Schweitzer Mountain

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Schweitzer Mountain
location Bonner County , Idaho United States
United StatesUnited States 
Closest
cities 		Sandpoint (18 km)
Spokane (130 km)
Coordinates 48 ° 22 '1 "  N , 116 ° 37' 22"  W Coordinates: 48 ° 22 '1 "  N , 116 ° 37' 22"  W
Altitude 744 m above sea level NN.
Highest elevation 1951 m above sea level NN.
Cable car stations 1207 m valley station
1432 m middle station
Skiable area 12 km²
Number and
difficulty of
the runs 		92
Ski trail rating symbol-green circle.svg- 20% beginners
Ski trail rating symbol-blue square.svg- 40% intermediate
Ski trail rating symbol-black diamond.svg- 35% difficult
Ski trail rating symbol - double black diamond.svg- 5% experts
Longest descent 1.7 miles Little Blue Ridge
Lift systems 7 chair lifts
- 1 high-speed Secher
- 2 high-speed quadruples
- 1 triple
- 3 doubles
- 3 ski lifts
Night skiing 2 chair lifts
capacity 12,502 / hour
Average snow depth 762 cm
Web link Schweitzer.com
Schweitzer Mountain, Idaho
Schweitzer Mountain
Schweitzer
Mountain
The Schweitzer Mountain Resort,
near Sandpoint

The Schweitzer Mountain Resort is a winter sports area in the US state of Idaho . It is located 18 km northwest of Sandpoint in Bonner County in the Selkirk Mountains and from there offers an overview of Lake Pend Oreille to the southeast and views of the Bitterroot Range and the Cabinet Mountains . The ski area is about 72 km south of the Canadian border .

history

The summit, which is known as "Schweitzer Mountain", was named after an old hermit from Switzerland who lived at the bottom of the basin. He was a member of the Swiss military and his home was searched in the course of a criminal investigation. There the bodies of numerous cats were found that were considered missing in the area. Legend has it that the man loved cat stew. Herr Schweitzer was taken away from there and was quickly forgotten, but his name has remained.

The first person to recognize the importance of the Schweitzer Basin as a potential ski area was the dentist Doctor Fowler and Jerry Groesbeck from Spokane ( Washington ). In the 1990s, he wrote Looking Back on Schweitzer: The History of Schweitzer Mountain Resort about the area. In terms of content, it focuses on the early stages of the development of the site into a ski area. Fowler first saw the mountain when he was with his family on their way back from a ski trip to Big Mountain in Montana . While stopping over in Hope, Idaho, Fowler spotted the Schweitzer Basin and found the kind of snow he 'd been hoping for at Big Mountain (now Whitefish Mountain Resort ). The pool stayed in his head - until he set out on foot and skis - on Memorial Day - to test and ski there. He was impressed and thus became a promoter and advocate for the ski area.

Skiing on Schweitzer Mountain had already begun in 1933, but it was not opened until December 4, 1963 as the “Schweitzer Bassin” with a lodge at 1,432 m and a 1.6 km long chair lift. This enabled a height of 518 m to be bridged. In the 1960s, Schweitzer Mountain became a profitable investment in just one year. Initially planned as a weekend ski area, it was soon open continuously at the urging of Sam Wormington, the first managing director. In 1967 three more chairlifts were added, replacing the previous drag lifts. The rear area of ​​the Colburn Basin was equipped with two additional lifts in 1971. The road to the ski resort was paved in 1973 and the seventh chairlift was added in 1974 to increase capacity at the front. In 1986 a lift was started in the summer and in 1988 the ski area was renamed Schweitzer Mountain Resort and hiking trips and mountain bike tours including rentals were offered.

When the owner and co-founder Jim Brown died in April 1989, his daughter Bobbie Huguen took over the family business. Under her leadership, Schweitzer Mountain developed into a holiday home. Many additions and improvements were made and the old lodge was converted into a new three-story headquarters. In 1991 a disengageable chair lift was set up for night skiing. Huguenin also planned to build an 82-room Green Gables Lodge.

Ultimately, the Brown family did not have enough money to convert the resort into a residential alternative. They filed for bankruptcy in November 1996 and went bankrupt the following year. On December 31, 1998, Harbor Properties bought the Schweitzer Mountain Resort for a sum of $ 18 million from a US bank. The Seattle-based company, which operates Stevens Pass and Mission Ridge ski resorts (sold in 2003) in Washington , made immediate improvements by providing their equipment. The six-person Stella chairlift was installed in the summer of 2000 to serve the northern area of ​​the Colburn Basin, replacing the previous fifth lift. With this addition, the ski area expanded to 10 km². In July 2005, the ownership changed again and the resort went to the McCaw Investment Group, MIG for short, in Seattle. As a result, in the 2005-06 season the “Idyl-Our T-Bar” was expanded, the “Hermit's Hollow Tubing Center” and the “SunKid Magic Carpet”. The T-Bar-Lift Little Blue ensured an expansion of the area by 1.6 km² and several new runs.

development

The small town on the Schweitzer Mountain has two condominiums / hotels: the “Selkirk Lodge” and the “White Pine Lodge”. There are also a number of private houses and condominiums in the lower and upper parts of the village. One day there will be a lodge, the “Lakeview Lodge”, which will house guest services, a cafeteria, a café, the ski patrol and day care.

In February 2007, Schweitzer announced an ambitious expansion program. This included a $ 6,000,000 lift expansion program, including the existing lifts in the resort, especially the “Chair One” with its two lifts: a high-speed quad , the so-called “Basin Express”, in the lower part , and a hard-grip triple lift , the "Lakeview Triple", in the upper section. The "Basin Express" uses the old seven-chair lift line , on the right side of "Chair One". (Former Chair Two, Three and Seven were removed in 1990 to make room for the construction of the “Great Escape Quad”; they ran more or less parallel to “Chair One” but did not reach the summit.) The tracks were installed in summer 2007 . The program also included the redesign of the “Lakeview Lodge” and the purchase of new snowmaking systems to increase capacity, new seating on the “Great Escape Quad” and another $ 2,000,000 for the infrastructure and planning for future expansions.

Also in 2007, the Schweitzer Mountain Land & Timber Company , the real estate company of the Schweitzer Mountain Resort, offered 35 new ski holiday home plots for 1–4 accommodations for sale on the “Trapper Creek-1” area. In the winter of 2007-08 the heated roads, underpasses for skiers and utilities were installed. Towards the end of 2008 it was decided to put all Schweitzer real estate offers on hold due to the ongoing financial crisis.

In addition to the construction areas in "Trapper Creek" and "Greyhawk", external companies were sought in 2008 to construct buildings with up to five condominiums, so that 50 units, similar to those of the "White Pine Lodge", should be created . However, the offer to sell was withdrawn.

In 2009, construction began in "Mountainside", the new name for "Trapper Creek". Three part-ownership and owner-occupied houses were completed by spring. These are LEED-certified houses (Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design). Particular attention is paid to environmental sustainability, the use of local building materials and an architecture that is related to Northern Idaho. It is unclear whether all households in "Mountainside" have to comply with this certification and what the specifications for the rest of the development of the former "Trapper Creek" should look like.

statistics

The summit of the Schweitzer Mountains is 1951 m above sea level and has a difference in altitude of 744 m from the valley station. There are 92 different runs on the area of ​​the Schweitzer Mountain Resort. The longest groomed run, the Little Blue Ridge Run , is 2.7 km long. The capacity of the ski lifts is 12,502 visitors per hour. The slopes on the "Schweitzer Basin" lean to the south and east, while the "Colburn Basin" looks to the northeast.

Elevation profile and geography

  • Valley station: 1,210 m - at the Outback Inn (restaurant)
  • Middle station: 1,400 m - main town with the lodges
  • Mountain station: 2,000 m - upper terminus of the Great Escape Lift
  • Total difference in altitude: 740 m
  • Altitude of the ski area: 610-1341 m above the surrounding area

Terrain and snow conditions

  • average 762 cm snow depth
  • 12 km² ski area, of which
  • 20% slopes for beginners
  • 40% slopes with medium difficulty level
  • 35% slopes for advanced skiers
  • 5% slopes for experts
  • 40 km of mountain bike trails, hiking and riding trails (in summer)

Ski lifts

  • No. 1 - Basin Express - Doppelmayr CTEC - high-speed quad chair - (2007) - Lower section of the former Chair One .
  • N / A - Lakeview - Doppelmayr CTEC - Fixed handle triple chair - (2007) - Upper section of the former Chair One .
  • No. 2 - Musical Chairs - Riblet - Fixed handle double armchair - (from 1968, moved to the current location in 1990)
  • No. 3 - Great Escape - Lift Engineering / Doppelmayr - high-speed quad chair - (1990)
  • No. 4 - Sunnyside - Riblet - fixed handle double armchair - (1968)
  • No. 5 - Stella - Garaventa CTEC - High Speed ​​Six Pack - (2000)
  • No. 6 - Snow Ghost - Riblet - fixed handle double armchair (from 1971, moved to the current location in 1988)
  • No. 7 - Idyle-Our - Doppelmayr CTEC - T-bar lift (2005)
  • No. 8 - Musical Carpet - SunKid - Magic Carpet (2005)
  • No. 9 - Happy Trails - Handle Tow - Hand pull lift (from 1990, relocation to the current location in 2005)

Selkirk Powder Company

In 2005 the area took on a new dimension when the Selkirk Powder Company acquired the area north and west of the “Schweitzer Peak” and the surrounding area. The company offers cat-skiing and guided tours with the snowmobile on this site, where there are further expansion options, for example for a lift to the “Big Blue” or to the north-western slopes of the “Schweitzer Mountains”.

  • Picture gallery

  • Welcome sign

  • View from Schweitzer Mountain to
    Lake Pend Oreille

  • Houses with guaranteed snow access

  • Summer riding tours and chairlift to the mountain station

  • Riding station and lodges

Press reports and literature

Press reports
  • Best Resort in the Inland Northwest. In: The Inlander Reader's Poll. 13 years running.
  • Big Slopes and small-town charm at Northern Idaho's up-and-coming resort. In: Sunset Magazine. December 2003.
  • # 21 in the USA. In: Skiing Magazine. Reader Resort Survey, 2007.
  • # 3 in the USA for Tree Skiing. In: Skiing Magazine. Reader Resort Survey, 2007.
  • # 3 in the USA for lifts. In: SKI Magazine. October 2008.
  • Best Place to Ditch the Crowds. In: Skiing Magazine. October 2008.
literature
  • Jack Fowler: Looking back on Schweitzer. The story of Schweitzer Mountain Resort . Marshall Pub. Co., Spokane, Wash. 1991, OCLC 25586907 .

Web links

Commons : Schweitzer Mountain  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History of Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort, Sandpoint Idaho. In: c21schweitzer.com. Retrieved September 4, 2017 .
  2. ↑ The History of Schweitzer Mountain Resort ( Memento from May 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
  3. ↑ New features overview or overview of ski lifts
  4. ↑ schweitzer.com ( memento of March 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) or Selkirk Powder Company