Idaho, Usa · Indy
Tamarack Resort
1,100 acres, 50 runs above Lake Cascade. Four-season resort with golf, marina, Indy Pass access.
Season 2025 - 2026
Opens
27 Nov 2025
Closes
12 Apr 2026
Days open
136
Annual snow
25ft
The Overview
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
Tamarack Resort's summit reaches 7,700 feet, dropping 2,802 vertical feet to a base at 4,898 feet across 50 runs spread over 1,100 acres overlooking Lake Cascade in central Idaho. Terrain splits 45 per cent intermediate, 38 per cent advanced and 17 per cent beginner, with no expert-rated runs, and average annual snowfall of roughly 300 inches. The resort carries Indy Pass affiliation. Seven lifts, including five quad chairs, serve the mountain alongside one surface lift and one t-bar.
Tamarack's lake-view setting and four-season resort amenities, including golf and a marina, distinguish it from Idaho's more purely ski-focused mountains. The resort's turbulent financial history has shaped much of its development, with terrain and lift buildout proceeding in stages tied to successive rounds of investment rather than a single continuous expansion. Its current 1,100-acre footprint remains smaller than the resort's original master-planned scope.
The project was first announced in 1988 as Valbois Resort on West Mountain in Valley County before going bankrupt, and in 1998 Mexican businessman Alfredo Miguel Afif purchased the assets and renamed it Westrock. When it opened in 2004 as Tamarack, it was the first new destination ski resort built in North America in 23 years. The resort's majority owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2008 after failing to secure financing against an existing 262 million US dollar loan from Credit Suisse, and the resort closed in 2009.
A group of homeowners restarted limited ski operations in 2010 to keep the lifts running while foreclosure proceedings continued, with Credit Suisse ultimately gaining ownership through a 2014 sheriff's sale. New ownership group Tamarack Resort Holdings, a joint venture called Imperium Blue, took over in November 2018, and MMG Equity Partners assumed full ownership in October 2021, investing more than 245 million US dollars into the property since. Adult daily tickets run from 89 to 129 US dollars, with Boundless season passes from 699 dollars.
2,802ft
Vertical
50
Runs
1,100 acres
Skiable
25ft
Annual snow
Indy
Pass
The Terrain
50 runs across 1,100 acres skiable
Tamarack Resort spreads 50 runs across 1,100 acres skiable of terrain. It leans intermediate at 45%, with 9 beginner runs to find your feet and 19 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
Terrain split
50
runs
50 runs across 4 grades
Beginner9 runs · 17%
Intermediate23 runs · 45%
Advanced19 runs · 38%
Expert0 runs · 0%
Time it right
When to visit Tamarack Resort
The 2025-26 season at Tamarack Resort ran from 27 November 2025 to 12 April 2026, a roughly nineteen-week season supported by average annual snowfall of around 300 inches. This snowfall total supports a reasonably long season for a resort of Tamarack's size and elevation. Season dates can shift slightly depending on early and late-season weather.
Midwinter, from December through February, typically brings the most consistent conditions across the resort's intermediate and advanced terrain. As a resort still rebuilding its destination profile following years of financial difficulty, Tamarack's crowd patterns tend to be lighter than more established Idaho destinations, even during peak holiday periods. Weekday visits are generally quiet.
The resort's four-season amenities, including golf and a marina on Lake Cascade, mean Tamarack's identity extends beyond winter operations alone, though ski season remains the primary draw during the colder months. As an Indy Pass resort, Tamarack draws some visiting skiers holding that multi-resort pass in addition to its regional Idaho base. School holiday periods bring increased family visitation to the resort's lodging and amenities.
Specific event programming beyond standard lift operations is not confirmed in available resort information. MMG Equity Partners' substantial ongoing investment since 2021 continues to shape the resort's development, with improvements extending across lodging and amenities as well as the ski terrain itself. The resort's lake-view setting remains a distinguishing feature relative to other central Idaho ski areas.
Season 2025 - 2026
27 Nov 2025
Opens
12 Apr 2026
Closes
136
Days open
25 ft
Annual snow
Getting there
Getting to Tamarack Resort, and where to stay
Tamarack Resort sits above Lake Cascade in Valley County, central Idaho, with a base elevation of 4,898 feet and a summit at 7,700 feet across a 2,802-foot vertical drop over 1,100 acres. The resort's West Mountain location places it within a scenic lake-and-mountain setting roughly 90 miles from Boise.
The nearby town of Donnelly and the larger community of McCall offer additional lodging and dining options beyond the resort's own on-site facilities. Lake Cascade itself is a significant regional recreation draw beyond winter sports, contributing to Tamarack's four-season resort identity. Boise, the nearest major city, supplies much of the resort's weekend and holiday visitor base.
Idaho State Highway 55 connects Boise to the Cascade and Donnelly area, with local roads then leading to the resort on West Mountain above the lake. The drive from Boise typically takes around 90 minutes depending on conditions, with winter weather occasionally requiring extra caution on the mountain roads near the resort. There is no direct public transport service to Tamarack.
Boise Airport is the nearest airport with substantial commercial service, roughly 90 miles south of the resort. This makes Tamarack accessible to fly-in visitors willing to make the drive north through the Treasure Valley and into the mountains. Most visitors, however, arrive by car from Boise or the broader western Idaho region rather than flying in directly.
Where to stay
Search all stays →Hotels and lodges near Tamarack Resort, powered by Stay22.
Latest News
From the SnowStash desk
Thredbo to Replace Ageing Gunbarrel Quad With New Six-Seat Chairlift for 2028
Thredbo Alpine Resort has confirmed plans to replace its 37-year-old Gunbarrel quad chairlift with a new six-seat Doppelmayr D-Line, targeting winter 2028. The AUD 35 million project will keep travel time roughly the same but lift capacity from 2,800 to 3,000 skiers per hour. It's part of a broader investment push that also includes doubled snowmaking capacity at Friday Flat for 2027, with the ageing Kosciuszko Express now flagged as the resort's next major lift replacement after Gunbarrel.
31 Aug 2026
Aerial Tram Collides With Crane at Alpe d'Huez: 23 Injured
An aerial tram carrying around fifty passengers struck the boom of a construction crane on the route to Pic Blanc at Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday morning, injuring 23 people, three seriously. The cabin tipped on impact before the operator reversed it to right the car. Most of the injured were treated on site, with five taken to hospital in Grenoble, including a pregnant woman assessed as a precaution.
28 Aug 2026
Why Glaciers Are Collapsing - And What Happens When They Do
A deadly flood on the Nepal-China border, a decade-old tragedy on Italy's Marmolada, and an unstable glacier right now above a village near Zermatt - three very different mountain ranges, the same underlying story. Warming ice is destabilising terrain that was considered settled for generations, and the results range from catastrophic floods to slow-motion monitoring situations that could go either way.
27 Aug 2026
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Tyrol's highest ski area is gearing up to open a full month ahead of most of the Alps. The Pitztal Glacier is scheduled to start its 2026/27 season on Saturday 26 September, running through to 2 May 2027, with the lower-altitude Rifflsee area following in December. High-altitude terrain up to 3,440 metres gives the glacier a head start on snow, though as always, the actual opening extent will depend on how September's weather plays out. Early online ski pass bookings can save up to 30%.
26 Aug 2026
Unstable Glacier Above Randa Puts Zermatt-Area Village on Alert
A hanging glacier above the Swiss village of Randa, just south of Zermatt, has been shedding large chunks of ice for weeks, with authorities warning more break-offs are likely. A danger zone has been closed off since June, though officials say the village's 479 residents aren't at risk. It's a familiar pattern for this glacier - it's done this before, in 1819, 1972 and 1973 - but a reminder of how closely Alpine authorities now watch terrain once considered stable.
26 Aug 2026
Thredbo Is 'On the Table' as EVT Reviews Its Whole Business
Thredbo is officially 'on the table.' EVT Limited, owner of Australia's most decorated ski resort, has hired Rothschild & Co to review its entire corporate structure - and confirmed Thredbo isn't off limits, even as it books a stronger year of earnings. The resort's own valuation has nearly halved after a brutal 2026 season, and speculation is already running toward Vail Resorts, Alterra, or a New Zealand operator picking it up. Here's what EVT actually said, and who could buy it.
25 Aug 2026
Ski-E-O! Is the Ski Resort Tycoon Game We Didn't Know We Needed
I'm not a gamer. I'm a skier and snowboarder who happens to have a laptop. So when a ski resort management game called Ski-E-O! landed on Steam, I wasn't expecting to lose an afternoon to it - but here we are. Real mountain terrain, a full weather system, storms that roll in and wreck your snow base, avalanche danger, and enough depth to make RollerCoaster Tycoon feel simple by comparison. Early access lands in November. Here's what a few hours in the free demo actually looks like.
23 Aug 2026
Sugar Bowl, California, Rebuilds Its Historic Village Gondola
The rumours are true: Sugar Bowl is tearing out its Emerald gondola, in place since 1983, and replacing it with a new 8-person Doppelmayr system - nearly doubling uphill capacity to 1,800 people an hour. It's the fourth generation of a gondola line that dates back to 1953, when Sugar Bowl became the first resort on the West Coast to run one at all, and it's just one piece of a $100 million overhaul touching lodges, parking and snowmaking. Here's what's changing, and what's staying the same.
23 Aug 2026
Tamarack Resort Snow Report
Snow Report
Updated 1 Sept 2026
7,700ft
summit
+0in
new snow · last 24 hours
Mainly Clear54°F / 63°F · S 17mph
Snowfall
24 hours
0in
48 hours
0in
7 days
0in
Base depth
59in
Season total
0in
Total lifts7
Live open status isn’t available right now.
27 Nov 2025 - 12 Apr 2026
Hour by Hour
Next 41 hours· Updated Sep 1, 2026 at 6:02 AM
Scroll for the full outlook · Open-Meteo
7-Day Outlook
7,700 ftUpdated Sep 1, 2026 at 6:02 AMOpen-Meteo
Days 1–7
0.0"
Days 8–14
0.0"
Tue, Sept 1
Light Drizzle
Temp63° / 54°°F
Snow0.0"(14%)
Wind17 mph S
Live snow from the resort feed; forecast from Open-Meteo, via Supabase.
Understanding the Tamarack Resort snow report
Tamarack Resort snow conditions, updated regularly: current snowfall, snow depth, temperatures, and the outlook for this Idaho resort on the Indy.
Snow measurements
Our snow reports measure snowfall in centimeters over multiple time windows — last 24 hours, last 7 days, and the season total. Base depth reflects accumulation at the 1493m base area, while summit depth captures conditions 854m higher at 2347m, where snow typically stays colder and lingers longer. Imperial conversions are shown alongside for convenience.
Weather conditions
Current weather conditions affect snow quality. Cold temperatures with low wind typically preserve snow quality, while warm temperatures or rain can impact conditions negatively — something worth watching closely at Tamarack Resort's 1493m base elevation, where temperatures run milder than the summit.
Data sources
Snowfall and depth figures for Tamarack Resort come from official mountain sources; weather and outlook data comes from independent forecasting services. The mountain is served by 7 lifts, including 5 quad chairlifts.
When to check
Conditions can change overnight, so mornings and late afternoons are the best times to check back on Tamarack Resort.