The History of Schweitzer Mountain Resort

IN THE BEGINNING
The history of Schweitzer Mountain Resort dates back more than a century ago when, as legend has it, a Swiss hermit took shelter at the bottom of the basin of the Cabinet, Selkirk and Bitterroot mountain ranges. Little was known about the man, other than at one time he had served in the Swiss military. The hermit became such a presence in the area that, some years later, locals in the nearby mountain town of Sandpoint would name Schweitzer Mountain after him. The word Schweitzer, in Swiss, means “Swiss man.”

Fun-seekers from Sandpoint began recreating on Schweitzer Mountain in the early 1960s. It wasn’t until a few years later that Schweitzer would officially open as a winter ski area.

THE FOUNDING FATHER
Jack Fowler, a Spokane native, founded Schweitzer Mountain Resort. He got the idea one winter day while traveling to Whitefish, Mont., for a ski outing at Big Mountain Resort. Fowler, struck by the beauty of Schweitzer Mountain’s snowy mountaintop, at once knew the area could be developed into a premier ski resort.

On Thanksgiving Weekend 1963, Fowler, Jim Brown and other key investors combined their resources and built Schweitzer’s first handle tow, marking the official beginning of the resort. A car parked at the top of the hill was left running to power the handle tow, which could carry only two adults or three kids at a time.

THE “BROWN” YEARS
A few years after Schweitzer’s modest beginnings, Jim Brown bought out his partners and began to expand the resort. He added a double chairlift, built the Red Cricket apartment complex and constructed a day lodge at the base of the mountain. Brown greatly increased the attraction of Schweitzer and the surrounding Sandpoint community. During his ownership, he was credited for starting Schweitzer summer lifts for mountain bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts, and for hosting the first Festival at Sandpoint, an annual music festival showcasing international and local composers, as well as performing artists.

Brown died in 1989, leaving the resort to his daughter, Bobbie. Following in her father’s footsteps, Bobbie made many improvements to Schweitzer Mountain Resort. Revenues never increased to levels anticipated by the Brown family, and the resort eventually was turned over to its institutional owners. Schweitzer didn’t have another private owner until two years later.

HARBOR TAKES THE HELM
On December 31, 1998, Harbor Properties purchased Schweitzer Mountain Resort. Owners of Stevens Pass and Mission Ridge in the Cascades Mountain Range, the Seattle-based real estate company brought more than a quarter century of experience in ski-resort development and management.

After acquiring Schweitzer, Harbor immediately began to improve the resort. It spent the summer of 1999 remodeling Selkirk Lodge (formerly called the Green Gables Lodge), rebuilding and lighting the Terrain Park, installing two new handle lifts, improving local roads, and expanding the beginner ski area.

One year later, Stella, Idaho’s only high-speed, 6-passenger chairlift, opened on the mountain. The lift, housed by a 19th Century cable carriage barn complete with steaming boilers and spinning gears, takes visitors back in time as they anticipate their ascent of Schweitzer’s summit. Stella greatly improves guest access to more than 150 acres of Schweitzer terrain called The Northwest Territory. More than that, it provides Schweitzer visitors a unique visual and emotional experience. The one-mile ride to the top climbs more than 1,500 feet in just five-and-a-half minutes. Along the way, visitors have plenty of time to take in the striking Idaho scenery.

In May 2001, construction began on White Pine Lodge, formerly Headquarters Lodge at the resort. The 75,000-square-foot guest lodge, which opened in August 2002, features 50 luxury condominium units, various shops and restaurants, and two floors of underground guest parking.

TODAY’S SCHWEITZER
Harbor continues to make improvements to Schweitzer’s facilities, as well as the resort’s operations, service and amenities, and on-mountain food and beverage. Just recently, Harbor renovated the Chimney Rock Grill, a full-service restaurant in the heart of  Schweitzer Village. This summer Chef Michael Collins was hired. He adds panache to Chimney Rock’s redesigned menu of fresh, regional fare.

Additional improvements are in the offing, as Harbor looks to a future that includes more mountain homes, new restaurants and expanded amenities — all transforming this once sleepy, Idaho ski area into a thriving, four-season, regional destination resort. In 2002, Jack Fowler celebrated his 80th birthday. As a tribute to Schweitzer’s founding father, a new run, “Jack’s Dream,” was built close to where the first handle tow was built some 40 years ago.