Sandpoint, ID

June 28^th was Schweitzer’s opening day for summer and to celebrate they offered free chairlift rides to anyone in attendance. I took a friend and called a few more and we all headed up to the mountain to partake in the fun. My friend and I reached the mountain and found our way to the village from the parking lot where we were greeted by a man passing out free lift tickets to the chairlift. We waited a few moments for the rest of our party to arrive while having a dish of nachos and some beer at Pucci’s Pub located in the village. Pucci’s Pub is a great stop for anyone looking for reasonable food and beverages and I highly recommend the nachos.

Once all of our friends had met up we headed up the mountain on the Great Escape Quad chairlift. The chairlift rides are something I do every year and I absolutely love it every time. The chair takes you to the top of the Great Divide, not to be confused with the actual Great Divide, but the ski run that separates the two sides of the mountain, the front and the backside. As you stand atop the 6400 foot tall mountain you can see on a clear day all the way to Canada, Washington and Montana. Since we had a huge amount of snow this year I was delighted to see that there was still snow at the top of the mountain.

My friend’s son and I played a little bit in the snow and then we all hiked down to the Styles run where there was a huge pack of snow. The sun was hot and beating down on us and we realized our mistake as we crawled back up the hill to the chairlift. Sweat was pouring down our faces and I could not wait to ride the chairlift back down. I was thinking it was time to start exercising that gym membership! We briefly waited in line for a ride back down, which to some can be much more scary than the ride up, which I believe is because we are use to the ride up and not the ride down. My friend’s son, who is 3, handled the ride up and down perfectly, which I was happy to see as I was a little worried as to how he was going to handle riding the chair.

In addition to the chairlift rides there was live music, a bungee trampoline, a rock wall, tennis and hiking trails galore. I have done some hiking there in the past, from the village to the top and it is not for the weak at heart. I admire anyone who can make it to the top as it is quite the challenge. The bike trails were closed, opening on July 4^th this year due to the late spring breakup which left the trails a little muddy.

If you would like to ride the chairlifts at Schweitzer they run Thursday to Monday 10am to 5pm. Cost in the past was $12 for a ticket, however we went on a day that was free and according to their website their pricing has not been released yet. So you may want to check their site before going at http://summer.schweitzer.com/

To get to Schweitzer: Take US hwy 95 to Schweitzer Cut-Off Road, turning left at the light (Wal-Mart will be on your right). Turn right at the T intersection on N. Boyer and go about a ½ mile where you will see the Schweitzer sign, turn left and follow the Schweitzer Mountain road about nine miles where you will reach the parking lot.