I would love to hear ski reports
Mar 4th, 2000, 08:38 PM
#1
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I would love to hear ski reports
We could not do our annual ski trip to Colorado this year as I am pregnant and would love to hear how the snow is and if there is anything new in any of the ski towns. Went to Cancun instead and was longing to get on a plane to Colorado. I really miss those mountains.
Mar 7th, 2000, 11:31 AM
#3
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Dear Melinda:
Here's the latest ski report from Washington State's Mount Baker:
last updated Tue Mar 7 10:10 EST
180"-235" Packed Powder
9 of 9 lifts operating
100 %
3/5/2000
Hours and Information:
9am-330pm Daily
Call- 360-671-0211
A friend of mine who snowboards says the snow is fabulous this year--Mt. Baker may break the snofall record it set last year (for the most [measured] snofall in the world).
P.S.: When's the baby due?
Here's the latest ski report from Washington State's Mount Baker:
last updated Tue Mar 7 10:10 EST
180"-235" Packed Powder
9 of 9 lifts operating
100 %
3/5/2000
Hours and Information:
9am-330pm Daily
Call- 360-671-0211
A friend of mine who snowboards says the snow is fabulous this year--Mt. Baker may break the snofall record it set last year (for the most [measured] snofall in the world).
P.S.: When's the baby due?
Mar 9th, 2000, 04:30 AM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Dear Melinda,
Here's another update:
Idaho ski resort's profile rises
SANDPOINT, IDAHO -- Schweitzer Mountain Resort's motto for this season is "Go Big," leaving an initial image of BIG air, as in flying high on skis or snowboard.
Details
For more information on Schweitzer Mountain Resort: www.schweitzer.com or (208) 263-9555.
But it means much more: It's also "Go Big," as in visit this growing ski resort, a 6,400-foot mountain overlooking 40-mile-long Lake Pend Oreille -- the next BIG destination resort in the Pacific Northwest.
As big as Whistler?
"It could be in terms of acreage," says Tom Fortune, Schweitzer's general manager. "This place has the potential in size to do 400,000 or 500,000 skier visits (a season).
"The vision is to grow, and we're on a fast pace right now."
Whistler big -- maybe.
Whistler style -- no way.
This is North Idaho, not North Van. Prince Charles isn't likely to show up here anytime soon, and that's just fine with Schweitzer.
"We're not creating a mini-Whistler; we're not going to have a parking lot full of Mercedes," says Raphael Barta, a Schweitzer sales director. "We like the word organic. Things grow organically. We didn't just create it."
Schweitzer lies about 85 miles northeast of Spokane and 10 uphill miles from Sandpoint, a town of 6,000 that relies as much on logging as tourism. Schweitzer opened in 1963 as a family-owned operation, and for many years boasted plenty of snow and a comfortable lodge, but little more.
The potential to "Go Big" was always there but remained on the back burner, primarily for lack of money.
The resort lies on private land and can grow however it wants, within reason -- as opposed to places such as Mount Baker Ski Area and Stevens Pass that are situated on U.S. Forest Service land and are restricted in what they can do.
In 1991, Schweitzer built an 80-room hotel close to some of its lifts. Another building, housing a pub and shops, was added two years ago, creating a small village. But the BIG plans didn't come until last year when Harbor Resorts Inc. of Seattle bought the resort.
Harbor, which also owns Stevens Pass and Mission Ridge (which is up for sale), refurbished the hotel last summer and renamed it Selkirk Lodge. It sold the 82 rooms as 41 condominiums, ranging in price from $175,000 to $330,000, and the rooms are rented to guests when the owners aren't using them. The Selkirk features an outdoor pool and hot tubs, restaurant and café, and it will be open year-round for the first time this year.
Construction of a seven-story hotel -- White Pine Lodge -- will begin this spring. It will include 49 condos, ranging in price from $230,000 to $345,000, and is expected to open in 2001.
Harbor sank $100,000 into Schweitzer's terrain park, which is lighted and has speakers mounted on poles from which head-banging music plays. It added two grooming machines and plans to install a second high-speed quad chair next year at a cost of $3 million.
The company also offered a special on season passes last fall: $199, down from $599. It sold 14,000 passes, compared to 2,500 the previous year.
"It proved a point to us," Fortune says. "There are a large number of people who want to participate in the sport."
Schweitzer already has broken its season record of 177,000 skier visits, set in 1993-94, and it's expecting 225,000 visits by the end of the year.
Residents and old-timers say the resort will change more in the next five years than it has in the past 20, and that's a mixed blessing. "I don't want it to become Whistler," says Carroll Ensminger, formerly of Bellevue and now a full-time Schweitzer resident.
Ensminger and her husband, Dick, bought a condo on the mountain in 1978, retired to here three years ago and are building a house. They remember when access to the bowl served by the existing high-speed quad was by foot; or, if you were lucky enough, the ski patrol would give you a tow with a Snowcat.
"That was only on select days, and it wasn't announced," Dick Ensminger says. "You just had to be there."
Now, some of their old favorite runs are easily accessible by chairs, and the new quad will open up others. "We have mixed feelings about the changes," Carroll Ensminger says. "You understand they've got to make it grow to make money, but we liked it empty."
The couple is impressed by what Harbor's done, though. In particular, they say, the slopes are better groomed and the parking is better managed. "It's a good move from all we've seen," Dick Ensminger says.
Harbor owns 7,000 acres at Schweitzer, and 2,400 acres are open to skiing and snowboarding. By comparison, Mount Baker offers 1,000 acres of skiable terrain, while Whistler and Blackcomb combined total about 7,000 acres.
But while Schweitzer is more than twice as large as Baker, it has only six chairs, two fewer than Baker. On a recent sunny Sunday afternoon, waits were 20 to 30 minutes on some chairs. On the flip side, the runs are so long and wide that they're uncrowded despite the number of people.
Fortune says the resort is concentrating on expanding its lift capacity before turning its attention to expanding the amount of skiable terrain.
He worked at Stevens Pass for 22 years before moving to Schweitzer last April. He said the snow is drier in North Idaho, but not that much. "It's actually more similar than I would have expected," he says. "Here, it's just not quite as wet."
What sets Schweitzer apart, he says, is the scenery, the views of Lake Pend Oreille and the surrounding Cabinet Mountains.
"We're undiscovered," he says.
Here's another update:
Idaho ski resort's profile rises
SANDPOINT, IDAHO -- Schweitzer Mountain Resort's motto for this season is "Go Big," leaving an initial image of BIG air, as in flying high on skis or snowboard.
Details
For more information on Schweitzer Mountain Resort: www.schweitzer.com or (208) 263-9555.
But it means much more: It's also "Go Big," as in visit this growing ski resort, a 6,400-foot mountain overlooking 40-mile-long Lake Pend Oreille -- the next BIG destination resort in the Pacific Northwest.
As big as Whistler?
"It could be in terms of acreage," says Tom Fortune, Schweitzer's general manager. "This place has the potential in size to do 400,000 or 500,000 skier visits (a season).
"The vision is to grow, and we're on a fast pace right now."
Whistler big -- maybe.
Whistler style -- no way.
This is North Idaho, not North Van. Prince Charles isn't likely to show up here anytime soon, and that's just fine with Schweitzer.
"We're not creating a mini-Whistler; we're not going to have a parking lot full of Mercedes," says Raphael Barta, a Schweitzer sales director. "We like the word organic. Things grow organically. We didn't just create it."
Schweitzer lies about 85 miles northeast of Spokane and 10 uphill miles from Sandpoint, a town of 6,000 that relies as much on logging as tourism. Schweitzer opened in 1963 as a family-owned operation, and for many years boasted plenty of snow and a comfortable lodge, but little more.
The potential to "Go Big" was always there but remained on the back burner, primarily for lack of money.
The resort lies on private land and can grow however it wants, within reason -- as opposed to places such as Mount Baker Ski Area and Stevens Pass that are situated on U.S. Forest Service land and are restricted in what they can do.
In 1991, Schweitzer built an 80-room hotel close to some of its lifts. Another building, housing a pub and shops, was added two years ago, creating a small village. But the BIG plans didn't come until last year when Harbor Resorts Inc. of Seattle bought the resort.
Harbor, which also owns Stevens Pass and Mission Ridge (which is up for sale), refurbished the hotel last summer and renamed it Selkirk Lodge. It sold the 82 rooms as 41 condominiums, ranging in price from $175,000 to $330,000, and the rooms are rented to guests when the owners aren't using them. The Selkirk features an outdoor pool and hot tubs, restaurant and café, and it will be open year-round for the first time this year.
Construction of a seven-story hotel -- White Pine Lodge -- will begin this spring. It will include 49 condos, ranging in price from $230,000 to $345,000, and is expected to open in 2001.
Harbor sank $100,000 into Schweitzer's terrain park, which is lighted and has speakers mounted on poles from which head-banging music plays. It added two grooming machines and plans to install a second high-speed quad chair next year at a cost of $3 million.
The company also offered a special on season passes last fall: $199, down from $599. It sold 14,000 passes, compared to 2,500 the previous year.
"It proved a point to us," Fortune says. "There are a large number of people who want to participate in the sport."
Schweitzer already has broken its season record of 177,000 skier visits, set in 1993-94, and it's expecting 225,000 visits by the end of the year.
Residents and old-timers say the resort will change more in the next five years than it has in the past 20, and that's a mixed blessing. "I don't want it to become Whistler," says Carroll Ensminger, formerly of Bellevue and now a full-time Schweitzer resident.
Ensminger and her husband, Dick, bought a condo on the mountain in 1978, retired to here three years ago and are building a house. They remember when access to the bowl served by the existing high-speed quad was by foot; or, if you were lucky enough, the ski patrol would give you a tow with a Snowcat.
"That was only on select days, and it wasn't announced," Dick Ensminger says. "You just had to be there."
Now, some of their old favorite runs are easily accessible by chairs, and the new quad will open up others. "We have mixed feelings about the changes," Carroll Ensminger says. "You understand they've got to make it grow to make money, but we liked it empty."
The couple is impressed by what Harbor's done, though. In particular, they say, the slopes are better groomed and the parking is better managed. "It's a good move from all we've seen," Dick Ensminger says.
Harbor owns 7,000 acres at Schweitzer, and 2,400 acres are open to skiing and snowboarding. By comparison, Mount Baker offers 1,000 acres of skiable terrain, while Whistler and Blackcomb combined total about 7,000 acres.
But while Schweitzer is more than twice as large as Baker, it has only six chairs, two fewer than Baker. On a recent sunny Sunday afternoon, waits were 20 to 30 minutes on some chairs. On the flip side, the runs are so long and wide that they're uncrowded despite the number of people.
Fortune says the resort is concentrating on expanding its lift capacity before turning its attention to expanding the amount of skiable terrain.
He worked at Stevens Pass for 22 years before moving to Schweitzer last April. He said the snow is drier in North Idaho, but not that much. "It's actually more similar than I would have expected," he says. "Here, it's just not quite as wet."
What sets Schweitzer apart, he says, is the scenery, the views of Lake Pend Oreille and the surrounding Cabinet Mountains.
"We're undiscovered," he says.
