Moving on up

Early snow and frozen ground have owners of Inland Northwest ski areas dreaming of opening early.

“They’re talking 3 to 6 (inches) tonight and 4 to 7 tomorrow,” an ecstatic John Eminger, owner of 49 Degrees North, said last week. “We’re hoping to open much sooner rather than later.”

Revitalized by a growth in skier visits nationwide over the past few years, all five ski resorts in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area are pumping money into their mountains, updating lodges, cutting runs and adding chairlifts.

Skiers will see a lodge expansion at Lookout Pass on the Idaho-Montana border, an updated base lodge at Mount Spokane and new runs at 49. Terrain parks are also hot as ski areas tap into the freestyle movement sweeping through the industry, with its influx of youth.

The expansion mode is not limited to resorts on this side of the international border. Canadian resorts including Red Mountain, Kicking Horse and Big White have expansions planned as well, including additional acreage, chairlifts and lodges.

“The Canadian resorts have really stepped up in this market,” said Stephen Lane, Silver Mountain’s director of sales and marketing. “To remain competitive, you really need to have something new to go to the market with every year.”

Phil Edholm, owner of Lookout Pass in Idaho, said aggressive expansion of regional resorts will bring more people to the area, which is good for everyone. “In the long run,” he said, “it’s going to pull everybody’s socks up.”

While competition may be driving expansion, a recent spike in skier visits likely also contributes. Statistics compiled by the National Ski Areas Association shows that after hovering at 52 million to 54 million through most of the 1990s, skier visits jumped to 57 million nationwide in the 2000-2001 ski season. Three of the past four years have been the top three years ever, the association reported.

And the Pacific Northwest was a highlight last year, thanks to solid early snowfall from several storms before the Christmas holiday, the association reported. Avista Utilities’ forecast for this season calls for a normal precipitation year.

Edholm said the Northwest is “such an unpretentious area. It’s all about skiing and snowboarding and families.”

“Spokane is a huge ski town,” said Brad McQuarrie, general manager of Mount Spokane. “There is no other area with five possibilities in less than a 100-mile radius. We feel fortunate that we’re not falling by the wayside as these big resorts come into play.”

That may be because Mount Spokane is “your learn-to-ski area,” he said. This year, visitors to the mountain just north of Spokane will see terrain that’s been expanded and widened all over the mountain through brush cutting. Money has been put into both lodges, with new carpet, furniture and a new bar that faces uphill at the main lodge. A guest services patrol building has been opened at the top of Chair 2.

In all, about $500,000 was invested in the mountain in the off-season, McQuarrie said. In addition, thousands of hours were put in by volunteers who cut brush to earn free season passes. Putting in four 10-hour days to earn their pass, volunteers “got around like locusts,” he said.

On the Idaho side – after adding a new lift last year with five new runs – Lookout Pass has turned its attention to a $650,000 lodge expansion to more than double the building’s size. The expanded lodge is weather-tight and interior work is continuing, Edholm said.

“We’re right on target with having the new addition ready to go probably by the first of December,” he said. It includes a new bar and lounge upstairs with a panoramic view, additional seating and a new retail shop on the main level.

Next summer, five new runs will be cut on the mountain’s north-facing slope, adding 100 acres. Edholm said Lookout is starting to search for a used chairlift it can buy, but that expense will depend on this season’s revenue.

Additions at Silver Mountain depend largely on what skiers ask for, Lane said. Customer comments in past seasons have asked for a ski shuttle from Spokane and Coeur d’Alene and for additional thinning of trees to create more gladed runs for advanced skiers. Both have been added this year, he said. The ski bus will probably cost between $12 and $15 round-trip, with early morning pickups in Spokane, Liberty Lake and Coeur d’Alene, Lane said. It’s likely to start around the holidays and run through the end of March.

Other major improvements at Silver include the Morning Star Lodge, a new condominium complex at the resort’s gondola base. Also, the rental shop has been moved upstairs in Silver’s main lodge, and the resort’s half-pipe has been expanded by 300 feet. The terrain park also will be lighted this year for night skiing, Lane said.

‘Industry is healthy’

In Chewelah, north of Spokane, 49 Degrees North has had a busy off-season as well. New runs have been cut in the resort’s East Basin and one of the chairlifts has been extended to better access the terrain park and intermediate runs. The road to the ski area also has been improved, with a turn lane, deceleration lane and a pull-through parking area, Eminger said.

“We’re pouring concrete and building ski runs. I think people will find the things they’ve dreamed about for 49 for 20 years are starting to come true,” he said. “The industry is healthy. The generation that was into going to the mall, now they’re into rock climbing and rafting and skiing. I think people are finally beginning to discover those things.”

That’s certainly been true at Schweitzer Mountain in Sandpoint, said General Manager Ron Nova. Schweitzer is continuing its transition into a four-season resort, he said, and is just completing its most successful summer season to date. The NORBA mountain-biking event, disc golf, paintball and horseback rides are among activities there.

Schweitzer is about halfway through a 10-year plan to expand guest amenities and services. Last year, an activities planning center, a teen area and guided backcountry skiing and snowmobiling excursions were added, along with a new restaurant at the base. Skiers this year will see some additional glading and some new rails and features in the terrain park, Nova said.

“We’re ready to go,” he said. “It’s just a matter of bring on the snow, and we’ll crank it up.”