How a mural brought McCall’s ski story to life
If you’ve ever rolled into downtown McCall and felt that giddy rush that happens when the first snow dusts the pines and Payette Lake turns to glass, then you already understand what “Drop In” is all about. The new mural on Lake Street doesn’t only add a pop of color—it tells the whole town’s winter love story, tracing a line from the earliest wooden skis clattering across snow to the joyful turns that still carve down Brundage and the Little Ski Hill today.
A Little Ski History (With a Lot of Heart)
Long before McCall became a destination for powder hounds and après-ski lattes, it was a sleepy logging town trying to stay busy in the long winters. Back in the early 1900s—before there was even a road into town—folks here had to make their own fun once the snow set in. Sometime between chopping wood and tending fires, they discovered something magical: sliding downhill on boards was a lot more entertaining.
By 1913, the train had made its way to McCall, bringing freight, mail, and the occasional wide-eyed visitor. The Johnson family’s “transfer house” sat right where Toll Station Pizza stands today. That’s where one of McCall’s first ski runs took shape—on a hill right behind the barn. Local kids would climb up, launch themselves off the chicken coop roof, and land laughing in the snow below. It wasn’t exactly Sun Valley, but it was the start of something special.
