July 4, 2014: For weeks I’d been hearing about how ‘hard’ Sun Valley goes on the day of America’s independence. “Just wait for the Fourth”, people kept saying. So after experiencing the 4th of July madness firsthand, I’m here to tell the tale.
Ride Sun Valley: The Best Time on Two Wheels Anywhere!
The Smith Optics Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival brought some of the best racers and good timers out there to Sun Valley. Headlining the festival was the Scott Sports Enduro Cup presented by GoPro And yes, all the way down there, way below, where the cars look like little ants, yep that’s the finish. It began four years ago with a dream we had to put together a chemistry experiment of sorts. Why wouldn’t the perfect organism of mountain biking, Sun Valley, thrive with a concoction of one part fun, one part silliness, and one part competition mixed with good food and great beer injected into its vein just around the time it ripens into the ideal host? Mountain biking’s unknown paradise needed a festival and so we cooked one up. This summer, the Smith Optics Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival elevated the health of the creature to an all time high, putting together the perfect elixir encompassing four nights and three days of riding, racing, live music, beer drinking and, most importantly, just generally goofing off. The weekend began with the Sheeptown Drag Races, a time honored underground event in the valley which was cooked up …
DEATH TO DAY JOBS 3: A Preview and Not-So-Subtle Invitation to Come Out!
When some people think of Sun Valley, it’s any guess what comes to mind, but one image the might catch one unexpectedly by the scruff of the neck, is the very real and very rad young artist community which calls this place home. Forget the image of Golden Girls meets Lawrence Welk in the mountains, we’ve got it going on. Being an artist in Sun Valley sounds about like nirvana, except living here has its challenges, like getting by. Which is the theme of a now in its third installment art show, Death to Day Jobs which is about creating that escape from working the daily grind in paradise. It’s about getting elevated to a higher level of paradise which sounds like a fantasy role playing game… but whatever. The art and artists not to mention super fun group that comes out for this show each year makes it without a doubt the place to be. All cozied up at Ochi Gallery on Lewis Street you will catch a beer buzz and revel in the hum of creativity, ironic eyeglasses, body ink, and people who look like the belong in the city, living life in the rad lane right here in Sun Valley. So be there, tonight, July 3rd at OCHI Gallery on Lewis Street, 7:00 pm sharp!
Coyote Yurt: Singletrack, Shuttles, and Backwoods Amenities
Sore legs, epic views, and cold beer. Three thoughts that command my attention as I reflect on a glorious weekend spent acquainting myself with Coyote Yurt in the Smokey Mountains of Sun Valley, Idaho. This magical, remote place perched high above the valley is a dream come true for mountain bikers looking to ride endless single track from a base far away from it all, yet still fully supported. Think glam camping with all the beer you can fit in to a 4×4, comfy beds, and bottomless vistas. The Coyote Yurt should be on your Sun Valley bucket list.
Sawtooth Sandbox at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden
Added to the Sawtooth Botanical Garden in the summer of 2014, the Sawtooth Sandbox provides a play space for children of all ages to safely explore the outdoors while their parents relax in the shade and enjoy the surrounding mountains and gardens. With picnic tables, sandbox toys, nets, and buckets the Sawtooth Sandbox is a perfect place to have a picnic and spend the afternoon out of the heat of the sun in the summer as children build sandcastles and catch water skippers in the stream.
Bike Parks
There are two great bike park and flow trail options in the greater Sun Valley, Idaho area. The first is in the heart of Ketchum and the other out the Quigley Canyon drainage of Hailey. Ketchum Bike Park (700 2nd Avenue) In partnership with Scott USA, Alpine Bike Parks worked as the prime design and construction contractor for the Ketchum Parks & Recreation Department. Starting with a vacant lot owned by the Blaine County School District littered with noxious weeds rocks, Alpine directed site design, grading, pump park design and construction, travel planning, and landscaping to create a holistically designed site including a great pump park, grassy rest areas, shade tree and shrub plantings, and bench and bleacher seating. Hailey Pump Track & Bike Park (1 Huckleberry Trail, 1250 Fox Acres Road) The BCRD’s Quigley Bike Trails include a pump track, skills area, jump lines and flow trails. There are a variety of difficulty levels ranging from beginners to experts and everyone in-between. Quigley Canyon offers close proximity to schools and neighborhoods in the southern Wood River Valley zone of Hailey, Idaho making it a popular outdoor recreation spot for youth, adults, seniors, and families.
Thunderpaws Pet Shoppe
Thunderpaws Pet Shoppe is a locally owned, family business with two locations in the Wood River Valley. We strive to provide the Wood River Valley with the highest quality pet food and supplies along with friendly and knowledgeable service to help you take the best care of your pets possible. We promise that we’ll only carry products that we would give to our own pet. Nothing from questionable sources for the pets we love! Ketchum – 171 Main St – (208) 726-7387 Hailey – 11 E. Croy St – (208) 928-4325
Its the End of the Season As We Know It: Sawtooth National Gelande Quaffing Championships
Gelandesprung (v): German for a downhill ski jump in the style of Oympic nordic jumping, yet with fixed heels. Quaff (v): to drink rapidly with much vigor The legend of the Gelande Quaff was born back around the time snow was new. On a dark winter evening as the boys huddled for one last round, tipping back cold beers honoring their mastery of the backscratcher into couloirs in tight neon stretchpants, the bar tender slid frosty mugs down the bar to eager hands. It was a normal night until an order was called, the one who ordered got distracted, and the beer slid past only to leap off the end of the bar. Fortunately, stationed at the end of the bar, there stood one lone, alert skier who snatched the beer out of the air, pounded it back and slamming it on the table proclaimed, “Gelandequaffing!!” and the rest was history. As the story goes, a new form of sport drinking was born. It began to catch on in small mountain towns where long winters and poor odds lead to various devices of distraction. Like most new sports, the development of rules and competition formats would follow as well as the kind of innovation that was tracking in freeskiing and snowboarding. And today, after nearly a decade of progression Gelande Quaffing has evolved into a World Championship-level competition. Getting an invite to the said World Champs stands as one of the more coveted mountain town trappings anywhere.
Rites of Spring – Stalking Steelhead
Idaho is a landlocked state but what few realize is that it’s connected via one of the longest river systems in the US to the Pacific Ocean. For millennia, a certain species of traveler, the steelhead trout, has migrated through this river corridor, the Salmon, from the mountains of central Idaho to the ocean and back again. And a mere hour drive from Sun Valley lies the headwaters of the Salmon River, the origin of the steelhead run. Set amidst the awe-inspiring Sawtooth Mountains, these freestone waters play host to spawning spring steelhead.
Sun Valley to Host 2016-2018 US Alpine National Championships
PARK CITY, Utah – Leading eastern resort Sugarloaf, Maine and historic Sun Valley, Idaho will host the 2015-2018 United States Alpine Championships on alternating years beginning next winter with Sugarloaf. The announcement continues the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association’s long-term plan to move the annual celebration of American ski racing to top resorts around the United States. “Moving the U.S. Alpine Championships around the United States is vital to directly engaging with strong ski racing communities that are instrumental in growing and maintaining a strong developmental pipeline. It allows us to showcase the excitement of high level alpine skiing to new generations of young athletes and fans,” said U.S. Ski Team Alpine Director Patrick Riml. The dynamic Narrow Gauge run last hosted the U.S. Championships at Sugarloaf in 2008. Sun Valley last hosted the event in 1951. “Both Sugarloaf and Sun Valley have a strong tradition in building and showcasing events that celebrate the excitement and culture of ski racing,” noted USSA VP of Events Calum Clark. “The Narrow Gauge race hill is [renowned in the East] for testing and training the best in the world like Bode Miller. Sun Valley has helped produce its share of legends like Picabo …