The Galena Ride, Stride & Glide winter triathlon is held on Galena’s closing day for the winter season, Sunday April 7th, 2024 Dust off your mountain bike, find your running shoes, and grab your skis! This fun, relay-style race is held on the nordic trails (9 km bike, 4.4 km run, 9 km ski). Participate as a team or go solo – there is a kids short course as well. Costumes strongly encouraged. More info/registration at: www.galenalodge.com/ride-stride-glide 8:30am registration | 9:30am start
24hrs with a Local: Galena’s Don & Erin, December
In this series, we check in with some of our favorite locals to find out how they would spend a perfect 24 hours in Sun Valley. No trip to Sun Valley is complete without a day enjoyed at Galena Lodge, a community-owned recreation lodge nestled in the Boulder Mountains, 22 miles north of Ketchum. And no one knows Galena Lodge better than its proprietors, Erin Zell and Don Shepler. For 14 years, Erin and Don have welcomed Nordic skiers, backcountry skiers, snowshoers, mountain bikers, hikers, and sightseers to Galena Lodge. Visitors enjoy delicious, locally sourced meals in the restaurant, rental gear and lessons at their on-site shop, and a beautiful trail system in both winter and summer. For this edition of 24hrs in Sun Valley, Erin and Don share their perfect December day in the mountains. What would you do first thing? We’d start by waking up, having some tea, stretching, and eating a breakfast of eggs with avocado and toast in our cabin. We live across the street from Galena Lodge, and the beauty of it, for us, is that we don’t have to go far to have our perfect day off. It’s all right here. How would you spend …
Boulder Mountain Tour: What Not to Miss
2023 marks the 50th year of the Annual Zions Bank Boulder Mountain Tour (BMT). This year the BMT will Honor Bob Rosso, one of the original founders of the race and a valued community member here in the Wood River Valley. This historic cross-country race is held on the historic Harriman Trail in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, north of Ketchum.
Snowshoe with a Ranger
Learn about the history of the old Galena mining camp and about the local animals who leave their tracks in the snow during a free Snowshoe with a Ranger tour. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area is offering free snowshoe tours at 11 a.m. Thursdays through March 21 leaving from the porch of Galena lodge. The snowshoe trip lasts about two hours, covering 1.5 miles with stops along the way. Tour-goers will learn about the winter ecology and more during the tour A free one-day Blaine County Recreation district snowshoe pass will be provided. Snowshoes can be rented at Galena Lodge. Snowshoers are advised to dress warmly in layers, wear insulated waterproof boots, gloves, hats, sunglasses and sunscreen. Dogs and other pets are not allowed on these particular tours. No reservations are necessary. To learn more, call the SNRA at 208-727-5000. To rent snowshoes, visit www.galenalodge.com or visit the ski shop at Galena Lodge ahead of the tour.
What We’re Made Of: Wild Rye and Club Ride
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 …
24hrs with a Local: Sawtooth Avalanche Center’s Annie DeAngelo, April
Since making Sun Valley her home ten years, Annie DeAngelo has embraced all of the professional, recreational, and social aspects the area has to offer. As Education Coordinator for Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center, Annie wears many hats, coming up with events and ways to reach new people, putting on the education programs the org has been running for years, and collaborating with other local organizations. Prior to working with Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center, Annie DeAngelo taught middle school math and science for the Community School for many years. She’s also been a NOLS instructor, taught ski school, interned with ICL, and is unofficially the Grumpy’s Social Director. Her and her partner, ski patroller and Sawtooth Mountain Guide Toria, live in west Ketchum with their pit bull-chihuahua-poodle mix Xander. When not working, Annie is a woman of “endless” hobbies, as she describes it, but her biggest are whitewater SUPing, cooking, gardening, hunting, mountain biking, skiing, and playing in band Miscellany 7 (formerly Miscellany 5, but they’ve since acquired two more members). While most days are ideal days in Sun Valley for Annie DeAngelo, she described her perfect one here, taking a few liberties because, after all, this …
Snowshoe with a Ranger
Strap on some snowshoes and check out the Sawtooth National Recreation Area’s winter wonderland! Learn about the history of the Galena Lodge area and the magical landscape of winter ecology and animal tracking. January 5th – March 23 – Snowshoe with a Ranger every Thursday at 11 am. Meet on the porch of Galena Lodge. Program lasts about 2 hours and covers 1.5 miles with stops along the way. Rent snowshoes online ahead of time from Galena Lodge (see below). To register for the tour call SNRA at 208-727-5000. Each tour will be limited to 10 people. Dress warmly in layers and wear insulated boots, gloves, hat, sunglasses and mask.
Snowshoe with a Ranger
Strap on some snowshoes and check out the Sawtooth National Recreation Area’s winter wonderland! Learn about the history of the Galena Lodge area and the magical landscape of winter ecology and animal tracking. January 5th – March 23 – Snowshoe with a Ranger every Thursday at 11 am. Meet on the porch of Galena Lodge. Program lasts about 2 hours and covers 1.5 miles with stops along the way. Rent snowshoes online ahead of time from Galena Lodge (see below). To register for the tour call SNRA at 208-727-5000. Each tour will be limited to 10 people. Dress warmly in layers and wear insulated boots, gloves, hat, sunglasses and mask.
Snowshoe with a Ranger
Strap on some snowshoes and check out the Sawtooth National Recreation Area’s winter wonderland! Learn about the history of the Galena Lodge area and the magical landscape of winter ecology and animal tracking. January 5th – March 23 – Snowshoe with a Ranger every Thursday at 11 am. Meet on the porch of Galena Lodge. Program lasts about 2 hours and covers 1.5 miles with stops along the way. Rent snowshoes online ahead of time from Galena Lodge (see below). To register for the tour call SNRA at 208-727-5000. Each tour will be limited to 10 people. Dress warmly in layers and wear insulated boots, gloves, hat, sunglasses and mask.
Complete Guide to Cross-Country Skiing Sun Valley
Each winter, at the first hint of snow, local Nordic skiers pull out their gear and anxiously await the inaugural groom of the season. From the first pass of the snowcat in early winter until the trails disappear in spring’s warmth, stoke runs high. These long-time skiers know what many others are about to find out—that cross-country skiing is a great way to explore the mountains, clear the mind, and, especially this year, socially distance. While the pandemic may be partially responsible for this year’s meteoric rise in the sport’s popularity, cross-country skiing’s roots run deep in Sun Valley. Over 200 kilometers of Nordic ski trails wind through the Sun Valley area from Hailey in the south to Galena Lodge, tucked in the Boulder Mountains north of Ketchum. Our world-class trails are not only a destination for skiers from around the globe but are also the United States’ only designated cross-country skiing Olympic and Paralympic training site. Exploring Sun Valley’s Nordic scene for the first time can get a little overwhelming, but we’re here to help. In this guide, we give you the 411 on everything from where to ski to who can help you get the right gear. See …