| Reviews: 36 |
| Review Mod |
| Kirkcudbrightshire |
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  4 of 5, "This was an area recommended to me by an old friend Q who has a wealth of experience visiting resorts in the Western States." 18/07/2008 @ 12:23:23 |
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| 3 members have given this review an average rating of 5 of 5 |
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| Booked Trip Through |
| Self |
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| Times Visited |
| Just Once |
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| Review Detail |
| I had heard good things about Schweitzer Mountain down in Idaho so we decided to spend 4 nights down at Sandpoint. We left Fernie and drove down highway 93 to the border crossing at Roosville. Last year we had crossed into the States at Patterson to go to 49’North and the experience was not much fun, but at Roosville the US customs were brilliant, they chatted away and shared a few jokes and generally made us feel welcome. After paying our $6 visa fee we were on our way down towards Eureka then onto the town of Libby, Montana for lunch. It was a very scenic mornings drive along Lake Koocanusa. Fuel was $3.19/gallon and it was only $35 to fill the car up. We drove on past beautiful Lake Pend Orielle to Sandpoint. We did not stay in the resort but at the “Western Pleasure Ranch” which was a 35 minute drive from the ski hill. We stayed in the meadowview guest house which was in a lovely quiet setting away from the main ranch.We went down into Sandpoint for dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant called Ivanos where everyone was so friendly.We got discounted lift tickets at the ranch the next morning and drove up to the ski hill and checked Craig into the kinder care where the staff were the friendliest people you could imagine.As soon as we parked the car I knew right away that I would enjoy this place. Firstly the skiable area on the front side of the hill looked far bigger than I had imagined. They have recently put in a couple of new lifts. A new triple and a new quad chair. Basically the hill is split into two well linked parts. The front Schweitzer Bowl and the Outback Bowl. The snow was excellent and there had been a few inches of new snow overnight. There were not many people on the hill and we had no queues all day. The middle of the village has a few nice condo blocks as well as about 8 eating places, 4 bars, a general store and 3 ski/board shops. I would certainly recommend staying on the hill as it has more life to it than Fernie has. We had 3 days riding here and I felt we really just got to know the place and had just scratched the surface of what Schweitzer has to offer. There is terrain for all levels including a small beginners park and the “stomping ground terrain park” which had some pretty big features. A lot of the front side of the hill is floodlit for night skiing at weekends and during the holiday periods. From the Basin Express then the Lakeview triple chair the possibilities are endless. There are lots of chutes and wide spaced gladed runs as well as nice cruising pistes lower down. From the base area you can also take the Great Escape quad and this opens up some decent intermediate/advanced terrain. After day one on the front bowl we handed in our boards for a service ($10 each board) and dreamed of hitting the Outback bowl the next morning. We woke the next morning to find some fresh snow down in the valley. On the drive back up to the ski hill we could see that there had been quite a few inches of fresh stuff. Just as we parked the car the sky cleared and the sun came out. The views from Schweitzer are some of the best I have ever seen from a ski hill. You are looking down towards Sandpoint and the massive and weird shaped Lake Pend Orielle.We picked up our newly serviced boards from the “Ski and Ride Center” where the friendly ski/board tech was happy to chat away and tell us the best areas to hit after the new snow. We made our way over to the “Outback Bowl” which is served by a fast modern 6 pack, a rickety old 2 man chair and a T bar named “Idyle Our”. In this area there are long and wide cruising blues but the best stuff is the Black diamond and double Black diamond trails through the trees. We followed the advice we were given in the morning and made fresh powder tracks all day. It was amazing, down at the bottom of the Bowl is the “Outback inn” which was a great place to stop for a refreshment. It was full of old locals who seemed to use it as a social club. I was amazed at what I found at Schweitzer and it certainly betters Fernie in my book. The statistics for the hill are pretty decent :-2900 Acres, Longest Run- 1.7 miles, Vertical drop - 2400ft, Top elevation - 6400ft.Average annual snowfall - 300”, Ski season - Nov to April.Childcare was $55/day including lunch. The resort was very family friendly but had terrain for all levels of skier or boarder. Puccis Pub in the village was good for a beer and the Lakeview Café was good for lunch ($64 for 4 including beer).I would recommend Schweitzer to anyone and we will certainly be going back. |
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| Strengths |
Beautiful setting with stunning lake views.
Great terrain for all levels.
Quiet with no queues.
Nice purpose built resort centre.
Very friendly locals.
Excellent kindercare facility.
Great value for money.
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| Hot Spots |
| Lots of places in the Outback bowl. |
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| Weaknesses |
| Not huge compared with European resorts but it was "my" type of place and we felt it had few weaknesses. |
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| Similar Resorts Visited |
| Quite a few similar places in Canada and the US. |
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