SANTA FRESHIES: Selkirk Powder Company and Schweitzer Go Off

Santa came through and delivered 10 inches of the white, fluffy stuff to North Idaho the day after Christmas adding to an impressive pre-2008 base. Although the inbounds at Schweitzer Mountain skied soft and fast, we elected to check out Ken Barrett’s Selkirk Powder Company cat-ski operation off the back of Schweitzer on the southern end of the Selkirk Range to satiate our Christmas powder appetitite.

Suffice to say, the day ironically started in fortuitous form on a run named Devil’s Gully once the decidedly talkative Barrett dropped in and led us through widely-spaced spruce. The atypically light Selkirk snow rose up and over making for post-Christmas smiles abounding from friends and Schweitzer’s legendary Bob Legasa—founder, promoter, and competitor of Schweitzer’s annual Outrageous Air.

Originally operated as a backcountry snowmobile ski operation, Barrett got approval two years ago to fulfill his initial vision of a cat-ski operation off the back of the booming Schweitzer Resort. With 186,000 acres of cat-approved access, we barely scratched the surface of this recently logged playground topping out at 10 runs in one day. Barrett’s incessant energy is understood—his backyard is untapped and full of legitimate backcountry opportunities for a shredding experience that cannot disappoint. And in true North Idaho local fashion, we even scored hot pizza and wings for lunch personally delivered by Thor of Schweitzer’s Thor Pizza.

Once we told Ken we would dutifully return next Christmas for more powder-filled avenues, we skied a couple runs of Schweitzer’s fluty backside comprised of multiple steep stashes that few outside the Inland Northwest know about. Nevertheless, it was more soft Selkirk snow for us forcing us to believe that Christmas came a day late in 2007.

Thor's Pizza delivery