Lookout Pass is one of the original U.S. ski areas. Local Scandinavians first used the area by hopping off Northern Pacific freight cars to enjoy alpine skiing at the pass. In 1936, a rope tow was installed using parts from an abandoned car wreck found along the old Yellowstone Hwy, now I-90. The Idaho Ski Club officially opened Lookout Pass Ski Area on February 24, 1938. A highway maintenance shed nicknamed “Buzzard's Roost” served as a warming hut with a pot-belly stove and homemade soups and sandwiches. The U.S. Forest Service detailed a CCC crew to build a lodge in a rustic design, and when it was dedicated on Dec. 7, 1941, it became the second oldest ski lodge in the Pacific Northwest. The original lodge is still in use as the center section of the lodge building. The Lookout Pass Ski Patrol is also one of the original National Ski Patrol member organizations, with registration number 009, and this volunteer group has served the ski area continuously for over 70 years. Lookout's Free Ski School for kids was founded in 1942 and is the longest-running ski school of its kind in the nation, with volunteers who have taught thousands of area youth skiing and snowboarding. Lookout Pass lies on the divide that forms the Idaho-Montana state line, and the ski area is one of three national ski areas where skiers can ski in two states.