Schweitzer is the hidden gem of the northern rockies. Outshined by Sun Valley, Big Sky, and others, this resort offers fun skiing and beautiful lake views with half the crowds. The village offers limited lodging and nightlife so do not come here on your college spring break expecting to be raging every night in the town. Schweitzer is best for locals, family vacations, and ski lovers that just want to experience what this resort has to offer. Stay in the town of Sandpoint and make the drive up to the mountain each morning for the best value.

The snow situation at Schweitzer is variable. Being at a relatively low elevation inhibits the resorts potential for massive snow years and do not be surprised if a rain event ruins your vacation and the resort's snowpack. With that being said, if you do dodge the bullet, the potential for a great powder day and no lift lines is possible.

The mountain terrain and recent lift infrastructure upgrades is plenty expansive. You will not be upset with the runs that are to be discovered during your long weekend stay at the resort. Steep glades and wide open bowls make the skiing engaging and fun. While not Big Sky, Jackson Hole, or LCC terrain, you will not be disappointed with what Schweitzer has to offer.

Overall, Schweitzer is a good medium sized resort that I think is best for those skiers that have already hit the big ones and want to experience something unique and different this ski season. Schweitzer is also best for families that want a manageable and lowkey mountain for everyone to have fun.
See our video here

Schweitzer is German for ‘crappy snow’. Conditions and length of season deteriorate with each passing season. It is a local ski hill, at best, which is touted as a destination resort. I lived there for 35 years, so I speak from a qualified position. If you are imprisoned in that region, go to Lookout.
See our video here

I grew up skiing this mountain. They have made nice improvements since then on the backside. The high speed quads are nice. Unfortunately they completely detreed an entire bowl on the backside, which must have sounded like a good idea at the time, but actually caused it to heat under the sun and refreeze as crud most days. Sadly, last year they cut our season on March 10. It was an awesome March with several good snow showers. We could have easily skied til late April. I called this year to see if they were going to make good for pass holders this year with some sort of discount. Instead they actually raised the prices by 50 bucks. Classic Vail Resorts move.
See our video here

Having been spoiled by Tahoe's resorts I was amazed to find Scweitzer is better than Tahoe's best. Our 2019 spring skiing found blue skies imacculate groomed runs reasonable lift tickets gourmande food.
No transportation or parking issues either. Just good skiing.
See our video here

What a great place, steep trees, plenty of room, excellent back bowls, and super fun people! Schweitzer was far better than i could have very expected. This is a must if you're tired of massives crowds and uptight fancy pants.
See our video here

'Anonymous' review from 4 years ago, seen below, should do some more research before speaking about technical details. The lowest part of the area at 4000 feet is the bottom of Stella at the Outback, NOT the beginner's area below the village (which, btw, is 400 not 700 feet vertical).
The lake is simply beautiful and does not contribute to 'marine' conditions like the Ocean. The predominant weather patterns are blowing W-E and the lake is to the East, meaning that any lake moisture is going the wrong direction to affect Schweitzer - too bad, because the amount of snow from the Great Salt Lake is pretty impressive, but Utah is high altitude. I wish there were more areas like Mt Baker, Alyeska, or Niseko Japan - all 3 of which are lower elevation than Schweitzer and get pummeled by 'marine' ocean conditions and 500"+ annually.

I digress.
====================
Snow can be a bit heavier on warm days, but there is typically plenty of it and very few people around. The busiest days are all under 6000 visitors if I was told correctly. Over 2900 acres that is a very low skier density. As some have previously mentioned with the eating areas - there aren't many, they are busy, and they aren't that special, either. Sandpoint is a bit of a drive down the mountain, and is only slightly more active than the Schweitzer Village at night.

There is a planned replacement for the oldest and slowest lift on the mountain. If that is completed, I would give a perfect 5 on the lifts. They are all easy to access and well designed on back-to-back bowls so that you are never more than one ride away from anywhere on the mountain.

Overall, as someone who also has been skiing at quite a few destinations, it will come down to your preference on accommodations. I believe 'anonymous' is a bit of an elitist - being fortunate enough to travel the world perhaps may do that to someone.
Come to Schweitzer expecting a low-key, friendly vibe where you might be on a lift with the CEO or owner and not realize it. Go get into the glades, have a beer, and relax, because you can. You are far removed from the insanity of California or Colorado.

However, yes, prepare for some fog... and don't go looking for extreme cliffs!
See our video here

We really lucked out when we went to Schweitzer! Our first Day was a bluebird sunny day with leftover powder from the day before. Then on our second day, it just dumped! There was probably 6” of new snow that fell during the day which made it over a foot in the past 3 Days. We went during the week and never had to wait in a line. The lifts are so-so. There are some high speed lifts, but the two lifts that access the more advanced terrain are fairly slow. The terrain is cool but might get boring after 2-3 Days. The mountain is made up of 2 large bowls. The locals said that it’s often foggy, so the sun made for a great day of skiing. We did a hike out of the ski resort one day and got to some really fun open skiing. On a clear day, you look over Lake Pend Oreille and the views are great. There are some nice steep chutes, but the terrain isn’t too challenging . If you want to stay by the mountain, you can either stay in a few ski-in ski-out hotels or stay 20 minutes down the hill in Sandpoint. We stayed on the mountain and enjoyed our stay. One downside was that almost all of the shops were closed by 4:30. The restaurants were open later and the food was good but nothing special. I would definitely return.
See our video here

The mountain itself is decent. The ski lift prices are expensive for a place that has fog most of the time. They have a nice option for childcare at kiddie center where your child can actually gets some ski time out of it. But overall, the mountain is trying to handle and extremely large population of snow riders and with limited resources. Skiers and snow boarders are everywhere and it's challenging just to get around the Village without almost colliding in to people. When you get off the mountain, you are usually hungry and want to eat fairly soon. I spent almost 40 minutes standing in line at the regular cafeteria for lunch today. If you like standing an waiting in painful ski boots, this place is for you. The chef's cooking the meals are understaffed and when they miss and order from a customer and the customer points it out ( I saw it five times while standing in that long line) they get short with the customers to put them in their place out of frustration. There are no tables either and when you finally get one, people wait around for you to finish so they can sit....it's worse than I've seen at other ski resorts that are crowded. Customer service in that arena has a low score. More food service capacity is badly needed for a growing population that is obvious to the area.
See our video here

This hill has the most amazing staff and shreds this side of the Mississippi.
See our video here

Been here once a year for a two day trip for last 7 years. Always in late Feb or early March. Seems like I can never hit it on one of their classic deep powder days. Can atest to the fact it's uncrowded on weekdays. Been times when we thought we were the only one on the lift and runs. Everyone is really friendly the core of old guy locals runs deep. The acreage is large and terrain offers something for everyone. Groomers would be their specialty. Are some steeps but they're relatively shot with a long flats & long lift ride to circle back to them. Lift rates at $73 seem a bit steep for an out of the way place like this. Cool place to have lunch is the Outback at the bottom of the Stella 6 pack lift. Terrain parks look to be top notch although you won't find me there. I'll be in the trees looking for the freshies. There's good hidden pow shots off the T-bar when it's running.
See our video here