Idaho, Usa · Ikon
Schweitzer Mountain
2,900 acres, 92 runs above Sandpoint. Idaho's largest resort with Ikon Pass access and lake views.
Season 2025 - 2026
Opens
21 Nov 2025
Closes
13 Apr 2026
Days open
143
Annual snow
25ft
The Overview
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
Schweitzer's summit reaches 6,401 feet, dropping 2,401 vertical feet to a base at 4,000 feet across 92 runs spread over 2,900 acres above Sandpoint, Idaho. Terrain splits 40 per cent intermediate, 35 per cent advanced, 15 per cent expert and 10 per cent beginner, with average annual snowfall of roughly 300 inches. The resort carries Ikon Pass access and is Idaho's largest ski area by acreage. Ten lifts, including three quad chairs, one six-person chair and two triple chairs, serve the mountain alongside two double chairs, one surface lift and one t-bar.
Schweitzer's setting above Lake Pend Oreille gives it panoramic lake views uncommon among Idaho resorts, alongside terrain extensive enough to support genuinely varied skiing across two connected bowls. The resort's scale as Idaho's largest ski area supports a diverse mix of terrain parks, tree skiing and open bowls. Its Ikon Pass affiliation, gained through Alterra Mountain Company ownership, brings destination-level visitor traffic to what began as a modest local mountain.
Jim Brown recognised Schweitzer's potential as early as the 1930s, and Spokane advocates Jack Fowler, a dentist, and Grant Groesbeck, an architect, joined him in pushing for its development. Brown, Fowler and Groesbeck formed a partnership in the early 1960s, and Schweitzer opened on 30 November 1963 with a day lodge and a mile-long double chairlift. Brown later bought out the other stockholders, making Schweitzer a family-run business until his death in 1989.
Brown's daughter Bobbie Huguenin then led the resort through further additions and improvements. Harbor Properties purchased Schweitzer from US Bank for 18 million US dollars on 31 December 1998, partnering with the McCaw family of Mission Ridge to bring the resort out of bankruptcy. Following Harbor Resorts' dissolution in 2005, Seattle's McCaw Investment Group became sole owner until MKM Trust sold the resort's operations to Alterra Mountain Company in 2023, bringing Ikon Pass access. Adult daily tickets run from 89 to 119 US dollars, with season passes from 899 dollars.
2,402ft
Vertical
92
Runs
2,900 acres
Skiable
25ft
Annual snow
Ikon
Pass
The Terrain
92 runs across 2,900 acres skiable
Schweitzer Mountain spreads 92 runs across 2,900 acres skiable of terrain. It leans intermediate at 40%, with 9 beginner runs to find your feet and 46 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
Terrain split
92
runs
92 runs across 4 grades
Beginner9 runs · 10%
Intermediate37 runs · 40%
Advanced32 runs · 35%
Expert14 runs · 15%
Time it right
When to visit Schweitzer Mountain
The 2025-26 season at Schweitzer ran from 21 November 2025 to 13 April 2026, a roughly twenty-one-week season supported by average annual snowfall of around 300 inches. This substantial snowfall total, combined with the resort's 2,900-acre footprint, gives Schweitzer one of the more reliable natural seasons among Idaho resorts. Season dates can shift slightly depending on early and late-season storm activity.
Midwinter, from December through February, typically delivers the most consistent conditions across Schweitzer's two connected bowls. As an Ikon Pass destination, the resort sees a mix of Sandpoint locals and visiting pass holders, with weekends and holiday periods drawing heavier crowds than the Idaho resort's earlier decades as a purely local mountain. Weekday visits generally remain quieter.
The resort's Ikon Pass affiliation, gained through Alterra Mountain Company's 2023 acquisition, has expanded its visibility well beyond its historic Sandpoint catchment. This has brought a broader range of programming and visitor services in line with other Alterra-operated resorts. School holiday periods and Ikon Pass blackout considerations shape much of the resort's peak-season crowd patterns.
Late-season conditions into April benefit from the area's substantial snowfall total and elevation, often extending good coverage across the mountain's varied terrain. Specific event programming beyond standard operations is not confirmed in available resort information. Schweitzer's combination of lake views, extensive terrain and Ikon Pass access has increasingly positioned it as a destination resort rather than purely a local's mountain.
Season 2025 - 2026
21 Nov 2025
Opens
13 Apr 2026
Closes
143
Days open
25 ft
Annual snow
Getting there
Getting to Schweitzer Mountain, and where to stay
Schweitzer sits above Sandpoint in the Idaho Panhandle, with a base elevation of 4,000 feet and a summit at 6,401 feet across a 2,401-foot vertical drop over 2,900 acres. The resort's position offers sweeping views over Lake Pend Oreille, one of the largest lakes in the northwestern United States, a defining feature of the Schweitzer experience.
Sandpoint is the nearest town, a lakeside community offering lodging, dining and a distinct small-city character that has grown alongside the resort's increasing destination profile. The broader Idaho Panhandle region combines lake recreation with mountain skiing, giving Sandpoint a four-season appeal beyond winter sports alone. Spokane, Washington lies within a comfortable driving distance to the southwest, extending the resort's practical catchment area.
US Route 95 connects Sandpoint to the broader regional highway network, with local roads leading up to the resort itself from the town below. Winter driving conditions on the approach can include snow and ice, though the route is well maintained given Schweitzer's status as a major regional destination. There is no direct public transport service to the mountain from Sandpoint.
Spokane International Airport, roughly 90 minutes to the southwest, is the nearest airport with substantial commercial service, making Schweitzer accessible to fly-in visitors from across the country via its Ikon Pass network. This combination of lake views, extensive terrain and reasonable airport access has helped transform Schweitzer from a local Sandpoint mountain into a genuine Pacific Northwest ski destination.
Where to stay
Search all stays →Hotels and lodges near Schweitzer Mountain, powered by Stay22.
Latest News
From the SnowStash desk
Spain Moves to Ban Smoking at Ski Resorts Under New Tobacco Law
Spain's government has approved a draft tobacco law that would ban smoking across a wide range of outdoor spaces, including sports venues - a category Spanish winter sports media expect to cover ski resorts, potentially extending to slopes and lifts themselves. The rules would also apply to e-cigarettes and vaping devices, even nicotine-free ones. The bill still has to clear the Spanish parliament before any ban, signage, or fines can take effect.
22 July 2026
South Tyrol Approves New 16-Person Ciampinoi Gondola in Val Gardena
South Tyrol has approved a full rebuild of the Ciampinoi cable car in Selva di Val Gardena, replacing the current 12-person gondola with a 16-person cabin and a new mountain-station restaurant. Capacity is capped at 3,200 people an hour rather than the 3,600 the operator wanted, and 250,000 euros must go toward compensatory measures. No construction or opening date has been set, though the upgrade is partly aimed at clearing bottlenecks before the 2031 Alpine Ski World Championships.
22 July 2026
Resort Spotlight: Hoshino Tomamu - Corporate Japan's Mountain Playground Revisited
Hoshino Tomamu is the ski resort equivalent of a conference hotel that happens to have excellent powder. Built for corporate retreats and package tourists, it offers genuine Hokkaido snow on surprisingly limited terrain - 29 runs spread across 585 vertical metres.
21 July 2026
La Thuile's New Cable Car Replaces Two Ageing Chairlifts
La Thuile is spending 38.7 million US dollars on a new 10-person cable car linking Les Suches to Chaz Dura, replacing the La Combe and Chaz Dura chairlifts after nearly forty years of service. Built by Leitner, the new cable car runs 1,950 metres to a top station at 2,576 metres, carrying up to 3,000 people an hour with a six-minute ride. It also improves the connection to La Rosiere in France via the Petit-Saint-Bernard Pass, and is on track to open for the 2026/27 season.
21 July 2026
The Remarkables Adds Scarpa Bowl to Its Inbounds Terrain
The Remarkables is adding new inbounds terrain for winter, bringing the Scarpa Bowl - known locally as the Toilet Bowl - into its lift-accessed network after years as backcountry-only ground. The roughly 500 metre run is reached by bootpacking from the top of the Sugar Bowl chairlift, with a shuttle picking skiers up from the road at the bottom. It's a smaller, faster addition than the resort's planned Doolans expansion, though the new terrain hasn't opened yet due to a lack of snow this season.
21 July 2026
Ski Portillo Cut Off After Storm Dumps More Than 4.5 Metres of Snow
Ski Portillo remains isolated after an extended storm buried the Chilean resort under more than 4.5 metres of snow, with both ground and air access suspended since Tuesday while crews monitor avalanche hazards and worsening weather. Resort officials say further snowfall is expected in the coming days and haven't set a timeline for reopening the mountain road. Once access resumes, the scale of the snowpack could set up a strong season at one of the Southern Hemisphere's most historic ski resorts.
21 July 2026
Resort Spotlight: Lotte Arai - Japan's Corporate Ski Anomaly With 22 Metres of Annual Snowfall
Lotte Arai receives 22 metres of annual snowfall - exceptional even by Japanese standards - but its corporate ownership model and limited terrain create an unusual cost-benefit equation. Here's what the numbers actually mean on the ground.
19 July 2026
Resort Spotlight: Banff Sunshine Village - Nine Metres of Snow and a Season That Runs Until May
Banff Sunshine Village sits at 1,660m base and receives 9.27m of snow annually. Inside Banff National Park, it offers a six-month season and terrain split that skews heavily advanced - though the crowds and lift infrastructure tell their own story.
18 July 2026
Live webcams
6 live angles across the mountain. Tap any camera to go full-screen.
About Schweitzer Mountain's live webcams
Check live conditions across Schweitzer Mountain with 6 real-time webcams showing snow, weather, and lift operations, updated every 10 minutes. Check high-elevation cams for powder visibility and base-area cams for crowd levels before you head up.
Camera guide
- Schweitzer Mountain Taps Deck View5,801ft
- Experience the vibrant mid-mountain atmosphere through this Schweitzer Mountain webcam positioned at Taps Deck at 1768 meters elevation. This Schweitzer live cam captures the popular gathering spot with panoramic views across Lake Pend Oreille below. Perfect for monitoring conditions and social activity, this live snow cam showcases the spectacular scenery that makes Schweitzer one of the Northwest's premier destinations in Idaho's Panhandle.
- Schweitzer Mountain Basin Express Summit6,640ft
- Monitor upper mountain terrain through this Schweitzer Mountain live cam stationed at Basin Express Summit at 2024 meters. This Schweitzer webcam provides real-time views of advanced skiing terrain and bowl access. Essential for checking visibility and snow conditions, this live snow cam reveals current conditions on the challenging slopes that make Schweitzer legendary for steep terrain and deep powder.
- Schweitzer Mountain Lakeview Triple Summit6,201ft
- Capture commanding lake vistas through this Schweitzer Mountain webcam at Lakeview Triple Summit at 1890 meters elevation. This Schweitzer live cam delivers stunning perspectives across Idaho's largest lake, Pend Oreille, stretching 43 miles below. Monitor current conditions while enjoying breathtaking scenery through this live snow cam positioned at one of skiing's most spectacular viewpoints.
- Schweitzer Mountain Colburn Triple Top6,401ft
- Track conditions at Colburn Triple through this Schweitzer Mountain live cam at 1951 meters. This Schweitzer webcam monitors one of the resort's key lifts accessing intermediate and advanced terrain. Perfect for assessing snow quality and lift operations, this live snow cam helps you navigate Schweitzer's diverse 2,900 acres of skiable terrain in Northern Idaho.
- Schweitzer Mountain Rowdy Grouse North View6,640ft
- Experience the wild north-facing terrain through this Schweitzer Mountain webcam overlooking Rowdy Grouse at 2024 meters elevation. This Schweitzer live cam captures the resort's legendary powder stashes and tree skiing zones. Essential for powder hunters, this live snow cam reveals conditions on the slopes that hold Idaho's famous dry snow longer than south-facing aspects.
- Schweitzer Mountain Outback View6,640ft
- Venture into backcountry-style terrain through this Schweitzer Mountain live cam positioned at the Outback area at 2024 meters. This Schweitzer webcam monitors the resort's most remote skiing zones and expert terrain. Monitor visibility and snow conditions through this live snow cam before exploring the challenging glades and steeps that define Schweitzer's adventurous character.
Schweitzer Mountain snow cams FAQ
How often do Schweitzer Mountain snow cams update?
All Schweitzer Mountain snow cams and webcams update every 10 minutes with fresh images showing current mountain conditions. This frequent update schedule ensures you have access to near real-time conditions for planning your ski day at Schweitzer Mountain.
Which Schweitzer Mountain webcam shows the best powder conditions?
The high-elevation Schweitzer Mountain Basin Express Summit webcam at 2,024m provides the clearest view of powder conditions and snowfall. These Schweitzer Mountain webcams capture fresh snow accumulation and visibility better than base area cameras.
Can I see Schweitzer Mountain lift queues on the webcams?
Yes. Multiple Schweitzer Mountain snow cams specifically show lift queue areas and chairlift operations, helping you time your arrival and avoid peak queue periods.
When is the best time to check Schweitzer Mountain snow cams?
Check Schweitzer Mountain webcams early morning (7-8am) for overnight snowfall assessment, and mid-afternoon for current crowd levels and weather. The live cams are most useful after storm events to assess fresh powder.
How can I check current conditions before buying Schweitzer Mountain lift tickets?
Use our Schweitzer Mountain webcams alongside the live snow report to assess conditions before purchasing lift tickets. The webcams show real-time visibility, snow quality, and operational status.
Do Schweitzer Mountain webcams work on mobile devices?
Yes. All Schweitzer Mountain snow cams and webcams are optimized for mobile viewing, so you can check live conditions from anywhere using your phone or tablet.
More Schweitzer Mountain intelligence: snow report, lift tickets, trail map, resort overview.