tell me about idaho, specifically indy resorts

[deadheadskier]

and Schweitzer is right on the way to Red

Seems like basing of Sandpoint would be a good spot. You have Schweitzer right there, Silver and Red reasonable day trips

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Seems like basing of Sandpoint would be a good spot. You have Schweitzer right there, Silver and Red reasonable day trips

i reserved 5 nights in sandpoint for schweitzer, and 2 in CDA for silver. may need to bring the passport and hop over the border tho. fernie is also only about 3 hours.

red is also on ikon. lol. i keep finding out shit is on my passes. its great. because I never considered this region I never paid attention and all of a sudden I have like 10+ options in my drivable radius

just looked at red's map. that's my kinda party. hopefully the Canadian border is amenable to day trip crossings come february.

 

[deadheadskier]

i reserved 5 nights in sandpoint for schweitzer, and 2 in CDA for silver. may need to bring the passport and hop over the border tho. fernie is also only about 3 hours.

red is also on ikon. lol. i keep finding out shit is on my passes. its great. because I never considered this region I never paid attention and all of a sudden I have like 10+ options in my drivable radius

just looked at red's map. that's my kinda party. hopefully the Canadian border is amenable to day trip crossings come february.

Seems like that whole Spokane / CDA area is primed to take off much like SLC has and Denver before it. Probably already is. While maybe not offering exactly as good of access, mountain size and snow quantity, it's still got a really good mix

I'm too entrenched socially in the East to consider moving west, but as someone who loves to boat in the summer, that area is vastly more appealing for four seasons than Utah or CO due to the much lower elevation. The lakes actually warm up enough to be enjoyable.

 

[jaytrem]

red is also on ikon. lol. i keep finding out shit is on my passes. its great. because I never considered this region I never paid attention and all of a sudden I have like 10+ options in my drivable radius

Didn't I tell you that you need to take a month off??? That's the problem with these passes, as soon as you get to one place there's just one more not too far. Oh, and don't forget to hit Turner on your way to Whitefish!

 

[KustyTheKlown]

lol for real.

the overly ambitious agenda is travel day fri march 19 > 49 north sat > tamarack sun > brundage mon > schweitzer tues > schweitzer weds > red thurs > schweitzer fri > schweitzer sat > silver sun > silver mon > travel day tues feb 1

but I think I will end up skipping the long drive south to tamarack and brundage

 

[jaytrem]

If you're really going to do Red it would be easier to stick it before or after 49. That's much closer than Sand Point. You might as well stay 2 days while up there. Maybe go...

49 > 49 > Red > Red > Schweitzer X 4, Silver > Silver

Or maybe 3 and 3 at Red/Schweitzer depending on snow.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

yea, my route was based on my current hotel reservation situation, which is definitely subject to change. just glad to have a car and some rooms locked in and some western skiing to look forward to. last year was the first year since I was 15 that I didn't ski at least 5 days out west.

 

[Bosco DaSkia]

Lost Trail is closer to Spokane than Brundage…. They are also closed Monday-Wednesday. They get stupid amounts of snow there. Thursdays are almost guaranteed to be a deep powder day of all the snow that’s accumulated over the last three days while they’re closed. There’s never any people there. It only takes a couple hours from Silver Mountain and Lookout Pass is right on the way when you go and come back.

The closest hotels to Last Trail are in Darby. I had a good luck with this one. Cheap and clean with a kitchen in the room.

mountainspiritinn.com

The Fairbridge Inn and Suites hotel shares a parking lot with the Silver Mountain gondola. You can walk directly to the lift from the hotel without having to drive anywhere. Much cheaper than staying at the Silver Mountain properties hotel adjacent to the gondola.

fairbridgekellogg.com

Last Trail Powder Mountain and Lookout Pass, are two of only for ski areas in this country where you can ski from one state to another. The other two being Catamount and Heavenly. #skigoals

 

[KustyTheKlown]

thanks! i booked a hotel in CDA for silver mountain for now, just because its free to reserve and can cancel til last minute. as this plan solidifies and I clear the work time away and buy the flights, I can consider committing to better lodgings. just don't feel like laying out money right now even if it is refundable.

 

[Hoodoo]

Very informative thread. I'd heard of some of these areas, but many I had not.

What I was unaware of was Spokane being an ideal airport to access several quality and good sized areas that aren't too far from the city.

Really seems to be a no brainer if you are someone who loathes crowds and has minimal "resort" requirements.

Looks like a much more appealing destination for my tastes than Denver, SLC or Tahoe.

Too bad there's no direct flights from Boston to Spokane.

GEG (Spokane) provides access to so many mountains (US and Canadian side). But, getting to it is brutal. My home airport is BWI. Often times, it's a '2 stopper' to GEG. And, sorta silly. Like BWI>SFO>LAS>GEG. Ugggg.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

ya i didnt see any direct flights but nyc had plenty of one stop connections starting from jfk, lga, and newark. some of the connections make good sense (Chicago, Minneapolis). some are less ideal (portland, Seattle, san Francisco)

 

[Shredmonkey254]

If you're really going to do Red it would be easier to stick it before or after 49. That's much closer than Sand Point. You might as well stay 2 days while up there. Maybe go...

49 > 49 > Red > Red > Schweitzer X 4, Silver > Silver

Or maybe 3 and 3 at Red/Schweitzer depending on snow.

I would spend more time at Red over Schweitzer if you like steeps. It’s also a relatively short and easy hike to the top of Roberts to access some great terrain.

 

[SenorQuesadilla]

Just booked a cabin at Lost Trails Hot Springs for the first weekend in February. On the map it looks like the closest hotel to the ski area at a ~10 minute drive. There's actually a US Forest Service cabin that you can rent overnight for free in the winter that's a 3 minute drive + 1/2 mile ski/snowshoe in, though you do have to do minor caretaking duties for the XC skiiers that use the cabin during the day so I'm not sure if that would get in the way of skiing.

The reviews for the place I booked were not as consistently high as the one Bosco mentioned above, but this review, and more specifically the reply from the owners, that sold me:

Review:
Tepid water, at best, in larger pool. More of a kids playground then hot springs experience. Kids dive bombing into the pool on one end while the other had a full blown game of Marco polo. Actual Hot tub is inside dark and creepy room, and very small.
I've been to allot of hot springs over the years and this is at the top of least favorite list.

Response from the owner:
Sorry you do not like kids and families.

The reviews of Lost Trail in this thread were what initially got me thinking about including it on my road trip, but when I pulled up a youtube video where at one point it seems like you could hear every person on the mountain whooping with joy I was sold.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i dont like kids and families but i know better than to hang out at a cheap road trip hotel's pool.

a few years ago I was in lake placid with my girlfriend. we were in an actual pretty nice hotel, which is not my MO. it was the high peaks resort. all fucking day and night kids were slamming doors and running up and down the hallways. in the morning I peaked out the door to see the noise and I see an adult chaperone with her back to me. I'm like 'yo', no answer. I'm like "YO", no answer. I'm like "YO I AM FUCKING TALKING TO YOU EUTHANIZE THESE FUCKING KIDS". some door down the hall opens and someone yells back at me "YO SHE IS DEAF"

so apparently these super loud kids who were making noise all day and night were being looked after by a deaf person who couldn't hear them.

resort refunded our stay that night.

 

[urungus]

i reserved 5 nights in sandpoint for schweitzer, and 2 in CDA for silver. may need to bring the passport and hop over the border tho. fernie is also only about 3 hours.

red is also on ikon. lol. i keep finding out shit is on my passes. its great. because I never considered this region I never paid attention and all of a sudden I have like 10+ options in my drivable radius

just looked at red's map. that's my kinda party. hopefully the Canadian border is amenable to day trip crossings come february.

I don’t expect much change at the border in the next few months, except for possibly allowing vaccinated Canadians to travel south when Delta recedes.

For Americans heading North, in addition to the usual documentation (proof of citizenship), that means arriving at the border with proof of double vaccination, a negative PCR test (antigen not acceptable) no more than 72 hours old, and having registered yourself in the ArriveCan app. Returning south you will need another negative test no more than 3 calendar days old, and a completed “attestation form” https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/Fillable-Attestation-English-p.pdf

Bear in mind that it can be difficult finding a lab for Covid testing with rapid turnaround in some of these rural areas, most seem to take 2-3 days to get results. Meaning planning the border crossing can be tricky and stressful, there may be only a few hours between when you get the results and the 72 hour test age limit.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i just requested the time off from work and made my final reservations and itinerary. will actually book the flight after work approves, which is largely a formality but i'll wait for them before booking

feb 15 - PCR test in NYC so i can drive into canada within 72 hours
feb 16 - flying newark to spokane thru dallas 5:00 AM - 10:39 AM
feb 16 - pick up suv rental and hang in spokane, downtown hotel
feb 17 - wake up early and drive to red mountain BC, ski there on feb 17, 18, and 19. cheap motel nearby.
feb 19 - wake up early and drive to 49 North, ski there feb 20 and 21. very nice airbnb nearby
feb 21 - wake up early and drive to schweitzer. ski there feb 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, staying in nice-ish hotel in sandpoint
feb 26 - wake up early and drive to silver mountain, ski there feb 26, 27, comfort inn in CDA
feb 28 - drive back to spokane and fly back to newark on an 11 AM flight thru chicago to newark
mar 1 - take the day off work to relax

total costs of cars and lodging is $2200. flight is credit card miles. 12 ski days if i dont take any breaks. skiing is entirely ikon and indy and paid for. very tight driving loop with no long stretches. anyone know about the drive from 49 north to schweitzer? only one that looks maybe a bit sketch.

this should be fun!

 

[ThatGuy]

Looks like an awesome trip! My legs would be toast.

 

[jaytrem]

Awesome! I did the Schweitzer -> 49N drive about 15 years ago. I don't remember much about it, so I guess that's a good sign. Looking at the map, it doesn't look bad at all. Mostly lower elevation along the river.

Oh, and no break days for you!!!

 

[Mainer]

lived in McCall one year had a brundage and A tamarack pass. So much snow that year, rented a house that the roof had to be shoveled in winter (part of the lease) by February the snow off the roof was higher than the house. Both are fun mtns, brundage laid back great vibe (similar to lost trail) tamarack tried are to go fancy then went bankrupt. Both great if it snows, but don’t have that big mtn feel. I love that area. Sunday’s we would ski tamarack till about one then go to a hot spring (not telling u where) gold fork is nice too. Makes me jealous thinking about it

 

[urungus]

Sounds like an awesome trip. You may need to plan to get tested while in Canada, when you cross the border on the 19th your PCR test will be 4 days old

Travel Restrictions Fact Sheet

March 21, 2020 - The United States will temporarily limit inbound land border crossings from Canada and Mexico to “essential travel”.

ca.usembassy.gov

• Starting on November 08, fully vaccinated foreign travelers with appropriate vaccine-related documentation will be able to travel to the United States across the Northern and Southwest borders with Canada and Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be providing further details on what will be required of travelers in the coming days.

Not clear if test required in addition to vaccination documentation

U.S. CDC says guidance still to come on whether to require land-border COVID-19 test

U.S. officials aren't ruling out the possibility that fully vaccinated foreign visitors will need a recent negative COVID-19 test in order to cross the land border with Canada.

www.ctvnews.ca

edit: I guess the above applies to foreigners entering the US, not sure about testing rule for US citizens