Since this board has been very helpful to get a feel for conditions in various resorts, I wanted to provide feedback on a lesser known ski area: Schweitzer, Idaho.
My son and I planned a short trip during spring break. A week before the scheduled trip, snow-forecast.com became our best friend to determine where we would likely find fresh powder. The forecast for Colorado and Utah was sunny weather and mild temperatures with no fresh snow on already thin bases. It quickly became clear the Northwest would have the best chances for a major snow event. Whistler was initially on top of the list but Schweitzer looked pretty good with a base of around 100". Having skied Whistler plenty of times, I wanted to try something new and thought that Schweitzer might be worth a try, particularly with their offering of a $99 Spring pass. We stayed at a lodge directly in the "resort" which is extremely convenient to get on and off the skis. We arrived in the evening of 3/14 and woke up on 3/15 to fresh snow of around a foot. Skiing was great for the first 2 hours until it started getting warmer and it rained almost to the top of the mountain. Even Gore-tex clothing had a hard time to keep all the water out...
There was more heavy rain until the early morning hours on Friday when it got colder again and the slush was covered with a thin coating of powder. The conditions on Friday morning were extremely tough with a half-frozen base just slightly covered. On top of that, it was foggy with heavy snow fall. It was so bad that Schweitzer closed off a number of ungroomed runs after multiple injuries were reported. We stayed mostly on the few groomed black runs which were not too bad. By around 3pm on Friday, the ongoing snow fall created enough of a cushion that we could venture again onto ungroomed runs off the Great Escape lift. Due to an event at the terrain park, one lift (Basin Express) stayed open until 6pm which allowed us to finish the day on untouched 6" above groomed blues. Perfect for big carving since we were virtually alone on the slopes.
It snowed more overnight and Saturday. Not knowing the resort, we hesitated to get down double blacks with virtually no visibility which was a good thing because there are a number of unmarked cliffs on these slopes (we finally saw them on our last day when the sun came out). The snow conditions were outstanding, though, with 1 to 2 feet of powder, depending on the wind exposure. We skied the area around Colburn School for a good part of the day and were able to find untouched snow throughout the day. Colburn School is a hidden jewel accessed with a short traverse from the bottom of the T-Bar and I guess few people find their way to it. We finished the day on great powder off the Lakeview lift but the visibility was still very bad.
Sunday was our last and best day: It stopped snowing and we could finally see where we were going. We spent the majority of the day in the Outback Bowl with Siberia, Wayne's Woods and Lakeside Chutes (not really chutes, though) our favorites. Because the Outback Bowl closes at 3:30pm, we finished the day on the Lakeview lift and were still able to find untouched snow.
Overall, the "adventure Schweitzer" was a pleasant experience, despite the rain on Thursday and very challenging conditions on Friday. The snow was perfect early on Thursday and all of Saturday and Sunday.
Because of the low altitude of the resort and a small vertical, I would not book a trip to Schweitzer well ahead of time, though. While it rains regularly in the village of Whistler, the mountain tops always get snow while Schweitzer may see rain all the way to the top (as we experienced during this trip). Also, do not go to Schweitzer except for skiing/snowboarding. There is nothing else to do and dining/bar choices in the evening are very limited: one restaurant (Chimney Rock, pretty good food) and one pub. The big advantage of such a tiny "resort" town for a relatively large ski area (2900 acres) is that there are no lift lines. Even on Sunday (when the conditions were perfect and locals visit from Spokane or other nearby places), we never had to wait on any lift and could find untouched snow throughout the day.
When the conditions are great, Schweitzer is a small gem with enough challenging runs to keep one happy for a couple of days.
My son and I planned a short trip during spring break. A week before the scheduled trip, snow-forecast.com became our best friend to determine where we would likely find fresh powder. The forecast for Colorado and Utah was sunny weather and mild temperatures with no fresh snow on already thin bases. It quickly became clear the Northwest would have the best chances for a major snow event. Whistler was initially on top of the list but Schweitzer looked pretty good with a base of around 100". Having skied Whistler plenty of times, I wanted to try something new and thought that Schweitzer might be worth a try, particularly with their offering of a $99 Spring pass. We stayed at a lodge directly in the "resort" which is extremely convenient to get on and off the skis. We arrived in the evening of 3/14 and woke up on 3/15 to fresh snow of around a foot. Skiing was great for the first 2 hours until it started getting warmer and it rained almost to the top of the mountain. Even Gore-tex clothing had a hard time to keep all the water out...
There was more heavy rain until the early morning hours on Friday when it got colder again and the slush was covered with a thin coating of powder. The conditions on Friday morning were extremely tough with a half-frozen base just slightly covered. On top of that, it was foggy with heavy snow fall. It was so bad that Schweitzer closed off a number of ungroomed runs after multiple injuries were reported. We stayed mostly on the few groomed black runs which were not too bad. By around 3pm on Friday, the ongoing snow fall created enough of a cushion that we could venture again onto ungroomed runs off the Great Escape lift. Due to an event at the terrain park, one lift (Basin Express) stayed open until 6pm which allowed us to finish the day on untouched 6" above groomed blues. Perfect for big carving since we were virtually alone on the slopes.
It snowed more overnight and Saturday. Not knowing the resort, we hesitated to get down double blacks with virtually no visibility which was a good thing because there are a number of unmarked cliffs on these slopes (we finally saw them on our last day when the sun came out). The snow conditions were outstanding, though, with 1 to 2 feet of powder, depending on the wind exposure. We skied the area around Colburn School for a good part of the day and were able to find untouched snow throughout the day. Colburn School is a hidden jewel accessed with a short traverse from the bottom of the T-Bar and I guess few people find their way to it. We finished the day on great powder off the Lakeview lift but the visibility was still very bad.
Sunday was our last and best day: It stopped snowing and we could finally see where we were going. We spent the majority of the day in the Outback Bowl with Siberia, Wayne's Woods and Lakeside Chutes (not really chutes, though) our favorites. Because the Outback Bowl closes at 3:30pm, we finished the day on the Lakeview lift and were still able to find untouched snow.
Overall, the "adventure Schweitzer" was a pleasant experience, despite the rain on Thursday and very challenging conditions on Friday. The snow was perfect early on Thursday and all of Saturday and Sunday.
Because of the low altitude of the resort and a small vertical, I would not book a trip to Schweitzer well ahead of time, though. While it rains regularly in the village of Whistler, the mountain tops always get snow while Schweitzer may see rain all the way to the top (as we experienced during this trip). Also, do not go to Schweitzer except for skiing/snowboarding. There is nothing else to do and dining/bar choices in the evening are very limited: one restaurant (Chimney Rock, pretty good food) and one pub. The big advantage of such a tiny "resort" town for a relatively large ski area (2900 acres) is that there are no lift lines. Even on Sunday (when the conditions were perfect and locals visit from Spokane or other nearby places), we never had to wait on any lift and could find untouched snow throughout the day.
When the conditions are great, Schweitzer is a small gem with enough challenging runs to keep one happy for a couple of days.
