Warm weather, strong winds and power outages have prevented area ski hills from fully operating on a consistent basis. 

Decent snowfall in late October and early November gave way to a warm finish, delaying both Lookout Pass and Silver Mountain from meeting their annual Thanksgiving opening targets. In the weeks that followed, inconsistent and wild weather created a red-light, green-light effect for the hills. 

Both were closed Thursday.

The multiple days and weekends of lost operations have impacted not only the ski hills but also the surrounding communities that rely on winter tourism dollars. 

According to a recent report from Ski Idaho, the 2024-25 season was the second-biggest in recorded history with 2.4 million visitors. Idaho now ranks 10th nationally for skier visits and sixth for skier days per capita, meaning residents ski more than four times the national average. 

The Spokane Designated Market Area, which includes North Idaho, accounted for 16% of Idaho’s ski visits, second only to Boise. 

Knowing these statistics and the fact that the Idaho ski industry has become a billion-dollar annual business, it's easy to see why local ski hills may be getting uneasy. 

“You hate to see it, but it is still before Christmas,” Lookout Pass Marketing Director Matt Sawyer said. “The biggest issue we are facing now is these heavy winds that created chaos at many of the mountains with lots of trees down.” 

Even with snow in the forecast, the mountains have had to divert resources to clearing challenging terrain and removing trees or debris that landed on runs used by skiers, snowboarders and tubers. 

“We’re having to attack that straight up to get the mountains ready,” Sawyer said. 

Sawyer, who also serves as vice president of the Wallace Chamber of Commerce, acknowledged the impact on local businesses, lamenting the lack of winter traffic for restaurants, hotels and retailers who aren’t used to lean Decembers. 

“There is certainly a loss because people aren’t coming to the ski areas and the communities, where they might spend the day, the night and extra money in town,” Sawyer said. “We’re all suffering through this early season transition. We know that people would be here if we were open.” 

For Sawyer’s employees, the unusual weather has forced Lookout to cut back on staff and hours in the early weeks of the season, but he expects to return to full staffing once conditions improve. 

“It’s never good to miss out on ski days, for our business, employees or community as a whole,” Silver Mountain Marketing Manager Gus Colburn said. “This winter has had an underwhelming start, but there is snow in the forecast and we look forward to welcoming our skiers and boarders back to the mountain very soon.” 

Both Lookout Pass and Silver Mountain hope to be open this weekend, but those plans are weather dependent.  

Schweitzer reported receiving 6 inches of snow Thursday, but only one lift was operating.