It’s like combining two great flavors — peanut butter and chocolate or pie and ice cream. Backcountry fishing melds the fun of hiking or exploring with the pursuit of fish. And summer is the prime time to do it.

Idaho has about 3,000 backcountry lakes and hundreds of miles of streams that are generally lightly fished and surrounded by world-class scenery.

Getting to these backcountry gems is half the fun and fishing them in total solitude is the cherry on top.

“We like to backpack into an area and disappear from the world,” said Kara Dressen, of trips with her husband. “I catch a couple and then he just goes until he’s done. No busy roads or traffic or competition, it’s just how fishing should be I guess, surrounded by majestic features and silence.”

Brett High, fish manager for Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Upper Snake Region said “backcountry” means different things to different people.

“Some people think Ryder Park is backcountry,” High said jokingly. He said East Idaho has about 50 alpine lakes in the surrounding mountain ranges, including the Centennial, Big Holes, Snake River, Lemhi and Lost River ranges.

“I’m biased but the alpine lake fishing in the Upper Snake Region is as good as it gets,” High said. “We have diversity, we have size, we have diversity of access with some trails being open to motorbikes and ATVs, and some without any trails at all. Nearly all of the lakes have fish. The lakes that have fish, all fish pretty well.”

To avoid “hot spotting” and listing specific lakes or streams in the backcountry, High spoke mostly in generalities about where to go. One good place to start in choosing a mountain lake or stream is Fish and Game’s Fishing Planner found on its website. Find the Fishing Planner’s interactive map that shows trails, stocking records and fish survey records on fish species present. Contour maps can help users determine how difficult or remote an area is to get to.

“That’s a great resource for people who are trying to do a combo trip,” High said. “That will help them tailor their trip to the type of experience they are looking for.”

East Idaho outdoorsman Fred Eaton also turns to the internet for directions.

“I usually will use Google maps and OnX to check out streams and hiking areas,” he said via online message, “then I go on a hike to a river and try it out, maybe make a backpacking campout out of it.” OnX is a hunting app that offers GPS mapping for hunting nationwide.

The appeal of backcountry fishing is a regular draw for Eaton.

“I love the peacefulness of fishing in the backcountry, seeing the amazing trout and wildlife you can find out there, and having that waterside campfire where you can enjoy your catch right where it came from,” Eaton said. “I try to get into the backcountry for fishing at least once a month. Sometimes it will be a few times a week, or go a month or two without.”

Another avid fisherman from Rigby, Eric Call, said he enjoys going to places that require effort to get to.

“I’ve fished most lakes through the Sawtooth mountains as well as some in the Lemhi mountain range,” Call said via online message. “Alpine lakes and the fish are spectacular.”

Speaking once again in generalities, High said most alpine lakes and streams have brook, rainbows or cutthroat trout in them. Waters that are fished less frequently often have smaller fish but greater abundance. Specifically, he said most of the streams flowing into the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River have brook trout. One example is the Buffalo River in the Island Park area.

“The Buffalo River has a lot of brook trout in it but they‘re not big fish,” High said. “You can drive to the springs that are the source of Buffalo River but there’s several miles in between where there is no access other than floating or hiking.”

Another stream that requires some hiking is Robinson Creek flowing out of Yellowstone National Park.

“There are places you can drive to Robinson Creek, but there’s some really good fishing off the road if you’re willing to hike and get up in there,” High said. “The same with Warm River.”

In the early 1900s, most of Idaho’s alpine lakes and streams were fishless. Fish and Game’s Roger Phillips explained why many of Idaho’s mountains lakes now are good fisheries.

“Most have fish in them thanks to Fish and Game’s mountain lake stocking program,” Phillips said in a news release. “Every year, crews hike, pack in by horseback and fly in fingerling trout, which typically grow to catchable sizes within a few years.”

Brook trout sometimes dominate streams where they are present.

“Brook trout can provide lots of fishing action, and they can be a lot of fun to catch for young or new anglers,” Phillips said. “There’s typically a 25-fish bag limit for brook trout, but check the Fishing Seasons and Rules booklet because there are exceptions. The trade off with brook trout is they can overpopulate mountain lakes, and while catch rates can be high, fish are likely to be small.”

High recommends the motorized users check on access before setting off.

“With ATVs, I’d recommend you first get the (Bureau of Land Management) or Forest Service travel plan maps to verify that the location you want to go is open,” he said. “There are some trails in the Salmon-Challis National Forest in the Copper Basin area that have access to ATVs, like Lake Creek or Corral Creek.”

For all backcountry visitors, the experts recommend going prepared with navigation tools and skills and extra clothing backup in case of nasty weather.

“Be sure to pack clothing for cold and wet weather, even during summer because thunderstorms are common and can drop the temperature by 20-30 degrees, and a warm, sunny day can turn cold and wet within minutes,” Phillips said. “Bring enough food and water to enjoy a day outdoors, and don’t forget other items, like sunscreen and bug repellent.”

“Nearly all the streams in Eastern Idaho have fish in them to one degree or another,” High said. “What better way to get out and learn what your backyard is all about, than by hiking and doing some fishing and just exploring.”

Kris Millgate has been traveling like crazy lately. Her schedule is relentless, similar to the migrating fish she is following.

There’s little time for showers — maybe every 10 days — just stop for gas and get going. She sleeps by herself in the back of a loaned truck and camper. The outdoor multimedia journalist has been hunting down pertinent people and places along the route of one of the longest fish migration paths in the world, and puts a camera and microphone in their faces, gathering a story to retell. Her project is called “Ocean to Idaho.”

“I’m following salmon,” Millgate said. “I’ve been researching it for months and months and months. I feel like I’ve been living, breathing everything fish. This time of year, you have 15 hours of light. So, you’re working 15 hours, and I go back to my camper and input everything so I’m up all night. It’s kind of like a crazy crunch, but I love every minute of it. I’m not even tired like I think I should be.”

Millgate is inviting people along for the journey via social media posts. You can find them at tightlinemedia.com/oceantoidaho.

The idea for the project came from a broken leg. While couched up for four months she hatched the plan to follow migrating Idaho salmon from the mouth of the Columbia River to their spawning waters in the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River, 850 miles away.

“During that time on the couch I had a lot of time to think about my work and my life, everything I wanted to do and what I hadn’t done yet,” she said. “I knew the end of the salmon route at the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River. I’ve shot that. I was intrigued by the idea of what on earth was it like for salmon to swim from the ocean all the way to Idaho.”

She made her plans, then a pandemic hit and she had to rethink everything.

“That’s adding an extra layer of challenge that I didn’t even see coming,” she said.

Dams were closed, people were staying home, she originally planned on flying places and staying in hotels. As sponsors Northwest Toyota Dealers offered up a Tundra pickup and Four Wheel Campers fitted it with a camper. She would ditch any helpers and go solo.

“When I do interviews, I have masks, I have wipes, I do not touch the microphone to the people,” she said. “They handle it and I sanitize it afterward. There’s all these extra layers that have to go on during a pandemic. It makes the job more challenging. It’s hard enough to travel across the Pacific Northwest and then to add extra layers of pandemic pressure makes it a little bit interesting.”

Her end game is to produce a documentary film to come out next spring and several stories for local media outlets, including the Post Register. She is focusing on Chinook salmon because “no one really remembers being able to fish for sockeye, they remember fishing for Chinook. So, I’m following Chinook salmon.” Specifically, Chinook from the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River. They use the Columbia, the Snake, the Salmon and the Yankee Fork and return by mid-August.

Along her journey she shoots photographs, video, an underwater camera, a drone for overhead, and her phone. “Sometimes two at a time, but if I’m doing my drone, it’s just the drone and same with underwater.”

Already, she’s learned a few interesting tidbits.

“I’ve talked with a tribal fisher and her son off of their scaffold,” she said. “They caught their first sockeye of the season. It was for dinner. It was magnificent. They were mostly catching shad. … Watching them off that scaffold is amazing. … They’ll be there every night for hours on end. They just shove that dip net down into that fast water. If I ever did that it would fling me right into the current. It’s so fast.”

Another thing Millgate has learned during her venture is about fish rest stops.

“I went to a spot where Chinook salmon from the Yankee Fork of Idaho stop as a rest area,” she said about an area downstream from Portland, Oregon. “It’s an amazing chunk of backwater that used to be like a pasture for cows. It’s been restored and fish come in there. What they’ve discovered is that everyone thinks that salmon head straight to the ocean and they don’t stray. Or they head straight back to Idaho and they don’t stray. But they do. They stray into estuaries. They’ll hold in these safe backwaters. It’s just like a rest stop. Then they’ll get back on the route. They take these little detours to get a break.”

Besides closely following the fish, Millgate is interviewing other stakeholders along the way. The commercial fishermen, sport fishers, tribe fishers, the Corps of Engineers, dam operators, scientists, hatcheries operators, historians and more.

One big issue that comes up is the impact of dams on the fish.

“There are so many dynamics to this,” she said. “Of course, what comes up is the dams, should they stay or should they go? The answer to that is it depends on who you’re asking.”

Millgate said her journey ends in August when the salmon arrive at the Yankee Fork.

“It’s a very packed and tight schedule,” she said. “I have to stay on schedule or I miss something. I’m in country I’ve never seen. The farther you put me from Idaho, the less I know about the landscape and the people. I’m going to put in thousands of miles to follow a fish for 850.”

Memorial Day weekend is coming and for many East Idaho families, that means fishing and camping.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game says it is stocking the region’s waters in preparation for the coming holiday weekend, often seen as the historic kickoff for the fishing season.

While many campgrounds and developed sites remain closed until June 1, many day-use attractions and dispersed camping sites will be open. One popular state park campground, Henry’s Lake, won’t open until May 30. Caribou-Targhee National Forest campgrounds will open June 1.

“It may be confusing planning your trips, and the simple, but the not-so-simple answer is to do some homework before you go to avoid disappointment, especially if you plan to use developed facilities, such as campgrounds, boat launches, picnic areas, etc.,” said Fish and Game’s Roger Phillips in a news release.

But even without camping, Henry’s Lake is expected to be popular.

“Access is open, you can put a boat on the water (at Henry’s Lake),” said James Brower, regional communications manager for Fish and Game. “Camping is going to be closed, so that’s going to be different for people. That’s a big draw during Memorial Day weekend.”

Brower said “every spot that can be filled” will be filled on opening day at Henry’s Lake. “It’s definitely an event. It’s a big one.”

One of the reasons people flock to Henry’s Lake is the fishing is usually great.

“Not only are they big, trophy size fish … but in the spring, they’re hungry,” Brower said.

Other areas worth taking the family to include the Henry’s Fork River, Ririe Reservoir, the South Fork of the Snake River, American Falls Reservoir, Birch Creek, Stoddard Mill Pond (Island Park), Becker Pond, Blackfoot Reservoir and area lakes and ponds. Fish and Game reports that many of the places will be freshly stocked before the holiday weekend arrives.

In the Salmon area, Fish and Game says rivers and streams are expected to be in spring run-off mode (high and murky), but several kid-friendly ponds are stocked and ready to fish. Kids Creek Pond, Hyde Creek Pond, Hayden Creek Pond, Williams Lake, Blue Mountain Meadow Pond, Mosquito Flat Reservoir and Squaw Creek Pond are all worth a visit.

“Parents can watch their youngster’s eyes light up as they hook a feisty rainbow trout at many close to home and kid-friendly fishing spots,” Fish and Game biologist Mike Demick said in a news release. “Remember to keep it simple when fishing with kids. Using simple set-ups like worm/marshmallow combinations or Power Bait near the bottom or below a bobber will usually work well.”

Reports on waters closer to Idaho Falls are looking positive.

“There’s several hatches that have been going on the Henry’s Fork,” Brower said. “The big one is the salmon fly hatch coming soon.”

Ririe Reservoir is expected to produce smallmouth bass “especially around the willows around the edges and in the coves,” Brower said. Yellow perch have also been doing well at Ririe Reservoir.

Fish and Game is also reporting stocking fish at Pole Bridge on Willow Creek and at a new spot.

“We also have a new access agreement on Camas Creek with a landowner right where the Red Road crosses Camas Creek,” Brower said. He said that area will be stocked with fish.

One area that is fishing well right now is the South Fork of the Snake River just below the Palisades Dam and downstream to Irwin. Rainbow trout (there’s no limit on the South Fork) are spawning and gathering on their redds.

“People are fishing egg patterns and bouncing them off the bottom,” Brower said. “If you find the right spot … you’ll keep pulling them out of there and they’re pretty good size.”

Because the South Fork is running high this time of year, families are advised to be cautious near the water.

To get more information about specific recreation sites and where Fish and Game is stocking fish, go to these online links: idfg.idaho.gov/ifwis/fishingPlanner/stocking, parksandrecreation.idaho.gov and www.idahopower.com/community-recreation/recreation.

You’re stuck at home, the national parks are closed, and cabin fever is setting in.

If you don’t mind a bit of computer clicking, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park can be brought into your home with stunning photos and cute videos of bison jams or eagles soaring.

For real-time images, both parks offer webcams of fixed scenes of iconic views such as Old Faithful or the Teton Range. Some are less exciting, such as entrance gates. But while fairly static, webcams can offer useful information on weather conditions or how busy the traffic is. For example, Friday’s webcam at the West Entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana, showed a blocked gate and snow-covered road.

“Webcams are always popular, and lately we’ve been doing some Facebook Live events,” said Yellowstone park spokesman Linda Veress. “There is so much information on the park’s webpage, too. I am learning something new every time I’m on there.”

A good place to start online exploring in Yellowstone is at nps.gov/yell/learn.

For something a bit fancier than webcams, Yellowstone National Park has a 12-minute video, “Experience Yellowstone,” that shows nice images of many of the park’s iconic animals and beautiful scenic spaces. Although you’ll see crowds gathered around Old Faithful, you won’t have to jostle for a view to see over that 6-foot 5-inch tourist from New York City.

Yellowstone also has a series of a dozen “in depth” videos about five to 10 minutes long on a variety of subjects dear to park lovers. Learn about bears, wolves, geysers, invasive species, bison and goats. Other park video series include “Minute Out In It,” “Q&A,” “Inside Yellowstone,” “Visiting Yellowstone” and “Wildlife Safety.” Each series includes several short videos on a variety of topics. Enough to burn up a couple of hours.

To find Grand Teton National Park videos, go to the “Learn About the Park” section on the park’s official website and spend some time with all the offerings (nps.gov/grte/learn).

A couple of popular connections include “Podcasts and Cell Tours” and “Dispatches from the Field” which is Grand Teton’s own YouTube channel.

Grand Teton also offers “distance learning programs” available on YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The program is a ready-made lesson for children (and adults) to learn about a variety of subjects that affect the park. Current topics include how snow impacts everything about the park. The programs are meant to augment school instruction.

There’s also a “Kids & Youth” section with an online activity book to occupy youngsters with a goal of achieving a Junior Park Ranger badge. It’s fun homework for sequestered families wondering what to do next.

Grand Teton also has a “Photo Gallery” that is divided up into mini-galleries with nice images of landscapes, animals, plants, history, visitors and education.

Of course, one can always search YouTube (a dangerous proposition) for interesting videos on Bison vs. Tourists or climbing the Grand Teton, but beware of quickly being lured away into cute cat videos or stupid human antics.

It often starts with a phone call from a concerned person to Idaho Department of Fish and Game. A large raptor is suffering along the side of the road.

Eagles, hawks and owls are attracted to the roadside. The living can be easy — and dangerous. Fish and Game estimates several are hit each month.

Matt Proett, diversity biologist with Fish and Game, said they have had as many as 20 or more reported in a month. Fish and Game partners with the Teton Raptor Center in Wilson, Wyoming, to nurse the birds back to health and release them back into the wild. As of March 13, the center had taken in 14 birds this year.

“I just picked one up yesterday,” said James Brower, regional communications manager for the Upper Snake Region. “It was another rough-legged hawk in the Rigby area. It looked like it had been hit by a car. It had also been sprayed by a skunk. Insult to injury, absolutely.”

Eagles are attracted by an easy meal of roadkill. Owls and hawks perch on roadside fenceposts or power poles and target rodents bolting across borrow pits or open roads. Then a car comes and hits the distracted bird.

Fish and Game recently released three rehabilitated raptors back into East Idaho wildlife management areas — a bald eagle, a barn owl and a rough-legged hawk.

The bald eagle had recovered from a mild case of lead poisoning.

“The barn owl had some head and eye trauma from a car strike,” Brower said. “The rough-legged hawk had some soft tissue trauma and a sore wing, likely from a vehicle collision.”

You can find a short video of the birds being released at tinyurl.com/pr-raptor.

Fish and Game volunteers and Teton Raptor Center volunteers play the role of bird ambulance, delivering the sick or wounded to the center.

“The bird species vary depending on the season and which ones are migrating through the area,” Brower said. “Right now it’s a lot of rough-legged hawks.”

He said saving the birds is not necessarily a matter of protecting the population, “but there are some birds such as great gray owls and golden eagles that are of great conservation need which puts them higher on the priority list. Their numbers are fairly low. This is one way we can make sure they persist on the landscape.”

Once the ill or injured birds arrive at the Teton Raptor Center, experts swing into action.

“They really have state-of-the-art facilities over at the Teton Raptor Center which is the reason we take all our birds over there,” Brower said. “They have X-ray machines and a top-notch vet that works for them. They are second to none when it comes to rehabin’ these raptors.”

Because of donations, the price is also right.

“They do all of it free of charge for us,” Brower said. “They do all their own fundraising.”

To learn more about the Teton Raptor Center and to donate to the rehabilitation of raptors, go to tetonraptorcenter.org.

Fish and Game offers these tips should you find an injured raptor:

• Give it space. Keep your distance to avoid undue stress.

• Get an accurate location and description of what you have observed.

• Call the nearest Fish and Game office.

The total ban against highlining at the City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park has been lifted.

Park superintendent Wallace Keck said Tuesday that after an assessment of the activity, certain areas away from the historic California Trail viewshed, roads and trails will be allowed to accommodate highlines.

Highlining is similar to slacklining where practitioners walk along nylon webbing stretched between two cliffs or trees. Slacklines are usually only a few feet above the ground. Highlines can be several hundred feet above the ground. Highliners wear climbing harnesses with safety tethers to catch them should they fall.

Keck issued a temporary ban on highlining late last summer after seeing photos of a group highlining between two pinnacles at the state park and personally observing another party highlining at the City of Rocks. Both areas are popular with rock climbers, who make up the majority of visitors during the summer months.

“When there is a new visitor use, there is a requirement of the superintendent to see if it potentially impacts not only the resource but other recreation opportunities or the original opportunities for which the park was set aside,” Keck said.

He said the park was not set aside for highlining, but for its historical significance. A segment of the California Trail, used extensively during the gold rush of 1849, passed through the area on its way to the Sacramento, Calif., area.

“(City of Rocks) was set aside for the California Trail and the cultural history and landscape,” he said. “Any new form of recreation can’t encroach upon the value of the original purpose for which the park was set.”

Keck said after the assessment marked off all the places where highlining was not going to be allowed, “there are still places where highlining would be acceptable.”

Jeremy Shive, a 10-year highline veteran of East Idaho, said people should not expect highlining to become as popular as rock climbing.

“It’s never going to be like climbing,” Shive said. “It takes a lot of skill and knowledge of gear and rigging. And it’s challenging. It’s easy to get on (an easy) 5.7 climb and have fun, but highlining is always going to be hard, even if it’s short. It’s scary being up there. If it was going to take off in popularity, it would have taken off by now.”

Shive said he and friends have highlined at the City of Rocks occasionally in past years, but have rarely seen others doing the same.

There are precedents for highlining in national parks and state parks. Yosemite National Park in California and Smith Rock State Park in Oregon allow highlining with specific restrictions, such as seasonal closures to protect nesting raptors, no highlines over lakes or watercourses or roads or trails, no leaving highlines unattended and protecting trees with padding to prevent damage. An annual highline festival is held at Smith Rock State Park.

Keck said in his assessment that highlining will be managed similar to rock climbing with no application or written permit needed to construct a highline in approved areas with temporary anchors. Areas involving fixed anchors will require park permission.

For youths not afraid to swing a pulaski or use a shovel, the National Forest Service has an offer for you.

The Forest Service is seeking summer help for its Youth Conservation Corps program to work in the Soda Springs/Montpelier region. The summer positions are a full-time job for eight weeks for applicants age 15 to 18 years old. Pay is $10 per hour. Other Forest Service districts will also be hiring for the summer.

“This (Youth Conservation Corps) crew will primarily be with the forest trail crew, doing basic tread work and trail clearing,” said Dell Transtrum, resource manager with the Forest Service. “That being said … though the crew this year will be with the trail program a lot of the time, I have arranged for them to also work with the range and timber programs doing things like structure work, (water troughs, fencing), collecting (vegetation) monitoring data, timber stand data and marking, as well as fuel reduction work. It is a great introduction for them into the Forest Service and provides valuable experience for them.”

Transtrum said the numbers hired vary from year to year depending on funding available. He expects to hire two to three for an eight-week period.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or eligible to work in the U.S. Housing will not be available and participants must provide their own transportation to work. Crews will be provided transportation from the Soda Springs Forest Service Warehouse to the worksite each day.

Applications can be obtained online at tinyurl.com/pr-trail-crews and emailed to Transtrum at dell.transtrum@usda.gov. The application deadline is April 10. Contact Dell Transtrum at 208-847-8939 or by email at dell.transtrum@usda.gov

Spring is beginning to stir and so are the bears.

Yellowstone National Park reported the first sighting of a grizzly bear this year on Saturday.

“The bear was observed from the air by biologists during a radio telemetry flight near Grand Prismatic Spring just one day before last year’s first sighting,” the park said in a news release.

The park said typically male grizzly bears emerge from hibernation in early March. Females with cubs emerge in April and early May. When the bears emerge, they often feed on winter-killed elk and bison.

“Sometimes, bears will react aggressively while feeding on carcasses,” the park said.

Starting Tuesday, the park issued restrictions in established bear management areas. Areas such as the Firehole area, Mary Mountain Trail and Gneiss Creek have entrance restrictions through Memorial Day and beyond to reduce human-bear interactions. Many of these areas have a high density of elk and bison carcasses, attracting bears. For specifics on bear management areas, go to tinyurl.com/pr-bear-closures.

With the exception of the road open year-round from Mammoth to Cook City, Montana, park roads are closed for spring plowing.

“As spring approaches and snow begins to melt, more people will come to see wildlife, hike some of the lower elevations trails, and ski and snowshoe in the higher elevations,” said park spokesperson Linda Veress. “Many visitors enjoy the relative quiet this time of year.”

Veress said this time of year between winter oversnow season and spring season sees few visitors.

“The only people in the park (aside from the areas accessible from the year-round road) are employees, contractors, and other administrative personnel,” she said.

The park also reminds visitors that Yellowstone is bear country and bears can be encountered anywhere.

“Now that bears are emerging from winter dens, visitors should be excited for the chance to view and photograph them, but they should also treat bears with respect and caution,” said Kerry Gunther, the park’s bear management biologist. “Many visitors think bears are ravenously hungry and more likely to attack people for food after emerging from hibernation, but almost all bear attacks result from surprise encounters when hikers startle bears at close distances and the bears react with defensive aggression. Hikers, skiers and snowshoers should travel in groups of three or more, carry bear spray, and make noise.”

The news release reminds visitors firearms are allowed in the park, but the discharge of a firearm by visitors is a violation of park regulations. Bear spray has proven effective in deterring bears defending cubs and food sources. It can also reduce the number of bears killed by people in self-defense.

People get old, even die.

That holds true for skiers. You may have heard that old skiers never die, they just go downhill.

That age thing is catching up with baby boomer skiers who statistically are often the bread and butter of ski resort clientele. The demographic is aging out of the ski hill, and the younger generation is taking up the slack in different ways.

Age 53 and older folk log more skier days on the slopes in North America than other demographics.

Jim Powell, vice president of marketing for the Park City Chamber/Bureau in Utah, recently told the Park City Record that it takes two millennials (age 20 to 36) to equal the spending of one baby boomer at ski resorts. Not to say that ski resorts are hurting for clientele, it’s that the demographics are shifting to a more affluent group.

But some Idaho ski resorts are bucking the trend with innovative marketing and strategies geared toward hooking people in their youth, this is particularly true at the state’s smaller community resorts.

“It’s not a trend that I’m unfamiliar with,” said Tony Harrison, publicist for Idaho Ski Areas Association. “One of the things that a number of mountains in Idaho and nationwide are doing to appeal to the (millennial) audience is to create a young adult pass product. For Bogus Basin, the pass is $349 versus $549 for an adult pass. So a huge difference there.”

Don’t condemn millennials too harshly. They’ve got student loans, wedding plans, babies, first homes, new careers, new cars, Netflix and video games to distract them from the ski slopes.

The first thing skiing millennials in East Idaho mention is cost as a deterrent when it comes to skiing and snowboarding.

“Money is a big factor why millennials aren’t going to ski resorts,” said Katy Shilling, 24, of Idaho Falls and a master’s graduate from Arizona State University. “They’re freakin’ expensive. I go skiing at least three times a month and money is definitely a factor. I don’t have $50 every weekend to go, and that would be considered cheap.”

“Cost and time are huge. It’s more expensive than ever,” said Jacob Howell, 26, an Idaho Falls carpenter who loves to ski.

Susan Saad, director of community and customer relations at Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area, said her ski resort saw the problem emerging and hired the experts — they put millennials to work to hack the challenge.

“We just promoted our marketing manager to marketing director this week,” Saad said. “He is 25 and has done a remarkable job reaching out to that particular demographic.”

Bogus Basin reached out to the younger crowd using a “relentless social media push” working to make people feel they are part of what’s going on at the resort. Each week, the audience sees new stories on Facebook and Instagram of younger people playing on the slopes.

“In fact, just this morning I saw a text from our general manager that the number of our Instagram followers, which has been climbing, pegged at 30,000,” Saad said last week. “I think the energy has really changed.”

Saad said a few years ago, Bogus Basin approached a Boise State University marketing class and gave it the challenge of marketing the ski resort to college students and similarly aged people.

“We did not at that time have many college-age students on the mountain,” she said, despite the resort being only an hour from 20,000 students. “As part of a semester-long project, one of the marketing classes broke down into groups and put together proposals on what we should do to grow our college-age audience. We (followed) a lot of what they did.”

One thing Bogus Basin created was new discounted season passes aimed at students.

“We started with just a few hundred college-age students on the mountain and, last year, at our college-age pass sale we sold 2,700 college-age passes,” Saad said.

Smaller, community ski resorts also have found continued success with tapping into area schools. The trick is to hook kids on outdoor snow activities before video games turn them into wintertime couch potatoes.

“One of the factors that we think makes a difference is younger people get involved in school programs during their youth, and get skiing and outdoor winter activities in their blood, and it stays with them,” said Dave Stoddard co-owner of Kelly Canyon Ski Resort. “We have 60 to 70 schools in our program that brings busloads and busloads of kids who get meaningful lessons and learn how to do it, and they can do it on a mountain like ours that is a good place to learn. … It’s a very common thing around the lodge or the base of the mountain or up the lifts, people are saying, ‘Yeah, I learned to ski here when I was a kid.’ ”

Pebble Creek Ski Area south of Pocatello has been doing its school program for 30 years.

“There’s even, at this point, where we have a couple of generations of kids whose parents came through the school program and their kids come to the school program,” said Dana Kmetz, guest services director at Pebble Creek. “We do see them returning.”

Pebble Creek also taps into the local college scene to build younger clientele. Idaho State University students can get college credits for taking a ski or snowboard class.

“That’s a really fun way to earn a college credit, but it makes it really affordable as far as lift ticket prices and lessons,” Kmetz said.

With big destination ski resorts such as Sun Valley or Jackson Hole Ski Resort continuing to raise prices and give millennials second thoughts, Kmetz and Stoddard see more people coming back to smaller hills.

“The tier 1 destination resorts like Park City, Jackson Hole or Sun Valley can be more than four times as much as our prices,” Stoddard said. “People look at those prices and say, ‘Maybe I’ll ski locally.’ ”

Stoddard said for the most part his resort hasn’t noticed fewer millennials skiing.

“We see their numbers, and they’ve been pretty good for the last several years,” he said. “It’s often more dependent on the snow we get.”

People get old, even die.

That holds true for skiers. You may have heard that old skiers never die, they just go downhill.

That age thing is catching up with baby boomer skiers who statistically are often the bread and butter of ski resort clientele. The demographic is aging out of the ski hill, and the younger generation is taking up the slack in different ways.

Age 53 and older folk log more skier days on the slopes in North America than other demographics.

Jim Powell, vice president of marketing for the Park City Chamber/Bureau in Utah, recently told the Park City Record that it takes two millennials (age 20 to 36) to equal the spending of one baby boomer at ski resorts. Not to say that ski resorts are hurting for clientele, it’s that the demographics are shifting to a more affluent group.

But some Idaho ski resorts are bucking the trend with innovative marketing and strategies geared toward hooking people in their youth, this is particularly true at the state’s smaller community resorts.

“It’s not a trend that I’m unfamiliar with,” said Tony Harrison, publicist for Idaho Ski Areas Association. “One of the things that a number of mountains in Idaho and nationwide are doing to appeal to the (millennial) audience is to create a young adult pass product. For Bogus Basin, the pass is $349 versus $549 for an adult pass. So a huge difference there.”

Don’t condemn millennials too harshly. They’ve got student loans, wedding plans, babies, first homes, new careers, new cars, Netflix and video games to distract them from the ski slopes.

The first thing skiing millennials in East Idaho mention is cost as a deterrent when it comes to skiing and snowboarding.

“Money is a big factor why millennials aren’t going to ski resorts,” said Katy Shilling, 24, of Idaho Falls and a master’s graduate from Arizona State University. “They’re freakin’ expensive. I go skiing at least three times a month and money is definitely a factor. I don’t have $50 every weekend to go, and that would be considered cheap.”

“Cost and time are huge. It’s more expensive than ever,” said Jacob Howell, 26, an Idaho Falls carpenter who loves to ski.

Susan Saad, director of community and customer relations at Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area, said her ski resort saw the problem emerging and hired the experts — they put millennials to work to hack the challenge.

“We just promoted our marketing manager to marketing director this week,” Saad said. “He is 25 and has done a remarkable job reaching out to that particular demographic.”

Bogus Basin reached out to the younger crowd using a “relentless social media push” working to make people feel they are part of what’s going on at the resort. Each week, the audience sees new stories on Facebook and Instagram of younger people playing on the slopes.

“In fact, just this morning I saw a text from our general manager that the number of our Instagram followers, which has been climbing, pegged at 30,000,” Saad said last week. “I think the energy has really changed.”

Saad said a few years ago, Bogus Basin approached a Boise State University marketing class and gave it the challenge of marketing the ski resort to college students and similarly aged people.

“We did not at that time have many college-age students on the mountain,” she said, despite the resort being only an hour from 20,000 students. “As part of a semester-long project, one of the marketing classes broke down into groups and put together proposals on what we should do to grow our college-age audience. We (followed) a lot of what they did.”

One thing Bogus Basin created was new discounted season passes aimed at students.

“We started with just a few hundred college-age students on the mountain and, last year, at our college-age pass sale we sold 2,700 college-age passes,” Saad said.

Smaller, community ski resorts also have found continued success with tapping into area schools. The trick is to hook kids on outdoor snow activities before video games turn them into wintertime couch potatoes.

“One of the factors that we think makes a difference is younger people get involved in school programs during their youth, and get skiing and outdoor winter activities in their blood, and it stays with them,” said Dave Stoddard co-owner of Kelly Canyon Ski Resort. “We have 60 to 70 schools in our program that brings busloads and busloads of kids who get meaningful lessons and learn how to do it, and they can do it on a mountain like ours that is a good place to learn. … It’s a very common thing around the lodge or the base of the mountain or up the lifts, people are saying, ‘Yeah, I learned to ski here when I was a kid.’ ”

Pebble Creek Ski Area south of Pocatello has been doing its school program for 30 years.

“There’s even, at this point, where we have a couple of generations of kids whose parents came through the school program and their kids come to the school program,” said Dana Kmetz, guest services director at Pebble Creek. “We do see them returning.”

Pebble Creek also taps into the local college scene to build younger clientele. Idaho State University students can get college credits for taking a ski or snowboard class.

“That’s a really fun way to earn a college credit, but it makes it really affordable as far as lift ticket prices and lessons,” Kmetz said.

With big destination ski resorts such as Sun Valley or Jackson Hole Ski Resort continuing to raise prices and give millennials second thoughts, Kmetz and Stoddard see more people coming back to smaller hills.

“The tier 1 destination resorts like Park City, Jackson Hole or Sun Valley can be more than four times as much as our prices,” Stoddard said. “People look at those prices and say, ‘Maybe I’ll ski locally.’ ”

Stoddard said for the most part his resort hasn’t noticed fewer millennials skiing.

“We see their numbers, and they’ve been pretty good for the last several years,” he said. “It’s often more dependent on the snow we get.”