Many outdoor brands have their origins in the Wood River Valley; the easy access to the outdoors in so many ways (biking, hiking, skiing) gets the creative juices flowing in terms of how to improve on those sports—and then gives you a big playground to test out those improvements. Outdoor apparel companies Wild Rye and Club Ride are no different, with both company’s founders being outdoor aficionados in the Wood River Valley who found themselves staring down a gap in their respective markets; for Wild Rye, that gap was an outdoor brand exclusively for women. For Club Ride, that gap was casual bike clothes that could be worn from the bike to the bar. Read on to learn the origin stories of these two local companies, who are helping maintain Ketchum’s status quo as an incubator for innovation. Wild Rye Wild Rye’s founder, Cassie Abel, has lived in and out of Ketchum since she was eight years old, but coming back full-time in 2012. Prior to launching her women-focused outdoor brand, Cassie worked in-house at Smith, learning all about the outdoor industry, its marketing—and its distinct lack of focus on women. “We were starting to see all these cool brands …
24 Hours with a Local: Sawtooth Mountain Guides’ Lindsay Mann Davis
Backcountry ski guide Lindsay Mann Davis didn’t move to the area until 2018, but skiing has always been in her life. Growing up on the east coast, she spent most of her youth exploring the White Mountains of New Hampshire and competitive ski racing, which took her to mountains around the world. Her passion for skiing took her to Dartmouth, where she helped her team win an NCAA title in 2007. After college, she spent time working as an alpine ski racing coach, mountain guide, and avalanche instructor. Before making the move to Idaho, Lindsay and her now-husband Leon were living in Jackson Hole. After he accepted a pilot job in the state, she got a job offer with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) to coach alpine and do avalanche education. She’s now a guide for Sawtooth Mountain Guides and also works at Andy Gilbert’s Press Print House and Keely’s Camp for Girls as operations manager. The flexibility of Lindsay’s employers has been instrumental in being able to spend time with her 1-year-old daughter, Matilda. Lindsay and her family live in a house in Hailey, and in her free time she loves to mountain bike, climb, backcountry ski, …
What We’re Made Of: Chums
Referring to your eyewear retainer simply as “Chums,” like you might call tissue “Kleenex”shows just how much this global brand dominates its market. With humble origins that can betraced back to a guide on the Colorado River in southern Utah, Chums is celebrating its 40thanniversary this year. Chums came to Ketchum in 2002 after local Chuck Ferries purchased thecompany along with his son, Tom, and son-in-law, Mike Neary. Many of the company’sproducts are still made in the original Hurricane, Utah, facility and five employees hold downsales and marketing in Ketchum. How it Started In 1983 Mike Taggett was a dory boat guide on the Colorado River. Tired of seeing his clientslose their sunglasses to the water, he came up with the idea for what is now the Original Chumseyewear retainer, producing the first batch on a $60 sewing machine out of the back of his VWvan. Named for Mike’s yellow lab, Chumley, Chums has always been about those who feelcalled to the water: guides, river rats, dirtbags, anglers. As demand grew, Chums began mass-producing its retainers and selling to retailers nationwide, though the Original cotton eyewearretainer is still the company’s best-selling product (and is still made in the original facility …
24 hours with a Local: TNT Taproom’s Max Lemman
Though he didn’t move here until 2018, TNT Taproom owner Max Lemman grew up coming to Sun Valley, learning to ski and then snowboard on Baldy. Both of his parents are avid skiers and Max spent his winters and summers visiting the area from Seattle. In the winter of 2018, he invited his now-wife Ashley to come to Sun Valley for the holidays. While participating in the local nightlife—or lack thereof, in Ashley and Max’s opinion—they started hatching an idea for opening a new kind of brewery and bar. Back in Seattle Max had been trying to open a bar but found the city to be too busy, both for his business or for him to want to stay. The couple moved to Ketchum and, after looking at several spaces, opened TNT Taproom in “the Dynamite Shed,” which used to house the town’s railroad and mining dynamite and has affectionately been referred to by locals as “the Boom Shack” or the “Boom Room.” Max got his dream of opening a simple taproom, one that serves only beers on draft and delicious wine. While you can often find Max behind the bar, Ashley is behind the scenes building the menu, ordering …
24 hours with a Local: Hemingway Steam School Teacher Ross Parsons
Life has come full circle for Ross Parsons, a teacher at Hemingway Steam School, where he himself went to elementary school. The school expanded to pre-k through 8th grade in 2017, which was Ross’s first year teaching back at his alma mater. Before returning to the Valley and becoming a teacher, Ross worked as a field instructor at the McCall Outdoor Science School, ski patrolled at Snowbasin in Utah, and was a U.S. Forest Service/BLM River Ranger on the Salmon, Rogue, Owyhee, and Bruneau Rivers. He now teaches 6th grade science, 7th grade math, and 8th grade advisory, and works a second job as a ski patroller in the winters (taking after his father, Ron Parsons, a ski patroller since 1979). Ross’s wife, Mya, is a fellow teacher at Hemingway (5th grade). The two met through Mya’s brother, Ross’s best friend in college, and after dating long-distance between Ketchum and Breckenridge, Ross convinced her to move here. “You gotta import the good ones,” he says of his wife, describing her as his “best friend on the planet.” The two live on Warm Springs out Board Ranch, just past Penny Lake, with their eight-month-olds twins, Redd and Maeve (the birth of …
24hrs with a Local: Miles to Go Fitness’ Miles Fink-Debray, November
Ski season is almost upon us which means it’s the perfect time to start leveling up your training! And when it comes to training for ski season, Miles Fink-Debray is your man. The elite athlete has worked with high-level trainers and athletes in multiple sports for his whole life. He has taken that experience and directed it into his own training gym, Miles to Go. When he’s not training clients at the gym of the portable van gym that makes house calls, he’s practicing what he preaches by participating (and often winning) local events like the Baldy Hill Climb or Suffer Fest, the “World’s Toughest 10K” which he created. He’s also in the top 75 world rank in skiing, an amateur national mountain bike champ, and 2012 Sun Valley Athlete of the Year. Before the intensity of the ski season begins, Miles walks us through an ideal 24hrs in Sun Valley fall day. How does your perfect fall day start? Miles: I work and workout all week, so Saturdays are designated for me. I love having the access to the outdoor right out my doorstep in Warm Springs to mountain bike, hike, run, and skate ski. I start by making …
What We’re Made Of: Sun Valley Bronze
When it comes to locally made hardware in the Wood River Valley, Sun Valley Bronze has you covered. This long-standing institution in the valley is an inspiration. Get to know them in this edition of, “What We’re Made Of.” Sun Valley Bronze What has now become a 30-plus-year institution in the Wood River Valley once had very humble beginnings, with founder Bob Commons starting Sun Valley Bronze (SVB) in his garage. Back in 1992, Bob was working in construction, building the high-end homes so ubiquitous in the area, while his wife, Debbie, drafted architectural plans. Frustrated by the lack of luxury hardware available for the jobs he was working on, and with 15 years of thoughts of starting his own business, Bob began experimenting with the casting process using old foundry equipment he purchased from the local high school shop department. Since then, the company has evolved into an internationally sold brand used by some of the top architects and designers in the world. What was once created in a garage is now operated out of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that utilizes robotics, CNC machines for patterning and machining, and 3D printing for prototyping. The luxury architectural hardware created by …
What We’re Made Of: Rocky Mountain Hardware
With a unique origin story and process for creating hardware, Rocky Mountain Hardware is a staple in the Sun Valley business scene. Get to know Rocky Mountain Hardware, from accessories and custom pieces to creating a life in the valley. Rocky Mountain Hardware Back in 1994, there weren’t many options for local hardware in the Wood River Valley. Mark Nickum ran a local door and window company in the Valley at the time and found he kept getting requests from clients looking for hardware for the doors and windows he was selling. Though there were a few options, there weren’t many. Luckily for Rocky Mountain Hardware, Mark decided to capitalize on this gap in the market and began messing around with metals on his own to create hardware for the doors and windows he sold. He landed on bronze as a high-quality metal and started working with a local friend at a foundry to create unique designs. As Mark received more and more requests, he realized he had something good going here and formed, along with his wife Patsy, Rocky Mountain Hardware (RMH). Next year will be RMH’s 30th anniversary, and while their offerings and operations have grown over the …
24 hours with a Local: ERC Executive Director and County Commissioner Lindsay Mollineaux
A native of the Wood River Valley, Lindsay Mollineaux felt like many do when leaving their hometown—that they can’t get out of there fast enough. But after working for the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve, and then as Deputy Chief Analytics Officer for the City of New York, she realized that she missed the mountains. In the fall of 2016, she came back to Sun Valley with the plan to ski and only be back for a year when she realized how much she enjoyed being back in her hometown. After working for the City of Ketchum and Kraay’s Market and Garden, the Executive Director position at the Environmental Resource Center (ERC) opened up. Though Lindsay says she “knew nothing about the environment,” the econ major with experience in operations and finance took the job and three years later is now an expert environmentalist. Lindsay Mollineaux also became county commissioner two months ago when the position was vacated by the late Dick Fosbury. In between working part-time for the ERC and part-time as commissioner, Lindsay lives in Picabo with her father and two cats, Kukla and Fran (named after the 1950’s sitcom Kukla, Fran and Ollie) and enjoys knitting, …
Eat Local! In Sun Valley, Idaho
There’s no end to the variety of restaurants, cafes, and bakeries in the Sun Valley area and greater Wood River Valley, and complementing those eats are a bounty of fresh, locally grown ingredients as well as homemade creations from area bakers and cooks. Whether you’d like to enjoy a meal completely cooked from scratch while you dine out or simply want to pick up locally made cooks to enjoy at home or on the road, Ketchum, Sun Valley, and Hailey are home to many spots to eat local made and sourced food. Restaurants So many restaurants within the Wood River Valley make many of their ingredients from scratch, source locally grown food, or buy already made products from local producers. It would take up this whole blog entry to go into each in depth, but here’s just a selection of the best spots to eat local goods. In Hailey, try dinner spot CK’s for globally inspired farm-to-table cuisine made with sustainable ingredients and lots of Idaho suppliers. Also in Hailey is high-end bike shop and pub the Powerhouse, which offers a selection of burgers, tacos, salads, and fries made with house-made, locally sourced ingredients. Ketchum dinner restaurant The Covey makes …