Tamarack Is Aiming for Thanksgiving Again. What the New Snow Guns on Waltz and Serenity Change This November
"We've always had the water and the cold nights. What we haven't had is the ability to use them everywhere we need to." Tamarack Resort President Scott Turlington said that in the resort's September announcement of its snowmaking expansion. It's a fair summary of the last three early seasons on West Mountain.
Tamarack is planning to open for the 2026–27 season on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, conditions permitting, according to POWDER. Anyone in Donnelly who has watched that date come and go before has reason to wonder whether this year will be different. The honest answer is that the date is no more certain than before. What has changed is the equipment, and it went onto a beginner run that stayed closed last December and the full length of a run that opened only partway.
Tamarack's last three winters started in three different ways, and each one came down to what fell from the sky.
| Season | Announced or targeted | Actual opening | What ran first |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | Dec. 8, announced Dec. 6 | Dec. 8 | Discovery Chair and the Discovery run only |
| 2024–25 | Nov. 29, announced Nov. 27 | Nov. 29 | Tamarack Express as first chair at 9 a.m. |
| 2025–26 | Nov. 28 | Dec. 22 | Upper mountain only via Summit Express, with Discovery Chair also running; download on Tamarack Express |
In 2023, Tamarack's own release said Mother Nature had not cooperated with more snow, so the opening was limited to a single chair and a single run until more arrived. The resort's 2023 opening release put the start at December 8.
The next year went the other way. Tamarack's November 27, 2024 release pointed to abundant early-season snow and opened that Friday, November 29, with Tamarack Express spinning at 9 a.m.
Last winter was the long wait. Ski Idaho's November 2025 season preview listed Tamarack's planned opening as November 28. The mountain actually opened on Monday, December 22, after an unseasonably warm start. KIVI reported that a weekend storm dropped 14 inches at the resort right before opening day.
The details of that December 22 opening show where the new investment went. Tamarack's opening release on PR Newswire said that because of limited early snowfall, guests would ski the upper mountain via Summit Express and ride Tamarack Express back down. Skiing from the top of Tamarack Express to the base was not permitted during early operations.
KIVI listed the nine runs open that day: Canoe Ridge, Discovery, Hilary's Step, Wildwood Way, Ladle, Panorama, Upper Serenity, Funnel and Adrenaline. Upper Serenity was on the list. Waltz was not, and neither was any route to the bottom.
Those are the two runs getting permanent snowmaking this year. The new TechnoAlpin TT10 tower-mounted fan guns cover Waltz and the full length of Serenity. Tamarack calls Waltz its primary beginner run and says it was widened last season. Serenity is the resort's top-to-bottom run from the upper mountain. Together, the resort says, the expansion adds snowmaking to more than 20% of Tamarack's existing terrain.
So the guns went to the beginner run that wasn't open last December and to the full length of the run whose upper half was. If they work as described, an early opening could include a top-to-bottom route and a place to learn, even before the mountain gets much natural snow.
Tamarack says it typically gets about 200 hours of snowmaking temperatures before Thanksgiving. That sounds like plenty. The catch is how those hours arrive. Many come in cold spells of two to four hours, and the resort's mobile guns need crews to haul, position, connect and run them by hand. In a window that short, setup can eat up most of the cold before any snow gets made.
The automated TT10s can start as soon as conditions allow. Each nozzle valve is controlled individually, and the release says updated cooling technology helps them run better in borderline temperatures. That's the kind of marginal late-autumn night that has been lost in past seasons.
Most of the work this fall has been underground. According to the resort, the project includes:
TechnoAlpin technicians are supporting the installation and commissioning. Tamarack calls the whole project a seven-figure investment.
Fixed guns on Waltz and Serenity also free up equipment for the rest of the mountain. Tamarack says the crews and mobile guns that used to be tied up on those two runs can now go to Discovery, Showtime and the terrain parks, alongside new TR10 mobile fan guns added this year.
Discovery was the only run open in December 2023, so it's the terrain the mountain has relied on when snow is thin. In a lean early season, more mobile guns can now be pointed at it while Waltz and Serenity run on their own systems. The resort describes the snowmaking as something that complements the natural snowfall rather than replacing it. A Thanksgiving opening still depends on enough cold hours. The new system is designed to waste fewer of them.
The resort's calendar assumes the season starts in late November. Tamarack's events page shows the following lineup:
The Pray for Snow Party is nine days after this post goes up and has the most going on. According to the event page, live music runs in the Village from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Local booths and new winter gear open at 3 p.m. The McCall Life Town Edit premieres on the big screen at 4:45, and the Girl Winter Film Tour starts at 5. A $15 Girl Winter Film Tour ticket gets you into the party. Passholders can pick up their 26/27 All Season Pass or SKY Pass on site.
The Miracle bar opens four days before the target opening. It's the Christmas cocktail pop-up, and the resort says it will serve seasonal cocktails and après bites from Tamarack's executive chef in new collectible mugs. The Tree Lighting lands the day after the target opening, so if the lifts start on time, Thanksgiving weekend brings the first chair and the Village tree within about 30 hours of each other.
For Santa Skis For Free, the costume has to be head to toe. Tickets can only be picked up that day, and the $5 media fee still applies to new tickets.
One more change will affect the hill once it opens. This is Tamarack's first season as an Ikon Pass Bonus Mountain. According to Tamarack's Ikon FAQ, holders of the full Ikon Pass get two days at Tamarack. Ikon Base and Ikon Session passes don't include it. No reservation is needed, and Ikon holders can scan straight at the lift.
Ikon access is blacked out on these dates:
Those are the post-Christmas week, Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and Presidents' Day weekend. On the resort's busiest days, the Ikon crowd won't be in the lift line. The rest of the season, the new pass brings two-day visitors to the mountain.
For anyone who hasn't bought a pass yet, the Tamarack pass page showed Tier 3 pricing in mid-October 2026: $799 for an adult All Season Pass, $1,699 for a family pass, $699 midweek and $549 military, before the civic fee and sales tax. When passes launched in late February, the adult price was $499, so waiting has cost money.
Tamarack's pass-perks listing also says the Ski Bus is free with every pass type this season.
If a Tamarack winter is part of why you're thinking about a home base in Donnelly, or you're wondering how a ski-in season changes the way your own place might rent or sell, Sadie Noah Real Estate Group can walk you through it. Request a personalized market plan or property tour with Sadie Noah, and we'll start with the roads, runs and neighborhoods around West Mountain.
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