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My non-skiing trip up to Soldier Mountain Ski Resort on January 17th got me in the mood to try skiing again. I hadn’t skied in about 10 years and that was in North Dakota so the skiing wasn’t all that great. Even back then skiing was rather painful on my knees so I was concerned my "almost 50 year old" knees would be even worse this time around. This January 31st, 2009 ski trip was quite different…no painful knees.
URL of Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5oZFTSOSR8
The Good Part of the Mountain
Soldier Mountain is a very nice ski area. The slopes are wide open in most places so that you don’t feel crowded in by trees like the major eastern US ski resorts I skied as a kid . The snow conditions were excellent as almost every run was groomed smooth except some of the black diamond run that had some one week old powder left over. I found out that I really enjoy the wide open slope that allow me to carve nice long sweeping turns while keeping up the speed .
The lift lines on the two chair lifts at Soldier were almost non-existent. The longest lift line I had to contend with was probable less than 30 seconds but most times I got to ski right up the the chair. All the employees truly seemed to enjoy their jobs and were what I call "Idaho Friendly".
The weather was absolutely prefect for the person who came prepared. I wasn’t totally prepared for the mid-30 degree temperatures so my ski jacket was a little too heavy to be wearing during the afternoon from the mid-mountain point down to the base of the mountain. But at 7,200 feet atop the Bird’s Eye Chairlift, I’m glad I had my jacket on and zipped up.
The views from almost any place on Soldier Mountain are great. But the best views as you might imagine are from the top of the mountain. Just being able to overlook the Camas Prairie from 7,200 feet was worth the price of a lift ticket.
URL of Slideshow: http://picasaweb.google.com/tim.bondy/SoldierMountainSkiResortJan31st2009?feat=directlink
The Bad Part of the Mountain
The only bad part of skiing Soldier Mountain is skiing from the top of the mountain to the base lodge. It appears that the only way to ski from the top to the bottom entails having to negotiate some very flat sections of trails and even some slightly uphill sections. It’s quite possible I missed that path down that allows you to avoid the flat trails. I renamed one of the trails from "Almost Home" to "Flat and Miserable".
Credits
Author: Tim Bondy from Mountain Home, Idaho
Photographer: Tim Bondy
Pictures and Video Taken: 31 January, 2009
Place: Soldier Mountain Ski Resort, Idaho