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Priest Lake revved for snowmobiles

Resort owners say people use snow machines around area instead of cars

By RICH LANDERS, The Spokesman-Review
Published: February 25, 2017, 10:35pm

PRIEST LAKE, Idaho — Relentless snowfall has smothered Priest Lake this winter, and snowmobilers are loving it.

“This is one of those years when snowmobiles can drive right up to the restaurant, have a meal and tour around before riding to another place for a drink,” Teri Hill said of Hill’s Resort.

“It’s not uncommon on a weekend to have six to 15 sleds in the parking lot at lunchtime,” co-owner Craig Hill said.

“If Gonzaga plays early, people will ride in to watch the game. When there’s this much snow, people use snowmobiles instead of a car because it’s more fun.”

“It’s like being in Minnesota,” said Ryan Porter of Priest Lake Powersports, where employees have excavated a spacious cave out of the huge piles of snow plowed from the parking lot.

“We’ve had visitors from back East rent our snowmobiles and they can’t believe how few people are around Priest Lake in the winter,” he said. “We have more than 400 miles of groomed snowmobile trails around the lake. It’s beautiful, and with that many trails you can ride for hours sometimes and not see a soul.”

On Friday, I rented a snowmobile from his shop and followed Porter and his friend Merlin Walraven onto the trail system on the west side of the lake. Although we saw a few tracks, we saw no other sledders in four hours.

We made fresh tracks on one trail through 10 inches of new snow. “It will take the groomers a couple of days to catch up,” Porter said.

The two 39-year-olds relished the challenge. Porter sent snow flying as he launched off trailside obstacles on his snow cycle. Walraven stood, kneeled and surfed his new sporty snowmobile, which seemed to be game for virtually any slope.

“If anyone thinks snowmobiling is a passive sport, they haven’t ridden with me,” Porter said.

My $300 daily snowmobile rental fee included helmet, gear and more than $60 in fuel.

When clouds engulfed the high areas above Beaver Creek Campground, we headed down a trail and motored right up to the restaurant at Elkins Resort for lunch.

Groomer sticker sales indicate that approximately 70 percent of the snowmobilers visiting Priest Lake are from Washington, with significant numbers from British Columbia and Montana.

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Most visitors bring their own sleds, but Porter’s shop on Highway 57 at Milepost 28.5 rents snowmobiles along with helmets, goggles and suits so that almost anyone can visit and ride the groomed trails.

Priest Lake Powersports delivers rental sleds to trailheads as well as to resorts where customers can ride and access the trail systems sometimes from their doorsteps.

Crown Jewel Winter Sports in Coolin also rents snowmobiles. Co-owner Dana Kennedy said most of their clientele rides to the Camels Prairie warming shelter area or out from Sundance Mountain Lodge.

Riders from Coolin, a village at the southeast end of the lake, have access to some of the most spectacular riding on the wind-swept open ridges and elevations up to 7,000 feet.

Sundance Mountain, Echo Bowl warming shelter and other high points in the Selkirk Mountains attract experienced riders, although tricky and sometimes dangerous off-trail riding is necessary to access some destinations popular with locals. Avalanche gear is highly recommended.

“No matter where you go, we recommend riding with more than one machine in the group,” Porter said.

The groomed trail from Coolin up to Schweitzer Mountain Resort has caught on this year because of a new attraction. Snowmobilers can make a 45-mile round trip to the new Sky House Lodge and rub elbows with skiers at the peak of Schweitzer Mountain. The two-story lodge with a restaurant, bar and caf? offers panoramic views of the Selkirk Mountains and Lake Pend Oreille.

The 2017 edition of the Priest Lake Snowmobiling Map details the route to Schweitzer. Maps are available at resorts and businesses.

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