Did you know there is a town in the Silver Valley so narrow that it never really had a street at all? Seven miles northeast of Wallace, the old mining town of Burke squeezed itself into Burke Canyon, a gorge only about 300 feet wide. There was room for Canyon Creek, a road, and a railroad, but not in the usual side-by-side way. In Burke, everything had to share the same narrow line, and the town that grew up there became one of the most ingenious, and improbable, places in Idaho mining history.

In the heart of Schweitzer village, inside the Selkirk Lodge at 10000 Schweitzer Mountain Road, Chimney Rock Grill is the mountain's big, welcoming table. The restaurant takes its name from the prominent three-sided peak that towers just north of the resort, and it has long been the place village guests drift toward when the day on the slopes winds down and everyone is hungry at once.

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Did you know the Schweitzer you ski today was built, quite literally, lift by lift? The resort opened on December 4, 1963, with a day lodge at 4,700 feet and a single mile-long double chairlift. That was enough to start a dream, but not nearly enough to hold it. Almost every decade since, crews have returned in summer to add a lift, open a new basin, or raise a lodge, until one chair grew into 2,900 acres spread across two massive bowls above Lake Pend Oreille.

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Did you know that Schweitzer began with a hike in ski boots? On Memorial Day in 1960, Spokane dentist Jack Fowler, his son Tom, and Spokane architect Grant Groesbeck backpacked into Schweitzer Basin and skied the South Bowl. Their first idea was a modest one, little more than a shack and a rope tow, but standing in that big, snow-filled bowl, the three men could already picture something far larger: a ski area close to home for the people of Sandpoint and Spokane.

If you are heading up the mountain for the first time, or you have been skiing Schweitzer for years, there is a good chance your day starts with a stop at Alpine Shop. The family of shops in downtown Sandpoint and in Schweitzer Village has been helping visitors and locals get outside in every season, with honest advice, a fitting room instead of a shipping label, and staff who would rather listen first and sell second.

Friday, October 16, 2026

Did you know that the big lake you can see from Schweitzer on a clear day has its own lake monster? Lake Pend Oreille, spread out below the Selkirks, is home to the Pend Oreille Paddler, a mysterious creature said to surface as a long, dark shape moving with an undulating motion and a wide wake. Locals do not tell the story with fear, exactly. Over the decades it has become a piece of living heritage, retold on docks and beaches and passed along to every new visitor who asks what might be hiding in that deep, dark water.

Did you know Schweitzer has already seen its first snow of the season? The resort's own daily message reports the first official snow sighting on Saturday, October 10, with snow falling on and off through that weekend, and an Ikon Pass roundup released October 14 noted first flakes on Schweitzer with more snow on the way this week. Winter is officially on the radar, and the countdown is on: opening day is set for Friday, November 27, just 43 days from today.