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PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS

Skiing at Schweitzer

Every weekend last winter (except when an arctic blast dropped temperatures to 20° below zero), Jim Zuiches, director of Agricultural Research at Washington State University, packed up his family and made the nearly three-hour drive from Pullman, Washington, to Schweitzer Mountain Resort, located 11 miles outside Sandpoint, Idaho, near the Canadian border.

''We've skied all over the country,'' Zuiches told me, "but we haven't found anyplace — except maybe Snowbird in Utah — that we like better. For one thing, there's no crowding or long lift lines, and for an intermediate skier like I am, it's just perfect."

Schweitzer can, indeed, back up its claim to some of the best skiing in the Northwest, including amenities normally found in much larger resorts. It has seven double chair lifts, 2,400 vertical feet of skiing, and over 40 runs — from novice to advanced — carved across two natural bowls and weaving through a blend of open and wooded terrain. On an average year, the area receives over 200 inches of fantastic powder snow with a moisture content of only 17 %. Furthermore, people often compare the spectacular views of Lake Pend Oreille and the rugged Selkirk Mountains with those at Lake Tahoe.

There are accommodations both at the resort itself and in the bustling town of Sandpoint. Children 12 and under can ski and stay free anytime during the 1989-90 ski season when their parents purchase a minimum three-day skiing/three-night lodging package in participating lodges, condominiums, and motels. In addition, children six and under always ski free at Schweitzer.

For further information on the ski area and its family packages, call Schweitzer Central Reservations toll free: USA (outside Idaho), 800/831-8810-1 Canada, 800/544-4933; or write Schweitzer, Inc., P.O. Box 815, Dept. MEN, Sandpoint, ID 83864.

A Western Music Festival

Lovers of the traditions and music of the American West can get their fill November 16 to 19, 1989, at the Western Music Festival in Tucson, Arizona. During the four-day event, daytime attractions will be held at Old Tucson and will feature Western music, range lore, and cowboy poetry, as well as yodeling and fiddling workshops. In addition, there'll be three evening concerts held at the Tucson Convention Center with prominent Western music entertainers headlining each night, including Sons of the Pioneers, famous for that old classic, "Cool Water.''

And if that's not enough, the 1989 Western Music Festival will be preceded by the Chuckwagon Association of the West Annual Jamboree, scheduled for the evenings of November 13, 14, and 15 at the Triple C Chuckwagon in Tucson. This event will feature Western music show groups that entertain at the member Chuckwagons throughout the West. (Call 800/446-1798 for more information about the Jamboree.)

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