Bogus Basin ski area gets approval for snow-making system

BOISE – Federal officials have given a Boise ski area permission to build a snow-making system.

The U.S. Forest Service gave the Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area permission on Thursday to begin burying water and electrical lines on the Deer Point and Coach portion of the mountain.

The organization had already begun installation work in the Morning Star chairlift area, which the resort owns, said General Manager Brad Wilson.

Bogus is constructing a 50-foot-deep pond that will collect runoff to supply the new snow-making system.

The pond will hold up to 13 million gallons of water.

The project is being funded through a capital campaign that generated more than $6 million for the nonprofit ski area.

Wilson expects to complete installation this fall, including a dam and reservoir along Bogus Creek.

It’s unclear if the system will be ready by this winter because the ski area won’t be able to start gathering large amounts of water for the snowmaking until Nov. 15, but it’s expected to be up and running for the 2019-20 season.

The snowmaking system will use 24 mobile guns capable of putting top-to-bottom artificial snow for runs served by the Deer, Morning Star and Coach chairlifts. The system can make snow on the Deer Point or Morning Star sides of the property at one time.

It will also be used on the tubing hill.

“It is by no means a substitute for Mother Nature,” Wilson said.