Lookout CEO addresses county commissioners

SUPERIOR - The Lookout Pass Ski expansion may receive a preliminary decision by August or September 2016, according to the president and CEO. 

Phil Edholm made a presentation to the Mineral County Commissioners May 30. The purpose of the presentation was in part to answer community and commissioner questions and to provide an update to the expansion. 

This is the first time that Lookout Pass has presented their plans formally in Mineral County. The ski resort made an initial presentation in April at the ski resort. 

“Lookout Pass is entirely on Forest Service land,” Edholm said. “Anything we do has to go through the NEPA process and seek public scoping.”

NEPA, or the National Environmental Process Act, requires federal agencies like the Forest Service to keep the best interests of the environment in mind while considering ideas like the Lookout expansion. If something were to impact NEPA, an alternate idea would have to be considered. 

Edholm has an extensive background in the ski industry. Before joining Lookout, he spent 36 years working between eight other resorts.

Edholm said the expansion is justified because the resort has had the largest increase of visitors of any ski area in the Pacific Northwest.

“In the past few years we have averaged over 65,000 skier visits in the winter months,” Edholm said. “With the addition of the Route of the Hiawatha summer operation, we’re averaging about 37,000 summer visits.”

Edholm estimated that during the summer alone Lookout Pass generates about $6 million from tourism revenue.

The latest expansion proposal hopes to add at least 14 or 15 new runs, and an additional 110 acres of additional ski terrain, according to Edholm. 

“What we’re proposing is to take a run off our Rainbow Ridge run that goes down to the bottom of our chairlift two,” Edholm said.

In addition, there will be more of a need to expand parking, which is proposed along the railroad grade and the uphill side of the rail bed.

There is an approval in the basin area for another 14,000 square foot lodge to service the new ski area. 

“The 10 year master plan was intended to provide a whole new base area and a parking area that would take care of any of these parking problems,” Edholm said.

Edholm estimated that when it’s all said and done, the expansion process will cost about $500,000. The process is going through the planning stages and doesn’t include the actual expansion itself.

Lookout Pass has been in operation since 1936. It was a nonprofit organization up until 1992, when it became privately owned. 

The ski resort employs 125 people during the winter months and 55 during the summer. Many of those employed are from Mineral County.

Edholm estimated that between four and six new full time positions would be created with the expansion, and at least another 20 part time positions during the winter months. 

Even though the resort itself sits between Montana and Idaho state lines, the expansion would be more on the Montana side, which will generate more tax revenue for Mineral County.