Owner of Idaho’s Brundage Mountain Ski Resort dies at Boise hospital
Judd DeBoer, who guided Brundage Mountain Ski Resort north of McCall for four decades, died this week.
“For the past two weeks, Judd DeBoer has been in intensive care at the St. Luke’s Boise hospital,” the Friends of Brundage said in a statement. “It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that Judd passed away peacefully on Tuesday night at the age of 81.”
The cause of death was not provided.
DeBoer and his wife, Diane, bought a 50% stake in Brundage in 1980. The resort opened on Thanksgiving in 1961 under the ownership of Diane DeBoer’s father, Warren Brown, and J.R. Simplot.
The couple bought the J.R. Simplot Co.’s half-interest in 2006. Later that year, they obtained 388 acres of land near the resort’s lodge in a swap with the U.S. Forest Service, trading 159 acres at Squaw Meadows north of McCall and 190 acres at Reed Ranch, near the South Fork of the Salmon River.
“Our goal is to enhance and update the resort, without losing the character and charm that make it uniquely Brundage,” DeBoer told the Statesman that year.
The following year, Brundage spent $3 million to install two new chairlifts that gave skiers access to 160 acres of new terrain. It was the largest on-mountain investment since the resort opened and the first addition of terrain since 1990.
During their ownership, the DeBoers have added five chairlifts, provided snowmobile tours and SnowCat skiing on 18,000 acres, and expanded the lodge, according to an online biography.
.Judd and Diane DeBoer developed the Salmon Rapids Lodge in Riggins in 2000. The 55-room hotel overlooks the Salmon River. They also developed the 458-acre River Ranch resort community along the Payette River about 2 miles south of McCall.
DeBoer graduated from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and later served three years as an officer in the U.S. Navy, according to a biography on the River Ranch website. He then joined the San Francisco office of a securities firm, where he specialized in portfolio management and investment research.
Later, he founded Envirotherm Inc., which sold windows, insulation and sound-proofing materials.
DeBoer was appointed by three governors to serve on the Idaho Travel Council. The Intermountain Ski Areas Association awarded Judd and Diane with an “Outstanding Contribution to the Sport of Skiing” award, and DeBoer was the 2018 recipient of the “Governor’s Lifetime Achievement in Recreation and Tourism” award.
Service arrangements have not been made, and Diane and the family have asked for privacy.
Boisedev.com first reported DeBoer’s death.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 4:13 PM.
