Planning A Ski Trip To Silver Mountain

KELLOGG, Idaho - Unlike glitzy resorts, skiing Silver Mountain doesn't cost an arm and a leg - yet.

Townsfolk and mountain operators hope, however, that quality skiing will attract big crowds - and developers.

If Silver Mountain becomes another Whistler village, as people in this economically depressed mining community dream, prices will go up. For now, however, there are some deals are in place.

Here are some tips on how to enjoy a Silver Mountain excursion.

-- Lodging: The Coeur d'Alene Resort is operated by the Hagadone Corp., which was hired by the town of Kellogg, Silver Mountain's owner, to manage the ski area. Hence, the resort, 35 miles from the gondola base, offers a ski package.

The five-star Coeur d'Alene resort has two award-winning restaurants and a fully equipped health club/recreation center, It offers a midweek package for $110 a person for two nights, two $26 adult lift tickets and free bus service to the mountain.

A two-night weekend package, available Thursdays through Saturdays, costs $150 per person. A five-day deal runs $290.

A full ski week in Coeur d'Alene might satisfy the hard-core skier who is too tired for off-slope diversions, considering the town is thin on night clubs, theaters and shopping centers.

Other Coeur d'Alene hotels also offer ski packages. The Holiday Inn has a similar two-day weekend package for $108 a person, three days for $160. Skiers with families might like the Super 8 Motel and Shilo Motel. For those on a budget not requiring splendor, the Sandman, Star, City Center and State are among 1950s-style motels available.

In Wallace, 10 miles east of Kellogg, more lodging is available, including the historic Jameson Inn, a former turn-of-the-century brothel with decor from that era. The Wallace Inn, a new 63-room Best Western, offers a two-day skier package for $120 a person.

Kellogg itself has a few motels available, though none is ritzy enough to offer something many skiers say is a necessity - a hot tub.

For information: Greater Kellogg Area Chamber of Commerce, 1-208-784-0821 (after Feb. 4); Wallace Chamber of Commerce, 1-208-753-7151; Greater Coeur d'Alene Convention and Visitors Bureau, 1-800-CDA-4YOU; Coeur d'Alene Resort, 1-800-688-5253.

-- Travel: A Silver Mountain brochure says the area, 70 miles east of Spokane, is a five-hour drive from Seattle. Don't count on it in winter driving conditions; it's more like eight. (The Silver Mountain gondola base is visible from I-90, two blocks from the small parking lot.)

The bus between the Coeur d'Alene Resort and the gondola base in Kellogg is supposed to make the 35-mile trip in 30 minutes. But if roads are bad it can take an hour or more.

Air travel to Spokane is available, but round-trip airfare from Seattle midweek is more than $350; stay over a Saturday and it drops to $210. The resort will pick up travelers at the Spokane airport for $20 each.

-- Food: Said Peter Forsch, Silver Mountain's general manager, about the area this winter: ``Overall, while we've stubbed our toe a little bit, we're very pleased with our food and beverage service.''

Indeed, a chef, decked out in his whites, invited skiers to stay in and eat all day instead of ski - and it could be done. Silver Mountain gets an A grade on the two basic skier food groups - french fries and brownies, but the area thinks it is building its reputation on its entrees.

The Mountain Haus has three eateries: the white-tablecloth Alpenrose Restaurant; Moguls Lounge; and the cafeteria-like Food Court.

Among daily items in the Food Court cafeteria, served on china, not styrofoam: German sausage cooked in beer with sauerkraut and fries ($4.95); pizza by the slice ($2.50) or an 8-inch pie (5.95); sandwiches ($4).

Moguls Lounge is the standard slopeside bar, with rock music and a customer base that is 80 percent male.

Immediately after the ski season opened, a snow-cat maintenance barn was converted into a picnic area. But despite the colorful chairs, it still looks - and feels - like a garage. However, skiers are welcome to take their sack lunches upstairs to the more brightly lit Food Court or Moguls Lounge.

-- Future: A group of Seattle firefighters exploring Silver Mountain earlier this month said they would eagerly return to the area, but would secure lodging in Kellogg, not stay in ``distant'' Coeur d'Alene. They said they have been spoiled by trips to Whistler/Blackcomb, which has slopeside accommodations.

Silver Mountain soon may have its own slopeside accommodations.

Presently, the gondola base has only four shops (ski gear, jewelry, gifts and T-shirts) and a snack bar and restaurant. More will come. The area has 10 acres available for development at the base, and Forsch said lodging with 500 to 1,000 beds may be built within a few years.

``We have no desire to be another day area for Spokane,'' he said. The idea is to make the community prosperous by encouraging development of condos and second homes, and to get the people who are kicking themselves for not buying property in Whistler a decade ago to do so in Kellogg now.

``Kellogg is not a pristine little town,'' Forsch said. ``It's kind of a dirty, beat up little mining town. But like Telluride and Park City, it'll come around. There's no master plan, but it'll happen because the economics are right.''