Since 1937 Payette Lakes Ski Club has been a cornerstone of winter recreation in our community with a mission of providing an affordable, accessible, and sustainable winter recreation facility which provides a full spectrum of winter recreation programs for surrounding communities while reducing any financial barriers to participation.
Payette Lakes Ski Club operates both The Little Ski Hill and Bear Basin Nordic Center in McCall, Idaho.
At The Little Ski Hill our primary focus is our after school program. This unique program provides transportation from McCall, Donnelly and New Meadows schools to the ski hill four days each week. Kids learn healthy lifetime sports and skills in this full circle program. As participants grow with the program, they become instructors who teach the next generation of children all about how much fun Little Ski Hill is.
Outside of our After School Program, Little Ski Hill offers night skiing, a full terrain park, great food, and a fun place for families to gather.
At Bear Basin Nordic Center we aim to provide the highest quality Nordic trails in the area. Community support allows us to groom daily and keep our ticket prices low. In addition to great trail conditions, we offer a Nordic ski school which accommodates all levels of skier. Whether you have never tried Nordic, or you are looking for some tips to improve your skills, we have instructors to show you how.
OUR EXECUTIVE STAFF & BOARD MEMBERS
I am a McCall native who learned to ski at Little Ski Hill. Upon graduating MDHS I spent 10 years living, working and attending college throughout the western U.S. I have brought my passion for skiing and community to PLSC since 2008.
I am deeply passionate about education, recreation, and magic that happens when the two worlds collide. I quickly found myself a perfect fit for the life at Payette Lakes Ski Club because of my experience in these fields . I was raised in Baltimore, Maryland and attended college at Salisbury University where I studied Outdoor Education and Environmental History before moving west to Mammoth Lakes, California in 2001. I met my husband Furel in a ski shop and moved to Idaho with him in 2004. I find life in McCall to be authentic and enjoyable and I especially feel this at PLSC venues. I work closely with the board, staff, and our funding partners to improve the programs and facilities that our organization operates.
Idaho is the only place I have ever called home. I started skiing when I was 5 years old. When I was 11 I tried snowboarding and never put skis on again. That was 33 years ago, and I have since focused much of my life around the sport. I have been building and shaping terrain parks for 22 years. In 2011 I was hired to host a small rail jam series at the Little Ski Hill. I instantly fell in love with the place and the community that considers the hill their second home. With Colby’s guidance I immediately started plotting a way to create a Terrain Park program at LSH. I now work full time at the Little Ski Hill fulling ingrained in mountain operations and directing the terrain park. I am honored to be able to continue the LSH legacy of sending the youth flying into the air and down the slopes.
I have been living in McCall for 3 years now and in that time have come to love this community more and more. Little Ski Hill is such a foundational aspect to the culture of McCall and I am so excited to be a part of not only the McCall community, but the LSH community. My background in recreation; from raft guiding to ski instructing and ski patrolling, paired with my passion for teaching and education combines to a whole new level of excitement to work at Little Ski Hill. I hope that I can continue to build on the legacy that is the Little Ski Hill and continue to get the children of this community as stoked about skiing and learning as I am.
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I moved to McCall 6 years ago after calling it our vacation get-away for the previous 5 years. I’ve been a part of the PLSC Board for the past 5 years. My family, Miah (18), Cooper (13) and my wife Val, have called the LSH a second home during the winter for the past 6 winters. One of the many attractions that brought us to the area was the LSH. The close knit community that the hill provides is incredible and a joy to be a part of and watch grow.
As an educator for the past 20, I look forward to the opportunity to make things available to all kids and families. The Little Ski Hill is a great resource for every kid to learn a great lifetime activity. I am a huge fan of being outside and moving, whether that be skiing on the hill, nordic skiing in the park, biking/hiking in the summer, or just chilling on the lake. I’m excited to build on the foundation of the Little Ski Hill and continue to help all programs grow.
McCall is the place my wife Caitlin and I chose to call our home over 15 years ago, and more recently decided it was the right place to start and raise a family. I work as a backcountry pilot for a small air charter based in town, and during the slower seasons I am fortunate to be able to turn my focus more towards being dad and having fun with our two girls. With the Little Ski Hill’s deep history in McCall, and as one of its newer board members, I am honored at the opportunity to help the LSH continue its tradition of offering fun and affordable skiing for McCall and its broader community.
I learned to ski in the 1960’s on the rope tow at Bald Mountain up above Orofino, a place much like the Little Ski Hill. Bear Basin is where you’ll find me most days, though, before Zoom meetings with Idaho students, talking about their college plans. I’m on the PLSC board because the mission of bringing all of our children to the mountains to slide, to jump, and to scare themselves enough to go out into the world with courage matters to me. A 4th-generation Idahoan, I’ve lived around the west wishing I could do more than just visit McCall, and since 2020, have done just that. Recently, my three grown children and their young families have inherited the edgy-wedgy. Watch out, Little Ski Hill!