Schweitzer planning $10 million expansion

Schweitzer Mountain Resort is planning a $10 million expansion for the 2007-08 ski season.

Company officials were mum on the details Monday, but speculation in Sandpoint centered around a new Chair 1 ski lift, and a second phase of Trappers Creek, a mountain real estate development.

Several longtime Schweitzer skiers have heard that Chair 1 would be replaced with a faster, and possibly larger, lift.

Real estate rumors centered around Trappers Creek, a 12-lot subdivision located above Selkirk Lodge. The ski in/ski out property is advertising duplex lots at $600,000. Sources speaking anonymously said Schweitzer planned to announce a second phase of the development in conjunction with the new chairlift.

Lisa Gerber, a Schweitzer spokeswoman, declined to comment. Details of the expansion will be announced at a Feb. 15 press conference, she said.

Schweitzer’s last large real estate announcement was in 2001, when work began on the $15 million White Pine Lodge, a 48-unit, five-story condo building. A year earlier, Schweitzer unveiled Stella – a new high-speed, six-person chairlift.