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TR Skiing ID/WA 12.23.11 to 1.4.12

This is the spot to post your trail and trip reports. Please notify [email protected] when you do so that we can feature the better ones on the front of the website.
Droogie
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12.26.11 Schweitzer Mountain.



So on Christmas day is started dumping as we left the mountain. Unfortunately this only lasted for about 20 minutes and only a trace of new snow fell between when we left and hitting first chair at 8:45 the next AM. I was still able to find some soft snow, especially off the t-bar and Snow Ghost chairs. The crowds were a little bit heavier today and there was a time where we waited about 4 minutes to get on a chair. Otherwise the wait consisted of waiting for the 6 people ahead of us to get on the next two chairs. They didn't even bother filling chairs to full most of the time since it really was not an issue. That is rarely the case in Colorado over the holidays. The high was about 25 at the summit and 30 at the base. I was definitely hoping for some more snow.



Looking off the backside of the Snow Ghost chair.



Me.



I can't remember what the name of this double black was. It looked really, really good! HOWEVER, given that I am 6 months and 3 days post-op ACL reconstruction I decided to pass. In a few months I'd be all over it. This run has been the only run that I REALLY wanted to hit and declined to do so because of the knee. It is pretty steep and the trees get pretty tight in there after about 100 feet. Overall, though the knee feels great.





So the moose at my sister-in-law's apartment literally lives there. We we looking at it and the neighbor said that it has been wintering in town for several years and has made the backyard her home the past few weeks. This picture is not very good, but if you look closely you can see the glow of its eye and then the outline of its body.
Droogie
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12.27.11 Rest day.



Today was a rest day. It was very hard to do this given that they had 3 inches of fresh and it snowed most of the day. I have to tell myself that a day of rest will be good and I still have 6-7 days of skiing left. We went and visited grandma in Clarkston, WA and we are staying the night in Tri-cities, WA. We are getting up at the crack of dawn to get back up to Schweitzer in the AM. Today's forecast called for 1-3 inches during the day and 6-10 inches overnight. However, the snow levels could become an issue. I'm hoping for the best and hope I can break out the K2 Hellbents tomorrow. I'll try to take some more interesting pictures of action and pow tomorrow.



To grandma's house we go.
Ski Bunny
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Great TR! I love the pic looking out over the clouds settled in the valleys.
mommehK
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Total money here...and much drool to be cleaned up by all looking at this TR too I'm sure!
mmmtaters
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Sweetness.
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davidski
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Finally Droogie delivers a trip report, good stuff



POWDER had an article about Schweitzer that put it high on my want to ski list --your report confirms that -- splendid looking tree runs
Droogie
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12.28.11: rain, no skiing.



I'm very unhappy to report an inch of rain on top of the 9 inches that fell the past 48 hours. It rained to the summit and a number of lifts are not opening at all today due to wind. Only one lift other than the bunny hill was open before 1:00. I was getting to the mountain late anyway (12:00) due to coming up from tri-cities wa. In the village i talked to a few guys who were up who said it was terrible and were leaving after two runs. They said you could not hardly turn in the untracked stuff in the trees because it was like concrete. This sounded like trouble for my new acl so I said screw it. I have 6 days of skiing left and plan to no matter what!
Droogie
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@davidski 266479 wrote:



POWDER had an article about Schweitzer that put it high on my want to ski list --your report confirms that -- splendid looking tree runs



The glades are both extensive and fantastic.
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ROYMERCER
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very cool, thanks for sharing
2020-2021 days skiing
CAT= 2
APP=
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TIMBERLINE=
CANAAN VALLEY=
SAPPHIRE=1
Droogie
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12.29.11: Lookout Pass ID/MT.



So after following the weather last night and looking at snow reports this AM it was clear that we needed to drive down to Lookout Pass ID/MT. Every other resort within 150 miles had rain to the top most of the night and no new snow. Lookout had 10 inches the day before that was rained on. However, it rained less and did turn back to snow with 2 inches new reported at the base. We buzzed down from Sandpoint and were on the chair at 8:55 AM and skied till 2:45.



I highly recommend this mom and pop mountain if you are ever in the area. Best snow within 150 miles, decent terrain, and cheap tickets. The clientele was way different from that seen at Schweitzer. The level of skiers at Lookout was pretty low compared to Schweitzer and we noticed that far fewer people wore helmets here. I saw a few pairs of jeans, some blaze orange, and some camo being rocked out along with some old skinny skis and rear-entry boots. It appeared that most people were day tripping locally rather than having a destination ski trip. Liftlines were not an issue considering that it is the holidays. Snow was pretty decent considering the disaster of rain yesterday.



Some info about Lookout Pass:



Base: 4500

Summit: 5650

Vertical: 1150

Acres: 540

Named Runs: 34

Annual Snowfall: 400 inches

Lift tickets $37.00

Trail Map: https://skilookout.com/core/files/skilo ... 202010.jpg
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