SUMMER on the Mountain
As the temperatures cool and the colors begin to change, we’re looking back at another fantastic summer season of not-for-profit mountain recreation and education. This summer, we proudly hosted 60+ free community events, from Music on the Mountain to wine tastings and Guided Nature Programs with Ray and Edna Vizgirdas. In line with our mission to provide accessible and fun mountain recreation and education, we work hard to offer something for everyone at Bogus Basin. Check out our summer 2024 recap here!
Events
- Music onthe Patio
- 21
- Yoga onthe Mountain
- 24
- Guided Nature Programs
- 10
The Boise Mountain Bike Festival kicked off summer on the mountain in late June. The festival brought 1,300+ local mountain bike enthusiasts together to meet with local bike shops and businesses, participate in Q&A sessions with professional mountain bikers in the Treasure Valley, ride cross-country and downhill trails, watch the Whip Off event, and more. The Boise Mountain Bike Festival is a great way to welcome summer with other outdoor recreation enthusiasts at your local non-profit mountain recreation area!
Yoga on the Mountain
This summer, we once again partnered with Yoga For Life to offer FREE yoga classes on the mountain three times a week in the peak season. Every first Sunday of the month, Yoga For Life hosted a special sound bathing yoga class for an ultra-zen mountain yoga experience.
Free Live Music
Who doesn’t love free music in the mountains? Bogus Basin held 26 free music events over the summer — twenty-one Music on the Patio performances and five Music on the Mountain free concerts that took place on the lawn in front of the J.R. Simplot Lodge. Music on the Patio featured local Treasure Valley musicians on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as the Fourth of July and Labor Day.
The Music on the Mountain free concert series showcased an exciting lineup of artists and bands from the Pacific Northwest. Check out the summer’s Music on the Mountain lineup below!
Free Music On The Mountain Lineup 2024
July 13th, 2024
July 27th, 2024
August 10th, 2024
August 31st, 2024
September 7th, 2024
We collaborated with local Idaho wineries to host fun wine-tasting events during select Music on the Mountain concerts.
Featured wineries included Koenig Vineyards, SCORIA Vineyards, Cinder Wines, Mom Jeans Wine, Dude DeWalt Cellars and Dunning Estates.
National Public Lands Day
We ended the summer season with a National Public Lands Day volunteer event and party on the base area lawn in front of the J.R. Simplot Lodge.
68 community volunteers planted 600 native seedlings on the brand-new Ida Belle run to help mitigate erosion and the spread of invasive species like Spotted Knapweed and Cheatgrass. Following the volunteer event, we headed down to the National Public Lands Day Party to meet with 21 local community organizations, such as the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Boise National Forest, Idaho Trails Association, MK Nature Center, and Wild Hearts Idaho, to name a few.
Read all about the day here!
“It was great to see multiple community organizations represented/in collaboration with Bogus Basin for the event. Also loved the planting project!”
National Public Lands Day Participating Organization
New: Nature Art Programs
You may have noticed a new summer program on the Events calendar: The Nature Art Workshops! Providing a great opportunity to get creative, spend time with friends or family, and create beautiful artwork in the mountains. Over the course of the summer, we hosted three workshops featuring a sketching session with Dapper Duck Productions and two watercolor paintings with Moonstruck Creations. Each event offered a unique, hands-on way to connect with nature and create stunning artwork in an inspiring outdoor setting!
Community Race Series
The Summer Community Race Series returned to the mountain in late June, with cross-country mountain bike races on Wednesday evenings and downhill mountain bike races on Thursday evenings. At the end of the six-week series, winners won cash and other prizes. All participants who competed in every race within each series category received a swag bag with merchandise from our amazing sponsors! The Community Race Series is open to mountain bike riders of all skill levels and is a fun way to connect with the local community through friendly competition.
Mountain Bike Clinics And Lessons
Mountain bike clinics and lessons are perfect educational opportunities designed to boost your confidence on cross-country trails and in The Basin Gravity Park. The Bogus Basin Bike School and local professionals hosted a range of educational mountain biking sessions full of fun, skill-building opportunities for riders of all levels.
In June, we hosted an Enduro and Downhill Race Camp designed for intermediate to advanced riders looking to improve their race performance in the Community Race Series. Eric Yoon and Pro Riders and coaches Drake Barron and Paul McNeil led the day camp.
Eric Yoon is a 2019 SRAM Rocky Mountain Enduro Championships and was the 2022 Masters Enduro National Champion.
The expert coaches at Bogus Basin Bike School hosted specialized mountain bike clinics on select weekends, focusing on cornering, jumping, and pumping techniques. In addition to the clinics, the Bike School offered private and group lessons every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Be sure to watch for clinics and lessons next summer!
Guided Nature Programs
The knowledgeable Ray and Edna Vizgirdas led 10 free Guided Nature Programs covering various topics from edible and medicinal plants, pollinators and their favorite plants to wilderness survival. Ray and Edna work with the Environmental Education team, taking groups on Guided Nature Program excursions year-round. Don’t miss the next one — check out the Guided Nature Program schedule!
Community Volunteer Events
The Sustainability and Stewardship team hosted three Community Volunteer Events focused on seed collecting and restoration to promote forest health and responsible mountain stewardship. With 42 awesome volunteers, we collected 2,100 grams of native seeds! Those seeds are now at Lucky Peak Nursery, where they are being cleaned, sorted, and germinated. We’ll plant them on the mountain next fall!
This National Public Lands Day, 68 volunteers planted seedlings from last summer’s seed-collecting efforts. We’ll plant a total of 3,000 seedlings from the seeds collected on the mountain this September. So far, 1,000 have been planted. Learn more about our work with Lucky Peak Nursery and the Boise National Forest here.
- Volunteersthis summer
- 110
- Grams of Seeds Collected
- 2,100
- Seedlings Planted
- 1,000
Non-Profit, All Good – Mountain Improvements
As a nonprofit mountain recreation area, every dollar we earn is reinvested back into the mountain. So, in addition to hosting a range of exciting events during the summer of 2024, our mountain operations team worked tirelessly to install the brand-new Skytrac Coach and Bitterroot Chairlifts! Installing these fixed-grip quad chairlifts doubles the uphill capacity – now you can expect shorter wait times in the lift lines and more time on your favorite runs this winter!
To complement the two new chairlifts, we’re introducing two new runs to the mountain in the winter of 2024/25! Ida Belle, accessible from the new top terminal on the Coach Chairlift, provides an advanced beginner option for new skiers and snowboarders. Wake Up Jim, accessible from the Smuggler run in the Bitterroot Basin, is another great option for intermediate riders!
Thank you for being a valued part of our non-profit recreation community this summer. Please look out for operations updates as we prepare the mountain for another awesome winter season! We have just a few short weeks until we’re back on the snow – Do you have your 2024/25 Season Pass?
About Bogus Basin Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area is a 501(C)(3) organization dedicated to engaging the community to provide accessible, affordable, and fun year-round mountain recreation and education. Opened in 1942, Bogus Basin offers 2,600 acres of daytime skiable terrain and 200 acres for night skiing, seven chairlifts and three people-mover carpets, and an 800-foot tubing hill. The Nordic Center offers 37 kilometers of groomed trails for skiing and snowshoeing. Environmental education and community outreach programs, primarily youth, serve over 20,000 individuals annually. Summer activities include The Glade Runner Mountain Coaster, The Mine Shaft Challenge Course, mountain biking, events, hiking and chairlift service for hike and bike transport. Bogus Basin is located 16.5 miles north of Boise, Idaho, and operates under a special use permit with the Boise National Forest. www.bogusbasin.org
