photographs top to bottom : courtesy sun valley resort
/ courtesy sun valley heli ski / sun valley magazine
influential inventors
1936: Sun Valley opens as America’s original destination ski resort. 1936: World’s first ski lifts are installed on Proctor and Dollar mountains. 1939: First chairlift is placed on the Warm Springs side of Bald Mountain. 1941: “Sun Valley Serenade” starring Sonja Henie premieres and the film will draw people to Sun Valley from all over the world. 1946: Pioneering filmmaker Warren Miller gets his start by spending the ski season camping in the River Run parking lot. 1958: Ed Scott designs the first tapered aluminum ski pole. 1960s: Local legend Bobbie Burns is credited with creating the unorthodox “Hot Dogging” style of freestyle skiing. 1965: Bob Smith designs the world’s first double-lens ski goggle. 1966: Sun Valley Heli Ski becomes the nation’s first helicopter ski outfitter. 1968: Chuck Ferries helps K2 create the first foam core fiberglass racing ski. 1969: Sun Valley local Dick Barrymore makes the first of his iconic ski movies, “The Last of the Ski Bums!” 1970: Leif Odmark starts Sun Valley Nordic Ski School, the nation’s first cross country ski school. 1971: Scott USA produces the world’s lightest ski boot. 1972: Jake and Dave “Captain Powder” Moe launch Powder Magazine in Ketchum. 1973: Sun Valley hosts the first US Freestyle Championships. 1974: Bobbie Burns launches The Ski, the world’s first freestyle-specific ski. 1975: Mike Brunetto launches Research Dynamics, producing skis and eventually mountain bikes. 1981-82: Sun Valley sets its seasonal skier record with 475,000 skier days. 1987: Sun Valley ski coach Boone Lennon patents the “aerobar” cycling handlebar (it mimics downhill ski race positioning). Scott USA produces it in 1989 and American Greg Lemond uses it during his 1989 Tour de France win. 2010: 5B Ski Factory (now Big Wood Skis) begins producing boutique skis in Ketchum.
Winter 2014 | sunvalleymag.com 43
Then and now, celebrating the Sun Valley way of life.
The Essence of Sun Valley. Ketchum Store 500 N Main St 208 726 5282 www.store.silver-creek.com Sun Valley Store Sun Valley Mall 208 622 5282 Photo courtesy of Sun Valley Company