By Kelli Day
It was a Thursday morning in mid-March when I sat down with the Director of Bear Basin Nordic Center, Simon Ingham. We were outside the warming hut talking about Nordic skiing, McCall, Bear Basin, Little Ski Hill, and a whole lot more.
It had been one of the lowest snow years on record, but that morning there was a little excitement in the air. Overnight we had finally received a few inches of snow—not rain.
As we talked, people kept stopping by to wave hello to Simon and get the latest intel on which trails were skiing well that day.
One skier asked Simon if he’d recommend skate skiing or classic. Without hesitation Simon answered him, and the skier yelled across the parking lot to his spouse, “Skate ski today—Simon Says!”
And within just a few minutes of chatting with Simon myself, I quickly learned that what Simon says is full of truth, knowledge, experience, and joy—exactly the kind of information that helps you have the best possible experience at Bear Basin Nordic Center.
Simon, a born-and-raised bloke from England, found himself flocking to the U.S. many years ago. But he didn’t grace the small town of McCall until 2018, when he was working remotely and searching for a great mountain town with Nordic ski trails—trails that specifically allowed dogs on all of them, not just some.
Apparently that’s harder to find than you might think. A place that allows dogs on every trail is rare, but thankfully for McCall, Bear Basin was one of the few trail networks to offer it. That’s what brought Simon to our town with his two beautiful and furry pups, Sinka and Jasper, in tow. These dogs were built for winter, and just like Simon, they found the snowy season they were craving. And, as it turns out, they also delightfully discovered that McCall isn’t a bad place in the summer either.
Within a few years, Simon found himself volunteering at Bear Basin, helping the previous Director, Ed Roper. Last year, in 2025, Ed retired, and the best person to take over his role was Simon. Although Ed is still around grooming part-time, most of the grooming is now done by Simon. That grooming—covering roughly 25 kilometers of trails—can take anywhere from three to seven hours, depending on the snow conditions, and it’s typically groomed every single day. But Simon, the official Director of Bear Basin Nordic Center, does a lot more than just grooming.
One of the most important parts of his job, and something locals have come to rely on, are his grooming reports posted on the Nordic Pulse app. These reports help skiers know whether the rain on their rooftop in McCall is still rain on the trails—or hopefully snow. They help you decide whether to get out there early or wait for things to warm up. He even adds helpful tips like, “Lots of precipitation and warm temps ahead. Now is the time to enjoy your skiing before we lose our snow.”
Simon Says: get your butt out here today before it’s too late.
Simon is a groomer, a director, a helper, a hard worker—and a motivator, too.
Although the dog-friendly trails keep Simon in McCall, it’s the community and the people that keep him working hard for those trails. As Simon put it, “It can be lonely and dark out there grooming, and although it’s great to look behind you and see the product you’ve created, the real joy is when you come out and see the people and how happy they are skiing.”
And he’s right. Just sitting next to him, I felt a sense of pride as people swung by to say, “It was amazing out there today.” You could see it on their faces—they were so grateful for the hard work that goes into those trails, especially this year with the challenging and low snow conditions.
Thankfully, those people—our community—combined with the efforts of Simon and the Payette Lakes Ski Club spent years fundraising for a brand-new groomer, the PistenBully 100. And that beauty of a machine arrived just in time for our challenging 2025/2026 ski season. Simon was able to spend less time fixing old, broken-down groomers and more time out grooming and maintaining the trails. With this new groomer, he was able to move snow around the network to make sure there was enough coverage everywhere—including building snow bridges over water sources—to keep the trails connected and open. And not only does he love the new groomer for its reliability and ability to move snow, but everyone should love it because of the product it produces. The groomer helps even out the terrain, and if you’ve ever gone for a Nordic ski, having level terrain is super clutch in the middle of your stride.
The community doesn’t just rally around fundraising efforts, though—they also rally around Bear Basin Nordic and Little Ski Hill with their hard work. On Christmas Eve, Simon and a few volunteers spent hours out in the rain shoveling what little snow we had, all because Simon really wanted to give Nordic skiing to a community that loves and appreciates it so much on Christmas morning.
And they did it. They pulled off getting the trails open by Christmas Day. Despite our dry spells and warm temperatures this winter, they’ve managed to keep the trails open every day so far.
Simon is grateful to be a part of the Payette Lakes Ski Club, a nonprofit that believes in providing affordable skiing opportunities to the community. Whether it’s Little Ski Hill or Bear Basin Nordic skiing, “watching the youth out there on skis, messing around and playing—that’s what’s inspiring,” he says. And that’s one of the main things that keeps him going late into the night, grooming those trails.
So the next time you find yourself out at Bear Basin, give Simon a high five or a thank you. And more importantly, give some love to his furry dogs—the unofficial greeting party of Bear Basin. Simon is a Hometown Hero in our eyes, helping maintain our beloved Nordic trails, motivating and educating skiers, and working hard to keep the trails open as many days as possible for the community and town he calls home.