Huge Lift For Sandpoint Fall Fest Carries Special Meaning With Last-Ditch Bailout Of Schweitzer Mountain Resort

The beers were flowing. The crowd was smiling, and the high-speed quad chairlift was running.

The annual Labor Day Fall Fest at Schweitzer Mountain Resort was more than just a festival. It was a celebration of U.S. Bank’s decision to bail out the ski resort and keep it open this winter.

Officially, Saturday’s party marked the fourth year of the event, with more than 600 people expected to taste beers from 20 breweries and visit arts and crafts booths. But unofficially is was an end to weeks of uncertainty about the ski resort.

“For all of us, it’s a cause for celebration,” said Gail Fendley, special events coordinator for Schweitzer. “I don’t think there’s anyone here at Schweitzer that didn’t think U.S. Bank wouldn’t come through.”

Schweitzer is in receivership and recently was sold to Seattle-based Harbor Properties Inc. But two members of a family that has owned Schweitzer for decades, Bobbie Huguenin and Jean Brown, challenged the $18 million sale, putting the ski season in jeopardy.

U.S. Bank, owed $21 million from Schweitzer’s owners, decided to loan another $750,000 to keep the indebted ski resort open. The decision will save 500 jobs at the resort and keep Sandpoint’s winter tourism economy pumping.

That means that Max Docken, will have a job.

“It’s fantastic,” she said standing at her food booth, serving egg rolls to customers.

Docker operates an egg roll bar during the winter ski season and has worked for the resort for 10 years. She has lived on the mountain for 14 years. “It’s a relief,” she said.

Most others thought the resort couldn’t possibly close.

Chris Campbell, owner of the Pend Orielle Brewing Co. in Sandpoint, said he had no doubts about it closing.

“My gut feeling was that it would stay open,” he said.

Campbell’s company began supplying the resort with beer last year and his restaurant in downtown Sandpoint depends largely on the tourist season.

“I’m certain (the restaurant) would have felt a pinch, because what do you do in Sandpoint in winter? You ski,” he said.

This week Schweitzer will announce prices for its fall passes, a thrill to 13-year-old Ravi Hatch, who has been skiing all his life.

His family recently bought a cabin on Schweitzer Mountain, and this mountain is his favorite ski resort, Hatch said as he rode the high-speed quad chairlift down the mountain.

Was he worried about the possible closing?

“In a way I was, because it’s a good mountain,” the Moscow, Idaho, native said. “It’s sort of home, too. I think our entire family was scared, because this is our favorite place.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo