Monday, November 2, 2026
The best way to spend the week before ski season really starts is watching other people ski beautifully, and Sandpoint gets its chance on Saturday. Warren Miller's 77th film, Days Off, screens at the Panida Theater on Saturday, November 7, with doors at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show. Host Katie Burrell follows the world's best skiers and riders through their unscripted days off, and the intermission raffle is pure Schweitzer: a multi-day Schweitzer ski vacation for two is among the prizes, alongside a Sandpoint wellness tour, sailing on Lake Pend Oreille and a Priest Lake husky sled dog tour, with a silent auction that includes a case of wine and a Schweitzer season pass. It lands 25 days before Schweitzer's tentative opening day on Friday, November 27, conditions permitting.
Two deadlines deserve a circle on the calendar before that film rolls. First, the half-price buddy ticket offer ends tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3: Schweitzer and Ikon Pass holders can share Friends and Family lift tickets at 50 percent off, instead of the usual 25 percent, when tickets are bought by November 3, and pass holders should book at least a day in advance. Second, the season pass sale ends Sunday, November 15, while limited quantities of Schweitzer 3-Packs remain available from 249 dollars until sold out. A fall lodging special on the resort's deals page also shows a book-by date of November 17, so anyone plotting an opening-weekend stay has homework due before the snow flies in earnest.
On the mountain itself, the resort's own Mountain Report this morning shows a cold, quiet start to the week. The village sits at 31 degrees and partly cloudy with a light northwest wind at 3 miles per hour, while the summit reads 25 degrees and partly cloudy with a north-northwest wind at 4 miles per hour. The resort lists Monday in the village at 34 to 35 degrees, partly cloudy turning cloudy, then Tuesday at 39 and 36 and cloudy to mostly cloudy, and Wednesday at 37 and 32 with sunny, mostly clear skies. The snow report fields still show dashes across the board, with 0 of 10 lifts, 0 of 92 trails and 0 of 2,900 acres open, and the resort closed for the season until opening day. Did you know Schweitzer's 2,900 acres make it Idaho's largest ski resort? Every one of those acres is currently waiting on the same thing the rest of us are: the first real base-building storm.
Tuesday is also Election Day across Bonner County, and it is a consequential ballot. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on November 3, early voting ended on October 30, and absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Sandpoint voters will decide the proposed 1 percent local option sales tax for streets and transportation: if approved it would run from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2036, direct 75 percent of proceeds to street maintenance and reconstruction, and needs at least 60 percent approval to pass. Statewide, ballots also carry Proposition 1, House Joint Resolutions 4 and 6, and a non-binding advisory question.
Today in Sandpoint, Monday starts gently: the Sandpoint Cuban Salsa and Rueda series holds its class from 6 to 7 p.m. at Sandpoint Community Hall on South First Avenue, with pre-registration required. Tuesday pairs voting with Donkey Basketball at Sandpoint High School from 6:30 to 10 p.m., benefiting the SHS Mentors program, and live piano with Carson Rhodes at Pend d'Oreille Winery from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday brings Dwayne Parsons on the winery piano from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday is full: a Gifts in a Jar workshop runs 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UI Extension office, and that evening the free screening of Women's Work, on America's female farmers, fills the Panida at 7 p.m. with a panel of local women farmers.
The weekend keeps the winter theme going. Friday opens with the Selkirk-Pend Oreille Food Summit from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center, then the Opening Reception for The Language of Color runs 5 to 7 p.m. at the POAC Gallery. Saturday stacks Turkey Bingo at SASi, the Panhandle Fall Conservation Dinner at the Bonner County Fairgrounds at 4 p.m., and Rally for the Riders II from 7 to 9 p.m. at the St. Bernard on Schweitzer Mountain, an evening of food, music and auctions for the local snowboard team. Sunday closes with the Sandpoint Nordic Club's Annual Winter Welcome from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Outdoor Recreation Center, with beverages, s'mores, games and raffles. Looking one week further, State of Schweitzer follows on November 12, SARS ski swap gear drop-off is November 13 at the fairgrounds, and the swap itself is November 14.
That is a full week of community wrapped around a mountain holding its breath for winter, and The Village Overlook is right in the middle of it, a warm hotel-style studio on the hill above Schweitzer's ski village. Come up for Warren Miller weekend, vote, dance a little salsa, and watch the summit turn whiter by the day. When opening day arrives, you will already feel like a local, because around here the season starts with weeks like this one.