill and Super G. Born in Ontario, Oregon, Fisher learned to ski and race at Bo ...

– (b. 1985) –

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

* Sandy Shellworth – (b. 1944) – 1968 Olympian, 21st in women's downhill, 1967 U.S. champion in giant slalom. * Walt Falk – (b. 1947) – competed in downhill at 1966 World Championships * Sara Studebaker – (b. 1984) –

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...

, 2010 & 2014 Olympian, 7th in 2014 women's team relay

General managers

After 21 seasons, Mike Shirley announced in February 2012 that he was stepping down as general manager and president, and was succeeded by Alan Moore, the former vice president of finance.
Idaho Statesman
' - Mike Shirley to retire as Bogus Basin president at end of ski season - 2012-02-16 Shirley was a former vice president with Morrison-Knudsen Co. and initially hired as an interim manager after the resignation of Terry Lofsvold in November 1991. After the search committee determined he was the best candidate, he was hired in April, the first general manager at Bogus with an extensive background in finance. Moore stepped down in 2015 and was succeeded in November by Brad Wilson, formerly the general manager at Diamond Peak,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, at northeast

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake i ...

. : :^ ''unpaid volunteer''

References

External links

*
Idaho Public TV
– ''Outdoor Idaho'' – "Hometown Ski Hills" – 2010
You Tube
– Bogus Basin videos
Ski Map.org
– vintage maps – Bogus Basin
Idaho State Historical Society
– vintage photos – Bogus Basin {{Idaho Ski areas navbox Ski areas and resorts in Idaho Buildings and structures in Boise County, Idaho Tourist attractions in Boise County, Idaho