Trip Report for March 24 – 27, 2024

For families, spring break can be a special time. Many may venture to Disneyland or another warm location with beaches and pools, but I prefer a different kind of venue. Spring break is a perfect time for a ski trip. The snowpack is usually deep, and while any weather experience could occur in the mountains, there is a greater chance of sun.

That’s why I decided to take my family to Schweitzer Mountain, Idaho, for three days of skiing. Our three days would feel more like winter as we got snow every day along with some of the more expected sun.

As we drove up to the resort for our first night, I could see the fresh tracks made by the half-foot of new snow that fell the day before. We settled into our ski-in-ski-out condo and prepared for the next day. All three of our kids had never been to Schweitzer, so the excitement was evident.

Day one at Schweitzer brought partly sunny skies and soft conditions thanks to the recent snowfall. Good visibility allowed us to experience everything the ski area had to offer. Due to varying ability levels, my wife and I had to split time with our two older boys and our younger daughter.

After a family warm-up, I took my boys to the Outback Bowl to explore. We started by hitting Toomey’s Run for some steep tree skiing. There was still some soft leftover powder to cut up. We found similar conditions in Phineas Forest before navigating some terrain off the Cedar Park Express and the Colburn Triple Chair. We never had to wait in a lift line, and that trend stayed true for the entire trip.

Schweitzer is a challenging mountain, and only 10% of the terrain is rated for beginners, so I had to be careful what runs I took my daughter down. Thankfully, she is well past the beginner stage, and we found good luck on runs like Gypsy, The Great Divide, Vagabond, Midway, and anything off the Creekside Express.

By the end of the day, we had explored most of the mountain. Intermittent snow flurries kept things interesting, and we were ready for more skiing tomorrow.

Day two started with almost everyone sleeping in. It started snowing in the early morning, and by the time the lifts opened, there was a solid inch of new snow, with more up higher. Visibility was challenging as clouds, blue sky, and snowfall danced all over the mountain. The trick was finding where the best snow and visibility were. We had the best luck on the Stella chair over on Outback Bowl and the Basin Express on the front side.

The favorite run of the day was Glade-Iater, which is a decent pitch with nicely spaced trees. The snow held well and you could get a nice flow down. If only there had been more snow it would have been epic.

On our final day, a half-inch of snow fell after the lifts had closed the previous day. Fog started at mid-mountain, but it slowly lifted during the morning hours. The groomers off of Cedar Park Express were impeccable. The best run of the day was Upper Kaniksu to Downhill Run to Snow Ghost. Mid-morning, we stopped in at the Outback Inn for some hot chocolate and to warm up.

It started to snow again around noon and didn’t stop the rest of the day. We skied hard and ended the day with some laps down the terrain park. We ended our final evening with dinner at Powder Hound Pizza in the village.

On our last morning, we awoke to five inches of new snow blanketing the mountain and my car. It was depressing knowing we had to leave and couldn’t ski, but it was hard to complain about the conditions and fun we had already had. What a great trip. The kids said it was the best place they had ever skied.

Thank you for a great vacation, Schweitzer!

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