Lookout Pass, ID/MT Report: 16โ€ณ Overnight and Pillows Galore

Martin Kuprianowicz | | Post Tag for Conditions ReportConditions Report

Lookout Pass, ID/MT - Feb. 26, 2021

Brought to you by Visit Idaho and Ski Idaho

Report from Friday, February 26, 2021

โ€œChair 3 just opened! Chair 3 JUST opened!โ€ A lifty shouted from the top of Chair 1 right as I was unloading.

So I bulleted straight towards Chair 3.

I skied the liftline which was belly-deep and fluffyโ€”it was hero snow, the kind where you donโ€™t have to hold anything back at all and can just charge. 

Today was likely one of the deepest days of my life, and easily the best day Iโ€™ve skied this season so far (Day 86).

Everywhere I went off-piste I was making waist-deep turns in light, dry, fluffy snow.

This is the stuff dreams are made of.

You could say that Lookout Pass was deep today. | Skier: John Rudi | Photo: SnowBrains

Lookout Pass is located on the Idaho/Montana state line, with the front side of the ski area in Idaho and the backside in Montana.

It is Idahoโ€™s oldest ski area, celebrating 85 years this season.

We got here yesterday afternoon to eight-inches of new snow and had a downright epic afternoon skiing fast, friendly powder.

Then it kept snowing all night.

When I woke up this morning, the report said 16-inches in the last 24 hours.

I skipped breakfast and drove straight to the mountain.

Snowboarder Tyler Mayer gets some freshies and sunshine today at Lookout Pass, ID. | Photo: SnowBrains

Lookout is located off the side of the interstate at exit 0โ€”you literally pull off the highway into the parking lot and can start skiing.

My first lap was around 9 am under the Chair 1 liftline.

You know itโ€™s deep when youโ€™re struggling to see through all the face shots.

Then I went skiing in the trees off Little Dipper which had me feeling like I was in the British Columbia backcountry, making fresh turns the whole way down and jumping onto pillows everywhere. 

โ€œPoppinโ€™ pillows the whole way down!โ€ A very stoked skier on the chair said, whose name I didnโ€™t catch.

I think the word โ€˜magicalโ€™ best describes today. | Snowboarder: Tyler Mayer | Photo: SnowBrains

And then I saw it: a pristine-perfect pillow zone near the bottom of the run that just needed to be sent.

I had a duty to ski it. 

So I took Chair 3 back up and swam through thick trees and a nipple-deep entry to get on top of this pillow zone.

I scoped my exact line, took a deep breath, and pointed โ€™em straight.

Pop, pop, popโ€”face shot after face shot after face shot!

Each pillow sunk me chest-deep and shot big snow over my head.

I couldnโ€™t see halfway down the line but I knew which way to go.

I love pillows, and Lookout Pass has plenty of โ€™em. | Photo: SnowBrains

I reckon this is what heaven is like if there exists such a place.

We went back and skied this pillow zone two more times.

Then we went over to Chair 2 right as the sun popped out, giving way to blue skies.

We took a deep lap in the sunshine on skierโ€™s right of Chair 2, making an untracked line not-so-untracked anymore.

Chair 3โ€”my favorite at Lookout Pass. | Photo: SnowBrains

Nothing will quite relax the mind and spirit like fresh, deep snow and sunshine.

We hit it one more time before going to get delicious Bloody Marys at โ€˜The Loftโ€™ down at the base.

All in a dayโ€™s work.

Tomorrow, we take on Lost Trail Ski Area out of Salmon, Idaho.

It never endsโ€ฆ

Skier John Rudi had a good day today. | Photo: SnowBrains

Snow Numbers

Courtesy Lookout Pass 2/26/21

Trail Map

Courtesy Lookout Pass

Forecast

Courtesy NOAA 2/26/21

Photos

First tracks were DEEP today. | Photo: SnowBrains
The Traveling Kendama takes on Lookout Pass. Thanks, Michelle. | Photo: SnowBrains
Snowboarder: Tyler Mayer | Photo: SnowBrains
Old friends, fresh snow. | Photo: SnowBrains
Skier: Unknown | Photo: SnowBrains
Photo: SnowBrains
Photo: SnowBrains
Photo: SnowBrains
Stevens Peak in the distance. | Photo: SnowBrains
Bloody Marys at the Loft. | Photo: SnowBrains

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