Schweitzer to end ski season a week early

The season is coming to a close earlier than planned at the largest ski resort in Idaho.

Schweitzer announced this week that it would close April 5, a week earlier than expected.

The decision comes as conditions deteriorate at the end of a poor winter. The mountain near Sandpoint has lost two feet of snowpack in the past two weeks, according to a news release.

Tom Chasse, Schweitzer’s president and COO, said in the release that the winter has been “incredibly difficult,” and that it created problems for ski hill managers nearly everywhere.

“Resorts within our region and across the west were challenged with delayed openings, unseasonably warm temperatures, dramatic rain and wind events, and significantly less natural snowfall than we’ve seen in decades,” Chasse said. “The fact that we maintained operations consecutively from December to April feels like something we should be proud of considering the circumstances.”

Schweitzer opened for this season on Dec. 3. As of this week, the mountain had received a total of 164 inches of snow – about 54% less than the mountain’s average, according to the release. Last winter, it got 292 inches.

The season is winding down at resorts all over the region. Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park shut down on March 15. Near Chewelah, 49 Degrees North is operating on a “day-by-day” basis – it was closed Friday, but planned to reopen Saturday.

Silver Mountain, in Kellogg, remains open, as does Lookout Pass on the Montana-Idaho border. The websites of both mountains suggest that they’ll be open into the second week of April.