You or your kids will never be the only one snowplowing on the bunny hill. There’s plenty of beginner-friendly terrain to practice stops and turns on green circles, too. Then, when you or your kids are ready, move to the more challenging terrain of blue squares.

Here are recommendations from mountain staff members, from each of the Ski the NW Rockies affiliated mountains, about where to go for a first day on skis or snowboard—and, when ready to get off the bunny hill, which beginner terrain to venture to next.

49 DEGREES NORTH

49 Degrees North Ski Resort – Chewelah, Washington

Surface Lift: Gold Fever, located near the lodge in the ski school teaching area. Snowsports School Director Alison Pasino says it “is the ideal place for little ones to have their first experience sliding.” It’s open to both children and adults, regardless of ability level.

Bunny Hills: Access the beginner area using the Payday Lift (Chair #3). For skiers, Pasino recommends Easy Slide, Gold Chute, and Fool’s Gold. For snowboarders, Lower Gold Pan Alley has a gentle pitch and wide-open slopes.

Beginner Runs: Great trails for new skiers and snowboarders are found in all areas of the resort, which is the second largest in Washington State. Pasino recommends Huckleberry Ridge and Big Bear located in Sunrise Basin; Quartzite Ridge off Angel Peak; and Lost Dutchman to the 4800 Road in the West Basin. In Central Basin, the trails off Beaver Slide include a “mellow, meandering route for those who want to cruise and enjoy the beauty of the Colville National Forest.”

Don’t Miss: Hobbit Forest, where you can search for iconic bells hanging from branches alongside the trail. It provides a “first taste of the epic tree skiing that 49 North has to offer,” says Pasino.

Other Recommendations: 49’s Mountain Host program offers free guided tours of the alpine terrain. It’s like an orientation to find the best runs, groomers, and powder stashes for all ability levels of your family.

Beginner runs at 49 Degrees North: Carrie Peck teaching her daughter how to ski (left), and son, Oliver (right), making a “pizza” with his skis. // Photos by Nate Peck.

LOOKOUT PASS

Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area – Mullan, Idaho

Bunny Hill: Success Slope via Success Triple chairlift. “This slope is designed to allow you to get comfortable on snow without the fear of going high up on a mountain or riding a high lift,” says Lookout’s marketing director Matt Sawyer.

Beginner Runs: Sawyer recommends taking Huckleberry Ridge to Grub Steak run—a “longer run with a mild pitch,” he says. Get there via the Peak One Quad chairlift, which takes you to the mountain summit. “Tell the staff member who is loading the lift that this is your first time on this lift and they will slow the chair down for your load,” Sawyer says. “You get to enjoy awesome views and you have reached the summit, which is a goal for most beginners.”

Next Level: Tamarack on the Montana-side of mountain (referred to as the “backside”). At the bottom is the base of the Timber Wolf Triple chair. Sawyer says a ride on this chair offers the best views that Lookout Pass has to offer a beginner, including Stevens Peak and St. Regis Basin.

Other Recommendations: Huckleberry Jam Progression Park has “very low and mild progression style features that are ideal for a first foray into a terrain park,” says Sawyer. Parents and kids can learn to ride on small terrain style features, including flat boxes with a ride on lip, a wide dance floor feature, and even a very casual rainbow feature.  

MT. SPOKANE

Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park – Mead, Washington (located within Mount Spokane State Park)

Magic Carpet: Located just below Lodge 2 (main lodge) near the ski school building, ski patrol lodge, and bunny hill chairlift loading area.

Bunny Hill: Ego Flats via Chair 5 that’s now named Beginner’s Luck. Mt. Spokane’s outdoor recreation manager Katrin Pardue, who is also Mt. Spokane’s Ski and Ride School director, says snowboarders should stay center on this run. At the top of the chair, turn right to access the lower section of Johnson’s Run. Because it is narrow, she advises staying skier’s left.

Beginner Runs: Northwest Passage, via Parkway Express (Chair 3). Stay center and then go skier’s left. Also try Half Hitch, staying skier’s right to avoid the terrain park. Both runs lead to the cat track where you can head back to the base of Chair 3 or 5, or continue along to access Chair 1. If you don’t turn off Half Hitch onto the cat track, you go straight onto Lamonga, which has some terrain features and leads to the bottom of Chair 4.

Next Level: Take the Vista Cruiser lift (Chair 1) to ski/ride a series of linked runs—Gold Cross to Upper Northwest Passage (“stay close to the trees”) to Skookum (“stay skier’s left until you hit the flat section”) to Northwest Passage.

Don’t Miss: The triple chair (#6) on the backside, Northwood. Pardue recommends taking Yellow Brick Road to Jim’s Gem (stay along the tree line, skier’s left; it gets flat at the bottom, so snowboarders should be careful) to Big Timber (stay skier’s right at the lower part for the “most mellow pitch”).

SILVER MOUNTAIN

Silver Mountain Resort – Kellogg, Idaho

Surface Lift: Prospector Adventure Lift—a new, covered conveyor lift (640 feet long) located by the Mountain House.

Bunny Hill: Easy Street—near the surface lift and Mountain House.

Beginner Runs: Ross Run, recommended by Silver Mountain’s marketing director Gus Colburn, follows the gondola line down to more beginner runs, including Dawdler, Bear Grass, or Huckleberry, before ending up at Chair 5.

First Blue Square: Colburn recommends taking the Alpenway run down to Junction, “which is the best progression run to build your skills to eventually take laps on Silver Belt.”

Family Winter Sports Guide sponsored by Ski the NW Rockies.

Read more stories from OTO’s annual Family Winter Sports Guides.

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Spokane, Wash.

Things were quieter than normal in Mt. Spokane State Park’s Nordic Ski Area last year. The trails were still full of skiers seeking a cure for cabin fever, but Spokane Nordic Ski Association’s (SNSA) lessons, races, and gatherings were mostly canceled. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the organization, however, as a year without events gave SNSA time to plan for the future and expand their offerings to members and the Spokane community.

The pandemic presented two pressing needs: the ability to learn virtually and schedule flexibly.

That’s why, for the first time ever, parents will be able to decide if they’d like to enroll their children in the full seven-week Nordic Kids program or select individual lessons a la carte. SNSA has also started building out a virtual learning center for their members, complete with how-to videos, articles, weekly wax advice, and more.

Last year brought on another big change when beloved coach George Bryant retired. SNSA knew it had big shoes to fill, so the group brought in Jason Jablonski.

Jablonski’s background is diverse and impressive. After getting his Bachelor’s degree in Education from Central Washington, he spent three years as a professional triathlete and another five years as a professional mountain biker before starting his coaching career. He’s spent the last 18 years coaching cross-country skiing, in addition to serving 8 years as the coach of team USA’s Junior Mountain Bike Team.

If you or your family are interested in learning more about the programs and teams that Jablonski coaches, or any of SNSA’s other Nordic ski related events, you can learn more at SpokaneNordic.org.

An SNSA Membership ($40 for individuals, $60 for families) is required to sign up for any of the SNSA lessons and teams, including Nordic Kids, Transition Team, Junior Race Team, Adult Lessons, and Master’s Ski Club.

Spokane Nordic Ski Association, Transition Team (left) // Photo: Chris Sharman; Adult Nordic ski lessons (top right) // Photo: Barbara Jackson; Nordic ski race (bottom right) // All photos courtesy Spokane Nordic Ski Association

Find more stories about the Spokane Nordic Ski Association in the OTO archives.

Read “Cross-Country Skiing For Kids” from the Family Winter Sports Guide (Nov.-Dec. 2020 issue).

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The next morning, I loaded my backpack slower than normal, fighting off crippling fatigue that even a second cup of coffee couldn’t cut through. Shortly after we started hiking, the chills started. I trudged on. 10 miles later, I couldn’t set my tent up fast enough. Nausea made skipping dinner a no-brainer. Those long, miserable hours in my sleeping bag were filled with sweating then freezing and aching in my damp bag as a cold, rainstorm unloaded on us. 

The next morning we continued on our 30-something mile loop deep in the Bitterroots, climbing steeply through cold, wet brush on unmaintained trail into the sub-alpine. I dragged behind but kept going. That night, camped beside a gorgeous off-trail lake, the chills and fever returned and I shivered off to bed without eating much. After another long, fitful night, I woke surprisingly energized. The thought of being done pressed me down the trail. Back at home, I collapsed in bed.   

I was pretty sure I knew what I had before dragging myself to urgent care in the morning. The tests were quick, and the COVID test wasn’t the deep nasal kind I’d heard about. The next two days, as I waited for results, were a blur. The COVID test came back first. Negative. I was relieved and then not surprised by my giardia diagnosis the following day. By then my wife, Shallan, had also developed symptoms. We had been drinking out of a lot of rustic campground water faucets over the summer and must have picked up the bug somewhere. I’ve had giardia three times in my life and can say it’s worth avoiding, but I’ll take a few weeks of feeling like hell any day over the suffering some COVID patients and their families have gone through. 

The past nine months have been an unprecedented economic and emotional ordeal, but at least huge numbers of us have enjoyed warm days outside as a refuge from the strangeness and strain of daily pandemic living. Winter is coming, though, other than the positive La Nina forecast for winter sports fans, things don’t look good. Virus cases are spiking in most states, hospitals are beginning to fill up again in places, and the grand finale of an unusually tense and potentially explosive election will go down days from the time I’m writing this.  

It’s all a bit much and anxiety and depression seem to be rampant. Fortunately, one of the most proven things to help and a safe pandemic-era activity as well is time spent outdoors. If you’re a regular Out There reader, you probably don’t give up on the outdoors when the cold weather sets in, but many people do. During these difficult next few months, when we will need community and connection with others and the outdoors like never before, do your part to encourage those who need it most to get outside and move, even if it is cold out. We will need those big sparkling winter skies, that crisp clean air, and each other more than ever. 

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