If you’ve never experienced an Opening Day in Sun Valley—don’t you think it’s about time? Here are 3 reasons to travel to Sun Valley for this double-holiday.
Sun Valley + IKON Pass
No matter how much you might love your home mountain, there are always other resorts to try out. And if you’re a powder hound, you might just spend your winters hopping from ski hill to ski hill, going where the meteorologist says the next dump will hit. This kind of winter adventuring is a heck of a lot easier with the IKON Pass, a multi-resort ski and snowboard season pass that gives you access to a whopping 50 resort destinations across five continents, 10 countries, 15 states, and four Canadian provinces. The 2023–2024 season, marked the first year that the Sun Valley Resort was a part of the Ikon Pass, adding itself to the list of iconic mountains one can experience as a pass holder. Sun Valley also joined the Mountain Collective Pass for the 2023-2024 season. Sun Valley is no longer on the EPIC Pass. For the 2024-2025 season, Sun Valley continues to be on the IKON Pass & Mountain Collective Pass. What Are the IKON Pass Offerings? For the 2024-2025 season, the original namesake IKON Pass gets you unlimited access at 17 destinations and up to seven days each at 42 destinations. Included in those 17 with …
How to Get to Sun Valley, Idaho
Nonstop flights to Sun Valley, Idaho from 6 major cities! Yes, you read correctly, Sun Valley does have an airport and it is served via United, Delta, and Alaska Airlines. While getting to Sun Valley is part of the adventure, new non-stop flights have made it easier than ever to visit this little corner of winter paradise. Fly to Hailey’s Friedman Memorial Airport or land a bit further out and take the beautiful drive to Sun Valley. Either way, we’ll be waiting to welcome you.
Late Night in Sun Valley
Some say that Sun Valley is a sleepy town, but those folks are just the ones who go to bed early. What the area lacks in night clubs and velvet ropes it makes up for in pure, humble fun that keeps going after hours. Take a gander at this list of key locations. Just make sure you eat something before you go out. You know, to fuel the dancing. The Ketchum Crawl A typical evening starts out with a few drinks while eating some “real food,” from burgers and beers at Grumpy’s or Lefty’s to margaritas and baked potatoes at the Pio to cocktails and oysters at Michel’s Christiania. From there, it’s practically considered the law to start your late night at The Cellar for evening drinks, where you can enjoy one of their famous Moscow Mules in a copper mug, play some Buck Hunter or shuffleboard, and argue about whether you should head next to Whiskey’s on Main for some dancing or to catch a band. Once the band is done playing and the fat lady has sung, follow her onward to close the night at The Casino, Sun Valley’s legendary dive bar, where you can shoot pool, play darts, and make new friends …
What We’re Made Of: Sawtooth Mountain Guides and Sun Valley Mountain Huts
All manner of people have explored the Idaho wilderness, for as long as it’s been there, but two companies, Sawtooth Mountain Guides and Sun Valley Mountain Huts, are two of the longest-running backcountry businesses in the Wood River Valley. An accredited mountain guide service, Sawtooth Mountain Guides (SMG) has been around for over 30 years, providing summer and winter backcountry guiding services. Sun Valley Mountain Huts (SVMH), formerly known as Sun Valley Trekking, owns some of the country’s oldest and most diverse backcountry hut system, with six huts in five Idaho mountain ranges. Sawtooth Mountain Guides The History Founded in 1985, Sawtooth Mountain Guides is the brainchild of outdoor enthusiast Kirk Bachman, who began exploring local ski and climbing terrain in the area in the early ’70s. When Kirk started SMG in the mid-’80s, it was primarily as a climbing guide service, though he soon added ski guiding on to the company and also built and established some of the first North American yurts as backcountry ski huts in the Sawtooths. This included the Williams Peak Hut, which the company established in 1988 as a winter base for local at-risk youth programs and continues to operate today for both guided …
24 hours with a Local: Professional Skier Karl Fostvedt
Local ski legend Karl Fostvedt (often referred to as “Crazy Karl”) has been skiing Sun Valley’s local mountains practically since he was born at the local Moritz hospital. In his years as a professional skier, Karl has amassed many accolades, from being named King of Corbet’s in 2018 and 2021 to being featured in various free ski movies from Warren Miller Entertainment, Teton Gravity Research, Red Bull Media House, Matchstick Productions (to name a few) to competing in the Dew Tour and War of Rails. Karl’s focus of late is on his own production company, Native Earth Productions, and making his own ski films with his hometown crew in the mountains he grew up in. He and his long-time girlfriend, Sierra (who attends vet school in Logan, Utah for the time being) live in Warm Springs, but he also spends a good deal of time brapping and skiing in the winter, and preparing for brapping and skiing in the summer. “I do everything I can to take advantage of this awesome opportunity to live my dream as a pro skier and having such an awesome backyard to go out in.” Visit Sun Valley caught up with Karl to see how …
Best Fireplaces to Cozy-Up by in Ketchum & Sun Valley
After a day on the slopes, or a day at the spa, there’s nothing like lounging next to a roaring fireplace as the snow falls outside. Whether you’re in the company of friends and family, or a good book, the warmth of a well-built fire fills the heart. Here are our favorite places to sit by the fire in Ketchum and Sun Valley. Limelight Hotel Limelight Hotel’s expansive lobby—perfect for a cocktail, a game of cards, a couple hours of work, or hanging out with your favorite person—welcomes visitors with two glass-fronted fireplaces. Sip a drink, taste an appetizer, and let the flames melt away all your worries. Sun Valley Wine Company The Sun Valley Wine Company, in Ketchum’s Town Square, is a wine shop, bar and light fare restaurant. Browse the racks for a great bottle of wine to share, or order a single pour at the bar. A selection of chilled beer is also available. Settle into the couch in front of the stone fireplace and munch on a cheese plate as you warm your toes. Sawtooth Club Hemingway knew how to while away the hours at a beloved bar, telling a good yarn. And his favorite haunt in …
S.A.A. – Spring Activity Anxiety
An intertwined combination of spring & winter can lead to a potentially chaotic outbreak of Spring Activity Anxiety. Symptoms most commonly associated with S.A.A. include: severe indecisiveness, confusion, and obsessive over packing of vehicles with sporting equipment. Patients are urged to remain calm, analyze possible activities, and cram as many said activities as possible in to one day to quell bouts of insanity.
Ultimate College Ski Trip
Picture this: 5 girls, 2 cars, 10 planks, 1 playlist, an air mattress, a case of beer, a Costco run, a couple of new years resolutions, and a big desire to get the most out of our Ikon passes. It was a snowy Thursday morning in Fort Collins, Colorado when the five of us girls set out on our 10-day ski trip to Bozeman, Montana. When choosing Airbnb’s we kept a couple of things in mind. Firstly, price. When booking Airbnb’s it is important to start the process early, as many ski towns fill up quickly in the winter. We planned our college ski trip in October so we could book Airbnb’s that fit our needs; a close proximity to downtown nightlife and a decent kitchen so that we could cook most of our meals. We made a conscious effort to cook most of our meals, choosing one restaurant in each destination, this saved us a lot of money long-term. Bozeman and Big Sky We were in Bozeman for New Year’s, so being in town was a big factor for us. We were able to find a cute house just off Main Street on the East side of town, an excellent location …
Sun Valley’s Next Generation of Skiers and Boarders
It would be hard for the town of Sun Valley, Idaho, not to be mentioned when talking about professional and Olympic skiers and snowboarders; the town is practically synonymous with greatness. With Bald Mountain as their training ground, ski greats from Picabo Street to Gretchen Fraser back in the day to more recent pros like McKenna Peterson, Wing Tai Barrymore, Lexi DuPont, Banks Gilberti, Colin Collins, Karl Fostvedt, Lucy Sackbauer have added to the legacy of the place. And snowboarders too—did you know there’s never been a U.S. Olympic snowboard team without a member from Sun Valley? Repping the boarders are Olympians Chase Josey, Kaitlyn Farrington, Graham Watanabe and a whole lot of other pros and amazing riders. The time has come for some of those same skiers and boarders to pass the torch to the next generation, which promises to bring it just as hard, race just as fast, jump just as high, and continue to put Sun Valley on the map for winter athletes. The Rafford’s “For me, skiing on Bald Mountain was a privilege that took me years to appreciate.” Toby Rafford Starting out the list of the new generation are brother and sister duo Addison (Addie) and Toby Rafford, both of whom are …