Locale

Ringing the Bell at Schweitzer

“Schweitzer Mountain and BC’s Selkirk Range at sunset, draped in a sea of clouds and a golden glow. Photo: Jasper Gibson
“Schweitzer Mountain and BC’s Selkirk Range at sunset, draped in a sea of clouds and a golden glow. It’s a small-town gem with great tree skiing and a strong community vibe. It’s a true sleeper of a hill.” Photo: Jasper Gibson
Words: Megan Michelson

There’s a huge lake that you can normally see from the summit of Schweitzer, but we can’t see it today. Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced ponderay, in case you don’t speak French), is down there somewhere, beneath the clouds that are currently dumping snow all around us.

I’d flown from my home in Tahoe City, CA, to Spokane, WA, with my 8-year-old son, Otis, who loves to ski as much as I do. We drove an hour and a half from the airport to the town of Sandpoint, ID, on the north shore of Pend Oreille.

The navigation on our rental car informed us that we were 20 minutes from Schweitzer, yet there was no snow in sight. “Mom, are you sure there’s skiing here?” Otis asked from the back seat. “Pretty sure,” I responded. I’d read the snow report that morning as we waited for our flight: 6 inches of new snow, six more the day before. You wouldn’t have known it by the looks of things in lakeside Sandpoint.

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