Ski areas were once one-season resorts - winter - for snow sports only. Today, ROI demands more revenue and the resort property cries out for more use than just the few months of snow sports to support those economics. So ski resorts everywhere have gotten creative and most now open for other activities during the non-snow months for other sports. Mountain biking is a major attraction and, case in point - Soldier Mountain in Fairfield, Idaho, has just opened their mountain bike park for the summer season as they have recently announced.

The ski resort is open every other weekend through September (2025) for a total of eight weekends. The mountain is also hosting a National Interscholastic Cycling Association Youth Bike Race and three scrambles this summer, where racers compete in a hill climb in the morning and downhill contest in the afternoon. The complete schedule is available at soldiermountain.com/summer.

Soldier Mountain Bike Park has constructed five trails that span 9 miles and include easy, intermediate, and advanced hand-cut trails, and an extreme machine-cut jump trail. Soldier Mountain also boasts a skills park. Their trails were designed and built by pros from Park City, Utah, with generous help from Southwest Idaho Mountain Bike Association, Wood River Trails Coalition, and other volunteers.

Lift tickets to mountain bike for the day cost $25. Visitors can also take scenic chair rides uphill for $10 per ride and hike down the scenic trail.

The lodge restaurant and beverage pass-through window will be open on operational days.The resort's outdoor bathrooms are open 24/7 to also accommodate campers, who are welcome to dry camp in the parking lot at no cost. RVs are confined to the parking lot, although campers can erect tents anywhere within the ski area as long as they're a safe distance from the lifts, trails, and other ski area infrastructure. Visit soldiermountain.com for more details.

About the authors

Lynn Rosen is an Emmy award-winning TV broadcaster, producer and director, and has been on the Journalism and Theatre faculties at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. She’s also a theater critic, travel writer, published author, fearless skier and belongs to the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) and the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW).lynrosen@aol.com

Web manager Steve Giordano, past president of the Society of American Travel Writers, is a veteran ski and travel journalist & photographer whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, books, radio and television and many places around the Internet. He's written numerous travel books. Steve is the designer and technologist of HighOnAdventure.com and was the online and guidebook editor of SkiSnowboard.com. He is a member of the North American Snowsports Journalists Association and can be reached at rsgiordano@gmail.com.