The Pioneering Spirit that Built Brundage Mountain

The McCall Ski Team from the early 1960s poses at the top of Brundage Mountain’s first chairlift, a red two-seat riblet. ENGEN COLLECTION

and How it May Shape the Future of the Homegrown Resort

BY APRIL THOMAS WHITNEY

There’s nothing quite like the first run on a powder day at Brundage Mountain. Whether you woke up to take the quick eight-mile drive from McCall or journeyed up from the Treasure Valley, once you’ve parked your car, geared up, and loaded the lift, your mind’s singular focus can’t help but turn to that first, glorious line that you’ll trace through an untracked field of powder.

Now, imagine…instead of reaching the top of the lift and pointing your tips toward your favorite pow day run, you get to the unload ramp and “Pack the snow!” “Pack the snow!” comes bellowing at you from a uniformed employee standing guard at the top.

That’s what powder days were like in the Winter of 1961-62, the first year Brundage Mountain was open. While the bootstrapping ski area went from an idea to an operation—with a chairlift and lodge—in a remarkable two-year timespan, the budding ski area did not have any grooming equipment that first season.

Johnny Boydstun loads two skiers on the chairlift during Brundage Mountain’s first season, with general manager Corey Engen looking on from the right.

JERRY CORNILLES PHOTO

Phil and Jan Van Schuyler skied at Brundage in the early 1960s, and they shared this memory with daughter Bea Clark. “They would ride up the chairlift, and ski instructor Herb Hyna would be standing on top. As they got off the lift, Hyna would bellow out, ‘Pack the snow!’ and they would have to side-slip down the mountain to help pack the run. One day, J.R. Simplot rode the chair after my parents, and Hyna was waiting for them on top. Herb yelled out his order to ‘Pack the slope!’ and J.R. and my parents dutifully packed the run.”

This is just one of the incredible memories that author Eve Chandler recounts in her 2012 history book, Brundage Mountain, The Best Snow in Idaho. Idaho potato mogul J.R. Simplot was one of three founders of the resort who exemplified the pioneering spirit that helped make Brundage what it is today.

The townspeople of McCall had a passion for skiing and ski jumping dating back to the early 1900s. The Little Ski Hill had been satisfying most of the town’s alpine needs since 1937, but after a meager snow year in 1959 when Little Ski Hill was able to open for only three weeks, local mill owner Warren Brown and Norwegian ski champion Corey Engen decided it was time to go bigger and higher.

They asked Simplot to join the pursuit and began scoping out several steeper, taller mountains near McCall, giving careful consideration to where the snow fell deepest and most consistently. They chose the west-facing slopes of Brundage Mountain and within two short years developed a master plan, arranged financing, built a ski lodge, installed a chairlift, and cleared two runs that were called North and South (Modern day Main Street and Alpine).

A first season postcard by professional photographer Walt Rubey shows the Triad Lodge, designed by Warren Brown’s son, Frank, and built in a single summer.

“It’s pretty amazing that they put up that Triad Lodge in one summer,” said Chandler. “They started as soon as the snow melted and got it open by Thanksgiving Day. The thing that people never think about is the infrastructure like sewer, water and electricity. To get those three things in—in two years’ time—is phenomenal.”

The effort paid off. The ski area opened on Thanksgiving Day of 1961 with a 28-inch base on top of the mountain. By the end of the holiday weekend, a series of storms dumped a couple more FEET of snow, raising the snow depth to 48 inches. Skiers were encouraged to purchase a season pass: $50 for adults, $25 for junior skiers.

The Armacost family stops to enjoy the view while skiing at Brundage Mountain.

PHOTO BY CHAD CASE PHOTOGRAPHY

“McCall has always been the kind of community where, if they wanted something, they just went out and did it. And not just Corey and Warren and JR, the people of McCall are a little tougher than everyone else,” said Chandler. “McCall is located in a mountainous environment that is rugged in the winter. There are terrible storms. But you can’t just not feed the cattle and not go to school, and there’s always been a lot of pride in being a mountain community that perseveres and really relishes in the fun they can have in the wintertime.”

Over the years, that pioneering spirit and passion for fun served the small resort well. It grew from a two-run ski area with no grooming equipment to a 1,920-acre resort with 70 runs and a reputation for perfectly-pressed corduroy. (Now provided entirely without the labor of the paying guests, to be clear). And of course, the powder.

“Brundage has just always had these epic dumps of snow. And that’s why people come to Brundage. They remember that epic powder day…they’re coming back for more,” said Chandler.

Lynne Wieland enjoys a bluebird powder day at Brundage Mountain.

PHOTO BY GARY PETERSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Chandler believes the ease of skiing at Brundage is what makes it so special. Skiers and snowboarders can go from their cabin or hotel and be on the mountain in 20 minutes. It’s easy to park, and mountain ambassadors help you unload skis and answer questions.

“I do think that people feel like they’re on vacation if they come from out of town, they feel like they’re out of their everyday routine, and I also think that Brundage is easy for a lot of people to ski,” said Chandler. “It’s not intimidating. If you really want to ski more challenging things, you can go off trail, you can ski Hidden Valley, but the intermediate to advanced terrain is very easy for most people to ski. They feel comfortable. And I also think they feel welcome.” And that’s exactly the vibe that the new ownership group aspires to protect while they modernize the mountain infrastructure and expand to keep up with the growing skier population that’s discovered Brundage Mountain’s charms. In 2006, The J.R. Simplot Company sold its interest in Brundage Mountain to co-owners, Judd and Diane Brown DeBoer (Warren’s daughter). After Judd passed away in 2020, longtime board member Bob Looper pulled together a group of Idaho-based families—who already had a deep passion for Brundage Mountain—to invest in the resort. Looper says the exciting thing about the ownership group’s ten-year plan is that it’s completely home grown. There are no remote corporate mandates dictating how to move forward.

“We are really focused on enhancing the skiing and snowboarding experience in the winter and the outdoor activities in the summer,” said Looper. “We’re making the facilities more comfortable and more functional to make it easier to enjoy what the mountain naturally has to offer.”

Brundage Mountain’s new 20,000 square foot Day Lodge/Mountain Adventure Center is set to break ground in Spring of 2023.

RENDERING © 2021 EPIKOS DESIGN

Those plans are already in action. This summer, Brundage built a new ski and bike patrol building at the base area and upgraded underground infrastructure to make way for a new 20,000 square foot day lodge. Construction on that facility will begin as soon as the snow melts in the spring of 2023. The Centennial triple chair will be upgraded to a high-speed quad in summer of 2023 to give the mountain two high-speed quads on the front side. On site lodging, additional lift upgrades, snowmaking, and terrain expansions are also in the ten-year plan.

According to Looper, “We take our responsibility to the mountain and to the community very seriously and we think our guests are going to love seeing Brundage grow into the future.”