Friday, October 30, 2026
If your skis still have last spring's storage wax on them, this is your weekend. The Mt. Spokane Ski Swap takes over the Spokane Fair and Expo Center on Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, the region's biggest chance to buy and sell used winter gear. Closer to home, Sandpoint's own SARS Ski Swap follows on Saturday, November 14 at the Bonner County Fairgrounds, raising funds for the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School while outfitting local families at deep discounts. Gear check-in to sell runs Friday, November 13, with shopping open from noon to 6 p.m. the following day. The countdown makes both swaps timely: Schweitzer's tentative opening day is Friday, November 27, just 28 days away, conditions permitting. The season pass sale ends November 15, and 3-Packs start at 249 dollars while quantities last, so the next two weeks are the moment to lock in both your pass and your equipment.
On the mountain itself, the resort's own Mountain Report this morning (updated minutes before we read it) shows a clear, cold start: the village at 33 degrees and clear with northwest winds at 12 miles per hour, while the summit sits at 27 degrees and clear, with east-northeast winds at 24 miles per hour. The snow report fields still show dashes across the board — no base depth and no new snow totals yet — with 0 of 10 lifts, 0 of 92 trails and 0 of 2,900 acres open, and the resort closed for the season. The village forecast turns cloudier but stays dry: cloudy today with a high near 37 and a low near 34, mostly cloudy on Saturday with a high near 38, then cloudy on Sunday with a high near 37. The resort's daily message says the crew arrived on October 28 to a fresh layer of snow on the slopes, while noting there is still a long way to go before anything is skiable.
Did you know this winter brings more new ways to learn at Schweitzer than any season in recent memory? Learn to Ski in 3 gives first-timers three group lessons with lift access and rentals, and anyone who completes all three earns a Grad Pass with unlimited skiing from March through closing day. Women's Wednesdays adds a six-week program for women building skills together, and the headline novelty is Private Night Skiing, giving groups exclusive after-hours access to Basin Express terrain. With lodging starting at 159 dollars a night, the village should be busy long before the first chair loads on November 27 — and early lesson slots fill first, so book ahead.
Around the panhandle, today is a civic deadline worth circling: early in-person voting for the Tuesday, November 3 general election ends at 5 p.m. today at the Bonner County Elections Office, 1500 Highway 2 in Sandpoint. Absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, when polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sandpoint voters will decide a proposed 1 percent local option sales tax that would run from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2036 to fund street and pathway work, alongside statewide measures including Proposition 1 and two House Joint Resolutions, plus county, legislative and congressional races. However you lean, today is the last chance to skip the Election Day lines.
Tonight in Sandpoint, Halloween weekend starts loud. Fright Night returns to the Sandpoint Community Hall at 204 South First Avenue for its third year: doors open at 5 p.m. and the show runs from 6 to 10 p.m., with five bands — BakLip, Congeal, A Void Dead, Serene and local metalcore headliners Every Dying Breath. The all-ages, non-alcoholic show costs 15 dollars, a costume contest offers a 100 dollar cash prize, and the Sandpoint Lions Club will have Toys for Tots and Coats for Kids donation bins on site. For something more graceful, the Grand Kyiv Ballet brings Swan Lake — Symphony of Lights to town tonight, reimagining Tchaikovsky's classic with illuminated costumes. Earlier today, the Chamber hosts a Halloween-themed ribbon cutting for R.I.P. RV Park in Sagle at 1 p.m., followed by trunk-or-treating from 3 to 5 p.m., and Tater Salad plays at Smokesmith Bar-B-Que from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The weekend keeps rolling from there. Halloween itself, Saturday, October 31, brings pumpkin painting at Barrel 33 from 2 to 4 p.m., downtown trick-or-treating, trunk-or-treats around the county, and a costume opening day at The Pond ice rink, with bookable skate sessions starting at 10:30 a.m. The Mt. Spokane Ski Swap continues Sunday, and The Taste of Things screens Sunday, November 1 to close the weekend on a quieter note. It is a classic shoulder-season weekend: ski gear in the morning, costumes at night, and one eye on the summit the whole time.
That in-between feeling is what we love about late October at The Village Overlook. From our studio above the village you can watch the sun come up clear and cold over the summit, head down the hill for Fright Night or a ballet, and wake up to check whether the runs picked up any new color overnight. Opening day is 28 days out and the pass deadline is November 15. Whenever you are ready to make Schweitzer your home hill for a few days — for first turns, lessons, or just the view over Lake Pend Oreille — we would love to host your stay.