It has not been a good start to the winter here in the Boise area if your definition of “good” is lots of snow in the mountains. I have been up to Bogus Basin a few times, and the groomed runs are skiing OK. But don’t even think about getting off-trail and the stuff I love to hit outside the gates doesn’t even have enough snow for even the most brazen “rock skiers”. Adding to my pent up demand for powder turns was the fact that I had a new set of Dynafit bindings and boots that had to be skied.
So, as is often the case for we back-country skiing enthusiasts here in the Boise area, I had to start thinking about further destinations. I’d heard some fairly good reports earlier about the Pilot Peak area and the McCall area seemed promising. But then I hooked up with a couple of guys from here in the valley via the Idaho Summits forum and we set out to have some fun in the Banner Summit area. The two obvious choices here are Copper Mountain, (a very popular destination), or Bull Trout Point. We opted for Bull Trout because it looked less wind blown and only had a couple of sets of visible tracks.
Greg knew the area well and functioned as the expedition lead. As you will see from the video, he didn’t let us down. We had a great day, did 3 laps – although each one was shorter than the previous. Not “blower” powder, but still pretty sweet and most of the tracks that you see were made by us. This little outing was a great start to the BC season and I can’t wait to get back out there!!!
Bull Trout Video TR:
GPS Data and map of the Bull Trout outing:
