Schweitzer offers free night skiing on Saturday

• Schweitzer is Back! — What a year. We started with snowfall, followed by inches of rain, followed by a freeze, followed by wet snow, followed by powder, followed by a slight warming, followed by a freeze. As an avalanche guy, I couldn’t write a better scenario. Schweitzer now has a solid base, the best early season base I’ve seen in years. Everything seems skiable. Rocks are buried with no hope of reemerging. We are one storm cycle from epic skiing. Right now the groomers are perfect and off-piste is very skiable. Schweitzer will be expanding to the back bowls this week, with full operations the weekend target. Get out there and play!

• Shiffrin injured; Vonn rolls — The White Circus returned to Europe to close out the year with the Men at Val d’Isere, France and the women at Are, Sweden. It was a dark week for the USST ladies as Mikaela Shiffrin was injured during warm-ups for the Giant slalom. Word is that she’s “week to week” having suffered a torn ligament and bruised bone. On a positive note, Lindsey Vonn won her fourth straight race, taking Gold in the Giant Slalom. Resi Stiegler was the top US Slalom finisher in 18th.

The big news on the Mens’ side was Ted Ligety not being in the Giant Slalom money. He had a miscue the first run and didn’t qualify for the second. Instead Marcel Hirsher of Austria continued his stellar early season with a Giant Slalom win. David Chodounsky had a strong Slalom showing with a 4th place finish.

• Junior Race Series sign-up — Sign up now, no same day registrations. Fliers for the January Independence Junior Race Series are at the local ski shops. This popular series features free coaching, lots of prizes, lots of kids and lots of fun. Racers meet four Friday evenings in January from 5:30 until 7 p.m. No excuses, come join the fun. Forms are at the Alpine Shop and Sandpoint Sports, or can be downloaded at www,independenceracing.com.

• Free night skiing Saturday — Schweitzer is offering free night skiing this Saturday, Dec. 19. Don’t miss this chance. The snow is great and the lift lines will be short. Come join the fun.

• Santa Skis — Watch for Santa and Mrs. Claus distributing candy and holiday cheer on the mountain Dec. 23 and 24.

• Ski Racing Camps — Independence kicks off its Christmas Camp this week, and SARS the following week. Watch for packs a little rippers all over the mountain, and please remember these are our future stars.

• Potpourri — The Edge will report on World Cup Speed action at Val d’Isere and Val Gardena next week. Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.

The Inside Edge runs every Thursday during ski and snowboard season in the Daily Bee.