Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area
Location: Mullan, ID (Bitterroot Mountains)
Summit: 5,650’
Base: 4,500’
Terrain: 540 skiable acres/4 lifts/34 runs/3 terrain parks
Tickets: $28-45/free for 6 and under/free on your birthday
Lodge: Historic lodge straddles the Idaho/Montana border
Nordic skiing: 25k of cross-country trails starting from base area
Celebrity sightings: Actress Patty Duke
Strangest thing left on the slopes: One K2 ski with a Lange boot still in the binding, and ultralight plane parts from an unreported crash. The tail section from the plane is on display in the Loft Pub.
Best day last season: Bavarian Fest—live Bavarian music, brews, brats, and lots of fresh powder covering the mountain.
Most fun event: The Pond Skim Slush Cup (March 31, 2018)
Mount Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park
Location: Spokane, WA (Selkirk Mountains)
Summit: 5,889’
Base: 4,200’
Terrain: 1,425 acres/5 chairlifts/45 designated runs/terrain park & progression park
Tickets: $20-55/free for 6 and younger
Lodges: Main lodge (Lodge 2) near bunny hill/Lodge 1 near base of Chair 1
Night skiing: Wednesday-Saturday evenings, 4-9 p.m., starting mid-December (check website for exact schedule)
Tubing: 90-minute session, $6-16 depending on age (reservations recommended)
Nordic: Over 60 k of trails within Mt. Spokane Cross-Country Ski Park (Discover Pass, seasonal SnoPark permit, and seasonal Groomed Area permit required).
Snowshoeing: Trail descriptions and map are available from Friends of Mt. Spokane (Discover Pass and seasonal SnoPark permit required).
Celebrity Sightings: U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame freestyle skier Glen Plake
Strangest thing left on the slopes: Underwear
Best day last season: According to Mt. Spokane ski instructor Payton Williams, there was a day with so much snow falling that she skied Geronimo six times and every time she got back to the top of the run her tracks were covered.
Most fun event: Friday Night Rail Jam during Kan Jam weekend. “We light a bonfire and you get to watch from the deck with a beer and listen to the DJ spin while riders entertain,” says guest services and marketing manager Brenda McQuarrie. “It’s super festive.”
Silver Mountain Resort
Location: Kellogg, ID (Bitterroot Mountains)
Summit: Kellogg Peak 6,300’ /Wardner Peak 6,200’
Base: Gondola Village, 2,300’/Base of Chair 4 4,100’
Terrain: 1,600 acres/gondola & 5 chairlifts/moving carpet/77 named runs/terrain park
Tickets: $33-53/free for 6 and younger
Lodges: Gondola Village/Morning Star Lodge (condos)/mountain lodge near top of gondola
Tubing: 2-hour session, $18-22/free for 3 and younger
Snowshoeing: 3-mile trail
Celebrity sightings: Shaquille O’Neal came up and did some snow tubing last winter. “He was super cool to all of our staff and guests, and did his best to fly under the radar while he was here, which isn’t easy for someone of his stature,” says marketing & event coordinator Willy Bartlett.
Strangest thing left on the slopes: Skis, phones, goggles, and vintage, unopened cans of soda and beer turn up from time to time.
Best day last season: Feb. 28, 2017 – “We got pounded with fresh snow the night before, and the snow was piled up deep!” recalls Bartlett. “It started out overcast, and then it just totally cleared up near the end of the day. That was a full first chair to last chair day, followed by riding some backcountry to town. It was so good we barely stopped for lunch!”
Most fun event: Doug E. Fresh Weekend – “Live music, an old school trick contest in the terrain park, and we stay open late for night skiing and a bar party in Moguls,” says Bartlett. “The main event is the banked slalom race on a hand-built course; riders from all over the region get together and race against the clock on this unique course. Our friends at the Hayden Ski Shack dreamed this whole thing up as a fundraiser and memorial for the family of a local legend and longtime employee, Doug E. Fresh. It’s an event that pulls together the local ski and snowboard community, and every year it grows.”
49° North Mountain Resort
Location: Chewelah, WA (Selkirk Mountains)
Summit: Chewelah Peak 5,774’/ Angel Peak 5,295’
Base: 3,923’
Terrain: 2,235 acres/7 chairlifts/3 terrain parks
Tickets: $29-58/free for 6 and younger
Lodges: Little Calispell Lodge/Cy’s Café Yurt/Nordic Center Lodge
Night skiing: Limited dates (info online)
Tubing: $18-22, 2-hour session/free for 3 and younger
Nordic: 10 miles of trails (day pass required)
Snowshoeing: 6k of marked trails
Celebrity sightings: Dave Mustaine, lead singer of Megadeth
Strangest thing left on the slopes: Lingerie
Best day last season: February 28, 2017. “Overnight temperatures were in the mid-teens and a fortuitous low pressure system brought us 24” of fresh, dry, light powder in 48 hours,” says mountain manager Eric Bakken. “That is usually enough to make a day special. What we were not expecting, and what blew our collective minds, is that the sun came out, and stayed out all day, and the temperatures stayed in the mid-20s.”
Most fun event: Hawaiian Day with pond skim benefitting 49’s award-winning ski patrol
Resorts Around the Region
Big White Ski Resort
Location: Kelowna, B.C.
Summit: 7,606 ft.
Lifts: 15
Patrolled area: 2,765 acres
Vertical: 2,550 ft.
Annual Snowfall: 24.5 ft.
Opening Day Last Season: Nov. 30
Bluewood
Location: Dayton, WA
Base Elevation (4,545 ft., 2nd highest in Wash.)
Trails: 24
Skiable Acres: 400+
Vertical: 1,125 ft.
Annual Snowfall: 300+ inches
Brundage Mountain
Location: McCall, ID
Summit: 7,803 ft.
Lifts: 5
Lift-Accessed Terrain: 1,920 acres
Vertical: 1,921 ft.
Snowfall: 320 inches
Fernie Alpine Resort
Location: Fernie, B.C.
Summit: 7,000 ft.
Lifts: 10
Skiable acres: 2,500
Vertical: 3,550 ft.
Snowfall: 30 ft.
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
Location: Golden, B.C.
Summit: 8,033 ft.
Lifts: 5
Resort acres: 2,800
Vertical: 4,133 ft.
Snowfall: 24 ft.
Inbounds chutes: 85+
Kimberley Alpine Resort
Location: Kimberley, B.C.
Summit: 6,500 ft.
Lifts: 5
Resort acres: 1,800+
Vertical: 2,465 ft.
Snowfall: 13 ft.
Loup Loup Ski Bowl
Location: Twisp, WA
Summit: 5,260
Lifts: 3
Cut Runs: 10
Vertical: 1,240
Snowfall: 12.5 ft.
Mission Ridge
Location: Wenatchee, WA
Summit: 6,820 ft.
Lifts: 6
Terrain: 2,000 acres
Vertical: 2,250 ft.
Sunny Days: 300
RED Mountain Resort
Location: Rossland, B.C.
Summit: 6,807 ft.
Longest Run: 4.3 miles
Lifts: 7
Skiable Acres: 4,200
Vertical: 2,919
Annual Snowfall: 300 inches
Revelstoke Mountain Resort
Location: Revelstoke, B.C.
Lift-top Elevation: 7,300 ft.
Skiable Acres: 3,121
Longest Run: 9.5 miles
Vertical: 5,620 (North America’s greatest vert)
Annual Snowfall: 30-45 ft.
Schweitzer Mountain Resort
Location: Sandpoint, ID
Summit: 6,400 ft.
Lifts: 9 (including Stella, Idaho’s only six-person, high-speed lift)
Skiable Acres: 2,900 (largest resort in Idaho/Wash.)
Vertical: 2,400 ft.
Annual Snowfall: 300 inches
SilverStar Mountain Resort
Location: Vernon, B.C.
Summit: 6,280 ft.
Lifts: 11
Runs: 132
Skiable Acres: 3,282 (B.C.’s 3rd largest resort)
Vertical: 2,500 ft.
Annual Snowfall: 275 inches
Stevens Pass
Location: Leavenworth, WA
Summit: 5,845 ft.
Lifts: 10
Skiable Acres: 1,125
Vertical: 1,800 ft.
Annual Snowfall: 460 inches
Tamarack Resort
Location: Donnelly, ID
Summit: 7,700 ft.
Lifts: 6
Lift-accessed Terrain: 1,000
Vertical: 2,800 ft.
Whitefish Mountain Resort
Location: Whitefish, MT
Summit: 6,817
Lifts: 14
Terrain: 3,000
Vertical: 2,353
Annual Snowfall: 300 inches
Terrain Parks: 5 (and a skier/boarder cross course)
Whitewater Ski Resort
Location: Nelson, B.C.
Summit: 6,700 ft.
Lifts: 4
Skiable Acres: 2,367
Vertical: 2,044
Annual Snowfall: 40 ft.
Lodge Food: Epic!
