Recreation

Nalder & Galyardt qualify for US Ski team camps

McCall Nordic skiers Taylor Nalder and Gavin Galyardt received invitations from the US Ski Team to attend development camps this summer.The US Ski & Snowboard Team holds camps each summer for the best developing athletes across the country as challenging, educational and motivational training opportunities.“This is a talent identification tool and a constructive and intensive development opportunity,” according to the organization.Taylor Nalder of the McCall Nordic and Biathlon Ski Club qualified for the US Ski Team’s National U16 camp for the second year in a row.Her inclusion was based on results at 2024 US Cross Country Skiing Junior Nationals in Lake Placid, New York in March.

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McCall skiers compete at IFSA champs

Three skiers from McCall competed in the 2024 International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association Freeride Junior Championship at Breckenridge, Colorado.The event was held April 7-14, featuring the 350 best skiers and snowboarders from the US, Canada and South America.“The competition was intense, this is like the Super Bowl of events for Freeride skiing,“ said coach Kerry Lofy.“Even to get invited and show up is a huge win, especially for our newish program and athletes who have only been competing for a year or two,” Lofy said.Scout Weiseth finished fourth in the U12 women’s category over two days of competition.“She got a little lost on the qualify day and was in seventh place and then in finals skied a fast, fluid, fall line run-moving her up to fourth,” Lofy said.Kai Tennyson finished in sixth in the U12 men’s category.“He hit about nine different airs in typical Kai fashion (super stylie and smooth).

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Lake Cascade marina open house – BOR seeks comments by April 17

The Bureau of Reclamation hosted an open house on Tuesday at the American Legion Post #60 in Cascade to gather public input on Tamarack Resort’s proposal to build a 200-slip Marina on Lake Cascade.The marina will be located in Cascade State Park within the Poison Creek Campground at the intersection of West Mountain Road and Discovery Drive.Officials were on hand to answer questions from the bureau as well as the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and Tamarack Resort.The Bureau of Reclamation has started an environmental analysis of the proposed project.Construction of the marina cannot begin until the analysis is complete, which is expected to be this fall, said Rochelle Ochoa, a Natural Resources Specialist with the Bureau of Reclamation.Public comments on the scoping period of the project are due by April 17.Comments should be submitted by email to sra-nepa-comments@usbr.gov, or mailed to Ochoa at 230 Collins Road, Boise, ID, 83702-4520.“I just like to know what the public thinks, that’s why we have open houses,” said IDPR Director Susan Buxton at Tuesday’s event.“We need more capacity,” Buxton said.

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Tracking snow to guide water

Once a month from January until May, Sarah Armstrong shoulders a 20-pound pack as she skis out into forests around Idaho to take snow surveys.The surveys collect data which help determine the water content of the winter snowpack, which can aid decision makers in managing and distributing water for agriculture, reservoirs and recreation.“Little Payette Lake is a great example of how important snowmelt is to our community,” Armstrong said last week during the Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation’s Outdoor Conversations series held in McCall.“Without adequate data to estimate our snowmelt runoff, management of the lake in the early season would be difficult and lead to drought and flooding concerns to the downstream users,” she said.Armstong, who grew up in McCall but now lives in Hailey, began conducting snow surveys in 2009 when she started work for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.Armstrong demonstrated some of the gear and devices she uses to conduct her surveys during last week’s presentation, including the Mount Rose Sampler.The device, created by James Church in 1908, is an elongated and hollow metal tube which weighs the snow to determine the water content.Armstrong weighs the empty metal tube then fills it with snow from the survey site.

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Boise, Payette Forests win award

The Boise and Payette National Forests were recently given an award for their work in reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires.The forests received the US Forest Service Chief’s Honor Award for working together on the 1.7-million-acre Southwest Idaho Wildfire Crisis Strategy Landscape project.The Forest Service Chief is Randy Moore.The goal of the project is to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires to communities and infrastructure.

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