Discovery News
April 2008Sunday April 6th will be the last day of operation for the 2007-2008 season. February 2008Season Pass Renewal SaleCurrent 2007-2008 passholders have until May 1st to renew their season pass. The renewal rates are - $229 for persons over 12 and $99 for persons 12 and younger. You can renew your season pass online or at the ticket window. Updated information on the proposed access road from Philipsburg are available on the Philipsburg Road page. Fall 2007The Discovery Dispatch newsletter is now available with the latest happenings at Discovery. Remember to renew your Preferred Skier card by December 15th. Lift Ticket Gift Packs ($140 for 5 adult lift tickets or 10 child lift tickets) are availablethrough December 25th. 2007-2008 Events Calendar
Granite County Road Right–of–Way across Fred Burr Creek, July 2007We have proposed to the BLM that a new road be built from Philipsburg to Discovery, where we plan on building additional ski runs. This will provide new access to the mountain and will shorten travel time for some of our customers. We are excited about the new plans and hope that approval for construction will be completed soon. Granite County has applied to BLM for a Right–of–Way to build approximately 4800 feet of new road across a 160 acre parcel of BLM land 3 miles south of Philipsburg, Montana. Development of the road would also include construction of a bridge across Fred Burr Creek. If this road is built, Discovery Ski Area would use this new northern route to provide access to new ski runs which are scheduled to be built directly southeast of this 160 acre BLM parcel. Discovery Ski Area plans to build the ski runs whether or not this road is built. The purpose of the proposed road would be to connect an existing county road, Rumsey Road, with a county road segment located southeast of the BLM land in Section 18, T6N, R13W, the Echo Lake Road, providing for a continuous county right of way to serve future development of Discovery Ski Area, other private lands and Forest Service lands around Rumsey Mountain with year-round access. There was a public meeting on July 18, 2007 in Philipsburg. For more information on the road proposal please click here: Granite County Road Right–of–Way across Fred Burr Creek December 2006Starting December 15th, Discovery is open everyday from 9:30 to 4:00. The latest mid December storms gave us enough base to open all of the front side runs (except Silver Bow) and to begin opening some of the backside trails. Check the Snow Report for the latest conditions and additional trail openings. We are pleased to announce The Philipsburg Discovery package, which is special two night lodging package in Philipsburg that includes lift tickets and a free Friday night reception for guests. The package price start at $144 and is an incredible value for anyone who wants to ski Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, plus spend two nights in historic Philipsburg. For more details please visit the The Philipsburg Discovery web page. The Discovery Ski Team is looking for children ages 5-12 interested in participating in the club's downhill ski programs. The club offers two programs, the Enhanced Ski Program (ESP) and the Discovery Area Race Team (DART). The ESP is for skiers who want to develop their form and technique, while having lots of fun on the slopes. Skiers interested in ESP must be able to ride the chairlift on their own. ESP meets each Saturday for 10 consecutive weeks, beginning January 6th. There is a $150 coaching fee. For more information, please contact the ticket office at 563-2184 or email info@skidiscovery.com. The DART program is for skiers who would like to refine their skiing skill through dedicated training and competition. The team participates in USSA races that are held in Montana and Wyoming during the winter. For more DART information, call Rick Duncan at 846-9631. November 2006Discovery opened for the 2006-07 season on November 25th. The Jubilee and Easy chairlifts were operating and all trails off of these lifts were open except upper Sapphire. We will be open weekends only until mid December and will open additional terrain as conditions permit. Check the snow & trail reports for updates on available terrain. Tucker Transportation will run their bus this Saturday and Sunday, December 2nd and 3rd. It will leave their building in Butte at 503 Centennial Ave. at 8 am and then leave the Albertson's/McDonald's parking lot in Anaconda at 8:30 am. If you have questions, please contact them at 723-4623. The cost round trip will be $10 from Butte and $8 from Anaconda. Fall 2006Welcome back to Discovery! We are looking forward to another great season! From the familiar backside thrills to the newst board-cross race down the front, we expect everyone to get their best turns in before spring. If you want to polish up, check out our array of lessons for all levels. This season the popular spring ski and board races will continue. Start practicing and we will see you at the gates. Have a great winter! Gift Lift Tickets to Discovery make great Christmas presents. You can once again order your gift lift tickets online.
February 2006Four class session programs started for Kinderski and 6-12 year-olds on Feb. 4th & 5th. New classes will begin again in March. Please check out the Ski School link or call the office for more details.Also in February, The Limelight Social Club. A backside ROMP! with the Director of the Ski School. A 3-hour class on Sundays. Fifty dollars includes instruction & lift ticket, $35 for instruction only. Call Discovery for details and sign-ups, or again, check out the Ski School page. Still available, Discovery in conjunction with Pipestone Mountaineering is holding telemark lessons. PLEASE CALL PIPESTONE IN ADVANCE TO SIGN UP & ESPECIALLY IF YOU NEED TO RENT EQUIPMENT. See the Ski School page for more information. January 2006SATURDAYS--AVOID THE WALK! We will have season pass and daily lift tickets available at the bottom of the Anaconda lift on Saturday mornings from 9:30am to 11:30am. Great lesson programs! Discovery is hosting a variety of great instruction programs in the coming months including telemark, Kinderski, Kid Kruizer, Women's only, and advanced skier sessions. Please check out the Ski School page for details. For example: Starting Sunday, Jan. 8th Discovery in conjunction with Pipestone Mountaineering will be holding telemark lessons. PLEASE CALL PIPESTONE IN ADVANCE TO SIGN UP & ESPECIALLY IF YOU NEED TO RENT EQUIPMENT. See the Ski School page for more information. Also starting Sunday, January 8th, The Limelight Social Club. A backside ROMP! with the Director of the Ski School. Each session will last 3 consecutive Sundays. Includes 3 hours of skiing each day. Call Discovery for details and sign-ups, or again, check out the Ski School page. Christmas 2005:We will be serving a boneless lamb roast with roasted potatoes and asparagus, and carrort cake for dessert on Christmas Day in the cafeteria. Come join us!! December 2005:We have received another whole foot of snow since the Thanksgiving weekend and will be able to open runs on all 5 lift lines December 3rd. Continue to check the snow & trail reports for updates. We will be open weekends only until December 12th when we will begin operations seven days a week. November 2005
Discovery opened on Thanksgiving Day with about 20% of the terrain available. Then from Friday to Saturday the ski area received 16 inches
of new snow! On Sunday we were able to open the green chairlift and increase available terrain to 40 percent! Saturday &
Sunday fantastic powder conditions were reported by all. We will be open weekends only until December 12th. Check the
snow & trail reports for updates on further increases in available terrain. Tucker Transportation will be starting up their bus on Saturday, November 26th. It will leave their building in Butte at 503 Centennial Ave. at 8 am and then leave the Albertson's/McDonald's parking lot in Anaconda at 8:30 am. If you have questions, please contact them at 723–4623. The cost will be $10 round trip. The bus will run on Saturdays for sure, and maybe some holiday dates. Please contact Tucker Transportation directly for additional information.   Fall 2005 Fall has returned to Discovery and the recent September storms have left snow on top of Rumsey Mountain. Since the end of last season we
worked on several improvements including the removal of several trees on Center Stage and a new catwalk from Center Stage to Winning Ridge.
These two projects will allow us to improve the grooming on Center Stage and Orphan Girl and open them earlier in the season. We also
cleaned up the Limelight trail, built a new lift operator shack at the top of the beginner lift, and hope to expand the snowmaking system this
fall.
Pre ski conditioning class starts Tuesday November 15 and ends Tuesday December 13th. This class is taught by Yvonne Leipheimer at the Butte YMCA. Contact the Butte YMCA for further information. Starting Sunday, Jan. 8th Discovery in conjunction with Pipestone Mountaineering will be holding telemark lessons. Beginning packages are $35 for easy chair lift ticket, instruction and rentals; or $40 for intermediate packages which include all day lift tickets and instruction (no rentals). Lessons are held at 10:30, customers can check with the office for further information. May 2005The Anaconda Bike Festival will be held on June 17-19. Events include "Pedal the Pintlers" road rides and the "Disco Mountain Boogie" mountain bike races. For details, please download the bike registration form. March 2005 Limelight Days! Sunday, March 13th was the last day of our regular season. However, with all the new snow, Limelight Days began on March 18th and will
continue on weekends only on a week by week basis. We will be open just Saturday and Sunday to pre-paid ticket holders (season pass, preferred
skier card, gift pack & gift lift ticket holders). Limelight Days will continue over the weekend of April 2nd and 3rd. We
currently plan to operate the Anaconda lift (with just Claimjumper available), the Granite lift on Saturday, and the Limelight lift on
Sunday. There will be no grooming and ski school will be limited to private lessons by appointment only. The cafeteria and rental shop will
be under normal operations. Lift Tickets are $30 for adults that do not have season passes and $15 for children.
The Pepsi Challenge and Brown Derby Races are scheduled for March 12 and 13. Both races are open entry and free. The Pepsi Challenge is a 2 person team event. Each team is made up of one male and one female racer. The winner for each age category is determined by the fastest combined time. On Sunday, March 13, the Brown Derby-Jim Mills Memorial Slalom will be held on Northern Lights for racers from age 4 to 18. Both races start at 1 pm. For more details please read the article written for the Philipsburg Mail.
February 2005Believe it or not the above pictures were taken on January 15th, 2005. Even after some unseasonably warm temperatures and spring conditions in January, skiing still remains good on our beginner and intermediate trails. Favorites like Red Lion, Gold Bug, and Northern Lights are still in good shape and rock free. About 6 inches of new snow on Sunday and Valentine's Day allowed us to reopen more trails off the Anaconda and Granite lifts. Adult all day lift tickets have been reduced to $22 until we reopen additional terrain. Child tickets are reduced to $15. The pictures below were taken on February 10, 2005 to show we really do have snow and the skiing is good on the intermediate and beginner trails.
January 2005The Wednesday Men's and Women's Program for Advanced and Intermediate skiers starts January 12, 2005 and runs five consecutive weeks. The program includes 2-hour lesson, 1-make-up lesson, luncheon last day. Instructor Yvonne Leipheimer PSIA certified instructor. Intermediate skiers Wednesday morning. Advanced skiers Wednesday afternoon. Cost $154.00. If you have a season pass $75.00. For more information call Yvonne 494-7702. 
December 2004Discovery is now open daily until closing day. As of December 20th, there are 3 lifts operating and 13 open trails. Check the Snow and Trail Reports for current information and additional terrain openings as conditions permit. Gift Lift Tickets are now available online for lift tickets, rentals, and lesson packages. Visit the Lift Tickets web page to purchase gift lift tickets. Lift Ticket Gift packs are also on sale until 12/25/04. Fall 2004Discovery has been working hard all summer to bring you the best skiing & boarding terrain southwest Montana has to offer in the coming season! Focusing on the Granite Lift’s favorite offerings, Discovery’s summer crew has undertaken the enterprise of further clearing Winning Ridge, Truefisher, & Tap’er Lite. With the new plantings of grass, conditions are ripe for smooth terrain this winter. Speculations are that the continuing work on these trails will be virtually complete by the end of next summer. 
Smooth trails means more grooming, and longer snow retention, as well as fewer obstacles on Winning Ridge. And as any good Discovery fan can tell you, that all translates into some great rides! Snow fences have been constructed at the top of Winning Ridge over the summer to aid in the creation of a nice, long-lasting base at the top of the run. Upgrades at the lodge include replaced railing around the balcony, as well as minor work in the cafe. New Ski School Programs - Under our new Ski School Director & Rental Shop Manager, Scott Shake, Discovery is pleased to offer:
December 2003Discovery began daily operations on December 12th with all trails on the front side open, most of the east bowl off of Limelight was open, and the Granite Chair was open servicing Winning Ridge and True Fisher. Excellent early season snowfall allowed us to open additional terrain over the weekend, including Orphan Girl, Center Stage and Granite. We expect to operate all lifts over the holidays and plan to open more terrain as conditions permit. Check the Snow Report and Trail Report for the current conditions and open trails. November 2003
Discovery will open for the 2003-2004 season on Thanksgiving Day (November 27th). We currently plan to operate the Easy, Jubilee, and Rumsey chairlifts (possibly the Anaconda lift) and hope to have most front side trails open (check the Trail Report for more information). Lift hours will be 9:30 am to 4:00 pm. All base facilities will be operating including ski school, rentals, cafeteria and bar. After Thanksgiving weekend, Discovery will be open weekends only until December 12th, when normal daily operations begin and continue for the entire season. College Days - College students remember to bring your valid student ids for $14 lift tickets on November 28th and December 12th. An updated trail map of the Granite area is now available online. 
Summer 2003This summer we continue to work on the ski area expansion. We widened and cleaned up all the new trails serviced by the Granite Triple Chair. Several additional trails have been flagged and construction will soon begin. One new intermediate trail (Head Frame) will take off near the bottom of Medicine Ridge, where it will continue north and northwest until it merges with the bottom of Boiler Maker. A new advanced run will branch west from the middle of Tap'er Lite down to the Granite Chair. Winning Ridge will be extended further to the northwest and a catwalk will return skiers east to the bottom of the Granite Chair. In addition to the trail improvements, several lift towers on the new Granite Triple chair have been raised so portions of the trail directly below the lift will not have to be roped off. 
April 2003The 2002-2003 season started off slow with low snowfall in November and December resulting from the El Nino weather pattern. When the snow finally started to fall in mid January the ski season rapidly turned around with some of the best conditions we have seen in several years for February and March. Most runs in the northwest expansion area serviced by the Granite lift were opened by late February as enough snow covered most of the slash and stumps which had not been removed when the new trails were constructed. We will slightly widen some of these new trails in the summer of 2003 and cleanup the remaining slash. The runs will then be reseeded with grass allowing for earlier openings of the Granite Chair in future ski seasons. We have proposed several other improvements for this summer subject to forest service approval. February 2003Heavy snowfall in late January has made for some terrific skiing and snowboarding at Discovery. The new Granite Triple Chair opened on Sunday February 2nd. The Granite lift will be open weekends only in February with access to the Granite trail and Winning Ridge (conditions permitting). A lot of slash remains on the other new trails, so more snow is needed to bury the logs and open these runs. This summer we will finish cleaning up and burning the slash. The runs will then be reseeded with grass allowing for earlier openings of the Granite Chair in future ski seasons. The Discovery Nordic Club was recently formed to promote, enjoy, and help maintain the nearly 20 miles of cross-country ski trails (map) in the area between Discovery and Georgetown Lake. The club will be sponsoring a cross-country ski outing on March 2nd at 1:00 pm to ski for fun and/or instruct those who want to learn. For more information about the club or the March 2nd outing, please contact Beatriz Pitcher at 563-2184 or info@skidiscovery.com. Discovery Ski Area rents cross-country ski equipment for $13 and often grooms the main 2 mile trail to Echo Lake. December 2002Discovery opened the Jubilee (Blue) lift on December 14th to kickoff the 2002-03 season. Daily operation will begin on December 21st with both the Jubilee and Beginner lifts scheduled to run. More terrain will open as snow conditions permit. The Granite lift passed the load test in the first week of December and is ready for operation. The Anaconda Chair is still being worked on and should be ready by the end of January.
Fall 2002
This past summer has been short and furious, with snowstorms that beleaguered southwest Montana as late as mid June, and thunderstorms
that have rocked their way through most August evenings. But no matter how numbered the sunny days have been, the summer has
been a beautiful and full one. Amazing blooms of beargrass graced the Georgetown Lake area, including the slopes at Discovery, especially
under the beginner hill lift which was awash in the majestic white tufts.
The big news around Rumsey Mountain these days is the expansion of the Discovery Ski Area. The summer has seen a flurry of installation work for two new rebuilt triple chair lifts. The Granite chair will service 1660 vertical feet and 140 acres of new trails on the northwest side of Rumsey Mountain. The Anaconda chair will run parallel to the current green chair lift and will reach the summit of Rumsey Mountain to provide triple chair access to both front side and back side runs. All summer workers dug holes and set towers, while loggers cut the new backside trails. Because of roadless restrictions, Discovery has employed helicopters to remove logs and install towers. Granite's motor room was set on August 15th with the aid of a large crane, which lifted and placed the room atop its tower, then held it in place for the welders to affix it (picture below). In September, the helicopters and workers poured concrete and set the final lift towers. In early October, the new cable for the Granite chair was being installed. Work has focused on the new Granite lift, which definitely will be open for business and providing expanded backside access for the 2002-2003 winter season. The Anaconda lift will hopefully be completed for this coming season as well. All in all, it has been an exciting off-season at Discovery Ski Area. Skiers and boarders alike will salivate and the news expanses of backside territory that will be available in 2002-2003. Imagine, standing at the top of Rumsey Mountain, Berkeley sloping behind you, the Pintlers at your back, and spread out before you, Winning Ridge, one of the new backside runs, sparkling with fresh powder in the Montana sunshine, and view that stretches all the way to Philipsburg and beyond the Sapphire Mountains. Be the first tracks to grace the newest Discovery runs. See you this season!
September 2002Construction on the lifts continue. We recently installed the motor rooms on top of the Anaconda and Granite triple chairs. All the new lift tower holes have been dug and a helicopter will fly cement to them the first week of September. Soon after that we will set the new lift towers.New trail maps have been added to the Maps page. The Employment page is now up to date with all the job openings for the 2002-03 season. The Bus will be running on weekends and holidays again this season from Butte stopping in Anaconda. It will be operated by Tucker Transportation. Ladies and Mens ski program - A series of five consecutive lessons starting Wednesday January 8. A make-up day at the end of the session and a luncheon on the last day of the regular program. Yvonne Leiphmeier a fully certified PSIA instructor will be the instructor for the five day program. Cost is $140 including five lift tickets and five lessons or $65 if you have a Season Pass. If you want to improve your skiing or if you want to learn how to ski the back side it is a great way to do it. Intermediate lessons will take place in the mornings and more advance lessons in the afternoon. Overflowed classes could take place on Fridays at 11:00a.m. Yvonne is also offering a one day 3hour class for six or more people for $45. Space is limited for any of these lessons so call Yvonne at 494-7702 or the ski area 563-2184 to register. Discovery Ski Team - The Discovery Ski Team had a very successful year. The E.S.P. (Enhanced Ski Program) Team had a wonderful productive fun year with a great bunch of children. The Race Team showed other race teams throughout Northern Division and Idaho that the Discovery Ski Racers are very competitive and on any given race can be on the medal stand. The Duck race was a success, bringing in $4500.00 to add to the general budget fund. A big thanks to all that took time to obtain prizes and help with the sales of ducks for this fund racer. Congratulations to Jacqueline Verlanic for pre-selling the most ducks with Zack Breen and Alexandra McDonald coming in 2nd and 3rd. All other team members deserve a big thank you for selling those ducks. This money is used for equipment; we have purchased close to 100 new race gates, new race panels, a new pop-up tent. Additional drills, timing equipment, banners. And with the financial help of Butte Orthopedics and Pepsi we have new Lycra race bibs. We are planning on having a two day race near the end of February. Last year trophy sponsors were Express Care (Kirwan Webb), Stone Containers (Gary Adams) and Anaconda Kiwanis. The Ski Team will be having the annual Fall (cookout) meeting near the end of October, first part of November to start the new year off. New election of officers will take place, The president seat will be up for grabs. (Kathy Riddle will not do all the work and Tim get all the credit !!!!!). As well as, other executive seats. All currents members will be contacted with the exact time and date of meeting. This would be a good time for new families that are interest in having their children be a part of an exciting winter program to attend. For information call Tim Riddle or Kathy at 563-5325 with more information. August 2002Discovery started installing the new lift towers for both the Anaconda and Granite triple chairs in July. The towers at the base of the Anaconda lift are shown to the right. Four new ski trails have been started on Rumsey Mountain's northwest side. A helicopter is currently removing the timber and next we will begin digging the remaining lift tower holes on the steeper portions of the Granite chair. See the Fall 2001 update below for more expansion details. |
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Fall 2001
Discovery Ski Area received permission to proceed with its expansion plans in August. The approved expansion implements Phase III of the Discovery Ski Area Master Plan of May 1988. The expansion and other projects were an essential part of the Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the U.S. Forest Service and Discovery Ski Corporation.
Most of the expansion will occur on the northwest side of Rumsey Mountain (view the new trail map). When completed, the construction will include 130 acres of new advanced intermediate terrain, a 72% increase in groomed trails, and a 34% increase in ski trails overall. The trails will be similar to Berkeley and Sluice Box in difficulty but about 50% longer. The runs will be on a northern exposure that will often mean better snow conditions.
There will be two new rebuilt triple chairs of 5200 and 5600 feet in length. One of these lifts will service all of the new trails to the west of Medicine Ridge and the other new lift will run more or less parallel to the Green Chair Lift. On benefit of this new lift is that it will unload at the very top of the mountain, eliminating the "short hike" to Medicine Ridge and the other new runs. These lifts will increase Discovery's vertical transport feet per hour by 150%, from 3195 VTFH to 7935 VTFH. This means that our already short lift lines will disappear altogether. See the topo map for approximate location of the new lifts. In subsequent years new grooming equipment will be purchased and new parking areas will be built. It is expected to take as much as five years to complete all the construction but the majority of the new lifts and trails will be ready for the 2002-2003 ski season.
May 2001
Discovery's expansion plan for the northwest side of Rumsey Mountain have been approved by the Forest Service subject to a 45 day appeal period that ends June 22nd. There are still some administrative procedures that the Forest Service will need to complete before Discovery can start construction. We expect to start work on the expansion on the northern side of Rumsey Mountain this fall if the fire season does not cause any delays. The new lift and some of the trails should be ready for the 2002-2003 season. The trails will be similar to Berkeley and Medicine Ridge in grade but almost twice as long and on a northern exposure. The new northwest lift will be 6000 feet long (about the same as the Green Chair) and rise 1600 vertical feet. When the expansion is complete, there will be 130 acres of additional intermediate and advanced intermediate runs.
December 2000
Discovery offers some of their embroidered clothing items for sale online. Please check out the Online Store for fleece pullovers, caps and gift lift tickets.
We received about 18 inches of new snow during the week of December 11th to 18th allowing us to open all the runs on the front side except Silver Bow. The cold weather that preceded the heavy snowfall weakened the older snow pack on the backside. During our avalanche control work about a dozen small slides occurred in the west bowl and a large slide on The Pitch. We opened several runs on the backside on December 21st. Please obey al trail closures due to the avalanche danger or insufficient coverage caused by the avalanches.
November 2000
Discovery opened on November 18th for weekends until December 15th. Special lift ticket rates were $15 for adults and $8 for children on November 18th and 19th. Check the Snow Report for the latest conditions and the Trail Report for a list of lifts and trails that will be open. Additional early season prices will be announced on the Snow Report page. Our second College Ski Day will be on December 15th. Lift tickets will be $12 for college students with a valid college id. See the calendar below for future College Days.
Fall 2000 Update
We have improved our rental shop again. We now have an improved layout that includes three cashiers for busy days and three boot fitting stations. Rental prices for daily and season rentals remain the same as last year. We will have new Volkl skis for the season rentals. Our new snowboards will again be Rossignol with their convenient step in binding. If you are interested in season rentals of either skis or snowboards please see the Rentals section for more details.
Our plans for an expansion are slowly moving through the environmental review. With all of the forest fires this summer, it has been hard for the Forest Service to get enough time to complete their assessment. We may be able to start on this project this fall if the fires die down and we get our approval.
You can now apply for your season pass and preferred skier's card online. We are in the process of adding a web cam so you can check the latest weather conditions from your computer at home, school or work. There will also be a new email snow report this winter.
Remember discount season passes must be bought by November 23rd and Preferred Skier Cards by December 15th. See season pass info for an online application.
Fall 1999 Update
This summer we have been busy working on the lodge, making one building out of two. The cafeteria is one large room with two food lines, one full service with hot food and one for sandwiches and drinks only. The downstairs should be finished by wintertime. Additional bathrooms, a special bathroom for parents with small children, and changing rooms with lockers, all add to make your experience at Discovery more convenient. We continued to enlarge and improve the rental shop. More boot dryers and ski racks will keep our new rental skis and snowboards in tip-top shape.
There is an article in the September 1999 issue of SKI on Discovery, see "Discovering the Basin". The 1995 Powder article on Discovery is also online.
