Kellogg, Idaho — Silver Mountain’s 2025-26 season, which concluded yesterday, will probably be remembered for one day. For most of the season, they saw low snow totals, resulting in bare-bones conditions. However, they did see some good storms in March. After a rainy start on March 12th, heavy snow blanketed the ski resort, leading to a promising powder day on March 13th. However, guests who visited that day had a rough experience.
In a letter to guests last week, GM Jeff Colburn detailed the operational decisions that occurred on March 13th. He explained that ski patrollers were up on the mountain early and that the opening timeframe was affected by a power outage. The gondola, which guests need to ride to reach the mountain, was closed for an extended period due to the power outage and a fallen tree branch on the lift line. They finally got the gondola open at three. However, there were various slides across the mountain, most notably on Moonshine. After the slide on Moonshine, they shut down the mountain for the day. Ultimately, the mountain didn’t even operate for roughly two hours that day.
The two lessons shared by Colburn are that they need to communicate better with guests on social media and that they plan to begin burying their power lines. Overall, this honest letter is thorough.
Avalanches have happened before at the steep Silver Mountain Resort. In January 2020, an avalanche off Wardner Peak resulted in the deaths of a couple of people and several injuries. Since then, increased focus has been made on effective avalanche mitigation. This included the closure of a portion of Wardner Peak and investment in new avalanche infrastructure. More investments in avalanche infrastructure are planned for this offseason, which will help with guest knowledge.
Image/Video Credits: Silver Mountain Resort, Jon Conti
