Idaho’s famous ski resort, Schweitzer Mountain Resort, has faced backlash from the Sandpoint community after their recent logo change. On April 7th, the social media team revealed their rebrand which caused quite a stir from their followers. The post described Schweitzer’s move away from their snowflake logo to a more modern green S. They also revealed that they will be named “Schweitzer” now, instead of “Schweitzer Mountain Resort”. 

This post received a ton of backlash, however. @aaronbillick on Instagram wrote, “April Fools was a week ago”, and @ben.jaminthompson commented, “If ‘Let’s further alienate the locals’ was a logo”, as just a few examples of the internet hate. 

Opinions are mixed on the rebrand at the highschool. There are students on both ends of the spectrum. Sophomore Jacob Gove thought the logo was nice, but wasn’t a big fan of the colors.

“I like the logo itself, I think the S is creative, but I have an issue with the color scheme. I personally would want a blue opposed to the green,” said Gove.

People like Senior Olivia Lynch have taken offense to the change, because they have grown up with Schweitzer their entire life. She, as well as many others, feel as though Schweitzer is abandoning the locals of Sandpoint, to follow the money of tourists. 

“It makes me sad, but it makes sense for a business point of view. It shows how badly Schweitzer is changing,” said Lynch.

Schweitzer stands by their change, regardless of the community response. Schweitzer’s marketing manager Dig Chrismer said, “Schweitzer is flowing and changing everyday and our new logo reflects that. And that, in my opinion, is a great change for the company.” 

Along with this logo change Schweitzer is also making efforts to update the resort itself, by introducing their new Humbird Hotel. This hotel will be located at the entrance to the resort. Locals have also taken offense to the hotel because they believe it will make the parking situation worse. Schweitzer believes the hotel will give greater access to the mountain and a higher capacity for guests.

There is also a new pass product for the upcoming season. It is called the “Ikon Pass”. This allows those who buy the pass to have access to Schweitzer as well as 13 other big name resorts, with limited blackout days. After the recent changes it is looking as though Schweitzer is attempting to branch out from their current brand and theme. Regardless of the community’s reaction to the change, the logo is here to stay.