Sun Valley

Sun Valley sits on Bald Mountain adjacent to Ketchum Idaho.

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Part of Voyage to Revelstoke in 2023

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Today I drove from Midvale, a joined town to Salt Lake City, to Hailey, ID. Being Sunday the traffic was light but that didn't stop drivers from tailgating and speeding in the freezing slushy road conditions. I was expecting a stormy trip, but it was passing east so instead I was greeted by mountains and field with strikingly white fresh snow and blue skies. The temperatures remained in the single digits though. The car's safety systems shut off a couple of times because of ice buildup over the forward sensor. Traveling northward the population dropped and soon became the rural countryside reminiscent around Rangely, Colorado.

I stopped at the Atkinson's Market in Hailey to get some food and windshield cleaner fluid. The grocery store surpassed markets in big cities for the breadth and quality of the products.

Just north passed the airport I turned off the main road and drove a short block to arrive at The Inn at Ellsworth Estate. The B&B is definitely worth staying at.

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Today I drove the 13 miles or so to the Sun Valley Ski Resort. I was a little uncertain as the sign says Bald Mountain with no reference to a place caleed Sun Valley. I loved that I parked very near the walking path that crosses the Big Wood River to the River Run Day lodge and gondola. There were only a handful of people about. I did have to pull my ski pass out as they only had handheld optical scanners. I rode up the gondola with a couple visiting from New Mexico on a vacation without the kids.

The sun was out with no clouds in sight though the temperature was negative something. The snow was old and very hard packed. I contemplated ending the ski day early in self-preservation. The mountain is unique in having very long consistently pitched moderately steep slopes from top to bottom. I would have really enjoyed a powder day so that some of the bowls and tree pitches could have been explored. I found the few runs with moguls to have the softer snow.

I stepped into the Round House (RH) just above the top of the gondola for a bathroom break and perhaps a snack. The place felt like a 5-star restaurant with more money than sense. The place was packed giving the air of more people in the restaurant than the slopes! I didn't stick around.

Someday I'd like to go back. Alan Whittern said he skied the place a little earlier in the year with two feet of fresh powder - lucky guy.