Fat tire plans at Stevens Pass

New ski lifts, a mountaintop lodge and mountain biking routes are being proposed for Stevens Pass ski area of U.S. 2.

Mountain bikers are especially excited about the 5 miles of downhill trail that would be opened in the summer of 2010 under phase one of the proposal by Harbor Properties of Seattle.

The trails would be reached by the Hogsback chairlift and would include jumps, drops, and other special features, each with an optional bypass, designed to rival the mountain bike trails at Whistler, British Columbia. They would be the first to be reached by chairlift in Washington state.

Associated Press

ENTERTAINMENT

Outdoor flicks show in Idaho

Outdoor films will show in Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint.

Today: Backcountry Film Festival, skiing and environmental issues, starting 6 p.m., at North Idaho College Meyer Health and Sciences Building, Room 100.

Cost: $10 adults, $7 students.

Info: (208) 769-7809.

March 3: “Radical Reels,” from the Banff Mountain Film Festival, includes eight films featuring gutsy skiers, kayakers, mountain bikers and other adrenaline junkies, 6:30 p.m., at Panida Theater in Sandpoint.

Cost: $12. Advance tickets at The Outdoor Experience, Zip’s in Sandpoint.

Rich Landers

BICYCLING

Commuter course next week

A two-session bicycle commuting course is being offered by the Spokane Bicycle Club March 3 and 7, taught by local cycling education guru Eileen Hyatt.

The Traffic Skills 101 course from the League of American Bicyclists is considered the national standard in bicycle education.

Cost: $30 ($45 for parent with teen). Class limit: 10.

Preregister: 747-3778; e-mail SpokaneBikeBuddy @aol.com.

Details: www.spokane bicycleclub.org.

•Bike-to-Work Week events start May 10. Info: www.biketoworkspokane.org .

Rich Landers

FISHING

Idaho explores fishing rules

Idaho Fish and Game staffers in Lewiston are sampling public opinion on several possible fishing rule changes. Among them:

•Allowing anglers to use bait on the Clearwater during the catch-and-release steelhead season.

•Ditching the traditional catch-and-release steelhead season in favor of a catch-and-keep steelhead season starting Sept. 1.

•Restricting sturgeon anglers to low-impact gear and banning treble hooks on some rivers to prevent snagging.

Regional Fisheries Manager Joe DuPont said the department isn’t proposing any of those rules at this time.

Staff and wire reports