We live in a special place – around 10,000 skiable acres across a 13-mile ridgeline with nearly 70 lifts. It’s easy to get spoiled. So I thought, maybe it’s time to get out of town for a few days.
Armed with my Indy Pass, I headed up to Idaho.
The Albion Mountains stretch from the Utah border up toward Burley, rising out of the plains of the Snake River. The 9,265-foot peak of Mt. Harrison was our guidepost as we drove up twisty-turny switchbacks with plow-carved snow standing 10 feet high along the roadway. The erratic GPS routing said 22 miles to go, but suddenly we were in the parking lot of the Pomerelle Mountain Resort.
The Indy Pass is a wonderful thing. Good at over 120 resorts, you just walk up to the ticket window, give them your name and out comes a ticket. My wife Carole settled into a window seat in the day lodge, where $8 will get you a burger and chips. I slid over to the Triple 88 for the eight-minute ride up a thousand feet to a wind-swept ridgeline.
My eyes peered out over the seemingly endless expanse of the Sawtooth National Forest. Yesterday’s storm had dropped over a foot of new snow – most of which was still untracked. While the wind had formed a crust along the ridgeline, the snow was luscious as I pointed my tips down Instructor, carving turns through the well-gladed evergreens, then dropping down Chute 9.
Pomerelle is a lot more laid back than Park City – exactly what I was seeking! One of the oldest western ski areas, it dates back to 1940 – just a few years after Sun Valley. In 1974, it was purchased by Utah native Woody Anderson, who had been ski school director and general manager of what is now Park City Mountain.
There’s something particularly relaxing about a fixed-grip chairlift ride. It gives you time to rest, taking in the world around you. Sliding off the Triple 88 for my last run of the afternoon, the sun was breaking through the clouds. I skated along the ridgeline above the trees, to a sweeping combination of runs along the perimeter of the resort. The views to the south toward Utah were stunning.
I arced down Barry’s Run, then found some untouched powder pods along Fence Line to the lodge. The afternoon transported me back to the fundamental principles of why we all love the sport. It was with a bit of sadness that we left Pomerelle behind.
Kelly Canyon was stop two on our Indy Pass adventure, located just outside Idaho Falls. We got an early start, putting it into the GPS and getting a message that our destination would be closed when we arrived. Apparently the ski area opened at noon. So we found a local coffee shop.
Crossing a fast-running Snake River, we followed a twisty creek up into the canyon. It was 11:45 a.m. and the parking lot was filling quickly with families on a Wednesday afternoon, moms and dads eager to treat their kids to a day of skiing.
The Kelly Canyon trail map makes you dizzy with runs going off in every direction. Add in a deep canyon on the west side of the resort and you have a wonderfully intriguing maze of possibilities from Steeper ‘N Heck to Grandma’s House to Slithery Dee. A white marker board sign at the top leads you to Powder Bowl.
You dive right into the then-and-now when you slide onto Gold Rush, the brand new (2021) Skytrac triple right outside the lodge, running nearly 900 feet into the sky right alongside the original Outlaw lift built in 1957.
There were still fresh tracks to be found in the two-day-old powder dump, with some nice drops through the trees.
Spending a couple days on the road truly brought me back to the heart of what I love about the sport. It was about the friendliness of skiers, the warmth you felt in the lodge, the smiles on the faces of the kids. There was no hustle and bustle. There were no lift lines. Just a few skiers and riders out enjoying the snow.