Schweitzer celebrates 50 years
<p>Jim Parsons Jr. snapped this iconic image of skiers queuing up to purchase lift tickets on opening day in 1963. (Courtesy photo)</p>
SANDPOINT — Schweitzer Mountain Resort is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month.
The resort is honoring the semicentennial on the weekend of Dec. 13-15 by allowing guests to ski all three days for less than the price of a typical adult lift ticket.
“Schweitzer Mountain Resort wants to celebrate our 50th anniversary with the people who matter most, our loyal guests,” said Tom Chasse, Schweitzer’s president and CEO.
The anniversary weekend kicks off with Community Day on Friday, Dec. 13, an event that will raise funds for Bonner Partners in Care and Community Cancer Services of Sandpoint. Lift tickets on that day will be just $10 and all proceeds will benefit those two organizations.
Guests can select which organization they’d like to benefit when they purchase them online or at the ticket window.
The big birthday party, Founders Day, is set for Saturday, Dec. 14. Lift tickets will be $19.63 in honor of the resort’s 1963 opening season. Complimentary birthday cake will be served (while supplies last) and re-dedication ceremony will take place to honor key figures in Schweitzer’s history.
The ceremony will be followed by live music in Taps Lounge and the opening of Schweitzer’s 25-year-old time capsule.
On Sunday, Dec. 15, revelers can sleep in and take advantage of the resort’s Sunday Solution, tickets for which will be only $25 when purchased online.
“This weekend is about helping the community, celebrating 50 years of service and exceptional skiing,” Chasse said.
Chair lift rates during the 1963-’64 season were $4 for adults, compared to today’s rate of $71 a day. Season passes during the inaugural season were $150 per family, while an unrestricted adult pass will set you back $999 today if you missed the Oct. 31 discount deadline.
Jim Parsons Jr. and his wife, Clarice, ran a ski shop in the resort’s former lodge when the mountain opened.
Chair 1, which has since been replaced by the Basin Express, carried people up the hill, although the resort’s south ridge was considered out of bounds at the time.
“That was off limits at the time due to avalanche concerns,” recalls Parsons.
Leather boots and wooden skis were de rigueur. However, skiers at Schweitzer embraced technological advances that made bindings safer, according to Parsons.
Look Nevada, Cubco and Miller bindings had gained prominence and eased concerns about mangled legs because they would release a skier’s boots in the event of a wipeout, which was handy because armpit-deep moguls would form on the slope due to the absence of grooming equipment.
Parsons said he can’t recall the skiing conditions on opening day, but is pretty sure they weren’t bad.
“The skiing’s always good up there,” he said.