Checking back in after our trip to add some comments on Powder Mountain, which did not disappoint. Trip with my wife and I – we’re both pretty competent skiers, but certainly no experts when it comes to powder, so PowMow seemed like a great place to get some more experience. Our first day was on Presidents Day Monday, when PM sold its daily maximum of 1500 day tickets. Tip #1 – I don’t think they hit this cap often, but if you’re visiting from out of state, as we were, buy your lift tickets in advance, to avoid disappointment on the day. A couple of days in advance will probably do it, but just don’t expect to rock up on the morning of a peak holiday weekend and be sure of getting a ticket. Tip #2 for visitors – if there is any snow on the road, 4WD is pretty much a necessity to get up to PM, which is at the top of pretty steep road. Check conditions before you go.
Anyways, we made it and despite hitting the daily ticket cap, the mountain was still incredibly empty, particularly for these East Coasters. It had snowed the day before, maybe 8 inches, and throughout that day we found plenty of lightly-tracked snow very easily, with untracked available in the woods with just a little hunting around. And this was one of their busiest days of the season! We skied two more days and continued to find patches of snow in the woods with no problem, and pretty much walked on to every lift.
PM is a huge area. More acreage than Vail – let that sink in a little. And it is made for exploring. There is very little that is super-steep there, so you can poke around and follow trails with very little trepidation. Our favorite areas were Sanctuary, Hippy Hill in Mary’s Bowl (and Mary’s Bowl generally if you like to explore), either side of the Paradise lift (we found great snow in the trees on skier’s left of the ridge - around Medicine Man? – 3 full days after the storm), and the Bluebell area in Cobabe Canyon. But I’m sure we only scratched the surface.
Woody’s World and Powder Country were both still closed after the storm, so we didn’t get in there at all. We did do one cat-ride ($25 ea) up Lightning Ridge. We did it about 11am on the first day it opened, and the main way back down to Paradise (they called it the back side) was already pretty tracked out. So any later than that and you would need to explore a little. But that main route down is very mellow, so worth doing for the experience, and nothing for intermediate skiers to be concerned about.
Mary’s Bowl is a great new addition to PM. It’s a wide, fairly shallow bowl served by one lift, with scattered trees all over to play in. It takes some getting to and from, but is worth the trek. We did not get in there on the first day after the storm, but everybody who did said it was very good that day. With that context, my likely storm-day plan would be hit Paradise first, then Sanctuary for a couple, then Mary’s in the afternoon. But this is based on a total of 5 days ever skiing PM, so take it for what it’s worth.
I maintain that PM would be an incredible place to take your family, and we are thinking of coming back next year with our teen kids. It’s still (relatively) affordable, with wide-open empty cruising trails, and so many mellow open tree shots for kids to go make their own, safe adventure.
However, a few words of caution. Lodges and food are old-school - this may not be the place for you if luxury is your thing. There are only a few lifts, and some long run-outs to get back to them, so be ready to have fun and enjoy the scenery on the journey. There are comparatively few truly steep runs. And little in the way of nightlife and fine dining close by.
But if you’re looking for powder snow, with a super-mellow vibe, and no competition, then PM may be worth checking out.
A crowded day at Powder Mountain
This run was straight under the lift at 9.45 on Presidents Day
The drop-off point for the cat
In the background, the main run down the back side from where the cat drops you. Nothing at all intimidating
This was in Mary's Bowl, on the morning of the third day after the storm
