winter dance the SSTD
There is nothing quite like “earning your turns.” There are any number of permutations of this sort of endeavor, from “sidecountry” routes available from Schweitzer (one of the few areas in the nation providing gates that allow skiers access to areas outside the liftserved boundaries) to days-long travails along the Selkirk Crest or through the Scotchmans with a full pack and aboveaverage abilities. A middle ground is a trip to the Caribou Mountain Lodge, where comforts of home are surrounded by the rewards and commensurate risks of skiing where there is no avalanche control, grooming, lifts or ski patrol. This is as different from resort skiing as a ferris wheel is from a mechanical bull.
There’s ice fishing. “We have two to five folks every weekday at Round Lake and up to 15 on weekends,” said Gross. “They’re after a mix of bass, stocked trout, crappy, bluegill, sunfish, bullhead and channel cats.” The ice on Cocolalla Lake, just upstream from Round Lake, is often dotted with fishing shacks, as is the bay in front of Condo Del Sol on Sandpoint’s southwest side. Mirror, Gamlin and Shepherd lakes all offer ice fishing possibilities. Check fishing regulations before you sit down on your bucket and begin to turn to ice yourself.
Get a little farther out there
It’s the go-to winter sport that anyone can have fun either doing or watching. Pick a hill that’s slick and within
Other winter sports of the knowbefore-you-go sort, the kind that Jim Mellen and the Jakes have on their SSTD lists, are backcountry trips into the West Fork Cabin or the Caribou Hut (not to be confused with the lodge) in the Selkirks, or snow-cave camping in the West Cabinets. Ice climbing can be done on frozen waterfalls – if and only when the weather is perfect. Winter ascents of the vertical west face of Scotchman Peak are much safer, climber Christian Thompson finds, when everything is frozen up. You can always push winter further. But remember, it can push back. The first “S” in SSTD does not stand for “safe.” 82
Clockwise from left: Chris Park backcountry skis above West Fork Cabin (PHOTO BY DOUG MARSHALL); Forest Graham ice fishes for perch at Dawson Lake (PHOTO BY STEVE JAMSA); Hadley Marshall goes mach-schnell on her favorite sledding hill. (PHOTO BY DOUG MARSHALL)
SANDPOINT MAGAZINE
If you just want to sit around
Last but not least is sledding
WINTER 2015
your comfort level for steepness. Pull your sled to the top. Get on the sled. Slide to the bottom. Pretty simple, and there are lots of things to use for a sled, from a Flexible Flyer to a saucer to a garbage bag. If you prefer not to walk up the hill, check out Hermits Hollow Tubing at Schweitzer, which even lets you ride your tube back up the hill. Winter outdoor activities don’t have to be as, um, adventurous as those on the SSTD list. “Fun” and “winter” combined can be interpreted in many ways. Options abound, and many – maybe even most – offer a reduced chance of being accused of being mentally imbalanced. Be careful, dress warmly, tell someone where you are going and enjoy winter on your own terms.