Kim Hildebrand
Over President’s weekend, we took a road trip with friends to one of our favorite ski resorts, Schweitzer, in Sandpoint, ID (one of the best kept secrets in N. America!). Schweitzer is near and dear to my heart, as it is where I grew up skiing. It’s nestled up in the northern panhandle of Idaho less than an hour away from the Canadian border. Schweitzer is a lovely destination for families. They offer a variety of runs (over 90!) on both front and back side of the mountain, a nordic ski center, a fantastic bunny hill with ski and snowboarding school, a tubing hill, and even a snow park where you can learn to jump and race. They’ve built up the little village in the past decade too, which now offers several condos for rent, a hotel, and many gift shops, markets, and restaurants/pubs for adults. And the best part? Hardly any lines!
Having lived in Seattle for over 10 years now, our kids are growing up skiing our convenient resort Hyak at Snoqualmie. But even there we get all the weekend warriors such as ourselves flocking up from the city, waiting in lift lines, restroom lines, and even waiting sometimes in traffic to head home. Schweitzer boasts a whopping 2,900 acres of terrain for you to spread your wings and enjoy the variety of runs like bowls, chutes, cruisers, and tree-skiing in (usually) good, dry snow. This year is definitely an exception to that, as everyone in the West has experienced. (Sorry to my East coast friends, who have been buried in the stuff this winter.)
The first day we arrived, I took my trusty Pentax 645n up on the mountain to try shooting in snow. I used Fuji 400h film rated at box speed.
Enjoy the little slice of heaven we call Schweitzer from our latest family adventure!
