A February dry spell almost brought a short end to the 2017-18 regional ski season. But after a strong March, many local ski areas were still able to salvage a good year after almost no snowfall came in the early and mid-months, causing many local ski areas to race against the clock to open up before the Christmas holiday.

Most local areas opened in late December. Pebble Creek Ski Area in Inkom opened the day after Christmas, while Pomerelle Mountain Resort in Albion opened Dec. 22. Kelly Canyon in Ririe opened Dec. 21, but the only local resort that opened before Christmas week was Grand Targhee in Alta, Wyoming.

Targhee, a resort that sometimes sees snowfall in late September, didn’t open until Dec. 1 last year. But this year, the Wyoming resort was able to open before Thanksgiving with 100 percent of its terrain available to the public. It was the only local ski area that was open during both major winter holidays.

“Usually when we have a delayed opening, it takes us quite a while to regain that,” said Gretta Frohlich, director of guest services and sales at Grand Targhee. “It is all dependent on Mother Nature.”

Targhee, which has a base elevation of just under 8,000 feet, had its last day of full skiing on April 15. The resort stayed open an extra weekend for its Crazy Horse Hill Climb.

“You do want to be open for Thanksgiving if you can because people are chomping at the bit to get on the mountain,” said Gretchen Anderson, spokesperson for Pomerelle. “But that time between Thanksgiving and the Christmas holiday is a really busy time for everybody, so when you don’t open at Thanksgiving, you lose money.”

Pomerelle’s last day was earlier this month, but the resort that resides with a base elevation of about 8,700 feet was on the fence about remaining open for an extra weekend. When storms brought mostly rain to the resort instead of snow, it signified an end to Pomerelle’s season, which sometimes begins as early as Halloween.

Other local ski areas that reside at lower elevations, such as Kelly Canyon and Pebble Creek, closed in late March and early April.

“We were just squeaking by to open this year with a lot of manmade snow,” said Mike Dixon, general manager of Pebble Creek.

The higher elevation and unique snow patterns of Pomerelle allows the farmer-friendly resort to remain open longer than most other smaller ski areas.

But one downfall of Pomerelle is if there is too much snow, the roads up to the resort close, meaning nobody can get there. This allowed Pomerelle to have a better season this year because the roads only closed once this year as opposed to last year’s eight road closures.

Pebble Creek was having trouble braking the 40-inch mark well into the month of February. But a wet March bumped that total up to 75 inches by the end of the month, allowing Pebble Creek to stay open for an extra couple weeks, which made up for a weak February, a month that is typically strong.

“When there’s no snow in town, it makes people think there’s no snow up here,” Dixon said. “That’s just how people think.”

David Stoddard, owner of Kelly Canyon, says his resort was in a similar boat until late February when Kelly Canyon received an additional 5 feet of snow. Kelly Canyon has a lot of north-facing slopes, meaning that it doesn’t get the burn-off from the sun like a lot of south-facing runs do.

In addition, Stoddard says Kelly Canyon doesn’t have a lot of rocks, which allows him to mow the grass on the mountain in the fall. This allows him to create a solid base where he can then pack the first couple feet of snow into the ground. This freezes the snow and creates a base which helps hold the snow throughout the season.

“Last year was a stellar year just because we had a lot of snow early and a lot of snow late,” Stoddard said. “The best marketing for a ski resort is snow. Period.”

With hopes of making the race more attractive to community outsiders, Pocatello Pedal Fest board members are upping the ante for this summer’s mountain bike race by offering over $2,000 in cash prizes to those who finish high enough in their event.

It’s the most ever offered in the event’s nine-year history, race board members say.

The fastest male and female bikers will both receive a $500 prize in addition to what they already get for winning the race. Board members say the increase in winnings will serve as an incentive for mountain bike enthusiasts from across the region to attend the Pedal Fest activities, which will be held on June 8 and 9.

Last year, board members said the race saw about 140 participants, meaning if Pedal Fest is able to cap its 200-participant permit, it would mean a 43-percentage point increase in participation from the previous year, representing one of the starting inclines in Southeast Idaho’s recreational economy.

“The recreational economy is the untapped potential of the west,” said Martin Hackworth, a Pedal Fest board member.

The Pedal Fest board has been at the forefront of promoting Southeast Idaho’s recreational economy to the Rocky Mountain region. They put on races such as Pedal Fest and help organize other races in the area such as the Pocatello stage of the Idaho Enduro Series, a type of event that only times the downhill portions of the race, which comes to Pocatello on June 23.

With an abundance of high quality trails in the area, including the City Creek Trail System, where the race is primarily held, board member say that Pocatello is on the cusp of becoming the next hot tourist destination for mountain biking. Part of the reason the City Creek trails so desirable is because there is an abundance of high-quality trails that are easily accessible to the public, which are typically free of other riders.

“These trails were designed and built by people who knew what they were doing,” Hackworth said. “It’s not like some goat trail that somehow got in a travel plan somewhere and turned into a mountain bike trail. These are trails that were designed to be multi-use trails. The switchbacks, the climbs, the descents: all of it make sense.”

Unlike its regional powerhouse competitors such as Park City and Jackson Hole, Pocatello is a relatively affordable place to live, and a 2018 Singletracks.com list ranked Pocatello as the third-best mountain biking town with the lowest cost of living in the U.S.

“As far as mountain biking is concerned, it is absolutely blowing up,” said Tommy Gwinn, a Pedal Fest board member. “I think people are spending more money than ever on their equipment and traveling. It really is an up and coming sport.”

Hackworth said that outdoor recreation could be the next economic boost for Idaho, a state that still hasn’t recovered from the dismissal of its old industries. He added that Idaho could follow state such as Colorado, California and Utah in marketing its outdoor recreation activities, a much more stable industry he says, than farming, ranching and mining.

“Idaho is still in these early stages where we are trying to figure it out,” he said. “It’s not a mature and well-developed operation, but it is moving forward and there are some good people moving the ball.”

The fear is that the trails will become overcrowded, which will eventually turn into something that can no longer be promoted in the same way it currently is, showing off the old adage to “keep Idaho the way it is.”

“That’s great, but that’s an unobtainable model,” Hackworth said. “You can’t have things that are static in a changing world.”

Pedal Fest begins June 8 at Centennial Park with a pump track racing series, where the goal is to get all the way around the track without peddling using only gravity and momentum.

The following day, mountain bikers ascend into the City Creek trails beginning at 8:40 a.m. with a three-mile junior race. The longer adult races begin at 10:20 a.m. and include excursions of 27, 17 and 12 miles. Awards will be handed out at 2:30 p.m.

Telemark diehards will descend on Pebble Creek this Sunday to take part in its Telemark Festival. Until recently, the annual event was in jeopardy of having to move the course for its main event.

In past years, Pebble moved the race course for the Classic Terrain Race, the festival’s main event, farther up the mountain because there wasn’t enough snow at the mountain’s base to set gates. 

For most of February, Pebble had snow depths in the 30s. But last weekend’s massive snowstorm dumped close to 34 inches on the resort, which bumped the snow depth on the mid-mountain to 72 inches, allowing the festival to hold the race at the bottom of the mountain.

“It was a pretty mellow winter through February,” said Tim Arrington, who is in charge of setting the course for the Classic Terrain Race. “I was running out there running dry dirt in shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt for most of February. I was pretty sure we were done.”

Telemark skiing is a combination of both alpine and cross-county skiing. The race is mostly downhill and the ski design allows for tight and quick turns down the mountain, but skiers don’t have anything attached to their heel, giving it a cross country-like design in the back.

“The thing we struggle the most with every year is the uphill gates,” Arrington said. “Even the experienced skiers can ski into those.”

Competitors will race down Pebble’s Rock Garden run, a blue run that skirts down the middle of the resort ending at the lodge, allowing spectators to sit on the deck while watching the racers. The race is set to begin at 1 p.m. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m. and there’s a $25 fee. A long-sleeved t-shirt, race entry and access to the post-race party are included in the fees. Entrants must have a valid lift ticket or season pass.

“The telemark skiers compete throughout the day and then have a party,” said Mary Reichman, general manager of Pebble Creek.

Arrington partners with Pebble’s ski school instructor to design the course. The struggle is finding a balance between a course that is challenging enough to attract the diehards, but still easy enough to encourage beginners to compete.

“I would like to see a little bit of air under their skies,” Arrington said. “Nothing too major. They would be small. We want to welcome everybody.”