Conditions Report
Report from Thursday, February 27, 2025
Way up in northern Idaho, in the weird strip of land between Washington and Montana called ‘the Panhandle’, lies Silver Mountain Resort. Named for the precious metal that was mined here along with zinc and lead, visitors to Silver can mine some golden memories of their own. Despite spending most of my ski days in Idaho every winter, I may never have heard about Silver if not for the Indy Pass.
Kellogg, Idaho sits at an elevation of 2,300 feet, and typically does not see enough snow for skiing throughout the winter. Luckily, Silver Mountain is home to the longest gondola in North America, which will transport you over three miles and up another two thousand feet or so in a little over 15 minutes.
Silver’s expansive off-piste terrain would make for a pretty epic powder day. Based on the tracks on Wardner peak from a few days prior, it seems likely you could be skiing fresh snow all day if you timed the storm right. On our first couple of runs, things were still firm off the groomers, so we only tiptoed into these frozen mashed potatoes here and there, biding our time till the sun worked its magic.
Much of the terrain at Silver faces North, so it was still easy to find shady pockets that had preserved their powder from a few days before. After hunting for these pockets for a few laps, we headed to the lodge for an early lunch break to let the sun complete its diurnal transformation.
When we emerged, it seemed there was soft snow everywhere we went. The hour we spent in the lodge gave the sun enough time to bake the groomers into a perfect slarvey, and soften up some of the moguls to make for a delightful challenge.
All of Silver’s chairlifts are fixed grips, with one of them being a classic center pole chairlift. That thing was tough to get on and they kept it running at top speed all day long. The lift rides never felt long and gave our legs a nice rest between servings of buttery mashed potatoes.
Silver Mountain offers up the relaxed vibes of a smaller, local hill with the terrain options of a much bigger mountain. It could be one of the best spots in the Northwest to ski on a powder day. With the airport in Spokane a little over an hour away, it is definitely worth keeping an eye on the forecast. Thank you, Silver!
Snowpack
24 hr New Snow: 0 inches
Season Snowfall: 210 inches
Base Depth: 93 inches
Weather
NOAA Forecast Discussion
For tonight a moist boundary layer over the ID Panhandle, NE
Washington, Spokane/Coeur d`Alene area, and Palouse will promote
patchy to areas of fog development for the overnight hours. Dew
points in the mid to upper 30s and areas of clearing boosters
confidence in the models of the fog potential.Late Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday evening a negative tilt short
wave passes through the area with precipitable water 150% of
normal, which combined with lift from the passing wave has led to
an increase in POP`s. For most of Central and Eastern WA it will
be a quick hitter with just a couple hours of precipitation. The
ID Panhandle and Cascade crest will see precipitation hang on
longer where orographic upslope flow behind the wave will keep
shower activity persisting. As the band of precipitation passes
through snow levels will range from 3000-4000 feet with light
accumulations over the mountain passes.
