These ‘undiscovered’ resorts aren't out of reach

Schweitzer Mountain, Idaho
Tucked far up in the panhandle of Idaho between Washington and Montana, this resort remains a secret it seems to everyone outside of the Northwest. There is some sort of poetic justice at work here, since the resort was named for a Swiss hermit who settled here years ago. The resort has breathtaking views over Lake Pend Oreille that has been site of secret Navy submarine tests. At the base of the nine-mile access road, an eclectic mixture of once-hippies and Libertarian believers who just want to be left alone settles the town of Sandpoint. For all of its seeming remoteness, the resort is only about an hour-and-a-half from Spokane airport. Skiers and riders will not leave disappointed. The resort has more than 3,000 acres or terrain and steeps that will make one gasp, however, there is plenty for every level of skier and rider to enjoy.

Big Mountain, Mont.
A friend once called this resort an intermediate Jackson Hole. The skiing and riding is down virtually all sides of a mountain dropping more than 2,500 vertical feel from a 7,000-foot summit. A gondola takes skiers and riders up through ice-encrusted trees that stand like snow ghosts along the trails. From the top, wide trails trace their way back to the mountain village or skiers and riders can drop through the hoarfrost-covered trees and eventually curl around on a cat track to the cluster of hotels. A further eight miles down the mountain road, Whitefish provides a low-keyed dining and nightlife experience that has been discovered by many of Hollywood’s elite.

Purgatory, Colo.
Only about a half-hour from the cowboy town of Durango, Purgatory at Durango Mountain (its current name) is an intermediate skier or rider’s dream. Chances are, you’ll be sharing the slopes with someone in blue jeans and a down jacket rather than the latest Bogner fashion. The resort trails drop in steps down a two-mile-long mountain finger bordered by the highway on the east and by a glacier valley on the west. Experts won’t find extraordinary challenge here but intermediates and beginners will have a field day. The resort’s real dining and nightlife center is historic Durango. Once a lively, rough-and-tumble mining town where Jack Dempsey fought, the city still maintains its cowboy character and is filled with restaurants, brewpubs, dance floors, galleries and plenty of college kids. Winter is low season here so there are plenty of lodging bargains.

These are seven ski and snowboard areas that will not disappoint any skier or rider. The crowds are limited. The lift ticket prices are some of the lowest in the country and the nightlife and dining among the most affordable.

Best of all, every one of these resorts has great snow now.

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