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History
of Skiing in North Idaho and Schweitzer Mountain
The Inland Northwest's
Best Ski Resort
by Gary Lirette
 While
the art of winter sports has now evolved to fantastic levels, early Indians in
North Idaho were adept at ice fishing and certainly made snow shoes to
facilitate the winter hunt and travel. Our area was settled much by German and
Scandinavian stock, as well as the early French trappers, priests, and settlers.
So, it was a natural that the descendants of these settlers followed with skiing
the area. Snow skiing originated from two geographic groups: Alpine and Nordic,
much like our ancestors.
Nordic skiing
is the oldest category and includes sport that evolved from skiing as done in
Scandinavia. Nordic style
ski bindings
attach at the toes of the skier's
ski boots,
but not at the heels.
Alpine skiing
includes sports that evolved from skiing as done in the
Alps.
Alpine bindings attach at both the toe and the heel of
ski boots.
These two categories overlap with some sports potentially fitting into both.
However, binding style and history indicate that each skiing sport is more one
than the other. Some skiing sports such as
Telemark skiing
have elements of both categories, but its history in
Telemark,
Norway and free-heel binding style place Telemark skiing firmly in the Nordic
category.
Now, our area has much more to offer than just traditional skiing. There is
cross country skiing, ice skating, hunting, sledding, snowboarding,
snowmobiling, and a bevy of other winter sports. Still, Schweitzer Mountain has
become one of the nation's premier ski resorts, and that is the primary winter
activity. However, Schweitzer Mountain was not the first ski area in Idaho. The
first was in Ketchum, Idaho in 1936, and Sun Valley has the further distinction
of having the very first chair lift.
 Our area
saw its first skiing in the Schweitzer basin in 1933, but those intrepid fans
did so by hiking to a point, then sliding back to the foot of the mountain,
often on wooden slats tied to their boots. In the 1950s, a group of friends, ski
enthusiasts, and volunteers cleared the wooded hillside two miles west of
Sandpoint around Pine Hill. They rigged up a rope tow powered by the wheel rim
of a jacked up car, and the area's first groomed ski slope became reality.
Unfortunately, skiing conditions at Pine Hill were less than perfect. Even
though the crude rope tow was soon replaced by a permanent two-chair lift
powered by an old Dodge engine, the hill was not high enough in altitude to
guarantee a season-long coating of snow, and a warmed-up car and thermos
remained the only amenities skiers could expect following a run down the slope.
While many might have seen the bowl-shaped potential of Schweitzer as a possible
ski haven, the idea of a ski resort came when Dr. Jack Fowler, a Spokane
dentist, was returning from a ski outing at Big Mountain Resort in Whitefish,
Montana. From Highway 200, Schweitzer looms up clearly, and displays the bowl
during mile after mile of the drive. Awed by the beauty of Schweitzer Mountain's
snowy mountaintop, the picture of a premier ski resort came shortly after. In
2002, Jack Fowler celebrated his 80th birthday. As a tribute to Schweitzer's
founding father, a new run, "Jack's Dream," was built close to where the first
handle tow was built some 40 years ago
Fowler's companion on that skiing trip was Grant Groesbech, a Spokane architect.
These two, along with Sandpoint businessman Jim Brown, and others, began
developing Schweitzer in 1963. The partnership was formed, and they went on a
mission to secure loans, investing their own money, and raising additional funds
from the people of Sandpoint. Fowler generated support with ski enthusiasts, and
Groesbeck went to other ski resorts gathering info and knowledge to help with
the new Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort. They pooled their resources to buy the
acreage encompassing the bowl, packed in equipment and provisions to establish a
base camp at the foot of the basin, and began exploring the slopes to map out
future runs. Construction on the mountain began in 1961 on the ski runs and road
up the mountain. The tubular steel towers to support the mile-long double chair
was constructed, and electricity was brought up the mountain for the lodge and
lift motors. By the summer of 1963 before construction was finished, Canadian
ski enthusiast Sam
Wormington had been named as the first manager of the Schweitzer basin. He had
built and managed the North Star ski area in Kimberly, British Columbia. It was
through the knowledge and tireless efforts of Wormington that the foundation was
laid for the Schweitzer of today. On November 30, 1963 the resort proudly opened
with a day lodge and a mile long double chair lift. With the exception of one
good year, the resort/area made no profit. It was supposed to be operated as a
weekend resort, but ended up opening seven days a week.
 By
the end of 1963, over twelve hundred acres of the bowl were groomed and ready
with three 2,000' runs from timberline to the lodge, miles of trails, and
parking for 500 cars. The Sandpoint News Bulletin devoted their entire weekly
issue to the resort's upcoming Thanksgiving Day grand opening. Renowned
international ski racer Tammy Dix was set to christen the slopes with the first
downhill run of the day. And, Idaho Governor Robert Smylie sent out invitations
to dignitaries around the world, including two notables who shared the resort's
name, Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, then Chairman of the World Monetary Fund, and Dr.
Albert Schweitzer, who had won the Nobel Prize for his humanitarian endeavors in
Africa. The latter being, of course, one of our great figures in history. And
one might think, hearing the name 'Schweitzer,' that it is named after some
royalty, or great person or family, but the truth is something else.
(The following in segment is taken from Sandpoint.com's
The History of
Schweitzer Mountain)
An
Encounter with a Strange Hermit
It
was on a summer morning in 1893, while riding her well-mannered little filly,
Nelly, to work, that Ella Mae first encountered a strange individual, dressed in
some sort of well-worn military uniform, standing trailside at strict attention,
musket at his side, as she passed. This went on for a few days, until one
morning, he instead stepped out onto the trail, and taking Nelly by the reigns,
led the pony about a half a mile along the path, before letting go and
disappearing back into the woods.
When she told her husband and son Earl about this strange occurrence, young Earl
said that it sounded a lot like a "friendly old hermit named Schweitzer" who
lived alone in a small cabin near where he and his friend Harry Nesbit liked to
fish. This took the edge off of Ella Mae's concern, but she took to running
Nelly through that section of woods anyway.
Then, not long thereafter, the man showed up at the railroad station during Ella
Mae's shift. Speaking in a thick Swiss accent, he informed her that he had come
to seek her advice regarding his intention to kill a local settler, and take the
settler's wife as his own. Ella Mae made eloquent argument intended to dissuade
the man from this plan, and after he had left, sent a warning to the settler
that he was the target of a murder plot.
The
next morning, Schweitzer came back to the station to tell Ella Mae that he had
decided to take her advice and not follow through on his plan, and that because
Ella Mae was both younger and prettier than his other intended bride, it was his
intention to carry her off instead.
Unarmed and alone at the little station, and not a soul within earshot, Ella Mae
decided to put on a front of bravado.
Standing up, she began loudly berating the man. "Schweitzer, you know I have a
husband of my own, and am a respectable woman, and you cannot talk to me as you
are doing!" she exclaimed. "Let me tell you my husband and the railroad company
will fix you if you carry me off." He stood there silently for what seemed an
eternity. Then, tipping his hat to her, he politely answered. "Well, for the
present, we will drop the matter."
From that day forward Ella Mae kept a six-gun alongside her bible in the drawer
next to the telegraph machine, and L.D. immediately contacted the nearest
railway agent at the Spokane office who, accompanied by the County Sheriff and a
doctor from Rathdrum, arrived the following day to look into the affair. Upon
entering the recluse's cabin, located near where Bronx Road now crosses
Schweitzer Creek, they found the hides of numerous cats nailed to the walls, and
a pot full of cats boiling on the stove for the man's supper, thereby solving
the mystery of the recent disappearances of numerous of the town's pets.
Schweitzer was taken into custody, remanded to the "county farm" for
observation, and later committed to an "insane asylum" where, as Ella Mae put
it, "He lived out the rest of his life a dangerous and raving lunatic." And, to
this day, Earl and Harry's favorite fishing spot has been known as Schweitzer
Creek, and the mountain above, Schweitzer Mountain.
 The
Jim Brown Years
Brown had long been aware of Schweitzer's potential as a ski area. He had been
skiing the area since the age of 16. As a young man he would hike the Schweitzer
and Colburn bowls in the early 1930's. He had few doubts about the potential of
the area for skiing.
A
few years after Schweitzer's modest beginnings, Jim Brown bought out his
partners and began to expand the resort, and Schweitzer became a family run
business. Over time more lifts were added, and in 1971 the Colburn basin was
developed. He added a double chairlift, built the Red Cricket apartment complex,
and constructed a day lodge at the base of the mountain. Brown greatly increased
the attraction of Schweitzer and the surrounding Sandpoint community. During his
ownership, he was credited for starting Schweitzer summer lifts for mountain
bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts in 1985, and for hosting the first Festival
at Sandpoint in 1986, our world-famous annual music festival showcasing
international and local composers, as well as performing artists. Two years
later the resort was offering hiking trains and mountain bike rentals.
Before Jim Brown died in 1989 he had spent three years training his daughter,
Bobbie Huguenin, to take over the family business. While running the family
business with her husband, Pierre and others, many additions and improvements
were implemented at the resort. Her focus was on making Schweitzer a destination
resort; she removed the old lodge and replaced it with a new three story
Headquarters Day Lodge. The Great Escape detachable quad chair was installed in
1991, and lights were installed for night skiing. Huguenin also saw the
construction of the 82 room Green Gables Lodge. Revenues never increased to
levels anticipated by the Brown family, and the resort eventually was turned
over to its institutional owners. Schweitzer didn't have another private owner
until two years later.
The
Harbor Years
 In
November 1996 the resort was put into receivership, filing for bankruptcy the
following year. On December 31, 1998, Harbor Properties purchased Schweitzer
Mountain Resort from U.S. Bank for the sum of $18 million. The Seattle-based
company, operators of
Stevens Pass Ski
Area
and
Mission Ridge
(sold in 2003) ski areas in Washington, made immediate improvements by providing
equipment for slope management. It spent the summer of 1999 remodeling Selkirk
Lodge (formerly called the Green Gables Lodge), rebuilding and lighting the
Terrain Park, installing two new handle lifts, improving local roads, and
expanding the beginner ski area. A six-passenger chairlift
(Stella) was installed
in the summer of 2000 serving the base of Colburn Basin. The lift, housed by a
19th century cable carriage barn complete with steaming boilers and spinning
gears, takes visitors back in time as they anticipate their ascent of
Schweitzer's summit. Stella greatly improves guest access to more than 150 acres
of Schweitzer terrain called The Northwest Territory. More than that, it
provides Schweitzer visitors a unique visual and emotional experience. The
one-mile ride to the top climbs more than 1,500 feet in just five-and-a-half
minutes. Along the way, visitors have plenty of time to take in the striking
Idaho scenery. With the addition of Stella, Idaho's only high-speed, 6-passenger
chairlift, the resort totaled 2500 acres. Finally, for the 2005-06 season,
Schweitzer added a T-bar to Little Blue Mountain, a locals' favorite hike-out.
The expansion added 400 acres and five new runs.
In
May 2001, construction began on White Pine Lodge, formerly Headquarters Lodge at
the resort. The 75,000-square-foot guest lodge, which opened in August 2002,
features 50 luxury condominium units, various shops and restaurants, and two
floors of underground guest parking.
Harbor made other improvements to Schweitzer's facilities, and resort
operations, service and amenities, and on-mountain food and beverage. They
renovated the Chimney Rock Grill, a full-service restaurant in the heart of
Schweitzer Village, then added the Schweitzer Activity Center, which offers year
round mountain activities for younger children, and refuge, a new center for
pre-teens and teens, as well as guided tours of Schweitzer's backside, where an
estimated 300 inches of powder fall each year.
Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort Today
 A
new group of Seattle investors took over the resort in 2006-07 season, bringing
the resort to even greater prominence. That year Schweitzer had a record season
in attendance and revenue, while worldwide ski resorts suffered from lack of
snow and skiers.
Schweitzer's village currently has two lodges: The Selkirk Lodge (owned by Red
Lion Hotels) and The White Pine Lodge. There is one day lodge housing Guest
Services, a Cafeteria, and a coffee shop. There are numerous condos, both
privately owned and available for rent. There is a Chapel with a youth center
available for groups that sleeps over 40, and a new restaurant by the chapel
called St. Bernard.
On
February 15, 2007, Schweitzer announced an ambitious expansion program. Included
is a $6 Million lift expansion. This includes replacing the original lift, Chair
One, with two lifts: A high speed detachable quad and a fixed grip triple lift.
The names of the new lifts are Basin Express and Lakeview Triple. The Basin
Express uses the old Chair 7 liftline. Also included is a Lakeview Lodge
remodel, increases snowmaking and new grooming capacity, not to mention $2
Million in spending for future expansion to the resort.
So,
what had been a small mountain above the ramshackle cabin of an old hermit named
'Schweitzer,' is now a world-class resort just named to the Top 25 Resorts in
Ski Magazine. This largest and most highly rated resort in the Inland Northwest
has over 2,900 acres, the new Little Blue Ridge run offering almost 2 miles of
continuous downhill skiing, and nine different lifts including: a high-speed
six-pack; a high-speed quad; four double chairlifts; one handle tow; a new
T-Bar, and a new Magic Carpet that will gently whisk beginners up to a gradual
learning slope, without ever having to take their feet off the ground. There is
no shortage of skiing variety either, with 67 trails, open bowl skiing, and 32
kilometers of cross country ski trails maintained daily.
Plus, present-day Schweitzer offers year-round fun. There are miles of hiking
and mountain biking trails, huckleberry picking, and scenic chairlift rides,
Frisbee golf, paintball, as well as a variety of concerts and other events, not
to mention superb cuisine ranging from gourmet pizza to world-class dining.
Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort has become a year-round destination for locals
and visitors alike.
 More than that, the one constant that inspires and rules is the awesome lake
view, with multiple ranges in the background. Skiing is great, the people are
among the world's friendliest, and life is good on Schweitzer Mountain, just
above Sandpoint, the Best Small Town in the West, overlooking majestic Lake Pend
Oreille.
If
you have any questions, please feel free to call me at any time.
Gary Lirette
Realtor, Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby's International Realty
Host of North Idaho Business
& North Idaho Arts &
Adventure on KSPT and KBFI
208-610-1384
garyplirette@nctv.com
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