Sun Valley, ID
A few years ago a friend of mine was faced with a challenging medical diagnosis. Before embarking on a path of chemotherapy, he tossed his skies and boots in the car and headed west to tick the mountainous boxes of his dreams. He came back with tales of glorious runs, 40% off MSRP, and Sun Valley, Idaho.
As a kid who never skied out west, Lloyd Christmas and bumper stickers essentially dictated what the good mountains were. I knew of Alta, Aspen and Vail, but didn’t even think people skied in Idaho. Idaho was potatoes and nothing else. So when I heard Sun Valley was the best my mind was blown and I instantly knew someday I would ski there.
To realize that dream, we first had to cross the Snake River Plain. The mighty Snake slithers from the Tetons in Wyoming to the Colombia River in Washington. Its power was masked by the dull ride through the plain it carved, but we heard crossing at Twin Falls would be a spectacular sight!
Our feeling of awe continued as the northern half of the Plain gave way to the Sawtooth National Forrest. The mountains were so perfectly geometric and staggered it felt like we were in Super Mario World. As we got deeper into the mountains the valley narrowed to a terminus at the town of Ketchum (Sun Valley is the resort there).
Naturally, the first thing we did was check out the community dog park. Ketchum’s was absolutely gorgeous! The park hosts frisbee golf in the summer and dogs in the winter! It’s an expansive space with packed trails running along Warm Springs Creek. The foot of fluffy snow on the ground only added to Merlin’s love of this new place.
This park was love at first sniff for Merlin, and it introduced us to the warm and kind people of Ketchum. Throughout our stay, everyone in town was super nice and genuinely interested in making sure we had the best time. We got great leads on restaurants (Rickshaw!), skiing, hot springs and future can't miss experiences.
For our new home base we chose to stay at the Best Western Tyrolean Lodge. The Austrian style hotel has some age, but underwent a recent renovation (a Best Westernization). The place was perfect for us. A 5 minute walk to downtown, a few minute drive to the main ski lodge, and a great off leash area for Merl right out front!
It snowed our first day skiing. In fact it snowed almost every time I walked outside. It never amounted to any sort of eye popping accumulation, but it made for a magical and smile inducing setting. I wasn’t alone in feeling this. Again, the people of Ketchum and the employees on the mountain were SO nice. Things were beautiful, genuine and simply positive.
Passing in and out of town it was hard to miss the giant swinging metal foot outside Ski Tek Orthotics Lab. We both had 10 year old ski boots that had become far too roomy and borderline dangerous. For years we talked about getting new boots and romanticized the idea of a custom setup. The big swinging foot crushed our reserve, and we finally gave in.
The magic of Ketchum spreads to the town’s outdoor skating rink (Christina Potters Ice Rink in Atkinson's Park). The ice is free to use and has amazing views! There is a huge pile of used skate and hockey equipment at the rink, so all you have to do is show up, find a pair of reasonably fitting skates, and you’re all set to fly.
Warren Miller came to Sun Valley in 1946 with ski stuff, a camera and a small travel trailer. I learned this fact as part of the daily white board lift line trivia on our first day skiing in SV. He since made 55 films all over the world. His work was a massive catalyst to the evolution and popularization of skiing. It turns out that trivia fact was not a coincidence. Warren Miller passed away the day before.
I absolutely wish I had heard of Miller’s work long before the occasional dorm room screenings at college. If not for my friend’s trip, I still might not know there is more to Idaho than just potatoes. As Warren says, “Ski Sun Valley now, because if you don’t do it this year, you will be one year older when you do.”
