W I N T E R 2 0 12 / 1 3
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D I S C O V E R M O U N TA I N L I F E
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Snow
PAGE 35
Past, present & future
DINING
Winter Guides
Making mountains their day job
Nelson Bennett at 98
We salute the ultimate snow soldier
BOOMER ANGERS
BRING IT Born here, bred here, back here... and making it work
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contents
Let It Snow
22 cover story
kBack caB in the Valley Again
The baby boomers’ babies are boomeranging back to Sun Valley. By Brennan Rego
10 Snow Sense
The past, present and future of Sun Valley’s snow.
By Gregory Stahl
18 Snow Soldier
Nanogenarian Nelson Bennett, father of the Sun Valley Ski Patrol, reflects on nearly a century on skis. By Katherine Wutz
The Sun Valley Village 622-3522 4
recreation 28 Winter Guides Deliver the ‘Stoke’
Inside the snow-covered world of Sun Valley’s backcountry guides.
By Matt Furber
28
arts 33 A Focus on Film
33
Sun Valley celebrates celluloid.
By Matt Furber
regulars 07 Valley View: Summer Social
Relive 2012’s sizzling party scene.
By Willy Cook
7
18 Valley View: Winter Scene
Step this way for a season of snowy activities.
By Evelyn Phillips
42
34 Gear Up
New innovations in winter gear.
By Greg Moore
35 The Guide
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35 Dining 39 Galleries 40 Winter Calendar 41 Winter Activities 41 Equipment Rentals 41 Outfitters 41 Lodging
42 One Last Thing
Ice climbing in the Wood River Valley.
By Mark Weber winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
from the editor One morning in November 2004 I opened my front door to find 3 feet of snow draped over the landscape. It was my first epic snowstorm and it was breathtaking. But then I spotted the mountain of snow on my absent boyfriend’s truck... Getting out of the driveway without ever having picked up a snow shovel was only half the battle; the prospect of tackling the roads left me with palpitations. I called my boss and said I couldn’t make it to work. In between fits of laughter he managed, “Well, don’t you have a truck?” My sobs appeased him slightly, and he offered this piece of illegal yet invaluable advice: “Just don’t stop at the stop signs.” One evening in January, six years later, I found myself blithely hopping into my Prius to satisfy a South Valley Pizza craving. I was halfway to Bellevue when it dawned on me that I was driving in a blizzard. That’s the moment that I realized this city-born, city-bred girl was finally a neo-native. And as any true native will tell you, snow is the lifeblood of this community. When it comes down to it, snow is why there is a Sun Valley. From my early introduction to life in the snow through to today, I’ve never fully embraced the white stuff. It tops the lists of things I love most and of the things I like least about living in Sun Valley. The arrival of snow brings beauty, broad grins and buoyant moods. When it refuses to come, it strains our towns’ economies and our patience. We spend late fall yearning for it to appear, but by mid-April most of us are ready to see the back of it. Snow is one of Sun Valley’s greatest assets, but it is also one of our greatest liabilities. This is an intriguing paradox, one I decided to explore by dedicating this issue to the white
SNOW: an adaptation
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stuff and its domination of life here. Many “Sun Valiants” have bravely invested their lives and livelihoods in snow—meet a handful of them in Winter Guides Deliver the ‘Stoke’ (page 28) and Snow Soldier (page 18). However, this can be a precarious path. By its very nature, life in a ski town is reliant on a fickle mistress. In Snow Sense (page 10) Greg Stahl examines the symbiotic relationship between ski town and Mother Nature. For me, the take home from his piece is that while snow is why we are all here, it is not a secure foundation for the future. As the country teeters on the edge of a fiscal cliff, the Wood River Valley faces its own precipice: the lack of a clear path beyond the snow. In our cover story Back in the Valley Again (page 22), Brennan Rego explores one solution. The area’s offspring are coming home, bringing with them much-needed verve and vigor, helping to move the valley forward. But what of their own futures? Prosperous careers are still elusive here. One “boomeranger” we profile believes he must make six figures to live here. His solution? Pursue a career elsewhere and live in Sun Valley part-time. That’s a fine plan for an individual, but not for a community. When it’s snowing everyone in this town wins; let’s make that true for the other 327 days of the year.
Jennifer Tuohy, Editor-in-Chief
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Rest Easy PUBLISHER Pam Morris
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jennifer Tuohy editor@svguide.com ART DIRECTOR Tony Barriatua COPY EDITORS Barbara Perkins Greg Moore CONTRIBUTING Matt Furber WRITERS Jennifer Liebrum Greg Moore Gregory Stahl Brennan Rego Katherine Wutz STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER David N. Seelig
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CONTRIBUTING Willy Cook PHOTOGRAPHERS Matt Leidecker Mark Oliver F. Alfredo Rego Tory Taglio Mark Weber Craig Wolfrom GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Erik Elison Kristen Kaiser WEBSITE DESIGN Chris Seldon BUSINESS MANAGER Connie Johnson SALES DIRECTOR Ben Varner SENIOR ACCOUNT EXEC William Pattnosh ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Irene Balarezo Jerry Seiffert Matt Ward
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C OV E R P H O T O B Y M A R K O L I V E R Alexa Turzian on Lake Creek bridge north of Ketchum.
MAGGIE AWARDS
Western Publications Association Best 3-Time Consumer Magazine—Winner 2011 Best 3-Time Consumer Magazine—Finalist 2010 Best News Story/Consumer Magazine—Finalist 2009
IDAHO PRESS CLUB AWARDS 2011
The Airport Solutions efforts are aimed at addressing deficiencies at the airport stemming from FAA’s design standards. The Friedman Memorial Airport Authority has developed a 'Dual Path Forward' approach: Pursuit of a replacement airport for the long term, while exploring remedies for the existing location in the near term.
1st place, General Excellence: Summer 2011 1st place, Serious Feature: Jennifer Tuohy 2nd place, Magazine Photography: Thia Konig 2nd place, Magazine Column: Greg Stahl 3rd place, Magazine Column: Jennifer Liebrum 3rd place, Magazine Cover: Tony Barriatua
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1st place, General Excellence: Winter 2010/11 1st place, Serious Feature: Jason D.B. Kauffman 1st place, Light Feature: Trevon Milliard 1st place, Light Feature: Van Gordon Sauter & Jennifer Tuohy 1st place, Magazine Column: Van Gordon Sauter 1st place, Magazine Cover: Tony Barriatua 1st place, Web Site: Colin McCauley
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Stay involved and informed about these efforts with • Airport Solutions Updates email blasts • Regular Community Coffee Talks • Airport Tours Visit IFLYSUN.COM for scheduling information and to sign up for updates 6
1st place, General Excellence 1st place, Web Site General Excellence 1st place, Magazine Cover 1st, 2nd & 3rd place, Serious Feature 2nd place, Light Feature The Sun Valley Guide magazine is published quarterly by Express Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 1013, Ketchum, ID 83340. For advertising and content information or to request copies of the magazine, call 208.726.8060 or email editor@sunvalleyguide.com ©2012 Express Publishing Inc. Find us online at www.sunvalleyguide.com www.svguide.com/subs to subscribe
winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
valley view [S U M M E R S O C I A L B Y W I L L Y C O O K ] Wagon Days, September Katherine Lemma & Danielle Doerflein
Adams Gulch Fun Run, August Alexa Turzian, Chelsea Holmes, Taylor Sundali & Mikey Sinnott
Fur Ball, September Bob Buersmeyer & Janet Bagley
Ketchum Wide Open, May Charlotte & Ainsley Gourlay
Killebrew/Thompson Memorial, August “Quarterback� Joe Washington, Bryan Tempest, Kevin Sorbo & Mark Miller
Graduation, May Kaitana Martinez, Haylee Thompson & Haillie Taylor
James Nelson Memorial, August T.J. Peterson, Ryan Stavros & Sean & Keith Harrington
Sun Valley Wellness Festival, May Jill Bolte Taylor Battle of the Blades, August Ashley Clark & Bob Rosso
Share Your Heart Ball, February Ian Sommerhalder, Robyn & McClain Balmer National Cycling Championships, July Hans Muehlegger & Andy Andrews
Sawtooth Relay, June Kelly Kelly, Darlene Young, Kim Morgan, EJ Harpham, Liv Jensen & Jennifer Schwartz Advocates Gala, July Lindsay Zondag & Tricia Swartling
Fourth of July Rodeo Abigail & Laurie Benson
Chuck Gates Memorial, July Cooper Minnis, Cody Lampl, Mark Belanger & Dave Klemer
Wagon Days, September Heather Daves & Peggy Dean
Lyle Pearson S.V. Tennis Tourney, August Julie Lynn & Wendy Cairncross
Chuck Gates Memorial, June Zach Venzon & Jill Rowland
Ketchum Arts Festival, August Gail Price, Lindsey Thomas & Lauren Street
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Advocates Gala, July Kelli & Bert Gillette
Ketchum Co-ed Softball Tournament, August Alysia May & Mikie Geron
Ice Show Practice, August Cari Maus, Clare King, Darlin Baker, Christiana Johnson & Nicole Pratt
Ben Hurtig Memorial, August Bob Harlem, John Wells, Tim Gardiner & Richard Kahn
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valley view [w i n t e r s c e n e b y E v e l y n P h i l l i p s ]
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winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
Celebrating 40 Years in the Wood River Valley
TWO TOWNS, countless adventures Sun Valley/Ketchum in winter is like the proverbial box of chocolates: From the outside everything is draped in the same color, but once you bite in there’s a flavor for every palette. What will the sparkly white landscape offer up today? A schuss down Baldy? A sledding race on Penny Hill? A snowshoe stroll across the White Clouds golf course? Or is catching air on Dollar Mountain’s state-of-the-art terrain park more to your taste? Perhaps it’s the perfect day to skate ski the Wood River Trail. Whatever your appetite, use this map to pick your snowy adventure—it’s sure to be a delicious one.
www.sunvalleyguide.com
511 Sun Valley Road Ketchum, Idaho 800-889-9424 208-726-5202 www.barrypeterson.com 9
10
winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
snow sense the past, present and future of sun valley’s snow. by Greg Stahl photos by F. Alfredo Rego
www.sunvalleyguide.com
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e ve r y f a l l f o r 45 ye a r s , r i c h b i n g h a m h a s lo o ke d to the skies over Sun Valley in anticipation. As days grow short and trees turn gold, his excitement mounts. There’s a palpable and understated inevitability to the arrival of winter in the mountains. The cycle of the seasons dictates life here, and no single season is as synonymous with Sun Valley as winter. Snowflakes have been changing lives in Sun Valley since the resort was founded 76 years ago. “I started getting excited a month ago,” Bingham said in early October. “I’ve been doing it so long I’ve learned to be patient, but I’m defi nitely thinking about another winter on Baldy.” Bingham has worked on the Sun Valley Ski Patrol since fall
1967. As snow safety department director, his responsibilities include weather and avalanche forecasting, and avalanche control on Bald Mountain, so he’s always got an eye trained on the sky. He’s learned not to get uptight about Mother Nature’s fickle sensibilities. Sometimes it snows, sometimes it doesn’t. But when the jet stream drops out of Canada and begins pumping swirling masses of Pacific-born moisture into the Rocky Mountains, his demeanor changes as he prepares for another winter on what he describes as “a special mountain.” Plentiful snow equals excellent skiing and snowboarding, but it also means improved spring runoff, and green, healthy forests in the summer. And each falling snowflake translates directly into improved fi nancial vitality for the communities nestled at Bald Mountain’s base. From its celebrated founding to present day, Sun Valley Resort has 12
been dependent on snowy winter seasons. In a world in which climate patterns are increasingly erratic—exemplified by super storms like October’s Hurricane Sandy, heightened Western wildfire seasons and the historic April 2011 outbreak of tornadoes in the Southeast—most climate scientists agree that change is afoot. What it means for weather-dependent communities and resorts, however, is a plot yet to be completely written. “Long-term trends are kind of all over the place,” Bingham said. “With the influences changing so much, with the arctic oscillation and sea ice and temperatures—the weather is less predictable, with stronger and more erratic storms when they do happen.”
the past
Sun Valley snow culture dates to 1936 when the Union Pacific Railroad under direction from Averell Harriman opened the Sun Valley Lodge. It was the nation’s fi rst destination ski resort, it is where the chairlift was invented, and it is the place that shaped the visions of men and women who went on to found other major ski resorts in the western United States. Like most ski destinations, Sun Valley and the surrounding community have transitioned into a four-season resort winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
area, but its roots run deep in the white drifts that inspired the birth of destination skiing in North America. Yet, as Bingham points out, snow doesn’t always arrive on cue. For the grand opening of the Sun Valley Lodge in December 1936 every detail had been perfected, celebrities were present and everything was in place—except for snow. The few inches that fell that early winter were melted by a warm rain. Opening day, December 21, dawned on dusty ski runs and acres of brown sagebrush. Guests who had traveled from the far corners of the continent to experience the magic of a white Christmas at the nation’s fi rst luxury ski resort were confused. They began calling the operation the Ketchum Con. Recognizing even then how important snow was to Sun Valley’s success, Harriman promptly declared that guests stayed free until the skies cooperated. On December 27, five inches fi nally fell. And another major storm hit on New Year’s Eve. Sun Valley skiing was born—if a few days later than planned.
Santa moved. He’s been in Sun Valley ever since. Stories of lean snow years come and go with the seasons, but on a cold January evening it’s more common to overhear beer-influenced conversations about epic powder stashes and the next low pressure system on its way to dig into the stony spines of the Intermountain West. Most winters at least a handful of truly huge storms bury the area with feet of snow at a time. Most winters, Sun Valley is blessed with 200 or more inches atop picturesque Bald Mountain—widely revered as one of the fi nest ski mountains in the world.
“ s n o w m a t t e r s , a n d l a s t y e a r p r o v e d i t .” Jack Sibbach
Many long-time residents still recall the winter of 197677 when it hardly snowed at all—arguably the worst winter on the books. Locals sported bumper stickers proclaiming: “I skied Squirrel and survived”—a testament to having navigated the thin, icy cover on one of Bald Mountain’s signature intermediate ski runs. “I don’t think it ever snowed that year,” recalled Sturtevants Mountain Outfitters owner Rob Santa, who at the time was visiting Sun Valley from his home in Minnesota. But that dismal winter ski season (a mere ten inches of snow on New Year’s Day was all the mountain received) wasn’t enough to deter Santa, who said that even during such a lean snow year Sun Valley had something special to offer. “I’d skied all over Colorado and Utah,” he said. “The fi rst time I came to Ketchum I thought, ‘Wow, what a cool town.’” Three years after the devastating winter of 1976-77, www.sunvalleyguide.com
the present
That 200-inch average doesn’t total as much as other big Western ski resorts; most in Colorado receive more than 300 inches each year. Resorts like Alta and Snowbird in Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah are buried beneath an average of 500 inches every season. But what Sun Valley doesn’t have in natural snowfall, it makes up for with a mountain that’s tailor-made by Mother Nature for skiing. It has unparalleled consistent pitches, some of the best grooming on the planet, the world’s 13
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largest automated snowmaking system fit for ice skates than skis. “Neither one and eight high-speed lifts that whisk of us knew what we were doing, but it skiers up the mountain for lap after wasn’t snow, and when we came back thigh-burning lap. “It’s amazing how to the condo after that fi rst day, Carol in Colorado, Utah or anywhere I go, was black and blue from falling,” Holdit’s steep pitch followed by flat pitch and ing recalled in a Ski magazine interview catwalks crisscrossing the mountain published September 25, 2000. “I think everywhere,” Santa said. “Baldy is a (about) that fi rst day or two and I saw great mountain that demands a certain the lack of any business and the frustradeveloped technique. It’s a mountain tion of people working here. I thought that makes great skiers, and makes I should start with the snowmaking great skiers greater.” Bingham said it, because it’s very difficult to run a busitoo: “Our snowpack might not pile up ness that is so weather dependent.” like it does at Alta or Jackson Hole. Holding experimented with snowThey’re in different climate areas. But making equipment and combinations it’s not fair to compare us to them, or of air, water and temperatures in an them to us. I may be a little biased, but attempt to produce man-made snow top to bottom on Baldy—it just keeps that was more powder and less ice. Since coming at you with no real flat spots. those early years of experimentation We’ve got a sustained fall line that just and investment, he has spent more than goes and goes. That’s what really makes $23 million on artificial snowmaking. us shine.” The resulting system is staggering and But a great mountain without snow covers more than 650 acres of Bald and can’t do much for skiers and a skier- Dollar mountains with more than 30 dependent economy. What Averell Har- miles of underground piping, 87 miles riman knew during Sun Valley’s 1936 of underground wires and more than grand opening when he gave guests 650 snow guns. Snow guns can blanket free rooms is something that all local 70 to 100 acres of terrain overnight. business owners know or will learn: Jack Sibbach, spokesman for Sun There’s an intrinsic connection between Valley Resort, said the system makes a snow and business in Sun Valley. “The big difference for the whole community. economy and the weather are joined at “Snow matters, and last year proved the hip in every respect,” said Santa, it,” he said. Sun Valley’s skier days last who bought Sturtevants in the winter of winter were down 5.7 percent. Mean1982-83. “Last year was a great exam- while, the industry-wide figure across ple. We had great snow on the mountain North America was down 16 percent, with man-made snow, but there was an and some areas were down a lot more. air of resignation when it didn’t snow “I think we have Mr. Holding to really until the third weekend of January. That thank for the investment in Baldy and affects not only retail. It’s restaurants how it’s helped the economy here,” and lodging and transportation. Everything. When the weather isn’t on our side, the entire community suffers.” When the weather isn’t on Sun Valley’s side, the community collectively thanks the foresight of resort owner Earl Rob Santa Holding, who bought the place following the dismal winter of 1976-77. He recognized the need immediately and Sibbach said. “Last year we’d have had invested in a snowmaking system that a lot less (of the mountain) open for has become the envy of the skiing world. Christmas than we did have, and not Holding and his wife, Carol, didn’t even half the business we did if it wasn’t ski before buying the resort, but they for snowmaking.” soon found themselves on Bald MounWhile snowmaking technology has tain with a ski instructor during that come a long way, and Sun Valley’s sysdifficult winter. The modest snowmak- tem is a welcomed lifeline during lean ing on Lower Warm Springs and Flying snow years, natural snowfall is still Squirrel runs produced conditions more the sought-after prize. When it snows
“the economy and the weather are joined at the hip in every r e s p e c t .”
winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
big on Bald Mountain, tree skiing and the area’s south-facing slopes become skiable. “In a year when we get a good snowpack and you can ski everywhere on Baldy, it gets really large with all the exposures that open up,” Bingham said. “It triples in size when we have a good year.”
Intermountain West, and skiers willing to hike for their turns enjoyed fresh powder long after Sun Valley’s lifts closed in April. Ron Abramovich is a water supply specialist with the National Resources Conservation Service, and he’s been forecasting stream flows in Idaho for the past 21 years. Because nearly all of Idaho’s rivers originate as melting snow, he has an intimate understanding of weather cycles and patterns of winter snow accumulation. There’s little question, he said, that Idaho is experiencing a greater degree of climate variability than it did in the past. “Even though we have more data now, it’s more difficult to predict stream flows,” he said. “We’re also seeing increases in spring precipitation recently, which translates into more variability. You can’t always count on a normal snowpack and normal spring precipitation.” It’s tricky to explain or predict how increased variability relates to snowfall and resulting snowpacks. Some analyses show that more of Idaho’s winter moisture is coming in larger snow events. “So rather than getting most of your snowfall through steady storms throughout the season, fewer storms are accounting for a larger percentage of the annual precipitation,” Abramovich said. “So that’s good for powder skiers, but it’s not good for avalanche conditions. You have different winners and losers.” Some data indicate that Idaho’s cropgrowing season is increasing by 1.3 days per decade, meaning the ski season is shrinking by the same amount. “Summers are getting longer,” said Abramovich, “and the winters are getting shorter.” But such data are based on averages; year-to-year things are increasingly variable. Abramovich won’t use the words “global warming” or “climate change.” However, other climate scientists identify those as the concepts underlying “increased variability.” Whether global warming is occurring is still a matter of strong political debate. In a report released October 15, 2012, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reported that 67 percent of Americans agree there is solid
“su n valley should be happy because they got it right a long, l o n g t i m e a g o .” Don Reading
the future
In early January 2005, a moistureladen low pressure system chugged toward the Pacific coast of California while a strong burst of Arctic air nudged its way south into Idaho—the precise recipe for a strong Sun Valley storm. The National Weather Service issued warnings that a once-in-a-generation event was brewing. Skiers watched the graying skies in anticipation. The Sun Valley Ski Patrol prepared its avalanche control routine. State and city road crews braced for grueling all-nighters clearing the streets and highways. As the storm settled over central Idaho on Friday, January 7, it dropped between two and four inches per hour on the mountains and valleys around Sun Valley. When the skies fi nally cleared the following Monday, 38 inches of snow had buried Bald Mountain beneath a heavy drape of white. “It was a long time since we’d seen that,” Bingham said. “A two-foot storm overnight is few and far between.” Predicting such a storm and the effects it will have is a combination of science and art—and it’s becoming more difficult now than ever. Sun Valley’s history of reliable winter storms—even in a drought year—foretells of good snow seasons yet to come. But such a simple statement fails to account for increasing variability in Idaho’s weather. The 1990s were generally considered good snow years in central Idaho, but the 2000s ushered in a period of drought. And seasonal variability can be extreme. Last season was warm and fairly dry. Two seasons ago, storm after storm slammed into the www.sunvalleyguide.com
15
evidence for global warming. Response is extremely partisan, however, with 85 percent of Democrats but only 48 percent of Republicans saying there is strong evidence. Meanwhile, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center based in Boulder, Colorado, arctic sea ice shrank to its lowest extent in the satellite record in September 2012. “We are now in uncharted territory,” said Data Center Director Mark Serreze. “While we’ve long known that as the planet warms up, changes would be seen fi rst and be most pronounced in the Arctic, few of us were prepared for how rapidly the changes would actually occur.” Don Reading is a Boise economist who works for a think tank called Ben Johnson Associates. In the past several years, in cooperation with the University of Washington, he’s undertaken a study of Idaho ski areas related to climate change. “Climate change tends to do two things,” he said. “It pushes the [start of the] ski season later, and you get a quicker runoff. You might get as much snow, but you don’t get it like you’re used to.” Like Abramovich, Reading said variability is going to define Idaho’s snowfall in a warming world. “We’re getting warmer,” he said. “Climate change will not necessarily mean drier. But what it does mean is that when it’s dry, it’s even more dry. When it’s wet, it’s even more wet. When it’s hot, it’s even hotter. And when it’s cold, it’s even colder. Looking forward, it’s about mitigating extremes.” In his study, Reading examined three Idaho ski areas: Sun Valley, Tamarack near Cascade and Bogus Basin near Boise. Of the three, he said, Sun Valley is best positioned to provide excellent skiing in a warming world. “This quickly led me to an investigation into snowmaking,” he said. “Of course, you have to be cold enough, but the two key facts there were water availability and then temperature. You have various ski areas with differ-
October, the senior vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund, Eric Pooley, attempted an analogy to simplify the baffl ing amount of studies and logic applied to climate change. “We can’t say that steroids caused any one home run by Barry Bonds, but steroids sure helped him hit more and hit them farther,” he said. “Now we have weather on steroids.” What it all means for Sun Valley’s snow is as unclear as predicting the next super storm to sweep the Eastern seaboard. The tools that have been used in the past will continue to be used in the future. There are 22 climate indicators that meteorologists examine to predict precipitation in central Idaho, and predictions come from studying how those indices push or pull on one another. Most common in the ski town lexicon are El Niño and La Niña, which describe ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. La Niña means colder ocean temperatures; El Niño indicates warmer water. La Niña years tend to bestow more storms on the Pacific Northwest. “In terms of El Niño or La Niña, we’re
“t h e a m b i a n c e t h a t ’s c r e a t e d w a l k i n g a r o u n d a s n ow y t ow n — i t ’s a l i t t l e b i t o f a s t o r y b o o k .” Rob Santa
ent elevations. Those ski areas that are potentially in the most trouble tend to be lower.” He pointed to Bogus Basin near Boise as an example. Bogus Basin has a summit elevation of 7,582 feet. Bald Mountain, on the other hand, has a summit elevation of 9,150 feet, which helps to ensure colder temperatures conducive to both artificial snow production and natural snowfall. “Just an incredible percent of the area can be covered with artificial snow,” Reading said. “Sun Valley should be happy because they got it right a long, long time ago.” It’s too simplistic to hang the future of skiing in Sun Valley on climate change, but the fact is that the world’s weather is increasingly variable. Sea ice is shrinking; ocean levels are rising; uncommonly large storms are increasing in regularity and wildland fi re seasons are intensifying. Each event alone does not establish evidence for climate change. But collectively they point to an evolution of the planet’s weather. In a widely publicized quote following Hurricane Sandy in 16
looking at a sort of neutral year this year,” Abramovich said. “Usually when you’re in a neutral year here in Idaho, we get a pretty normal year in terms of precipitation.” But there’s one type of storm that benefits Sun Valley the most, Abramovich said, referencing conversations with farmers and skiers alike. “Folks in the Sun Valley area love the storms that come out of the south, right up the Big Wood Basin, essentially. That’s when they get the most moisture. That’s what keeps things going there, whether you’re a farmer in the valley or a skier on the mountain. You need that water.” winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
Ski Wild Idaho
epilogue On a typical winter morning outside ski patrol headquarters near Bald Mountain’s summit, there are parallel lines of skis in the snow, with poles stuck along their Rich Bingham sides. Ski patrollers are huddled inside listening to reports on weather, avalanche potential, on-mountain hazards and any events that might be occurring that day. Outside, on the corniced edge of Christmas Bowl, the wind sifts through the season’s snowflakes, and rays of sun peek from behind the snow-draped Pioneer Mountains to the east. Even after 45 years, Rich Bingham says it’s a view he’ll never take for granted. “I feel very fortunate. At one point in time, after eight or 10 years here, I was thinking about what I wanted to do. I realized that I was living a dream that people worked their butts off just to enjoy for a couple weeks every year. And I was living that on a daily basis. And it was irreplaceable. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have my passion turn into a job I could do for this long and still be excited about going to work.” For Rob Santa, Sun Valley without snow would be like Christmas without Santa Claus or apple pie without ice cream. That goes beyond skiing. “The psychological factor—call it winter wonderland, the globe full of snow. When it’s shaken up, it’s pretty spectacularly beautiful,” he said. “And that’s a pretty motivating thing, even for non-skiers. The ambiance that’s created walking around a snowy town—it’s a little bit of a storybook.” A storybook whose plot continues to unfold. sVg www.sunvalleyguide.com
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snow soldier As the father of the Sun Valley ski patrol Nelson Bennett spent 20 years rescuing people on Bald Mountain. At 98, the World War II veteran and sometime celebrity babysitter reflects on a life spent on snow. by Katherine Wutz photos by F. Alfredo Rego
ou may not know his name, but you’ve probably seen his face in a myriad of images from Sun Valley’s early days. He’s the one standing alongside the more recognizable visages of celebrities such as Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. He’s the guy fiddling with Lucille Ball’s snowsuit zipper, the one preparing Clark Gable to ski down Dollar Mountain, the one who stands out mostly because he looks like he was born on a pair of skis. His name is Nelson Bennett. He is one of the fi rst directors of the Sun Valley Ski Patrol and a member of the 10th Mountain Division, the famous World War II ski troops. “Just remember you are speaking to a 98-yearold character,” he said with a laugh during a phone interview from his home in Yakima, Washington. Bennett said that while he might not ski this year—his balance and knees aren’t what they used to be—he has spent the better part of nine decades on skis. Born in 1914, Bennett and his brother, Edmund, started “skiing” on barrel staves in their New Hampshire backyard as children. His grandfather jury-rigged bindings out of leather straps, and a love for snow sports was born. “The snow was there, and kids are going to play in the snow,” Bennett said. Bennett got his fi rst pair of real skis at age 13 and learned his fi rst ski turn—a Telemark—from a book he checked out of the Lancaster Public Library. He practiced it on a small hill in his backyard. His fi rst job after high school was at a ski resort, washing dishes at Peckett’s Inn in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, the location of America’s fi rst ski school.
y
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winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
In the summer of 1940, after skiing The ski patrol took charge of trail his way through college and earning maintenance, cutting new runs and degrees in forestry and civil engineer- trails by hand with machetes and scythes ing, Bennett took a job as a surveyor (Lower College was designed and built for a lumber company in Northern Cali- by Bennett), but their main directive fornia. But once he realized he would was guest safety. They provided first be stuck inside for the entire winter, aid and transportation of injured skihe determined to find something more ers off the mountain. In case of an exhilarating to do during the snowy injury, a guest or ski instructor would months. “Obviously, being a skier, I contact a lift operator, who would call had heard of Sun Valley,” he said. He the top of the mountain. A patrolman took a leave of absence and headed to would ski down and assist the guest. the storied resort. Bennett’s original plan, he said, was to After driving for a full day and stay for one winter and then return to night—sleeping in his brand-new 1940 the lumber company. That plan slowly Ford convertible outside the Ketchum faded with each day that he skied and city dump—Bennett walked into the worked at the resort. “By the end of the Challenger Inn and straight into Dick season, I thought, ‘Well, this is really Durrance, whom he had raced against nice!’” he said. “There was snow and on his college ski team. “Dick was the skiing on a level I’d never experienced, top skier in the country at the time,” and I thought maybe I ought to stay.” Bennett said. “We had Stay he did, working a good visit, some cofthe summer sports desk fee and so forth, and through the off-season I mentioned, ‘I think I and returning to the ski would like to work at patrol the next winter. Sun Valley.’” But Bennett’s first run Durrance, whose as a ski patroller was advice lodge owner Avercut short by World War ell Harriman relied upon II, and in December to staff the Sun Valley 1942 he was drafted Ski School, was workinto the Army. He was ing at the resort that accepted into the 87th summer as a publicity Mountain Infantry photographer. He used Regiment of the 10th his connections to secure Mountain Division, Bennett a position on the which was deployed to fledgling Sun Valley Ski Naples, Italy. Bennett Patrol. After a trip back didn’t spend too much to New Hampshire, Bentime in Italy before he nett reported for work in was evacuated due to a 1941: Nelson Bennett, center, with his the winter of 1940-41. first Sun Valley ski patrol, burst ulcer. His brother Shortly after his return, Evans (back), Jerry Hyatt (left), Edmund was also fightthe original head of Chuck Hibbard, Floyd Dupuis and ing in the 10th Mounthe ski patrol, Eusebio Adolph Roubicek (right). tain Division, and a Black and white photos courtesy of “Sebby” Arriaga, was Nelson Bennett visit at a key time led shifted to a ski instructor to Bennett’s evacuation position, and Bennett was made director and medical discharge. “My brother of the six-man ski patrol. “I still don’t visited me one night in my foxhole, know why,” he said with a laugh. “I was and I could barely lift my rucksack,” he the newest, greenest patrolman.” remembered. “My brother was respon That season was the ski patrol’s sible for saving my life.” second. Before 1939, skiing was only Edmund continued on to fight with on Dollar and Proctor mountains, both the 10th as it broke through German largely treeless slopes where the skiers defenses near the Po Valley, securing were in classes and under the supervi- Gargnano and Porto di Tremosine in sion of an instructor. But when the late April 1945, and acting as security first lifts opened on Bald Mountain in after the Germans surrendered in May. 1939, Friedl Pfeiffer, director of the ski The division was set to take part in a school, formed the patrol. “He didn’t mainland invasion of Japan, but when want to lose anyone in the woods!” Japan surrendered in August 1945, it Bennett said. was sent back home. www.sunvalleyguide.com
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Nelson Bennett, left, leads a private ski tour on Bald Mountain before the resort officially reopened following World War II. Standing with Bennett, from left to right, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Rocky Cooper, Sigi Engl, Jeff Gjevre, Bobbe Bennett (Nelson’s wife) and Sebby Arriaga. Bennett rubbed shoulders with many celebrities during his time in Sun Valley, he was particularly fond of Lucille Ball, to whose rescue he came following a wardrobe malfunction on top of the mountain (left).
af ter the war, the brothers r e t u r n e d t o s u n v a l l e y. Edmund worked as a waiter in the Duchin Room and eventually became manager of food services for all facilities outside of the main dining rooms of the Sun Valley Lodge, while Bennett returned to the slopes. Even before the resort reopened to the public, Bennett was enlisted to babysit the ever-present celebrities. In the winter of 1945-46, while the Sun Valley Lodge was still being used as a naval hospital, Rocky Cooper—wife of movie star Gary Cooper—was desperate to get to Sun Valley and ski with friends Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lindstrom and Clark Gable. Though they could not stay at the lodge, Sun Valley Manager Pat Rogers arranged for them to stay in town and go skiing with certain members of the ski patrol, including Bennett. “The lifts were not open,” Bennett said. “It was very good skiing on Dollar, but you had to climb—and we did.” A picture taken by a Sun Valley staff photographer shows a beaming Bennett, Cooper and Bergman, but Gable is scowling at the lens. “Everyone is lined up for the picture, everyone looking happy as the devil—except Clark Gable,” Bennett said. “He was frowning, and we didn’t fi nd out why until after. He was worried about getting down!” Bennett acted as a stunt double for several notable male actors, and fondly remembers working with Lucille Ball while winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
she was filming Lucy Goes to Sun Val- be the passenger and who would be in ley in 1958. Ball’s stunt double was charge of trying to keep the toboggan meant to film a scene involving the under control. After a few trials went start of a ski race, but fell and broke awry (including once when a resort visiher leg during the course of the film- tor with a sprained ankle was unceremoing. So Bennett helped Ball prepare niously dumped), Bennett finally came to do the shot herself, with several ski up with a working rescue toboggan. patrol members waiting to catch her The sled was a rickshaw-type con100 or so feet down slope. Before the traption, with two shafts in front held by scene could be shot, Ball a ski patroller, a “fin” in had a zipper stick on her back to help the sled trajumpsuit. Bennett came verse across the hill, and to her rescue. “I have a chain on the front that had a little experience allowed the patroller to with zippers, so I have a easily brake. Instead of picture of me kneeling in the pad, Bennett added front of Lucille, fiddling a Stokes litter (a wire with her zipper,” he said basket) to hold the paswith a laugh. senger more securely. Bennett’s story con The sled broke down tinued to interweave into three pieces: the with the history of Sun shafts, the sled and Valley Resort until he the litter. When it was left in 1960 for a job at used, the shafts were left the White Pass ski resort sticking in the snow at near Yakima, Washingthe bottom of the lift ton, where he still lives. for a patrolman to pick His oldest daughter, up; the patient was then Above, Bennett on top of Bald Charlotte, was born in taken to the hospital in Mountain with today’s version of the rescue toboggan he invented 1949 at the hospital in the litter. A key feature in 1947, below. Sun Valley. was that the sled could After the war, Benbe carried back up the nett and his first wife, mountain on a chairBobbe, lived in apartlift by one patrolman. ments in the Trail Creek “If they had not had Village building at the a toboggan they could south end of Ketchum. break down, we would Later, he and his brother have had to stop the bought the building. lifts to get the sled on a Bennett also built the bracket and get it to the low, gray house across top,” Bennett said. Highway 75 that today While today’s Sun houses Sew Simple Valley is different in Alterations and Alpine Enterprises. many ways from the one he first But his biggest impression on Sun laid eyes on 72 years ago, Bennett Valley still resonates with skiers and feels the resort’s current manager, ski patrollers today. In 1946 Bennett Tim Silva, is similar to Pat Rogers, began work on a ski rescue toboggan manager from 1938 to 1952. “He that would more efficiently allow ski is somewhat like Pat in that he was patrollers to bring injured skiers down out of his office and around the area the mountain. “When I (arrived in) most of the time,” he said. “And he’s Sun Valley ... the rescue toboggan was a very knowledgeable skier, which is a pleasure-type toboggan, period,” he a plus.” said. “There was just a pad and a rope Even at 98, Bennett’s work and play on the front and a rope on the back.” in Sun Valley is not over. He will return Bennett began to think about the to Sun Valley again this winter, as he various ways the toboggan could be does most years, to do things such as improved, experimenting with wooden help the archivist at the resort identify shafts and braking systems, building some more faces in the hundreds of prototypes using the skills he learned images from Sun Valley’s early days working in his uncle’s machine shop. He and have breakfast with former ski tested his creations on ski patrollers, who patrollers at Perry’s Restaurant every drew straws to determine who would morning. sVg www.sunvalleyguide.com
21
ME IS
HERE THE
HOPE 22
IS
winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
kcab in The valley again THE BABY BOOMERS’
OFFSPRING ARE BOOMERANGING
BACK TO SUN VALLEY.
BUT UNLIKE MANY OTHERS OF THEIR GENERATION, THEY’RE
NOT DRAWN BY THEIR PARENTS’ WALLETS. FOR THESE SEVEN VALLEY NATIVES,
RETURNING HOME
IS ABOUT RECLAIMING
MEMORIES, STARTING CAREERS AND RACING TO THE OLYMPICS.
BY BRENNAN REGO PHOTOS BY MARK OLIVER www.sunvalleyguide.com
23
The trend
known as boomeranging,
when young adults
move back
to their childhood home,
often after being
unable to kick-start life elsewhere,
was identified by The Economist newspaper as first emerging in Britain in 1997. Following the Great Recession, America too has started to see an upswing of empty-nesters suddenly finding their nests full again. As 2012 draws to a close, this trend is fast morphing into an everyday fact of life. Today, the “Boomerang Generation” is a hotly discussed topic in countries such as England and the U.S., where families are not culturally accustomed
to multigenerational living post-adulthood. But is it something of which boomerangers and the nation as a whole should be ashamed or can it have a positive effect on the communities these young people return to? “Is it a poor reflection on our economy or is this something we can embrace the way other countries do?” asked Janet Varney on the Huffington Post news site in August. The article, Boomerang Kids: Bad for the Economy or Good for Families?, went on to identify that in places such as India, France and the Caribbean, it is common to find entire 24
families living together, including grown children and their families. But, as with many things, Sun Valley is doing it a little differently. Long before the Great Recession, or the turn-of-thecentury dot-com bust, this little Idaho mountain town has been drawing its once rugrat residents back to its unique blend of small-town resort living. Today it is witnessing a surge in the return of its offspring, but for the most part they live on their own, support themselves financially and are here by choice, not because they were tossed back by a bleak economy. Those who live in or visit Sun Valley can easily answer the question of what draws these boomerangers back into the fold, and their return brings much-needed vitality to an increasingly aging population. According to 2010 U.S. Census data, there are almost two and half times as many adults 35 or older living in Blaine County as adults ages 20 to 34. The average age here is 40.4, compared to 37.2 nationally and 34.6 in the rest of Idaho. But what challenges do these young adults face by choosing to pursue life, loves and careers in isolated Idaho rather Tara Jensen than basking in the bright lights and big cities of their contempora ries? And how does their return affect the community? “This is the only place I want to call home,” said Tara Jensen, 25, whose family moved to the valley when she was 2. “My memories are here. I love this place, and I want it to be the best it can be. I want to help this place thrive.” Jensen returned to the valley in 2011 after attending a farm-to-table culinary school program in Boulder, Colorado. “I have left and returned numerous times, but never for too long,” she said. Jensen is now putting the knowledge and skills she picked up in Colorado (which included planting, slaughtering and butchering in addition to cooking) to the ultimate test: opening a restaurant in Ketchum. She and her partner are expanding the catering business they opened this summer into a cafe; the Local Dish will open in December. “I’m
putting my heart and soul and blood and tears into it,” she said. By choosing to open her own business, Jensen doesn’t feel living in Sun Valley has placed any professional limitations on her. However, social limitations are a whole other ballgame. “It can be challenging to meet people here,” she said. “I’ve been focusing on myself lately, but you never know who you’re going to meet along the way. You’ve got to make sacrifices to do what you want and live where you want to live.” Aaron Pearson, whose family moved to the valley when he was a year old, agrees with Jensen that owning a business in the valley is one of the only ways to bust through an otherwise professional glass ceiling, and that dating here is pretty tough. However, the valley has also provided him opportunities he might not have enjoyed as a smaller fish in a bigger pond. “I love being here right now,” he said. “However, for all the fantastic opportunities the area affords, there is an equally long list of drawbacks. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only single 34-year-old in the valley. It’s a very small town with very few dating opportunities.” Four years ago, Pearson decided he was tired of the corporate trajectory he was on in San Diego, and returned home for a job as information systems director of the Community Library. A nasty incident in Spain’s Balearic Islands also spurred his homecoming. “Getting robbed in Europe was something of an epiphany,” he said. “I realized I really just wanted to finally come back to Idaho to be closer to family, to have access to nature in the unique way available here, to snowboard, to refocus on making art and to clear my head.” But he is adamant that had a good job opportunity not presented itself, he would not have moved back. “I’m not a three-jobs-just-to-make-ends-meet type and I never have been,” he said. Pearson, who majored in studio art at Dartmouth College, said Sun Valley has been a great place to launch his art career. His solo show, Truth Itself Is Made, is at Ochi Gallery in Ketchum through mid-December. The gallery also showed his work and that of a handful of other young local artists last summer in the creatively titled Death To Day Jobs exhibition. Showcasing the talent of young locals with day jobs, the show helped to highlight and foster the young creative community in Ketchum, which hasn’t always been highly visible. “Sun Valley has offered me more
winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
Aaron Pearson
“I don’t know if I’d call
the ceiling here
glass . It’s more like
“
concrete. A aron Pearson, 34
opportunities as an artist than I’ve found in the big cities,” Pearson said. However, for most professional careers, he feels Sun Valley can be limiting. “I don’t know if I’d call the ceiling here glass,” he said. “It’s more like concrete, unless you want to start your own business, but then you’re really putting your life on the line, potentially.” The point will come for Pearson when he will have to make a choice between buying a house in the valley or leaving to pursue opportunities elsewhere. “If I can get things to line up, I would like to raise a family here,” he said. “The lifestyle is incomparable, but to sustain it you need to make six figures.” His perfect solution would be pursuing a career elsewhere and living in Sun Valley part time. “That’s a sort of boomeranging, isn’t it?” he said. For Alexa Turzian, returning home doesn’t mean she plans to stay here permanently. The 24-year-old valley native sees it as a more fluid process. “I might leave for another five to six years and do something different for a bit, just to appreciate it more here,” she said. “The more time I spend here, the more I know I want to live here eventually in the far-off future, if I can afford it, but that doesn’t mean I can’t or don’t want to explore other places and opportunities as well.” Turzian left in 2007 to pursue her studies and passion for skiing in Middlebury, Vermont, and Boulder, Colorado. She returned home this past spring to start a career as a Nordic ski racer. She currently trains with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation’s Gold Team, working toward a place on the U.S. Ski Team for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Turzian said Sun Valley is one of the few locations in the country that offers this type of Olympic development program. “This place has a lot for me right now, but not everything,” she said. “It’s also very comforting. I don’t ever feel in danger here. It’s good knowing everyone around you, too.” It has long been an obvious choice for Sun Valley’s athletically gifted young adults to return home and pursue competitive winter sports careers. However, there are paths to be forged here for young, non-urban professionals looking to pursue careers in the snow sports realm. Yancy Caldwell, 27, thinks there is plenty of opportunity in Sun Valley, it just requires some creativity to tap. “You can take advantage of this area, but you have to break out and do new and creative stuff,” he said. “You can really get creative with how you make a living here.” Yancy and his brother Wyatt, 29, are perfect examples of those who seek this kind of career creativity to tap into. The brothers, both of them valley natives, have worked as professional snowboarders and represented Sun Valley Resort as athlete ambassadors. They consider themselves entrepreneurs in the snow sports industry or, as Yancy puts it, “seasonal employees of attractive adventure.” Wyatt believes today’s world offers many ways of making a living in Sun Valley that are “not monotonous” and don’t involve “working for the man in a big city.” But the brothers are cognizant of the future. “Making ends meet now while supporting just myself is very different from trying to raise a family one day,” Wyatt said. This past summer, having been back home for six years (Yancy) and four years (Wyatt), they founded Caldwell Collections, a video production company. “We didn’t just want to live here working a job to pay rent,” Yancy said. “We wanted to look to the future.” The company had a taste of success recently when its short film A Taste of Time, which they call “an experimentation in winter time-lapse photography,” won first place in the amateur category at the 2012 Gathering: Film & Music Festival in Sun Valley.
Alexa Turzian www.sunvalleyguide.com
25
26
wait in traffic!
“Life
is too short to
“
The Caldwells credit many of their behind-the-lens skills to 30-year-old fellow boomeranger Mark Oliver, who shot the portraits of these boomerangers for this story (see sidebar). After eight years away, Oliver returned to the town where he grew up with no intention of staying. However, he quickly realized how conducive his hometown was to his chosen career in filmmaking and photography, and four years ago decided to start his business, Oliver Photo & Film, here. “There’s no place in the world like this to find really good contacts,” he said. “It’s easier to run into them too, because it’s such a small community.” Technology has also been a real boon to his business, making the choice to operate from central Idaho a lot more viable. “I can send my movies and picYancy & Wyatt Caldwell tures anywhere in the world over the Internet. Just this week I sent three videos to Europe. There’s only a glass ceiling here if you imagine there is. If you keep doing what you’re doing and do it well, you’ll get to wherever you want to go.” “Technology makes it easier to start a business,” agreed Yancy. “Amateurs can take a crack at things now that they couldn’t have before. It’s a low-risk way of starting a business.” He believes that pursuing a career in his hometown after college has not meant any sacrifices, so far. “I’m not sacrificing anything by living here,” he said. “Except perhaps a few pretty women.” Wyatt disagrees. “You’re sacrificing because it’s a higher cost of living,” he said. “But the return is a better quality of recreational life. The mountains are right next door, the rivers, the campsites, and that makes living in Sun Valley worth it. Besides, life is too short to wait in traffic!” For Connor Wade, 25, all these reasons, plus the proximity of his parents, add up to making his hometown the perfect place to raise a family. “I think I will continue to wander and drift on occasion, but when I think about my life in the long-term, when I think about raising a family, I envision those things happening in Sun Valley,” he said. Wade returned this past summer, after seven years away, for a position with the Community School. He believes the time he spent in Boston, Massachusetts, and Portland, Oregon, was critical. “One of the most important things I learned, and brought back with me, was perspective,” he said. “I couldn’t have learned that without leaving. During my time away from the valley, I met many different people and experienced many new, strange and wondrous things. This allowed me to reconsider just exactly what this place means to me. It is home.” According to Wade, whose time away from the valley included adventures such as touring the West Coast with his Portland-based band Plum Sutra, the challenge is in finding a way to use what you come back with to positively affect the community and your own, personal experience. Returning home has put Wade in the minority of his high school and college friends. “Most of them are out in the big, wide world,” he said, “But I think they would all agree that those of us who found a way to make it work here doing what we love are lucky. At the end of the day, it all boils down to how you want to define the concept of home.” sVg
Wyatt Caldwell, 29
Connor Wade winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
HAVE WE LOST
OUR SOUL? MARK OLIVER REFLECTS
ON WHAT DRAWS
HIS GENERATION BACK TO THE WOOD RIVER VALLEY. Today, like many other days, I went to get the mail. As I stood at my post office box pulling out the magazines and bills hoping for a check coming my way, I overheard a man in his early 50s talking passionately to a mid-20s male about how Ketchum is in a dismal state of disrepair. He was asking the younger man what he thought of his summer experience. “Well, the music scene is terrible,” the younger man said. “The art scene is lacking, and there are not too many young people.” The older man replied, “Well, this place really isn’t what it used to be. It has completely lost its soul.” I slipped between them to deposit a few recyclables in the receptacle they were standing over, but not without also depositing my two cents. In moments like these I feel I need to defend the place I love and have called home my whole life. I dropped the items and said, “I have to disagree completely.” They looked at me like I was crazy. The older man took a moment, his tone got sharper and his decibels grew as he said. “And where are you from? Did you grow up here?” “Yes,” I replied. He then told me how he had lived here 30 years, and how people don’t smile here anymore, how hard it is to find a woman here, especially because of how “androgynous” they all look. He said the young people are worthless and don’t contribute to the community the way his generation and the one before him did. He said this place had lost everything that once made it great. After he finished his rant he looked to me, and I told him I had to disagree on just about everything he just said. While the landscape of our town has changed, and I will admit there was a time we lost ourselves and that we have seen ups and downs, I believe our integrity has yet to be fully taken from us in the form of a WalMart or McDonald’s. I disagreed on the lack of smiling happy people outright. I live in town and ride my bike everywhere. If two minutes go by and there is not a friendly horn honking or someone waving, that is a surprise. It is kind of uncanny how happy I find this place. I do agree that dating here is hard. The man told me, “Don’t wait until you are my age to be single here.” I chuckled inside, as I really hope not to be. He also said all the men here are boys. Maybe so. I’ve heard women talk about the “Peter Pan syndrome.” It is common. Maybe I have it. Do we make trade-offs? Sure. Are we boys? Maybe. Do we anger girlfriends when we would rather be fishing or skateboarding, or hunting? I know we do. Do we have passion? Absolutely. I would wager it www.sunvalleyguide.com
is better to have someone with passion who is gone sometimes, than someone without and on the couch all the time. The man seemed to think none of us had paid our dues, that the young community here is not building a community like he did. I differ on this. I see people building great things, organizing great events to complement what is already here. I will admit we still have work to do, but over the years I have personally beaten the ground with my community of skateboarders to build two world-class skate parks. I have seen two bike pump parks go in and two flow trails. I have watched a young community of mountain bikers help turn a ski mountain into a mountain bike destination, creating recreation here that could possibly rival winter’s. I have watched young bands put on shows in town squares, parks and on the backs of trailers, all for free and for the love of sharing what they have. I have watched a community of artists come together. Death to Day Jobs put an exclamation point on art that says there is a community of young artists here and to pay attention; they are that good. Remember, us young people have it a little different than most of our older neighbors. Many of us are ending up here out of college, many not sure what to do. Remember when everyone told us, “You must go to college if you want a good job”? Guess what? There are not as many real-life jobs in our world and a degree does not necessarily mean a job. But I have witnessed friends end up in amazing jobs here, opportunity exists here. I’ve watched in awe as my contemporaries step up in local government and leadership positions. I believe it is all working toward building this place. It is amazing and it will be amazing. Have we lost our soul? Should we jump ship and move on? Sure, there are always greener pastures. But look at where we live, look intrinsically. Is the problem where you are, or who you are? Is it being discontented with yourself or your situation? I say keep moving forward and take advantage of what you have in your backyard or local park, gallery, community! I feel that if we are always moving forward and taking advantage, then we can stay happy. I assume my 50-something post office buddy is stagnant, he has stopped taking advantage of what he has. If that happened to me, I bet this town would look like a dismal place void of soul, smiles, and good women. I hope that wherever I end up I do not feel this terrible about it. But I know this, until I leave here or die, I am going to keep being a contributor to my community and myself. I will help keep the soul. A version of this essay appeared on Facebook.
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winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
With intimate knowledge of the simultaneously serene and treacherous backcountry paradise surrounding Sun Valley, a winter guide is capable of taking a client to new heights. Matt Furber tracks down some of the area’s luckiest workers to get a glimpse into life atop a snow-covered world.
Sara Lundy climbs McGowan Couloir in the Sawtooth Mountains. Photo by Chris Lundy
William “Bozo” Cardozo skis the west face of Kent Peak in the Boulder Mountains last April. Photo by Matt Leidecker
www.sunvalleyguide.com
T
o be on top of a mountain peak in winter, a person is sometimes required to exceed previous physical and psychological boundaries. A winter guide helps take clients in and out of their comfort zones while relieving some of the pressure associated with pushing one’s limits outdoors. Managing navigation, equipment, skiing or boarding technique, and snow safety is essential for anyone who tackles backcountry snow adventures, but having an expert on hand allows everyone to breathe a little easier. Guiding services on public land such as the Sawtooth National Forest are regulated by the federal government, which dictates how many commercial guides can work an area. Three winter guiding services traverse the backcountry surrounding Sun Valley, employing about a dozen guides plus apprentices. The skills they possess help would-be winter adventurers suck the marrow out of winter. One of those guides is Idaho native Sara Lundy, 36. She was turned on to winter adventure by her college professor John Rember, who hails from her home of Stanley at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains north of the Wood River Valley. Rember encouraged Lundy to become a tail guide, an apprentice who follows a lead guide to learn the craft. “My early guide training was very much through mentoring and tail guiding,” Lundy said. “The guides I’ve worked with have years and years and miles and miles of experience. The knowledge and skills they’ve passed along is unequivocally educational.” Lundy’s education as a guide has come from the local knowledge of a tight-knit guiding community, one which takes pride in passing along its intimate knowledge of the area to a select group of people. Lundy has learned from the expertise of Sawtooth Mountain Guides founder Kirk Bachman and co-owner Erik Leidecker (who is also Sun Valley Helicopter Ski Guides operations manager), as well as Joe and Francie 29
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30
“there are days where it all just clicks and the weather is beautiful, the snow is perfect and you’re just smiling. I tell myself to soak it in. this is my job!” Marc Hanselman
St. Onge, co-owners of Sun Valley Trekking. “Joe and Francie gave me the opportunity to get some miles under my belt going out with their weekly groups,” Lundy said. “And Erik’s commitment to guiding and participation in international guide training, not only inspired me to take my guiding to the next level, but has really encouraged a higher level of professionalism and training throughout the entire guiding community in our area.” This January brings a milestone in Lundy’s career. She and her husband, Chris, are buying out her mentor Kirk Bachman’s share of Sawtooth Mountain Guides and becoming co-owners in the company that guides north of Galena Summit. South of the summit, Joe St. Onge’s company Sun Valley Trekking helps winter enthusiasts reach their nirvana through guiding and providing dozens of backcountry bunks in six different yurts it built in the area. “My job is about delivering stoke,” he said. “There’s nothing quite like watching your guests’ eyes light up after a truly euphoric experience gliding down a mountain deep in the backcountry,” St. Onge said. A professional mountain guide for 20 years now, St. Onge was turned on to the career as a teenager. “As a high school student I went on a trip with some mountain guides in Utah,” he said. “I remember asking my guides, ‘You do this for a living?’ and they smiled back with a big grin. It was then I knew what I wanted to do with my life.” After attending Prescott College in Arizona, which specializes in training outdoor guides and teachers, St. Onge skipped graduation for a job interview and was hired by the American Alpine Institute. “My experience at AAI was phenomenal, traveling the world while working with some winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
Joe St. Onge scales the Smoky Mountains. Photo by Craig Wolfrom
Marc Hanselman climbing Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the French Alps. Photo by Heidi Andersen
Bozo Cardozo climbs the frozen west face of Kent Peak in the Boulder Mountains. Photo by Matt Leidecker
of the best mountain guides in the country,” he said. “In 2000, after working for AAI for eight years, Francie and I moved to Sun Valley because of the mountains, the community and particularly the backcountry skiing.” Like his counterparts who have dedicated their lives to backcountry skiing and riding, St. Onge was drawn to this area by the phenomenal ski potential surrounding Sun Valley. Marc Hanselman, on the other hand, was born into that potential. He took his fi rst breath at Moritz Hospital in Sun Valley, and his career as a guide has taken him through all the local outfitters. This October, on his honeymoon, Hanselman stopped off in Sëlva in Italy’s Val Gardena. Serendipitously, they stayed at the Sun Valley Hotel. “It turns out the founder was Hans Nogler, a ski instructor in Sun Valley in the ’40s,” Hanselman said. “The family had some great photos of him and Sun Valley’s early days.” Such is the life of the guide. Stories merge in the mountains and traditions carry on. Hanselman works year-round as a mountain guide. In the summer he takes clients rock and alpine climbing; in the winter, ice climbing, backcountry skiing and helicopter skiing consume his days. Hanselman’s grandparents owned the Knob Hill Trailer Park in Ketchum, where the Knob Hill Inn is today, and he grew up hunting, fishing and skiing every nook and cranny of this land. “I always had an interest in climbing as a child,” he said. “It was through the outdoor program at the Community School that I got exposed to backpacking, climbing and even backcountry skiing.” A summer interning with Sawtooth Mountain Guides during college in Boulder, Colorado, introduced him to a way to make a career out of his passion for climbing and the mountains. In 1999, Hanselman returned to the valley to work for Sawtooth Mountain Guides, between stints teaching English in Japan. In 2004, he took his fi rst American Mountain Guides Association course. Over the next seven years, six courses and five exams in rock climbing and alpine and ski mountaineering disciplines gained him the rare accolade of International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations guide. There are still fewer than 100 IFMGA guides in the United States. When Hanselman got his certification he was number 76. “I love that I get to spend my working days in the mountains, and I get to share that with others,” he said. “There are days where it all just clicks and the weather is beautiful, the snow is perfect and you’re just smiling. I tell myself to soak it in. This is my job! There are other times where I am challenged by any number of factors—terrain, conditions, the clients themselves—but to persevere and utilize my training, experience and instinct and be rewarded in the end with a summit, a good run and happy clients … this is also what I love.” At 53, William “Bozo” Cardozo came by his experience on a different arc. His training is more akin to that of Nogler, Florian Haemmerle and the Austrian ski instructors who pioneered backcountry skiing during the early years of Sun Valley. These men laid the foundations to Pioneer Cabin and the now defunct Owl Creek Cabin in the Smoky Mountains south of Galena.
www.sunvalleyguide.com
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“I’ve been a heli-ski and touring guide for 29 years,” said Cardozo, who is also a woodworker and created the bow tips for the new Bow Bridge pedestrian link over the Big Wood River in Hailey. “I also have worked kids trips for the Community School for about as long, mostly on the river. I grew up in an elite group of kayak racers. When I quit that I dove hard into rock climbing.” Heading west from his home in New Hampshire in pursuit of different adventures, he knew he wanted to ski, and ended up securing a position on the ski patrol in Alta, Utah. After falling in love, Cardozo settled in Sun Valley where he found his helicopter-skiing job. “I’ve been here ever since. I’m in the old-guy club of people who don’t have a lot of paperwork behind their qualifications.” If ever there was a career where experience counts over paperwork, guiding is that, and Cardozo has given freely of his experience on the rare occasions when things fall apart for people in the backcountry. The guides are often asked to recall their hairiest misadventures, but there’s a code that seems akin to doctor/patient privilege. “There are some failed client machismo stories, and lots of good times,” Cardozo said, relenting a little. “Incredible days with incredible skiers, and incredible days with people who were out of their comfort zone and had their minds blown.” One thing all four guides share is a fi rm belief that the mountains here are perfect for backcountry adventures. Whether one enjoys mellow glade skiing in the Smoky Mountains, steep couloirs in the Sawtooths or giant peaks in the Pioneers, the variety, amount and aesthetic of skiing in central Idaho is astounding, they say, and for anyone who is uncertain, they will be happy to show off the terrain. “Backcountry skiing is distinctive in that no two days are the same,” St. Onge said. “The snow is constantly changing and with that, the stability, safety and ski quality. That, combined with the fact that we are not following preset routes, allows the guide to create an experience each day that is unique and ephemeral. I think of guiding a ski tour as art or sculpture. The best guide can choose terrain and set aesthetic tracks, up and down, that link together an ever-varied mountain landscape. The end result can be a beautiful experience.” sVg winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
arts [T A K E 2 ]
a focus on FILM Sun Valley’s debut film festival dances on to the scene. by Matt Furber photo by Tory Taglio
D
sun valley’s FILM FESTIVALS Best of Banff Film Festival, Ketchum February 1-2, 2013 sawtoothavalanche.com Family of Woman Film Festival March 1-3, 2013 familyofwomanfilmfestival.org Sun Valley Film Festival March 14-17, 2013 sunvalleyfilmfestival.org Silver Creek Fly Fishing Film Festival July 19, 2013 silver-creek.com Gathering: A Film & Music Festival September, 2013 sunvalley.com/gathering Magic Lantern Fall Film Festival November, 2013 magiclanterncinemas.com
www.sunvalleyguide.com
uring a slushy St. Patrick’s Day weekend last March, a Wood River Valley on the cusp of spring welcomed the inaugural Sun Valley Film Festival. Film-goers stomped through Ketchum’s slippery streets in droves to partake of cinematic history in the cozy seats of the Magic Lantern and the historic grandeur of Sun Valley’s Opera House. It was a one-of-a-kind program that included dozens of fictitional and documentary fi lms ranging from arty shorts to Hollywood features. The Sun Valley area shares a rich history with Hollywood, from standing in for the Alps in I Met Him in Paris with Claudette Colbert and serving as a backdrop to Marilyn Monroe’s allure in Bus Stop, to providing a home for many a movie star over the years. Considering this mutually beneficial relationship and the success of the Sundance Film Festival down the road in Utah, a Sun Valley film festival was inevitable. The way was paved for the successful debut of Sun Valley’s first juried film festival through the many years of work put into curating films for a mountain town audience by local organizations such as the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and the Community Library, and niche groups such as Silver Creek Outfitters and the Idaho Conservation League. Smaller festivals such as Peggy Goldwyn’s Family of Woman Film Festival (in its sixth year), the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival and the Magic Lantern Cinema’s film festivals have long been staple events for locals, seasonal residents and visitors alike, helping to keep the connection between the valley and the magic of celluloid alive. A fi lm festival with the Sun Valley moniker may have been a long time in coming, but organizers were still overwhelmed by the demand. “Most of our fi lms were sold out,” festival Chair Bex Wilkinson said. “We needed to do second runs. It was amazing.” After all 60 fi lms had rolled through their reels, the awards started to flow. Created to recognize an Idaho fi lmmaker whose work best reflects the beauty and diversity of the state, the Gem State Award went to Buhl native Jaffe Zinn for Magic Valley starring Ketchum resident and Hollywood actor Scott Glenn. The little Idaho fi lm also picked up the Vision and One in a Million awards, sweeping three of the festival’s five accolades. A strong Idaho showing is expected again this year. Festival Executive Director Teddy Grennan and 2012 festival favorite Heather Ray are bringing An Unkindness of Ravens, which was shot in McCall and stars Amy Smart, Joshua Leonard and Australian pop star Natalie Imbruglia. “There were a lot of fi lms made this year tapping into what Idaho has to offer,” Grennan said. For its sophomore year, the festival will offer seven awards, the two additions being a young fi lmmaker award and a mixed media short fi lm award. “It was amazing the number of kids that showed up last year,” Grennan said. Already the submissions for the 2013 festival, taking place March 14-17, are flooding in from fi lmmakers across the country. “One of the nice things that happened last year was that we got the word out about Sun Valley,” Grennan said. sVg 33
N C R
the guide [G E A R U P B Y G R E G M O O R E ]
MTN Approach System These ingenious skis offer snowboarders an alternative to splitboards for backcountry escapades. Short (138 cm), lightweight (4 lbs each), with built-in climbing skins for the trip up, the skis fold up and fit in the accompanying pack for the trip down. They come with an aluminum binding with plastic straps that fit snowboarding boots, and were designed in Ketchum by former pro snowboarder Cory Smith.
Blizzard Black Pearl skis These rockered all-mountain skis are part of Blizzard’s Flip Core line—skis whose cores are cut into shape before being pressed in the mold, rather than bent while being molded. This makes the ski more durable, better performing and able to sit more naturally on the snow. “It holds well on hard snow but just flies through the goop,” says Bob Gordon at Formula Sports. $750-$850, Formula Sports, Pete Lane’s
$795, The Board Bin
MIPS Helmets POC’s Cortex DH is one of a handful of helmets to incorporate Multi-directional Impact Protection System technology in its 2013 design. Developed by a Swedish neurosurgeon, the technology claims to provide better protection against rotational acceleration (the type of blow to the brain that produces the most severe injuries) by imitating the brain’s own way of protecting itself. It integrates a low-friction layer between the outer shell and the liner of the helmet to absorb much of the energy created by an oblique blow to the head. $250, area ski shops
Kjus GSM Glove The Kjus GSM glove uses Bluetooth technology to provide wireless controls for your smartphone while you’re slopeside or anywhere handsfree will help ward off the frostbite.
Skhoop Down Skirt This Swedish import is a toasty wraparound that’s easy to stuff into a pocket until it’s needed. “It’s good for any active person to put on after a workout— and you look cute!” says Libby Holtz of Backwoods Mountain Sports.
$249, Pete Lane’s
La Sportiva RT Binding & Sideral Ski Boot La Sportiva’s new ounces-shedding entry into the alpine touring binding market is a mere 175 grams (6 oz) and can be combined with the Sideral boot for an ultra-lightweight alpine touring setup.
$159, Backwoods Mountain Sports, The Elephant’s Perch
$699-$750, Backwoods Mountain Sports
Zeal Z3 MOD Live Goggle Goggle manufacturers are now incorporating GPS technology into lenses to provide real-time location, speed and altitude data visible while you’re speeding down the slopes. This year Zeal introduces smartphone integration to its GPS-enabled goggle, adding caller ID, text messaging, buddy tracking and mountain navigation to the 16:9 widescreen display.
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$649, area ski shops
winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
Where the Locals eat
Thanks for making us the best
Full Breakfast Menu! Fresh Bakery! Fantastic Dinners! Great Sandwiches, Burgers, Fries, Salads and Coffee Drinks!
EVERYTHING AVAILABLE TO GO! Complimentary Wireless Internet Available!
4th Street at First Ave. • www.perryssunvalley.com 726-7703 Open at 7:00 a.m. Daily special advertising section
• Best Chef Chris Kastner • Best Waitress • Best Place for a Romantic Dinner • Best Place to go for Dessert • Best Place for Ice Cream
208.788.1223 • 320 S Main, Hailey 35
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$$$ entrées up to $40
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R E STAUR A N T pr ic e
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$ entrées up to $10
Bre a k f a s t
the guide [p a l a t e s ] GOURMET & FINE DINING CK’s
“Best chef. Best overall restaurant. Best server. Best ice cream.” Sun Valley Guide’s 2011 Best of the Valley 320 Main Street, Hailey, ckrealfood.com • 788-1223 $$$
Ketchum Grill
Idaho cuisine with French and Italian influences. 520 East Avenue, Ketchum, ketchumgrill.com • 726-4660 $$
ita li an / piz z a
• • • • • • •
Smoky Mountain Pizzeria Grill
Pizza, pasta, burgers, steak, salmon & more. 200 Sun Valley Road, Ketchum, smokymountainpizza.com • 622-5625 $$
Whiskey Jacques’
Pizza, burgers, appetizers, salads and sandwiches. Nightly entertainment. 251 N. Main Street, Ketchum, whiskeyjacques.com • 726-5297 $$
A S I A N & sus h i
• • • • • • •
A Taste of Thai
Award winning Thai cuisine. 380 1st Avenue, Ketchum, 106 N. Main Street, Hailey, atasteofthaisunvalley.com • 726-7155 $$
me x i c a n
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La Cabañita
Authentic Mexican food made with love. 150 West Fifth Street, Ketchum • 725-5001 $$
B U R G E R S & p ub grub The Cellar Pub
Pub fare including burgers, salads, bangers, sliders, shots and more. 400 Sun Valley Road, Ketchum • 622-3832 $$
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Lefty’s
Killer burgers, salads, subs, wings & more. Satellite T.V. sports. 231 6th Street, Ketchum, leftysbarandgrill.com • 726-2744 $
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• • • • • • • • •
Mahoney’s Bar & Grill
Home of the world famous Juicy Lucy 104 South Main Street, Bellevue • 788-4449 $
Whiskey Jacques’
Pizza, burgers, appetizers, salads and sandwiches. Nightly entertainment. 251 N. Main Street, Ketchum, whiskeyjacques.com • 726-5297 $$
de l i / B A K E RY Big Belly Deli
Homemade sandwiches, salads, soups & baked goods. 171 North Main Street, Hailey, feedyourbelly.com • 788-2411 $
Shelley’s Deli
We bake our turkey & roast beef everyday! 14 East Croy, Hailey, shelleysdelionline.com • 788-8844 $
Perry’s
Great breakfasts, soup, sandwiches & grill selections. All to go! 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. 7 days. 4th Street and First Avenue, Ketchum • 726-7703 $ 36
• • • •
Thai Cuisine
Exquisite Thai food and sushi cuisine. 380 First Avenue, Ketchum • 726-7155 $$
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Enoteca
Small plates, wood-fired pizza, Italian 300 North Main Street, Ketchum • 928-6280 $$
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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
eat hand tossed
Pizza
with our homemade
whiskey’s Pizza sauce &
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authentic thai fooD & SuShi Daily lunch SpecialS Open Lunch 11-3 • Dinner 5-9:30 catering • Private Parties
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tel (208) 725-5001 74 5 n. m A i n S t . S t e d • B e l l e v u e (next to AtKinSonS')
tel (208) 928-7550 special advertising section
SALADS WRAP iT UP SaNDWiCHES COOL BEVERAGES HOT DRiNKS TEMPTiNG SWEETS “I t’s all good ”
14 E. CROY, HAILEY ID • 788-8844 shelleysdelionline.com 37
Authentic Thai Food & Unique Thai Dishes Home of
The World Famous Juicy Lucy! The Juicy Lucy is a 1/2 Lb burger with cheese in the middle and grilled onions on top-please use extreme caution when eating!
Pecos River Red Chili Our award-winning chili from the Loon Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and consists of lean top sirloin steak, onions, green chiles, and special Tex-mex spices, topped with shredded cheddar cheese, green onions and a dollop of sour cream. Served with grilled Texas Toast.
Smoked Baby Back Ribs Dry rubbed for 24 hours, smoked then grilled, served with slaw and fries.
Marsha K's BBQ Chicken • Johnsonville Brats
Beautiful Kids Menu Fireplace and Outdoor Patio To Go Orders Are Always Welcome 104 South Main Street • Bellevue Idaho • (208) 788-4449
Now in 2 valley locations... 106 N. MaiN St 380 FirSt ave N. Hailey, id KetcHuM, id 208.578.2488 208.726.7155
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OF THE VALLEY
DINING bestofthevalley.org 38
Dine-in • Take-ouT • CaTering menu available online
www.feedyourbelly.com winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
the guide [P A L E T T E S ] WINTER gallery walks Ketchum 5-8 p.m.
friday, december 28 friday, february 15 friday, march 15 saturday, may 25
Community Library WA R M S P R I N
GS
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KETCHUM
PPG
PITTSBURGH PAINTS
Valley Paint & Floor
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Brighten your life with
To Sun Valley
1
Carpet Vinyl Laminate Hardwood Carpet Ceramic Tile Natural Stone
Jim Norton, The Last Light, oil on canvas 11" x 14"
Thom Ross, Afternoon Stroll Down Fremont, acrylic on canvas, 48" x 48"
KNEELAND GALLERY 1
271 First Avenue North, Ketchum P.O. Box 2070, Sun Valley, ID 83353 208.726.5512 • fax 208.726.3490 art@kneelandgallery.com • www.kneelandgallery.com
Exhibiting paintings and sculpture by nationally recognized as well as emerging artists living and working in the West. Featured artists include Steven Lee Adams, Carol Alleman, Virginie Baude, Debbie Edgers Sturges, Cary Henrie, John Horejs, Shanna Kunz, Kent Lovelace, Jennifer Lowe, Lori McNee, Robert Moore, Jean Richardson, Thom Ross, Carl Rowe, Linda St. Clair, Sherry Salari Sander, Linda Tippetts, Bart Walker and Andrzej Skorut. Additional artists can be viewed on the gallery's website. special advertising section
DAVID M. NORTON FINE ART 2 511 Sun Valley Road, lower level of Sheepskin Coat Factory, Ketchum 208.726.3588
Fine American Art and Collectibles... Taos founders, David M. Norton Gallery has specialized in American paintings, photographs and prints for over 30 years. Currently featuring Jim Norton CAA, Maynard Dixon, J.H.Sharp, Carl Oscar Borg, photography by Barbara Kline, E.S Curtis and Robert Dawson.
member of the Sun Valley Gallery Association
Valley Paint & Floor 108 North Main St. Hailey, ID 83333 (208) 788-4840 fax. (208) 788-1788 Locally owned & operated by Randy & Barbara Murphy
Indicates
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the guide [W I N T E R C A L E N D A R B Y J E N N I F E R L I E B R U M ]
Breakfast with Santa: A breakfast buffet with Santa in the Sun Valley Lodge Dining Room. $25 adults, $15 for children 4-12, 3 & under free. Details: 622-2800. Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 8 - 23 Tree lighting and Santa visit: Sun Valley Carolers begin their nightly strolls around Sun Valley Resort (5 p.m. through Dec. 30). Saturday, Dec. 15 Sun Valley Christmas Eve Celebration: Enjoy a free performance of the classic Christmas tale “Nutcracker on Ice,” free hot chocolate, cookies, fireworks and Dollar Mountain torchlight parade, arrival of Santa and free ice skating after the show. Sun Valley Resort, Outdoor Ice Rink. 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24
Lights in the Garden: More than 30,000 lights illuminate the Sawtooth Botanical Garden just south of Ketchum. 6-9 p.m. $5 per person, $15 per car. www.sawtoothbotanicalgarden.com. Thursday, Dec. 13 through Saturday, Dec. 22 Vanilla Soul Christmas: Presented by the Sun Valley Hallelujah Chorus with Footlight Dance Theater. nexStage Theatre, Ketchum. 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21 Hailey’s Holiday Antique Market: Holiday show featuring antique dealers, fine art, vintage linens, pottery. Hailey Armory, 701 4th Ave. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28 Claremont Trio for Christmas Concert: Meetthe-artists presentation in the concert hall at 6:15 p.m. Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood, 100 Saddle Rd., Ketchum. 7-8:30 p.m. $24 adult, $10 student. www.svartistseries.org. Sunday, Dec. 30 New Year’s Eve Bubbly Bash: See in 2013 at the River Run Lodge with DJ Shark and his unstoppable percussionists. $50 in advance, $75 at the door. www.sunvalleycenter.org. Monday, Dec. 31 ART & CULTURE Sun Valley Gallery Association Art Walks: around downtown Ketchum, 5-8 p.m. www. svgalleries.org. Friday, Dec. 28, Friday, Feb. 15, Friday, March 15, Saturday, May 25 Crossing Cultures—Ethnicity in Contemporary America: Sun Valley Center for the Arts exhibition addressing the question how do we meld our ethnic or cultural traditions with our lives as citizens in 21st-century America? Featuring 40
FILM & THEATER You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown: Based on the beloved Peanuts comic strip, this updated classic recently enjoyed a successful run on Broadway. Company of Fools, Hailey. 3 p.m. $30, $20 and $10. www.companyoffools.org. Dec. 12 through Dec. 30 The Second City: America’s famed comedy troupe returns with its one-of-a-kind Laugh Out Loud Tour. Liberty Theatre, Hailey. 7 p.m. $35, $25. www.companyoffools.org. Thursday, Jan. 10 through Saturday, Jan. 12
Pearl Django concert: Sun Valley Artist Series. Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood, Ketchum. 7 p.m. $24, $10. www.svartistseries.org. Thursday, Feb. 21 A cabaret evening with Michael Kaeshammer Trio: nexStage Theatre, Ketchum. 6:30 p.m. $50 members, $60 non, $10 students. www. sunvalleycenter.org. Friday, March 8 SKI RACES & EXPOS Prairie Creek Classic: Elephant’s Perch. Details: 726-3497. Saturday, Jan. 5 Free learn to Nordic ski clinic: Skate at 1 p.m. Classic at 2:30 p.m. RSVP required. Galena Lodge, north of Ketchum. www.bcrd.org. Sunday, Jan. 6
Best of Banff Film Festival: nexStage Theatre, Ketchum. www.sawtoothavalanche.com. Friday, Feb. 1, and Saturday, Feb. 2
Ski Free day all BCRD Nordic Trails: All BCRD trails, all day. Sunday, Jan. 6
Distracted, a play by Lisa Loomer: A new play that asks, “Are we so tuned in to our info-rich, 24/7 world that we’ve tuned out the things that really matter?” Liberty Theatre, Hailey. 7 p.m. $30, $20, $10. www.companyoffools. org. Feb. 13 through March 2 Screening Star Trek II: Introduction and Q and A with producer Robert Sallin. The Community Library Ketchum. 1 p.m. Free. www.thecommunitylibrary.org. Wednesday, Feb. 13 The Family of Woman Film Festival: Five films will be presented, documentaries and dramas from around the world illustrating the status of women. Matinees at 3 p.m. Evenings at 7 p.m. Sun Valley Opera House. Details: 622-1554, www.familyofwomanfilmfestival.org. Friday, March 1 Sun Valley Film Festival: Showcasing cuttingedge independent films, premieres, exciting children’s programming and previews of new television premieres from National Geographic and others, a closing ceremony with special musical guest and much more. Details: 9287818, www.sunvalleyfilmfestival.org. Thursday, March 14, through Sunday, March 17 LIVE MUSIC Sun Valley Artist Series concert: With Ben Hong, cello, Peter Henderson, piano. Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood, Ketchum. 7 p.m. $24, $10. www.svartistseries.org. Saturday, Feb. 2 David Wax Museum: Boston’s Americana Artist of the Year performs at Sun Valley Opera House. 6:30 p.m. $20 members, $30 non, $10 students. www.sunvalleycenter.org. Friday, Feb. 8 Sun Valley Opera’s 3-Day Winter Extravaganza: Monday, Feb. 11, Diva Party at the Valley Club. Tuesday, Feb. 12, Broadway and Beyond Concert at the Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 13, La Boheme with the Utah Lyric Opera at the Community Campus in Hailey, 7 p.m. Varies . All Day. Details: 720-5584. Monday, Feb. 11, through Wednesday, Feb. 13
USSA Freestyle Spectacular: SVSEF races. Mogul competition on Race Arena, and slope style and half-pipe competitions on Dollar. Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain. Details: 726-4129. Thursday, Jan. 10 through Saturday, Jan. 19 Billy Goat Loppett: Galena Lodge, north of Ketchum. Details: 622-3003. Sunday, Jan. 13 Skoch Cup: Sun Valley Ski Club Race. Sun Valley Resort, Base of Warm Springs. All Day. Details: 622-3003, www.sunvalleyski.com. Friday, Jan. 18, through Sunday, Jan. 20
www.svnordicfestival.com
Sun Valley Resort’s first Winter Wonderland Festival: Thousands of lights will decorate Sun Valley Village, illuminating 13 unique window displays depicting Christmas around the world. A 20-by-30-foot gingerbread re-creation of the Sun Valley Village, Bald Mountain and the Snowball Express train is also on show. Daily through Jan. 4
installations by Washington artist Joe Feddersen and Hailey artist Bob Dix. www.sunvalley center.org. Dec. 7, 2012 through Feb. 16
SUN VALLEY NORDIC FESTIVAL
www.sunvalley.com
SUN VALLEY RESORT’S FESTIVITIES
HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS
Ski the Rails: Wood River Trail System. 8 a.m. Free. Saturday, Jan. 26 Galena and Trails Benefit Auction: Sun Valley Inn, Limelight Room 6 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 26 Skin It To Win It Race: Dollar Mountain, Sun Valley. Noon, Sunday, Jan. 27 Nordic Ski Race and Winter Block Party: Downtown Ketchum. All day, Thursday, Jan. 31 Boulder Mountain Tour Expo: Wood River Y, Ketchum. 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., www.BoulderMountainTour.com. Friday, Feb. 1 2013 Boulder Mountain Tour: One of America’s longest running and most respected cross-country ski races, the Tour traverses the Boulder Mountains for 32 kilometers of breathtaking beauty and world-class competition. Galena Lodge, Senate Meadows, north of Ketchum. 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2 2013 Boulder Mountain Tour Demo: The final event of the 3rd annual Sun Valley Nordic Festival. Try the latest ski equipment from BMT sponsors and enjoy the beautiful and unique skiing at Sun Valley Nordic. Sun Valley Resort, Sun Valley Nordic. 10 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 3
winter 2012/13 • sun valley guide
Laura Flood/Cheeso Memorial Race: Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Ski Race. Sun Valley Resort, Bald Mountain. All day. Details: 726-4129 or www.svsef.org. Saturday, Feb. 2 through Monday, Feb. 4
LODGING
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AIR COND .
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KITCHEN
Hailey, 208-788-7950 Hailey, Hailey,ID ID ID 208-788-7950
USASA Intermountain Snowboard Series: Dollar Mountain, Sun Valley. All day. Sunday, Feb. 3 Bradford Cup: Sun Valley Ski Club Race. Sun Valley Resort, Bald Mountain. All day. Details: 622-3003. www.sunvalleyski.com. Tuesday, Feb. 5 Boulder Classic Tour: Harriman Trail. All day. Details: 726-3497. Saturday, Feb. 16
www.americinn.com
601 N. Main St. Hailey, ID 83333
USCSA races: Collegiate Nationals for alpine, Nordic and snowboard racing. A multi-venue event taking place at Hemingway, Cozy, Dollar and Nordic Center, Sun Valley Resort, 11 a.m. - noon. www.sunvalley.com. Monday, March 4, through Friday, March 8
e-mail: e-mail: e-mail:
877-542-0600 •• 208-578-0600 877-542-0600 208-578-0600 www.woodriverinn.com
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208-788-795 208-788-79
hailey.id @ @americinn.com americinn.com americinn.com hailey.id@ www.americinn.com hailey.id www.americinn.com www.americinn.com
601 N. Main St. Hailey, ID 83333 877-542-0600 • 208-578-0600
28th annual Paw ’n’ Pole: Canine cross-country ski and snowshoe races with leashed dogs, best costume and silly pet trick contests. Croy Canyon, Hailey. www.animalshelterwrv.org. Sunday, Feb. 24 Monroe/Basolo Ski Race: Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation ski race. Sun Valley Resort, Bald Mountain. All day. Details: 726-4129, www.svsef.org. Sunday, Feb. 24
www.americinn.com www.americinn.com 208-788-7950 Ste AC Ste Ste AC AC
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tamarack@sunvalley.com 208-726-3344 800-521-5379
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703 South Main Street • Ketchum, Idaho 800-462-8646 • 208-726-5163 Commercial/Hospital Rates Free Wireless Internet/Cable TV
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W OUTFITTERS & GUIDES
Walk to River Run & Trail Creek & TOWN!
HIKING
FISHING
HUNTING
BEST WESTERN PLUS
Transworld Snow Conference: Speakers and discussions revolving around the topic: “What’s Next?” Sun Valley Resort. All Day. www.snow conference.com. Tuesday, March 12-15
180 So. Main Street, Ketchum 208-726-4114 • 1-800-805-1001
371 N. Main Street, Ketchum
bestwestern/pluskentwoodlodge.com
208-726-1706 Free casting208-726-1706 clinics Wednesday nights www.lostriveroutfitters.com info@lostriveroutfitters.com
New 42” LCD TV’s in All Rooms Ultra Clean Program in Place
Rev Tour: An international tour stop for skier-x, half-pipe and slope-style events Sun Valley Resort. All day. www.sunvalley.com. Sunday, March 17 through Friday, March 22
Best Western is the Official Hotel to AAA, NASCAR & Harley-Davidson
FESTIVE FUNDRAISERS A Winter Feast for the Soul: The Community Library, Ketchum. 6 p.m. www.thecommunityli brary.org. Thursday, Jan. 10
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Share Your Heart Ball to benefit Camp Rainbow Gold: Sun Valley Inn, Limelight Room. 5:30 p.m. Details: 422-0176. www.shareyourheartball.org. Saturday, Feb. 16 Main St. Main St. Ketchum Ketchum
460 N. Main St. Ketchum, ID. 83340 Sales • Service • Rentals
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WINTER ACTIVITIES Explore the valley’s history at the Ketchum Sun Valley Heritage and Ski Museum. Take the gondola up Baldy for spectacular views and a meal at the historic Roundhouse Lodge. Enjoy dinner under the full moon at Galena Lodge. Snowshoe through the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Take a sleigh ride to Trail Creek Cabin. Go night skiing at Rotarun in Hailey. Take the family sledding at Croy Nordic. Catch a hockey game at Sun Valley Resort. Enjoy the snow!
Main St. Main St. Hailey Hailey
www.sturtos.com
208-726-4501 • 208-788-7847 208-726-4501www.sturtos.com 208-788-7847
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WELLNESS EVENTS Sun Valley Wellness Festival: An annual gathering of the top speakers and practitioners of mindbody-spirit and environmental wellness. www. sunvalleywellness.org. May 24 through May 28
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Monday thru Friday 9 am-6 pm • Saturday 10 am-4 pm
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one last thing [P H O T O B Y M A R K W E B E R ]
David Weber scales an ice climb on Silver Peak in the Boulder Mountains.
S H E E R
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T H E VA L L EY ’S N E WS PA P E R
Keeping you armed for the water cooler banter every Wednesday and Friday.
Subscriptions and home deliver y available at 208.726.8060 or mtexpress.com
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