The lure of powder is strong, even if it’s six to eight hours away.
Skiers and snowboarders in the Treasure Valley are blessed with four resorts within 40 minutes to three hours away, but sometimes it’s just nice to plan a four-day weekend or longer to get the taste of the terrain at other premier resorts in the region.
Schweitzer Mountain near Sandpoint, Silver Mountain at Kellogg and Grand Targhee near Driggs each offer unique opportunities to carve turns on new slopes. Sandpoint, Kellogg and Driggs are also fun, quaint towns to explore — with cool restaurants and pubs, historic sites and more. Start planning a trip for this winter.
Schweitzer Mountain
First of all, the views from the top of 6,400-foot Schweitzer Mountain Resort, or anywhere on the mountain, are breathtaking — to say the least.
You can see three mountain ranges in three states and Canada.
Even if you’re a beginner skier or snowboarder, you can enjoys the views — 10 percent of the mountain is beginner terrain.
If you need a little more challenge, the mountain also offers 40 percent intermediate, 35 percent advanced and 15 percent expert terrain.
What’s really neat about Schweitzer is that the runs are right out the doors of the mountain village.
Besides the views and conveniences, Schweitzer offers a variety of terrain from smooth corduroy groomed runs to wide open bowls and glades. Its longest run is 2 miles, and the mountain has a vertical drop of 2,400 feet.
You and the kids will also find three terrain parks, and if you want to take a break and go Nordic skiing, you’ll have 32 kilometers of trails to enjoy.
You’ll get a lot of runs in during the day. Schweitzer has a high-speed six-pack named Stella, two high-speed quads, a triple chairlift, three double chairlifts, a T-Bar and a conveyor lift.
For some other fun, Schweitzer’s newest attraction is a zip line stretching over 700 feet in length. The zip line starts near the tubing yurt and zips toward the lake, landing below the resort’s Musical Carpet.
The goal is to have the zip line running for both winter and summer seasons.
GETTING THERE: It’s an all-day drive north of the Treasure Valley on U.S. 95 or Idaho 55 and U.S. 95. The resort is located about 9 miles from Sandpoint.
RESORT INFORMATION: schweitzer.com.
TOURIST INFORMATION: You can stay at Schweitzer or one of the many lodging spots in the Sandpoint area. For Sandpoint area hotel and visitor’s information, visit www.sandpoint.com.
Grand Targhee
Grand Targhee’s motto is “unlimited powder all season long,” and you can bet on it. Powder is the lure of this ski resort located just across the Idaho border in Wyoming.
It’s packed with powder because the ski area is on the western slope of the Teton Range and gets more than 500 inches of snow annually. The resort has two mountain peaks with over 2,500 acres of skiable terrain.
Grand Targhee is also known for its fabulous views with a base elevation of 8,000 feet and a summit of 9,862 feet. With two mountains, Fred’s Mountain and Peaked Mountain, you’ll never get bored with the terrain.
Fred’s Mountain has 1,500 skiable acres, 63 trails, a 2,212-foot vertical drop, two quad chairs (one high-speed), a double chair and a Magic Carpet Conveyor Lift.
The terrain is 10 percent easy, 70 percent difficult and 20 percent advanced. The longest run is 2.7 miles.
On Peaked Mountain, there are 1,200 skiable acres with 602 acres of SnowCat skiing. There are nine trails. The mountain is served by a high-speed quad.
This is an expert’s paradise. The terrain is 85 percent difficult and 15 percent advanced.
Don’t forget the cross-country skis so you can enjoy 15K of groomed trails.
New this year is the terrain park. It has been brought back after being absent for several years. The park will have four to six rails and a jump section.
GETTING THERE: Take the freeways across the state to Idaho Falls. Take U.S. 26 to Swan Valley and Idaho 31 and 33 to Driggs. The resort is located northeast of Driggs.
RESORT INFORMATION: grandtarghee.com
TOURIST INFORMATION: There’s lodging at Grand Targhee or in nearby Driggs and other surrounding towns. Find area lodging information at the Grand Targhee website or http://tetonvalleychamber.com/activities/lodging.
Silver Mountain
The first thing that will impress you about the resort at Kellogg is the gondola ride right from the base village in town to the slopes. You don’t have to negotiate windy mountain roads.
The area encompasses two 6,300-foot mountain peaks and has 1,600 skiable acres, three bowls, 2,200 vertical feet, 53 runs and lots of tree skiing and powder stashes.
A four-person chair, two triple chairs, two double chairs and a moving carpet serve skiers and boarders. There’s also a terrain park.
The terrain is described as 20 percent beginner, 40 percent intermediate, 30 percent advanced and 10 percent expert. The longest trail is 2.5 miles.
There’s also a 3-mile snowshoe trail at the top of the gondola and nearby cross-country skiing.
The fun at Silver Mountain doesn’t end when you get off the slopes. After skiing or snowboarding, you can go surfing in 85 degree temperatures. Really.
The resort’s Silver Rapids Indoor Waterpark is the largest in Idaho and features the FlowRider. It’s a “perfect,” continuous wave — more than 60,000 gallons of water per minute — that can be body boarded or surfed. Boarders or surfers are actually standing still but the water moves, giving the illusion that you are moving along at 35 mph.
Folks who have tried it say it takes some practice to master it.
The water park also has lazy tubing and kids’ adventure areas.
GETTING THERE: Take U.S. 95 or Idaho 55 and U.S. 95 from the Treasure Valley to Coeur d’Alene. Silver Mountain is 30 miles east on Interstate 90 at Kellogg.
RESORT INFORMATION: silvermt.com
TOURIST INFORMATION: Lodging is available at Silver Mountain or in Kellogg, Wallace and other area towns. Visit www.silvervalleychamber.com for information.
Pete Zimowsky has been writing about the outdoors for the Idaho Statesman for 37 years. He’s been an avid resort and backcountry skier for most of his life. He’s already started to get his grandkids on the slopes.
