Skiing in SANDPOINT and North idaho
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Back Country Skiing
Selkirk Powder. Providing guided cat skiing, heli-skiing, backcountry skiing tours, and avalanche education courses. Located at Schweitzer. Open 7 days week.
Downhill Skiing
Spend a full or half day skiing and snowboarding at Schweitzer Mountain Resort, located 11 miles from downtown Sandpoint. It’s not hyperbole to say Schweitzer is the Inland Northwest’s top ski resort; its size and numbers are bigger than any other ski mountain around: 10 chairlifts including one high-speed six-pack named Stella; three high-speed quads; two triple chairlifts; three double chairlifts; one T-Bar; and one conveyor lift. Top elevation 6,400 feet with 2,400 feet vertical; 2,900 skiable acres, 92 named runs; night skiing on weekends. The jaw-dropping views of Lake Pend Oreille and surrounding mountains is a bonus. Click to Schweitzer.com or phone 208-263-9555 or 800-831-8810; the snow phone is 208-263-9562; Activity Center phone is 208-255-3081.
Area Ski Resorts
Schweitzer is the star of area resorts, but here’s a guide to other ski hills within a two-hour drive of Sandpoint:
Silver Mountain 85 miles southeast of Sandpoint at Kellogg, Idaho. Open Thursday-Monday and holidays. Serviced by a gondola with five chairs and one surface lift; top elevation 6,300 feet, 2,200 feet vertical, 1,600 skiable acres with 73 runs; tubing hill.
Mount Spokane 75 miles southwest of Sandpoint outside Mead, Wash. Open Wednesday-Sunday and holidays. Top elevation 5,889, 1,425 skiable acres, 2,000 vertical feet, 45 runs, five chairlifts.
Lookout Pass 110 miles from Sandpoint, 65 miles east of Coeur d’Alene straddling the Montana-Idaho state line. Open Thursday-Monday and holidays. Top elevation 5,650, 1,150 feet vertical, 540 acres, two chairlifts and one rope tow.
Turner Mountain 80 miles northeast of Sandpoint and 22 miles north of Libby, Mont., open Friday-Sunday and holidays. Top elevation, 5,952; One surface lift; 25 runs, 2,110 feet vertical.
49 Degrees North
98 miles northwest of Sandpoint, 10 miles from Chewelah, Wash., open Friday-Tuesday and holidays. Top elevation 5,774, vertical 1,851, 2,325 acres, 75 trails, five chairlifts a surface lift and the Nordic Center.
Cross Country Skiing
The quickest route to groomed trails is Schweitzer, where you can kick and glide or skate on 32K of trails for a small fee (208-263-9555). Click to see the trail map.
Round Lake State Park, located 10 miles out of Sandpoint, also has 3 miles of various groomed trails for diagonal stride (208-263-3489).
Farragut State Park maintains more than 7 miles in its groomed trail system 25 miles south of Sandpoint on Lake Pend Oreille (208-683-2425).
Priest Lake Golf Club and Nordic Center maintains a Nordic trail system that connects to Hill’s Resort and Hannah Flats trails, totalling more than 40K of groomed trails (208-443-2525).
Or tour the backcountry on National Forest lands; contact Sandpoint Ranger District (208-263-5111) or the Bonners Ferry Ranger District (208-267-5561) for maps and more information or look up the Idaho Panhandle National Forests website. Rental gear is available at Schweitzer (208-255-3070) or at the Alpine Shop at 213 Church (208-263-5157). For more on the joys of backcountry skiing, check the Schweitzer sidecountry ski story, from Sandpoint Magazine.
Competitive Skiing & Boarding
On our local mountain, the Independence Racing Team and Schweitzer Alpine Racing School (SARS) provide racing education and sponsored events throughout the season. All SARS club programs aim to teach mastery and life-long love of snow sports, as well as provide appropriate training to Junior Olympic-bound racers. Programs are offered for alpine skiing, snowboarding and Nordic skiing.
Learn more at sars.net. The Independence Racing Team is a nonprofit organization designed to offer youth who might not otherwise have the means the ability to be involved in ski racing. Learn more at independenceracing.com.
