Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Here is a travel tip worth planning a trip around: this winter, your airline boarding pass can double as a lift ticket at Schweitzer. Alaska Airlines has rolled Schweitzer into its Atmos Rewards Alpine Getaways program for the 2026-27 season, one of just nine resorts on the list, and eligible passengers who fly Alaska into Spokane International Airport receive a free lift ticket on their arrival day. The drive north from Spokane takes roughly ninety minutes to two hours, so a morning flight can put you on the snow the same afternoon. Check the program terms before you book, because eligibility and blackout details are set by the airline and the resort.
The mountain those travelers will find is getting a genuine early-season assist from the weather this week. SnowBrains, in its October 27 Northern Rockies outlook, calls for nine to twelve inches at Schweitzer across Tuesday through Thursday, strongest Wednesday into Thursday, with snow levels dropping toward 3,000 to 4,500 feet, so the new snow should reach toward the village, not just the summit. This morning's shared radar composite agrees: showers over Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, and the Schweitzer area, with widespread rain along Interstate 90 near Missoula on the drive-in routes. The resort itself remains closed for the season, with zero of ten lifts and zero of ninety-two trails open, so all of this snow is base-building, not skiing, for now. Tentative opening day is Friday, November 27, exactly thirty days out.
For the mountain itself, we go straight to the resort's own Mountain Report, updated just minutes before we read it this morning. The village was 32 degrees and cloudy with barely a breath of wind, calm from the southeast, while the summit was 26 degrees and cloudy with a 9 mile per hour southeast wind; both tabs showed a high of 31 and a low of 28. Every snow field on the report is still dashes: no base depth, season total, or 12, 24, or 48 hour snowfall is being reported yet, and the board reads zero of ten lifts, zero of ninety-two trails, and zero of 2,900 acres, all closed for season. The resort's village forecast keeps the wintry turn going: today, snow and wind with a high of 28, a low of 26, and winds near 18 miles per hour; Thursday cloudy at 29 and 29; and Friday cloudy at 35 and 32. The report's daily message also notes the season's first official snow sighting back on October 10. Ahead on the ski calendar: State of Schweitzer on November 12, the SARS Ski Swap November 14 at the Bonner County Fairgrounds (seller check-in November 13), and the season pass sale ending November 15, eighteen days out, with 3-Packs from 249 dollars while supplies last.
Wednesday is our local-news-in-depth day, and the biggest decision on Sandpoint's plate is the one-percent Local Option Sales Tax on the November 3 ballot. The city lays it out plainly: a sales tax, not a property tax, effective January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2036 if approved. Approval takes at least sixty percent, the supermajority a similar measure missed in 2024 despite clearing fifty percent. The arithmetic is simple: one percent adds ten cents to a ten-dollar taxable purchase and one dollar to a hundred-dollar purchase. After collection costs, seventy-five percent of the revenue is dedicated to city streets, including drainage and safety work, and twenty-five percent to sidewalks and transportation connections. At the October 20 candidates forum, the city's public works director cited a 2021 assessment finding twenty percent of Sandpoint's streets in poor to very poor condition, about double the national average.
Voting itself is in its final stretch. Early voting runs weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, October 30 at the Bonner County Elections Office in the county building at 1500 Highway 2 in Sandpoint, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. County, legislative, statewide, and congressional races share the ballot. VoteIdaho.gov can confirm your registration and polling place. However you lean, this is the week to vote early and skip the November 3 lines.
Today in Sandpoint, the afternoon starts young: My First Book Club meets from 3:15 to 4 p.m. at the Sandpoint Library for readers ages six to eight, and Intro to 3D Design on Tinkercad runs 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the library for hands-on design basics. The Chamber holds Business After Hours from 5 to 7 p.m., and Andrew Martinssen plays live piano from 5 to 7 p.m. at Pend d'Oreille Winery. The Sandpoint Tango Lab meets from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Embody Center, and trivia fans close the night with Live Trivia with Toshi at 7 p.m. at Connie's Cafe and Lounge. Tomorrow at 12:30 p.m., the Senior Center hosts a session on protecting yourself from digital scams.
Halloween week then takes over: The Rocky Horror Picture Show screens Thursday night with a costume contest, Fright Night and the Grand Kyiv Ballet's Swan Lake follow Friday, and Saturday, October 31 brings pumpkin painting, the downtown Candy Walk, trunk-or-treats, and an enchanted forest walk for the youngest goblins. The Village Overlook, our hotel-style studio on the hill above Schweitzer's ski village, makes an ideal home base: town festivities by day, a quiet snowy mountain at night, and opening day just thirty days away. We would love to host your next trip.