Alterrra Mountain Company today announced an agreement to acquire Schweitzer Mountain Resort, the largest ski mountain in Idaho. Already an Ikon Pass partner, Schweitzer features a fleet of nine chairlifts on 2,900 acres of private land near Sandpoint. The mountain will become the 17th owned destination for Alterra across the United States and Canada. “With an incredible mountain in one of the most beautiful settings in the country and a world-class operating team, Schweitzer has everything we look for in a destination,” said Jared Smith, President and CEO of Alterra Mountain Company. “The mountain has been a valued partner on the Ikon Pass for several seasons, so we’ve been able to see the exceptional team, community, and opportunities for continued investment up close.”
Tom Chasse, who has been with Schweitzer since 2006, will stay on as President and CEO under Alterra. He will oversee Schweitzer’s continued growth, which includes development of a new base area called Schweitzer Creek Village. A new Leitner-Poma high speed quad is already under construction and will debut on that part of the mountain next winter.
MKM Trust, which has been the owner and developer of Schweitzer for the past 18 years, will retain non-ski operations and will continue to lead future real estate development. The transaction is expected to close later this year.
Lift Blog 
Dang. I was hoping they would join Indy. But they were already on the IKON
I first skied here in 1984 when I parked 50 feet away from the small chalet on a dirt parking lot!
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This makes me so sad, and marks the end of 60 years of independent ownership at my home resort.
At the same time, I’m pretty pleased it’s Alterra instead of Vail or Powdr, and I’m glad Tom is staying on. I just hope Schweitzer doesn’t get lost in the corporate shuffle when it comes to enhancements and smart reinvestments.
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I’ll add, because I think the peanut gallery is gonna go there: I actually don’t at all think this ratchets up the pressure on Vail in the inland Northwest.
The Spokane metro area (and that’s the entire eastern portion of Washington and all of north Idaho) only has ~200,000-250,000 skiers. Schweitzer’s the only destination resort in the area, and it’s not even that big or well-known of one. Given the choice to buy, say, 49 Degrees North or add another European or perhaps a Japanese resort, why the hell would Vail buy 49? Even domestically, Vail still has better acquisition targets with far more unique skiers, in places like Oregon, central/southern California, and New York. None of the remaining four inland Northwest resorts would be a good fit. Maybe a Mountain Capital Partners, perhaps, but not Vail.
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How come you don’t like Powdr? Aren’t copper, snowbird, and bachelor pretty good. It also seems that the Powdr resorts are much more popular among the park rats and community than the vail resorts.
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Woodward is a point in their favor, but Fast Tracks docks 500 points.
(And as an aside, Snowbird is also probably the least community-minded of the Powdr resorts to reference, what with their pushing for a half-a-billion-dollar gondola and their piss-poor marketing after trashing their incredible One-Star marketing campaign.)
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Of all the things to happen this year, I didn’t expect Alterra of all companies to take over my local ski resort, ha! This will definitely have some positives and drawbacks in the future, although I imagine in the immediate term there won’t be too many changes.
I can at least breathe a sigh of relief that it isn’t Powdr Corp.
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Whats wrong with Powdr. Isnt it quite better than vail? and their parks are insane!
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Much the opposite actually. For their larger resorts, Powdr tends to charge season pass prices that are worse than the top tier of the Epic Pass, and they charge similarly egregious day ticket prices to Vail and Alterra. The difference is, Vail and Alterra solidly invest in their resorts while Powdr tends to cut back services and offerings while lifts, ticket gates and everything else start breaking down frequently, all while the price continues to rise.
Powdr’s Woodward terrain parks are pretty good, but the best terrain parks I’ve ever seen were actually at Vail owned resorts such as Whistler Blackcomb and Northstar, to name a few. I’ve also seen some independent resorts like Mt. Hood Meadows have some pretty Woodward-tier terrain parks at times.
I’m not a Vail superfan, I know that will get me shredded to pieces by the Lift Blog commenters, but from my own personal experiences Vail runs their resorts far better and invests far more than Powdr, while their Epic Pass provides a lot more value for less $$$ than a Powdr resort season pass. If Powdr bought Schweitzer, I’d be looking for a season pass at Mt. Spokane, 49 Degrees North and/or Silver Mountain in future seasons.
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Sandpoint will not know what hit it. I’ll be interested to see what happens with the local infrastructure and prices.
Also, it’s time to get rid of that slow, hazardous Yan/Doppelmayr monstrosity with something faster and higher-capacity.
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Looks at Mammoth and June and Palisades… Old Yan’s are kinda Alterra’s specialty.
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Unfortunately. They were unique but really are aging.
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Wonder if Ikon will offer unlimited days at Schweitzer instead of only 7?
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At least it’s not vail resorts
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How long until the ikon costs so much it is pointless lol.
I’m not going to ski at 100 different resorts!
It would be awesome it you could buy a pass for like 5 different ski areas but the ikon is getting less and less worth it.
It is really sad how ikon/epic skyrocket crowds at perfectly good resorts;
For example: Big Sky, Palisades Tahoe, Winter park, etc…
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You forget what it was like before Epic and Ikon – single mountain passes were above far more expensive than Ikon is today, and they didn’t get you any access at all to other ski areas.
As for increased crowds, that is partly cheap megapasses and partly a COVID boom that has happened in other outdoor sports as well. How much of it is Alterra’s fault, I leave it up to your imagination.
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Just for reference, in 2001, a day at Schweitzer cost $37. A season cost $249. Adjusted to inflation, that’s $63 for a day or $421 for a season.
Debate the impact of mega-passes all you want (for example, I’d argue mega-passes were inevitable, in part because of climate change), but regardless, skiing has absolutely gotten more expensive over time, not less. There is no argument that mega-passes have in some way “made skiing less expensive.”
Maybe if you get 30+ days a season and/or take a lot of trips to destination resorts, but most skiers don’t do either of those.
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For the 2019/20 season, before Schweitzer joined Ikon or a mega-pass in 2021, the special early pricing for a Schweitzer season pass was $699. A day ticket was just under $100.
The reality is that skiing has become more expensive for operators over the past couple decades. Schweitzer has installed 6 lifts since 2001, and the cost of a chairlift installation, especially for a high-speed one, has increased beyond inflation. Necessary insurance costs have also skyrocketed. Snowmaking has become a bigger operating expense, and new equipment has meant additional capital expenditures as well.
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@skitheeast: I agree! I’m just pointing out that mega passes haven’t made skiing cheaper. That’s all. 🤷♂️
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I really think that depends. Day ticket wise, probably not in most instances, but people underestimate how much the US economy has shifted towards advanced purchasing over the past 10-20 years. A Disney World day ticket, a comparable all-day activity where people typically bring their families, was $50 in 2002, then $100 in 2015, and now peaks at $190 on high-demand days. Skiing was headed in this direction regardless of what occurred to season pass prices, as day ticket prices have skyrocketed even at most mountains whose season pass is not Ikon or Epic.
Right before being acquired by Vail, Okemo’s day ticket was $100 and their season pass was $1600. Six years later, their day ticket is $150 and their season pass is $675. Stowe’s day ticket was at $125 and their season pass price was $2300 prior to acquisition. Seven years later, their day ticket is $200 and their season pass is $900. However, in both instances, I can go purchase a 1-day Epic Day Pass today valid at either mountain for any day this upcoming season for $95. So, skiing really has become cheaper here, including for day ticket users who select how many days they want to ski in advance.
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There is no doubt that the passes have increased crowds and prices.
The epic and then the ikon were great but long term it is worse for the ski areas.
Also it’s only in the last 5 years that ski passes are so expensive. They used to be very reasonable.
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I’m sure Alterra sees Schweitzer as a viable alternative for western Washington skiers who want to take a ski holiday at a more developed resort than they could find around Seattle (where the ski areas are hemmed in by public land and a low cloud ceiling). Schweitzer is a similar drive time from Seattle as big white, sun peaks, bachelor and only about an hour farther than whistler and without the hassle of a border crossing or schlepping through Vancouver traffic. A lot cheaper than whistler as well. The fact that it’s on private land (I didn’t know this) just increases its potential to serve the Seattle skier vacation market. It already does to some extent but not nearly as much as it could. I’m guessing the McCaw family just didn’t have the capital or inclination to really make the necessary investment in Schweitzer.
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Well, the trust was worth $19 billion when Keith McCaw died, but who knows how much it’s worth now.
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