Summer's last hurrah came and went over Labor Day weekend, and it was a big one. Schweitzer's 33rd annual Fall Fest closed out the summer season September 4-7, filling the village with live music, more than 80 regional brews, ciders, and wines, scenic chairlift rides on the Great Escape Quad, and a full slate of family activities from the climbing wall to the summer activity center.
Fall Fest has long marked the end of summer operations on the mountain — the moment the calendar flips from lift-served biking and hiking to the quieter work of winter prep. A Labor Day weekend tradition for 30-plus years, it remains the mountain's signature send-off to the season.
This year's edition kept the formula that works: regional breweries pouring across the village, bands playing all four days, and the Great Escape Quad ferrying riders to the summit for hiking, mountain biking, and panoramic views above Lake Pend Oreille.
Now the mountain shifts into shoulder season. Trails go quiet, the village exhales, and crews turn toward winter. The resort has targeted November 27 for opening day, as announced in its 2026-27 winter lineup — so the countdown is officially on.
No lifts are spinning yet, and no snow totals are being claimed — just the good kind of anticipation. Winter is coming to the Selkirks; it simply isn't here yet.
Past editions have kept the tradition rich: souvenir glassware with tasting tickets, a soda station where kids mix their own flavors, the zipline and trampoline jumper, food vendors, and bands playing across all four days. Fall Fest marks the end of summer operations at Schweitzer, with staffers already preparing for the winter season ahead — the last big hurrah before the mountain goes quiet and the snowmaking crews start watching the thermometer day and night.