Let it snow: Spokane-area ski hills ready for winter

It’s always a good sign when a chairlift starts running before the midpoint of November.

That’s what’s happening this weekend at Lookout Pass Ski Area, which opened to skiers and snowboarders on Friday.

For now, it’s just weekends, and it’s only part of the mountain, familiar limitations for early season snow junkies. But it’s still something to celebrate, a sign that the La Niña-fueled optimism is warranted.

Other mountains in the area are still waiting to open, though they’ve started piling up snow. Scan the webcams and you’ll find snow at Schweitzer, Silver Mountain, 49 Degrees North and Mt. Spokane, and more is on the way.

“We’re definitely starting in the right direction,” said Jim van Loben Sels, general manager of Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park.

Rick Brown, director of skier and rider services at 49 Degrees North, is also feeling optimistic.

“It’s lining up to be maybe one of those epic winters that we’ve been waiting for,” Brown said.

Long before the snow fell, ski resort staffers were making plans and preparing the slopes for this season. Here’s a rundown of what skiers can expect to see at the five resorts within a short drive of Spokane.

Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park

The biggest news for Spokane’s hometown ski hill doesn’t have much to do with skis at all.

It’s about the tubes.

This winter, the mountain is bringing back the snow tubing run near its lower lodge.

It’s a response to requests from the public, van Loben Sels said. With the closure of the tubing hill at Bear Creek Lodge – and that property’s transfer to Washington State Parks – there was no dedicated space for tubers to use.

The Bear Creek property will stay closed through the winter as parks officials determine what they can do with it, which meant another year with no sledding or tubing allowed there.

Because Mt. Spokane has offered tubing before, van Loben Sels and his staff decided to resurrect the former run.

“We had so many calls,” he said. “We said, ‘Hey, we have everything we need to do this.’ ”

The tube run will be served by a handle-tow lift that attaches to a rider’s tube and hauls them to the top of the run. Van Loben Sels said they typically have three or four lanes available, and hours will be customized for each day based on availability.

Tickets will be sold for 90 minute sessions. Riders will use tubes provided by the mountain, and will not be allowed to use personal tubes or sleds.

Skiers and snowboarders will see some other improvements on the mountain, which boasts 1,700 acres of skiable terrain and six chairlifts. Most noticeable will be a new handle-tow at the terrain park, allowing users to get multiple runs through the park without needing to ski to the bottom and hop on the chairlift.

The mountain’s scheduled opening weekend is Dec. 7, though van Loben Sels said continued snowfal may give them a shot at opening the weekend after Thanksgiving.

“I think everybody’s excited to have a good year where we’re not scrambling,” he said. “I think we’re in a great spot.”

Schweitzer

A fleet of snowcats and snowmobiles are responsible for the biggest upgrade at Schweitzer this year.

The ski area outside of Sandpoint, has launched Schweitzer Backcountry Adventures, a guided cat-skiing and snowmobile operation that will offer tours of 4,350 acres of state land just beyond the ski area’s boundary.

The backcountry tours are the result of Schweitzer buying out the resort-based operations of Selkirk Powder Co., which had been offering guided ski and snowmobile tours in the same area since 2003. Selkirk Powder will continue offering other ski tours in the region.

Taylor Prather, a Schweitzer spokesperson, said the cat-skiing tours will begin on the mountain’s summit. Twelve-seat snowcats will carry people onto Idaho Department of Lands property just outside the mountain’s border where they’ll spend the day skiing. She said a full day could include roughly eight runs.

Those trips, which include lunch, snacks and safety gear, will cost $600 a person.

Snowmobile tours will cost $225 a person and will allow people to ride along the resort boundary and catch views of the Selkirks, the Priest River Valley and Lake Pend Oreille.

The backcountry trips are expected to begin in December, and reservations must be made three days in advance.

A few changes are also in store within the ski area’s boundaries. Prather said new food and beverage options have been added, and that the Crow’s Bench restaurant is planning wine dinners.

The rental program has new gear, including Gore-Tex jackets and pants. The ski school has launched a guide program, which will allow skiers to hire someone to show them around the mountain’s 2,900 acres.

Opening day is set for Nov. 22.

49 Degrees North

Staff at 49 Degrees North, the ski area a few miles east of Chewelah, have been hard at work moving some of their operations between buildings.

By the time the resort opens, said general manager Rick Brown, visitors will find the ski rental shop, the snowsports school, a high performance demo center and more inside the building known as the Experience Center, which was built last year.

That’s going to be a change for visitors, as they’ll move through the structure for a variety of things that used to be housed in the main lodge. For this winter, it means there will be more space for seating in the main lodge. For next summer, it will mean the lodge is ready for some remodeling.

New buildings, remodels and other projects have sort of been the status quo for 49 Degrees North for the past few years, with a snowmaking expansion and other projects. At 2,300 acres, the ski hill is the second-largest in Washington.

Another addition Brown is excited about are upgrades to the mountain’s learning terrain, a gently sloped set of interactive trails with animal characters mounted on trees.

Most of the wildlife portrayals were fairly dated, so the mountain worked with Eastern Washington University, the Spokane Tribe and the Kalispel Tribe to update them and create signage that teaches visitors about the Indigenous people who have called the area home for centuries.

There’s a fox, a bobcat, a coyote and more, and signs posted near them include the Salish and English names for each animal. The mountain’s website will include a pronunciation guide.

“We’re really excited to launch those characters and bring that Salish language out onto the mountain for people to experience,” Brown said.

Opening day is still in flux. Brown said it was possible that it could open in mid-November.

Lookout Pass

The oldest ski hill in Idaho is celebrating its 90th season.

Lookout first welcomed visitors in December 1935, opening with a rope tow powered by the engine of an abandoned car. Six years later, it got a lodge. 

Improvements kept coming, turning the mountain into the ski hill riders have come to know today, with its 1,023 skiable acres and 52 trails.

There were no major facelifts this year, other than a deck being built on the New Day Lodge, which was put up last year, and the addition of some 150 to 200 parking spots.

“We’ve done just a lot of little things that will help improve the guest experience,” said Brian Rosser, Lookout’s assistant general manager.

Slope and trail preparations allowed the mountain to open with less snow this year. A few new glades are available for skiers, as are a pair of restrooms next to the Eagle Peak chairlift. The lodge got new lockers and fresh paint.

Otherwise, it’s all status quo for the hill on the Montana-Idaho border that prides itself on the quality of its snow, of which it gets a considerable amount – about 450 inches per year.

For now, the mountain plans to be open only on weekends. After more snow arrives, it will consider opening full-time.

Silver Mountain

Tree skiers will have more places to explore at Silver Mountain near Kellogg this year.

Gus Colburn, a spokesperson for the mountain, said some new glading has allowed them to add new terrain on the North Face Glades, a treed area just below Kellogg Peak that provides a challenge for experienced skiers and snowboarders.

In the past, skiers have accessed the glades through three gates. Colburn said work this summer allowed the mountain to add a fourth gate.

“We’re looking forward to that new terrain,” Colburn said.

Otherwise, not much is changing for the 1,600-acre ski hill, which first opened in 1967 under the name Jackass Ski Bowl. Each year, the hill commemorates its birthday with Jackass Day, a one-day event for which skiers can purchase lift tickets online at the original price of $20. This year, that day is Jan. 9.

The mountain is now selling Friday-only season passes. Colburn said the mountain decided to create that pass in response to more schools switching to four-day weeks, including the Kellogg district.

The pass costs $199 for adults and $149 for kids.

Opening day is planned for Nov. 23.