Let’s Trade Blizzards for Sunshine!

I’m getting excited. We’re headed somewhere I haven’t been for ten years, where our history with this area began in a log cabin 58 years ago. Yes, a two room log cabin; we were lucky the bathroom wasn’t an outhouse. My brother and I weren’t so lucky to room with my uncle Neil, who snored like a locomotive. I was the proverbial kid with the pillow clasped tightly over his head – not that it helped. Thankfully, exhaustion finally overcame us and sleep prevailed. Ah, the memories.

Back to the future! Today we drove the 173 miles from Big Sky to Sun Valley. It was highlighted by mostly dry pavement and clouds giving way to a mostly sunny day. Was this an omen? Were we finally going to enter the valley of the sun for unbroken blue skies? Oh man, that would be so cool! I was holding my breath. Would tomorrow, Day 32, be the kind of skiing we have been searching for during this six week journey?

Wednesday broke with not a cloud in the sky. Six inches of powder awaited. Sun Valley has a special atmosphere. It’s full of the well-to-do, but it lacks the pretentious mood so often found in other places. There’s still a legacy of the old ski bum attitude permeating the place. Maybe it’s because it rarely seems crowded and the lodges, though of impressive contemporary log cabin style and, by ski lodge standards, extravagantly appointed, are anything but ostentatious.

More importantly, this isn’t a resort that was built yesterday. It started back in 1936 with the Union Pacific Railroad in the old mining town of Ketchum. There’s history here. I think that’s the difference. This place has grown organically over time, not by leaps and bounds like the Big Sky’s of the world.

On the skiing side, this is a real skier’s resort. Lots of really good skiers ski here. The area knows that and does a great job keeping many runs groomed and fresh, and still others untouched for the challenge of powder, moguls, and the steep. The mountain itself is ideal for the layout of a ski area. Pure skiing pleasure is everywhere. Wonderful fall line skiing and constant pitches that only vary marginally from top to bottom. Skiing without rhythms being broken by cat tracks, flats, runouts or intersections. Someone serious about skiing designed this place.

Left – Christmas Ridge; Right – Looking across Christmas Bowl from Mt Baldy to Seattle Ridge

It’s also a bit comical to note the rating system Sun Valley uses to rate the difficulty of each run. For those who aren’t familiar, runs are rated Green – easiest; Blue – more difficult; Black Diamond – most difficult; Double Diamond – expert. According to Sun Valley, we skied mostly Green runs today and we laughed heartily about it. Every other area would rate most of the Mount Baldy Green runs as at least Blue, and some even Black. If any beginner or beginning intermediate skier were to ski the Greens we skied today, they would have been scared out of their gords.

Left – Janice says, “I’m done” at the River Run Lodge; Center – the downstairs lounge at Seattle Ridge Lodge; Right – Tim consults the trail map.

These are not easy runs. Yes, they were groomed and wide. But they were also quite steep, some easily steep enough to rank as a Black Diamond at any other area. Obviously, Sun Valley rates a run with different parameters. For Sun Valley, steepness isn’t the only determining factor. So, the system is different. It’s directed more at the accomplished skier than the rank beginner, who won’t be on this part of the mountain anyway. I think they consider ungroomed, moguled, or unpacked runs automatically more difficult, narrower runs are more difficult and runs with constraints requiring a higher degree of control more difficult. Understandable, but somewhat unique in how they apply it here. Be forewarned.

Today was fantastic. Except for the absence of deep, uncut powder, it was perfect skiing. Every turn was a wonderful carve, with lots of them linked one after another until we had to stop to catch our breath. Sun, blue sky, perfect turns. Ah, skiing nirvana. Tomorrow looks like more of the same. Yes!

What happened? It snowed last night! Clouds and fog are supposed to give way to sun this afternoon. Once again, we are crossing our fingers the forecast holds. It certainly didn’t last night; it was supposed to be sunny this morning!

At the slope we take the gondola. Through the clouds and to the top where there are broken clouds. The fog bands around runs a couple hundred feet below, so we fight that, as well as the 6-8 inches of new snow that’s been pushed around on ungroomed runs, to Seattle Ridge. It’s relatively clear there, but we find no grooming has been done anywhere on the mountain save the World Cup course. Not surprising, really. I’m sure it’s all hands on deck to prep the course for today’s downhill practice runs.

The lack of grooming makes this an exercise in pushing relatively heavy powder around, as most of the runs have been thoroughly cut up by the morning’s first offenders. Ah well, some of them will get skied out. Only one problem – there are damn few skiers today. Everyone has either already taken their two hour spin on the slopes, or headed to the World Cup course to watch and ready themselves for the next five days of festivities.

As we skied hard yesterday, there’s not a lot of excess energy for mashing about in chopped up snow. At two o’clock we bag it and head for the showers. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. I’m wondering if there will be anything newly groomed.

Day 34

My doubts prove unfounded, as there are plenty of groomed runs on Friday. At 9:15 we board the River Run gondola and head for another great day of packed powder and broken clouds amid temps in the high teens. Once again we ski our tails off and spend some time admiring the skills of the world’s best racers as they practice Giant Slalom and take their last Downhill training runs on the formidable new course that will finish tomorrow afternoon at the base of Warm Springs.

The whole FIS Alpine World Cup Finals being raced here at Sun Valley is a truly impressive and magnificent feat of fortitude, skill and manpower. There are no official dollar numbers that accurately reflect the amount of time and money spent over the past nine months to make this event a reality. I’ve been told by those in the know it cost $25 million just to install the course infrastructure for TV, communications and race timing, let alone the massive investment for course layout, safety improvements and the rest, which probably tops $50 million.

All that includes removing hundreds of trees, re-grading most of the course to both eliminate and create obstacles, installing over 70 stanchion towers to suspend protective fencing and safety barriers, laying miles of underground cabling and course fencing, moving tons of snow, and constantly grooming and conditioning the course to make it ready for race day. This is art combined with science and technology; a full-on display of world class preparation and execution.

Left – a view of the Giant Slalom practice courses; Right – A World Cup skier practicing for Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s Giant Slalom races.

As I’ve mentioned, there is a great skiing history and tradition here in Sun Valley, racing being among the most significant. To have an event of this magnitude return to Sun Valley is both exciting and deserving.

When clouds began rolling in with a fresh wind around 2:30, we decide to head for the barn. We are both pretty well skied out anyway, so it’s good timing. Sun Valley was a great stop with some great ski conditions. As usual, this place is everything you might expect. A lively town atmosphere, lots of great ski slopes and excellent skiers, all topped off with wonderful weather and amenities – skiing at its finest.

Tomorrow we head to our final stop – Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. The weather looks to be warming, so we’ll see if swimsuits end up being the younger set’s afternoon dress code.

Day 36 – Mt. Bachelor

We’re here at Seventh Mountain Resort just down the hill from Mt. Bachelor. It’s Sunday, it’s windy with a forecast for rain on the mountain, so we’re just hanging out. Sun is promised for Monday and Tuesday. We’ll hold out for that. Instead, a gym workout and a tour of the resort is in order. On we go.

Days 37 – 38

Now this is spring skiing! Temps in the 40s, a light breeze and lots of sun. Skiable, but heavy off-piste snow still abounds. There’s solid footing underneath 4-5 inches of new, allowing enjoyable, easy turns. Some of the groomers have set up hard during the night’s re-freeze, but there are others without direct sun that are holding up well. Light jackets are the rule in the morning but as the day rolls on layers get shed.

Tuesday there’s a temperature inversion, so mid-mountain is already in the 40s at opening. I’m going old school with Levi’s, boot gaiters, and a sweater. By 1 pm we’re done as the snow has softened to the point it begins grabbing our skis. There were a lot of carved turns and consistent spring snow before that, so we leave happy.

Wednesday and Thursday are calling for more wind and rain. Temps in town could reach the upper 60s, even 70. A visit with friends in the area is on tap. We won’t fight mother nature.

Bachelor is a great family area as most of the runs are relatively easy compared to most other large ski areas, and there are plenty of runs to play on. Chairlifts extend about two-thirds the way around the mountain. It always makes me wonder when they will finally completely circle this 9,008 foot dormant volcano.

There is one chair that goes to the summit, but in all the years I’ve been coming here, it has never been open. A bit of a disappointment to never have been to the top. But I do have stories here. This seems to be my area for hitting trees – I’ve done that twice with poor results. The first time I lost a basket on a pole while glade skiing. I went to plant it and with no basket it sunk deep into the snow throwing me off balance enough recovery meant reaching out to deflect myself off a tree. The result was torn tendons in my left forearm and black and blue bruising from my wrist to armpit. The doctor swore it was broken but x-rays proved him wrong.

The next misadventure was also glade skiing, near the bottom of the hill of what was to be the day’s last run. All I remember is waking up in the snow with a headache, a knot on the base of my skull and a separated shoulder. I can only surmise something beneath the snow surface had grabbed my ski and thrown me into a tree. Why no one saw me laying there for 20 minutes is a mystery, but there you go. Knocked out for that long, I have no short-term memory of what happened, I can only guess.

But that’s history. Today was the second of two fantastic spring ski days. One just like the other, except for one important distinction: day 2 involved a stop at the Sunrise Lodge Sun Bar. An outdoor bar, sunshine, good company, and fun conversation make for an excellent apre ski experience. We skied for three hours, finishing at one o’clock. Perfect timing. We had gotten our really good runs in and had called it before it got too sloppy.

A couple hours of basking at the Sun Bar was a relaxing way to wind down before heading back to Seventh Mountain and Happy Hour and a light dinner at their cozy little bar. It was the close of a beautiful day. Weather says the next few days will include wind, rain, and thunderstorms. Not exactly our recipe for fun. We’ll see.

Left – The Sisters from Mt. Bachelor; Right – The summit of Mt. Bachelor from mid-mountain.

After an on the hill Valentine’s Day tree and trio of Christmas trees at Sun Peaks, a Christmas tree made of skis at Sunshine Village, and a Bra & Beads tree at Big Sky, we finish our trip discovering the Boot tree at Bachelor. Feet to boobs to romance – seems everyone needs to have a special tree. LOL.

Day 40

The forecast has let us down a bit. Wednesday dawns partly sunny, but the mountain temps are already in the 40s with higher winds, rain and thunderstorms promised for early afternoon. NOAA is still insisting it will turn worse on Thursday. We’re having lunch with longtime friends in nearby Sisters today.

As the weather looks to remain poor our final three days here, we will head home tomorrow, a couple days early. Actually, with all the things we have to get done before leaving again for Palm Desert, that’s probably a good thing.

So, what was our favorite area? Everyone asks, so we might as well spill the beans now.

Sun Valley. Why? A variety of reasons, actually. First, the runs. Lots of fall line skiing, interesting slopes and variety, bowls, ridges, gulleys, steep, consistent, good grooming. Second, this is a skier’s mountain. The skiers here are really good – lots of them. Third, it has a great history. This place has grown from its 1936 beginnings when it was founded by Averill Harriman of the Union Pacific Railroad around the humble mining town of Ketchum. Last, Sun Valley is still a true ski town.

Celebrities have come and gone, leaving their marks and bits of history. But this town doesn’t flaunt it. There’s plenty of money here, but it’s not on display. The communities of Sun Valley and Elkhorn, and downstream towns of Hailey and Bellevue help spread it around. If you want to ski you come here. If you want to be seen you go to Aspen or Vail. Don’t come here; no one really cares.

I remember waving to Arnold Schwarzenegger as he stood with his coffee, surveying Warm Springs from a balcony in the early morning sun. We were on our way to the lift. “Morning!” He smiled and waved back. Now, on to skiing.

After Sun Valley, I think we pick Big Sky, just for the size and variety of the mountain. Fifty some-odd chairlifts take you up and around the mountain, all the way to 11,000+ feet if you want. Serious triple diamond runs for only the truly expert and adventurous. A great area.

From there, it goes something like this: Sun Peaks, for its two mountains, family-oriented environment, great ski-in, ski-out chalet and condo experience, and lovely village. Lake Louise for its size, above tree-line skiing, great views and the proximity to Banff, Sunshine Village and yes, even little Mt. Norquay. Schweitzer Basin and Panorama are close behind, Schweitzer with its great glade skiing, Panorama with its fantastic views, ski-in, ski-out accommodations, accessible heli-skiing, and interesting village.

Mt. Bachelor, with the wonderful town of Bend and down the mountain resorts like Seventh Mountain and Sunriver, offers a great family experience. The skiing is easier, as there’s not a lot of steep to challenge, although the blues are built to maintain good interest and excellent variety.

Unfortunately, Revelstoke brings up the rear. I look at Revelstoke as being a powder area. There’s plenty of bowl skiing to support the powder they are famous for, but a lot of that is accessible only with some hiking. Without fresh powder, this becomes just another ho-hum hill. The regular runs are, as I noted previously, subject to being interrupted by a myriad of cat tracks and run outs. Parts of it are brilliant, but there’s not enough to hold my interest, especially if the powder is absent.

The town of Revelstoke is fun and alive, and only ten minutes from the base gondola. There’s a lot of development going on; look for Revelstoke to change rapidly in the coming years. I hope they can also transform their hill to support it.

This has been a fantastic trip. We’re already planning for next year’s skiing adventure, possibly to Europe. Figuring that out is turning into quite a project as we are trying to maximize our timeshares, hotel points and the like against where we want to ski. Logistics – I think I might need another degree to figure this out!