January 23, 2016 Lookout Pass, ID/MT

This is a fun stop on our way further East. Lookout Pass is on the border of ID/MT and has 4 lifts with 1 on the MT side. The lifts start at 8:30am Pacific time. I have some 2 for 1 coupons for various areas, and using one here we got our senior tickets for a total of $32. Backcountry folks can buy a single ride ticket. We met one touring person (could tell by his bindings) and were talking about our Dynafit bindings. On Friday a warm front arrived and made the touring unique. There are numerous touring areas accessed from the ski area in all directions.

The 3 main lifts are doubles. I like the lift names: Idaho Side, North Side and Montana Side. Easy to remember; only problem is that they don't have the names on the lifts! It was a groomer day due to the warm front, but it began snowing lightly midmorning. We were the first RV in the parking lot, actually the only vehicle in the upper parking lot. I planned for an opening based on Mountain time. Hmmm, but we did get the first groomed tracks and there were no lift lines. The locals were late arriving and began filled the parking lot a bit later. There is some great tree skiing between the 3 lifts. The base is at 4500' and provides 1100 vertical. You can add some vertical if you ask the locals about the catch lines.