Sandpoint's nordic skiing boom

Cross-country skiers donating time, energy and their own grooming equipment are inspiring Sandpoint– a town of alpine skiing tradition– to get active on skinny skis. The growth is being sparked by the Sandpoint Nordic Club, whose members are grooming trails at the University of Idaho Extension tree farm in Sandpoint and helping with lessons and youth ski groups. The club's website also has maps of ski trails at other Sandpoint-area nordic skiing venues. Schweitzer Mountain Resort nordic area is the bread and butter for Sandpoint skinny skiers with 32-kilometers of groomed trails at an altitude for reliable snow. But other groomed trail venues are providing gentle terrain close to Sandpoint that's ideal for skating and teaching. Those areas include Tauber Angus Farms, where a couple has invested in rental skis and a snowcat groomer, and Western Pleasure Guest Ranch, which has lodge facilities and a growing trail system. Outdoors editor Rich Landers checks them out in these photos. Also, see his story here.

Section:Gallery

Fri., Feb. 8, 2013

Vicki Longhini skates on lanes groomed by the Sandpoint Nordic Club at the University of Idaho Extension tree farm on North Boyer Avenue across from the Airport in Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Vicki Longhini, left, and Coral France get a workout on the skating lanes groomed by the Sandpoint Nordic Club on Jan. 27, 2013, at the University of Idaho tree farm in Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Cassie Tauber sorts nordic rental ski gear in the shop of her family's Tauber Angus Farms a mile off the Colburn-Culver Road on Gold Creek Road northeast of Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
A farm cat greets visitors Katie Egland and her daughter, Winslow, as they prepare for cross-country skiing on the nordic trails at Tauber Angus Farms off the Colburn-Culver Road northeast of Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Vicki Longhini of the Sandpoint Nordic Club organizes youngsters for an after school cross-country skiing lesson on Jan. 27, 2013, at Tauber Angus Farms, 11 miles northeast of Sandpoint. Youths from left are Emi Lynch, Berkeley Egland and Josie Egland.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Vicki Longhini of the Sandpoint Nordic Club works with Josie Egland during an after school cross-country skiing lesson at Tauber Angus Farms northeast of Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Cassie Tauber, former professional snowboard, and her husband Tim Reed have invested in 45 sets of cross-country ski rentals to help Sandpoint area youths and adults to get started in cross country skiing in the effort to curb obesity. The couple operates a nordic skiing center and grooms trails at Tauber Angus Farms 11 miles northeast of Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Emerson Kanning, a middle school student, checks out rental gear for cross-country skiing on the nordic trails at Tauber Angus Farms off the Colburn-Culver Road northeast of Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Cassie Tauber fits Nordic rental ski gear on a seventh grade student Emmerson Kanning on Jan. 27, 2013, at Tauber Angus Farms off the Colburn-Culver Road northeast of Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Vicki Longhini of the Sandpoint Nordic Club organizes youngsters for an after school cross-country skiing lesson at Tauber Angus Farms northeast of Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Vicki Longhini of the Sandpoint Nordic Club, and her husband, Ross Longhini, left, organize youngsters for an after school cross-country skiing lesson and fun races at Tauber Angus Farms northeast of Sandpoint.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Bob Love of the Sandpoint Nordic Club prepares to go cross-country skiing from the lodge at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch northeast of Sandpoint. Love has charted the nordic ski trails at four venues in the Sandpoint area and posted the maps on the club's website.

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With Lake Pend Oreille in the backcountry, a nordic skier skates up a section of the 32-kilometer groomed cross-country trail system at Schweitzer Mountain Resort near Sandpoint, Idaho.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Jonathan and Daniell Frey of Spokane rented cross-country skis and traveled to Schweitzer Mountain Resort's nordic ski trails for a relaxing picnic at this scenic overlook of Lake Pend Oreille. Schweitzer grooms up to 32 kilometers of trails for cross-country skiing.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review
Four sites are offering groomed cross country ski trails for Sandpoint-area nordic skiers during the 2012-2013 season.

Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review