Industry News
Soldier Mountain may be one of Idaho’s best-kept secrets. Hidden beneath the guise of a small community ski hill with classic fixed-grip chairlifts is one of the best destinations in the state for untracked powder skiing and backcountry access. The secret? Soldier Mountain only operates Thursday through Sunday, so storms rolling into the Sawtooths in the earlier part of the week can stack up the goods over the course of several days.
This season, Soldier Mountain has added the Bridge Creek Sidecountry Project to its trail map. The Bridge Creek area had previously been accessible via a short skin out of the ski area, but now will be much easier to access with a groomed boot-pack trail and recently built snowcat road. The Bridge Creek terrain was debuted in March 2025 over the course of two weekends, with access to the terrain from Soldier’s new tracked side-by-side vehicle. “For small groups, they are a faster, nimbler way to move skiers and snowboarders up the mountain in the backcountry and sidecountry than a traditional snowcat,” General Manager David Alden said in a press release. For now, maps of the Bridge Creek Sidecountry Project are only available from the Soldier Mountain Ski Patrol.
For skiers looking to venture beyond the side-country terrain, Soldier Mountain will continue to offer its cat skiing program, which operates on 2,000 acres of bowls, glades, and steep chutes in Sawtooth National Forest. With careful terrain management, the cat skiing program can deliver untracked powder even several weeks after fresh snow.
Soldier Mountain’s lift ticket prices will help skiers save up for a day of cat skiing. Soldier Mountain is on the Indy Pass for the 2025-2026 season, and day lift tickets are only $59, or roughly the price of a cup of coffee at neighboring Sun Valley, Idaho. While still several months away from the start of operations, the Bridge Creek Sidecountry Project has given us something to dream about.
