Spokane man to celebrate 1,000 days of skiing on Schweitzer Mountain… in a row!

SANDPOINT, Idaho — A Spokane man is showing us all what devotion to our passion means.

Larry West is celebrating skiing at Schweitzer Mountain 1,000 days in a row. It’s taken him seven-and-a-half years.

The avid skier started skiing at Schweitzer in 1964. He grew up in Cheney and is an attorney in Spokane. Over the years, he’s learned balancing work and skiing, even wearing a Bluetooth headset to take calls on the mountain. He also has a log cabin near the mountain resort to stay in during the winter.

As a personal challenge, he set a goal to never to miss a day on the mountain while they’re in season. this Saturday morning, he’ll achieve that with a 1,000-day streak.

Fellow ski bums recognize West on the hill. He gets in about 20 runs a day when he pays a visit to the hills.

“It’s a piece of cake getting up every morning, walk out. It doesn’t matter what the conditions,” West said.

West said he’s always loved skiing. He never enjoyed traditionally working out in a gym, so skiing helps keep him keep in shape without having to lift dumbbells.

“Everybody’s happy, nobody’s grumpy. Everyone’s excited to have a good time,” West said.

Whether grey skies or shine, he’s out there on the slopes making the most of it.

“Raining, I’m going to get out there and try to cheer up the resort, because it gets depressing around here when it’s raining. But we still all have a lot of fun,” West said.

West said he’s skied at many other resorts, but still loves Schweitzer the most.

“It’s not all about the skiing, although I’m kind of a ski junkie. It’s also all about the socialization. This is my community in the wintertime, so I’ve got things to keep me involved up here,” West said.

He’s built that community since he was a young skier.

“Grew up, [went to] Cheney High School. Started skiing at Schweitzer Mountain in 1964. I dreamed about building a place up here for years and did that 20 years ago. Ten years ago, I started living up here in the winter,” West said.

He said there were years in the past where he started streaks of more than 100 days out at Schweitzer, but for some reason or another, he’s miss a couple in between. This time, he committed fully.

“So I got a streak going. It’s tough to say, I’m going to miss a day. So I don’t miss days,” West said.

To commemorate the momentous occasion, Schweitzer arranged for West to ring the bell Saturday at 8:45 a.m. If you’re going to be at the mountain and you see West, wish him a ‘Happy 1,000.’

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