Wallace, ID – Officials at Lookout Pass ski area along the Montana-Idaho border have submitted a $20 million master plan to the U.S. Forest Service to expand onto two adjacent peaks, bringing their vertical drop from 1,150 feet to 1,800 feet.nRealization of the plan, which would be driven by business need and increased revenues arising out of each phase, would make Lookout Pass competitive with the Inland Northwest region’s other ski and snowboard resorts, including Schweitzer, Silver Mountain and Mt. Spokane, according to Phil Edholm, chief executive of Lookout Pass. The plan is expected to take up to 20 years to complete in full.

Edholm notes that the ski area’s two previous expansions in 2003 and 2007 drove annual skier visits from 22,000 to 63,000 over the same period.

The first phase would use two new chairlifts to reach a peak southwest of the current base area, increasing vertical drop to 1,500 feet and adding north and northeast facing terrain. Longer range plans involve a second base area, summer attractions such as zip lines and access to a third peak that will increase vertical drop to the full 1,800 feet by adding 2,000 acres to the resort’s current 540 acres of skiable terrain.

The initial plans are now before Lolo National Forest and Idaho Panhandle National Forest supervisors, who commended Edholm’s proposal for involving local backcountry interests early on in the process.