Description

To get your backcountry fix without going far from Boise, Mores Mountain is the place.

You can get there with a short skin from Bogus Basin, and find different styles of terrain on every side of the mountain.

While the most basic and popular tour is to simply yo-yo up and back on the south meadows, you can find a lot more excitement by dropping off a different side of the mountain, especially the west side. The west slopes of Mores are stacked with jumbles of granite, making for picturesque hiking in the summer and exciting skiing in the winter.

It is possible to find relatively mellow lines here, but the mess of trees and rocks makes it hard to navigate.

You should only approach this zone with extreme caution.

Note also that much of it receives southern exposure, so the snow is likely to be variable.

These runs can be hard to catch in good condition, but the convenience is hard to beat.

You can lap this multiple times with assist from the chairlift. The way to get there is to leave Bogus bounds at backcountry gate #3 and skin toward the top of Mores.

As you approach the west summit, look for any suitable place to drop off the west side.

The trees are thick near the top so you’ll likely have to poke around a bit.

Ribs of rock dominate the face, but there are chutes, glades, and steep clearings to be found.

There are also terrain traps, dropoffs, and hellish thickets if you go the wrong way. At the bottom you’ll pop out on a road that’s groomed for Nordic skiing.

To get back to the resort you have two choices.

Either skin up the track to Mores saddle and the backcountry gate where you started (mapped), or ski downhill and follow the winding road to the base of Superior chair, where a short trail through the woods puts you back in the lift line.