An Open Letter to Schweitzer Mountain Management

Schweitzer Mountain means something to us. For many of us, it is woven into the fabric of our family lives — the place where children took their first runs, where holiday traditions took shape, and where friendships deepened over shared days on the slopes. We don't write this letter as outsiders. We write it as passholders, as regulars, and as people who have invested deeply in this mountain and this community.

That is precisely why we feel compelled to speak up.

We have learned that Schweitzer is partnering with the Sandpoint Alliance for Equality (SAFE) to host a "Pride on the Mountain" event on March 21, 2026 — and we are troubled by this decision. Not because we wish any individual or group to feel excluded from the mountain, but because we believe this partnership moves Schweitzer away from the neutral, recreation-focused environment that has made it a home for so many diverse families over so many years.

Schweitzer's strength has always been its simplicity: come for the snow, the mountain, the fresh air, and the people you love. That appeal crosses political lines, cultural backgrounds, and generations precisely because the mountain doesn't ask anything of you except that you show up and enjoy it. We believe events organized around adult identity themes — of any kind — are out of place in that setting. Questions of sexual choices and proclivities are personal matters. They belong in personal spaces, not woven into a family ski day.

We have seen how the organization behind this event presents itself publicly. The same group co-hosted the 2025 Sandpoint Pride Festival, which featured performances that many in our community found wholly inappropriate for children. We are concerned that "Pride on the Mountain" will follow a similar pattern, regardless of how it is described in promotional materials.

We are asking Schweitzer's leadership to take three concrete steps:

1:  Withdraw from this partnership and decline to host or co-brand events organized around adult or sexual themes
2:  Reaffirm Schweitzer's identity as a family recreation destination — one that is appropriate for families and children and certainly not highlighting anyone's sexual proclivities
3:  Listen to the community that has sustained this resort across generations before making decisions that carry this kind of cultural weight

We want to be clear: we are not asking Schweitzer to exclude anyone. Every person is welcome on this mountain, as they always have been. What we are asking is that the mountain itself remain a neutral space — one defined by the outdoors and the joy of winter sport, not by marketing adult sexual themes to children (SAFE advertises its Mountain events with the slogan, "How To Glide with Pride" and so on).

Many of us are at a decision point regarding season pass renewals and future visits. We hope it does not come to that. We hope instead that Schweitzer's leadership will hear what a significant portion of their community is saying and choose to keep this mountain what it has always been — a place that belongs to everyone, together.

Thank you for your consideration.

The undersigned — passholders, frequent visitors, and longtime supporters of Schweitzer Mountain

(Note: The drag performers pictured appeared at the Sandpoint Pride Festival, an event organized by the same group co-hosting Pride on the Mountain with Schweitzer.)