Thursday, October 22, 2026
It is Thursday, and tonight Sandpoint gets a ski film made by its own. Caution: Terrain, a short documentary produced by local skiers and filmmakers Cameron Hotchkiss and Essex Prescott, screens at 6:30 p.m. upstairs at Eichardt's Pub on Cedar Street as part of the inaugural Sandpoint Idaho Film Fest. The film follows the Potato Boys through a season exploring the North Idaho backcountry, it has been nominated for the festival's Made in Idaho Award, and tonight's screening is followed by a question-and-answer session offering a sneak peek into how it was made. Did you know the festival is brand new this year? Its first edition opened October 17 and runs through Saturday, October 24, at venues all over town.
The countdown behind tonight's film is very real. Schweitzer's tentative opening day is Friday, November 27, just 36 days from today, conditions permitting, and the resort's Season Pass Sale ends November 15, only 24 days from now. Limited-quantity 3-Packs starting at 249 dollars remain available until they sell out, and the new Learn to Ski in 3 program is built for anyone tonight's film inspires: three group lessons with lift access, professional instruction and equipment rentals for 425 dollars, for guests ages 13 and older, with a Grad Pass for unlimited skiing from March through closing day waiting for everyone who completes all three lessons. This winter also marks the 10th anniversary of Sky House, the summit lodge at the top of the Great Escape Quad, where even non-skiers can ride up for the Lake Pend Oreille views.
On the mountain this morning, the resort's own Mountain Report tells a foggy fall story. Both the village and the summit read 47 degrees in fog, with a light northwest wind at 2 miles per hour in the village and a south wind at 11 miles per hour up top. The snow report fields are still all dashes, with 0 of 10 lifts spinning and 0 of 92 trails open; everything on the mountain is closed for the season. The resort's village forecast calls for a high of 53 and a low of 40 today, partly cloudy with rain, then a sharp cooldown: Friday high 40 and low 32, and Saturday high and low both 36, mostly sunny turning mostly cloudy. The resort's daily message recalls the first official snow sighting back on October 10, notes temperatures slowly dropping, and points to a burst of cold, wet weather arriving Saturday afternoon, with snow possible on and off into Sunday. Winter, in other words, is clearing its throat.
Around the panhandle, election season is in its final stretch. Early voting continues on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through October 30, and Friday, October 23 is the deadline to preregister or request an absentee ballot, so today is a good day to check that item off. Sandpoint voters will also decide a proposed 1 percent local-option sales tax for street repairs and transportation on the November 3 ballot; if approved, it would run from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2036. And Schweitzer-area water customers have a date of their own coming: the customer workshop on the Schweitzer Basin Water rate case, SCH-W-26-01, runs Tuesday, October 27 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Marigold Conference Room at the Sandpoint Center on Church Street, with written comments accepted through January 12, 2027.
Today in Sandpoint, the film is only the start. At 7 p.m., the Festival at Sandpoint unveils its 2027 Fine Arts Poster at the Pend d'Oreille Winery tasting room, a first look at the winning artwork by Heather Mehra-Pedersen, a palette-knife painter known for bold color and rich texture, with auction proceeds supporting music education. Also tonight, Barrel 33 hosts Lights. Camera. Murder!, a murder mystery in which a theater group sheltering from a storm has to solve a director's suspicious death before the curtain falls, and tickets are limited. The Film Fest then rolls into its biggest two nights: Premiere Night on Friday at the Panida Theater, and Closing Night with awards on Saturday, also at the Panida.
The weekend keeps giving. On Friday at 7 p.m., the SPIRITSONG and BOUNDLESS choirs present A Journey in Song at First Lutheran Church, a benefit for the Bonner Community Food Bank celebrating the choirs' recent tour to London and Scotland. On Saturday, the Sled Hill Grand Opening Celebration at Pine Street Woods brings live music, hikes, family activities and a community cider press, on the same day the Film Fest closes and the Pend Oreille Arts Council celebrates with its Masterpiece Ball. It is a fine weekend to be based on the mountain, with evenings back up the hill where winter feels close enough to touch.
That is the standing invitation from The Village Overlook, our hotel-style studio on the hill above Schweitzer's ski village. Come up for a film night, a poster unveiling, or the first turns of the season when the lifts start spinning on November 27, and settle in where the mountain is your front yard and Sandpoint is just down the road. Watch the pass deadline on November 15, wax the skis, and we will keep a warm welcome ready for you on the hill.