Changes At Lookout Modest … For Now Better Equipment, Food Promised This Year
Look for big changes at Lookout Pass Ski Area … but not this season.
Plans eventually call for two new lifts, an expanded lodge and hotel accommodations.
For now, though, new co-owner and general manager Phil Edholm is keeping his promises modest: upgraded rental equipment, better grooming and an improved menu.
With the aid of two new state-of-the-art snowcats, Edholm’s crews will groom the 150-acre terrain “wall to wall.”
“This is a family area - an intermediate skier’s paradise,” he says, “and we’re going to have a carpet out there for them to ski on.”
Customer service is another high priority. “Our goal is to be the friendliest ski area in the West,” says Edholm.
And the tastiest. “We’re coming up with the best chili in the country,” says the 49-year-old entrepreneur. “We want the food to be one of the big reasons people come to Lookout Pass.”
The reason Edholm came to Lookout, he explains, is the hill’s convenient proximity to Interstate 90 on the Idaho-Montana border and its potential for expansion.
Edholm left Elk Meadows Ski Resort in southern Utah to take over Lookout. Elk Meadows averages 80,000 skier visits a year, while last season - a great snow year - Lookout recorded just 24,000.
“With a few changes - say two more lifts and expansion of the lodge - Lookout would be a comfortable area for 60,000 skier visits,” Edholm optimistically predicts.
Meanwhile, he’ll try to lure customers with some of the area’s best values.
“We’re maintaining the all-day ticket price of $20,” says Edholm, “and we’re going to offer a season pass to skiers 62 and older for just $40.”
Another tradition that survived the change of ownership: free group ski lessons for youths ages 7 to 18 on Saturdays.
Between carving up the corduroy and sampling the chili, be sure to poke your head into Lookout’s bar. Though usually cramped on weekends, it’s still one of the Northwest’s most distinguished hideaways, with its vintage gear and photos mounted above an open fireplace.
Location: two hours east of Spokane on Interstate 90. Tickets: adults, $20; college, military, $16; juniors (18 and under), seniors (62+), $14. Hours: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday-Sunday; open daily during holidays. Child care: call for prices. Lessons: free youth lessons on Saturday; otherwise, 90-minute group lessons $15. Nordic: Free groomed and ungroomed trails nearby. Snow phone/general information: (208) 744-1301. E-mail: phil@skilookout.com. Web site: www.skilookout.com.