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 …
24hrs with a Local: Hockey player Mike (Taco) Curry, March
If you’ve seen a Sun Valley Suns hockey game in the last ten years, then you already know Mike Curry, better known as “Taco” to those in the know. The Alaska native moved to Ketchum about ten years ago and has been playing defense for the Suns ever since. When he’s not on the ice, Mike works from his home in Warm Springs doing headhunting for Walmart Global Tech. In the winter, he enjoys snowboarding and snowmobiling (in addition to hockey, of course) and in the summer spends lots of time on the lake water skiing and doing a bit of fishing. We caught up with Mike to see what his perfect March day in Sun Valley entails. How does your morning start? Mike: I’d start out with breakfast at either the Kneadery or something quick at Wrapcity. At the Kneadery I like the cowboy benedict—it’s rock solid. At Wrapcity I get the Mayday wrap. What’s after breakfast? Mike: I’d hit the mountain for a couple runs, nothing too crazy. I’m a snowboarder, so I try to stay off steep pitches so I can cruise; usually I’ll do Broadway top to bottom for my first run of the day. …
24hrs with a Local: Riley Berman, February
A born and raised local, Riley Berman wears many hats professionally in the Wood River Valley where he is manager of the Hailey ski hill Rotarun, a fishing guide for Silvercreek Outfitters in the summer, and the co-founder of small outerwear company Steel Zips. He and his wife Katelyn live south in the Bellevue triangle with a menagerie of animals, including dogs, cats, mini donkeys, horses, pigs, goats, and chickens. Now in his fourth year as manager of Rotarun, Riley Berman enjoys skiing on his off days, whether in the backcountry, on Baldy, or at Rotarun. How does your ideal morning start? Riley: For me, February is definitely work time and I like my job, so my ideal day would probably be my regular day. Regardless, I get up early at about five. Then I spend a few hours on my company Steely Zips, making sure orders and our website are up to date. We’re trying to do new marketing and branding for a new piece we’re going to launch in the spring. I’ll spend some time with my dogs, especially my corgi, Midge. I don’t do breakfast or coffee—not really a coffee guy. Then what is mid-morning like? Riley: …
24hrs with a Local: Board Bin’s David Kelso, January
If you’ve stepped foot in the Board Bin in Ketchum in any of the 34 years its been open, chances are good that you’ve seen long-time employee and now co-owner and manager David Kelso (though, to be fair, he didn’t start working there until 1993). One of the founding fathers of board culture in Ketchum alongside original Board Bin owner Jim Slanetz, Dave took over the shop with local Quinn Baser in the fall of 2018. A skateboard afficianado first and snowboarder second, Dave grew up in Idaho Falls and moved to Ketchum in 1991. He’s been in the Valley ever since and lives with his wife, Erin, and 12-year-old son, JackHenry, out Warm Springs with their dog. When not on a board of some kind, Dave gets into fly tying and fishing, hiking, and camping. How does your ideal morning start? Dave: I make coffee at home and then walk our dog Josie, a Border Collie/Aussie Shephard/Whippet rescue from Mountain Humane. I take the dog to the river and stand in the river meditating for a few minutes while she runs around. I always do the New York Times crossword puzzle and Wordle and various other games. Then I …
24hrs with a Local: Luis Alberto Lecanda, December
Luis Alberto Lecanda moved to Sun Valley in 2019 to pursue Nordic skiing full-time with hopes to qualify for the 2022 Olympic XC ski team for Mexico. The catch? He was a complete neophyte in the sport, coming from a career as an engineer in Silicon Valley.
24hrs with a Local: Travis McDaniel, November
Local singer/songwriter Travis McDaniel can be found playing weekly gigs at the Duchin Lounge and bi-weekly gigs at the Limelight, playing a mix of jazz, bossa nova, funk, and neo-soul on his guitar, accompanied by his vocal jazz crooning.The Boise native moved to Philadelphia for about five years before moving to Ketchum in 2016 to live somewhere he could play his music while also doing the skiing, fishing, and mountain biking he grew up doing and loves.
24hrs with a Local: The Spot’s Natalie Battistone, October
Natalie Battistone LIVES for the fall. The Marketing/Creative Director for local theater company The Spot considers October her favorite month and can be found celebrating it by visiting a good pumpkin patch (like Tubb’s Berry Farm in Twin Falls) or reading Dracula. An original member of The Spot since they opened in 2015, Natalie recently directed The Spot’s production of The Sound Inside and is involved behind the scenes or in-stage with most of the company’s production. She is also a freelance actor, acting coach, and director, working with theater scenes in various spots from directing commercials to helping her partner, Spot founder and Community School drama teacher, Kevin Wade, with school productions. Her and Kevin met at the Harvard Repertory Theater graduate MFA acting program in 2014; they live in west Ketchum with their rescue dog Ophelia (named for the character in Hamlet). When not involved in the theater, the introverted Natalie enjoys foraging, birdwatching, and writing poetry. How does your ideal morning start in the fall? Natalie: I wake up and go to the Konditorei for the coffee and its never-ending refills and the Konditorei Breakfast [two eggs, meat, toast]. They used to have donuts on Saturdays but …
24hrs with a Local: Sun Valley Wine Company’s Dexter & Crystal McKenzie, September
Covid and quarantine brought many new people to town, who perhaps came just to hunker down for a few weeks or months but then couldn’t imagine living elsewhere. This was the case for Dexter and Crystal McKenzie, new owners of the Wine Co. along with Crystal’s parents Gayle and Jim Phillips. Gayle and Jim have been homeowners in Ketchum for 33 years, hosting the family each Christmas for a little skiing and vacay away from Dexter and Crystal’s home in Olympia, Washington. Like every other year, the couple came to visit the Phillips in Ketchum for Christmas of 2020 to ski, but two weeks turned into four months turned into “let’s put our house on the market and move to Ketchum,” in the words of Dexter. The couple has been running an online women’s boutique and decided to look for a new opportunity in Ketchum; Gayle and Jim were retired, but were also ready for a bit of adventure. After seeing a description of a 27-year-old Ketchum business for sale and realizing it was the Wine Co., the foursome put in an offer right after another had fallen through, and in a moment of kismet, they suddenly found themselves the …
24hrs with a Local: Sun Valley Wine Auction’s Peter Burke, August
Sun Valley Museum of Art’s Peter Burke has dipped a toe into most every part of the arts there is since graduating from NYU Tisch School of the Arts years ago; he has been at SVMoA since 2018, but before that he worked as an experiential and creative producer, producing events for Google, the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, and more. He is one of the co-founders of Ketchum theater The Spot and can often be seen gracing the stage in their productions. When not in his role as Development Director and Wine Auction Director at SVMoA, he continues to teach barre classes at Zenergy, which he has done for the last eight years. As a young 30-something who grew up in and out of this Valley, Peter knows just how to have a perfect summer day, whether that’s getting inner tubes at Les Schwab to float a section of the Big Wood River or getting blocks of ice from Veltex to sled down grassy hills. Peter and his husband, Daniel, live in west Ketchum with their cat, Zelda (who can often be found sneaking into Sushi on Second searching for scraps of fish). When there is a moment of free …
24hrs with a Local: Rescue Trainer & Brewer Paul Holle, July
Paul Holle is a man about town, someone who, even if you don’t know personally, you’ve probably seen at some point, whether it’s at one of the Sawtooth Brewery locations, teaching a Wilderness First Aid class, or shuttling his children around town. After homebrewing his own ales, Holle went pro in 2012 when he helped open craft brewery Sawtooth Brewery in both Ketchum and Hailey. The next year, Holle helped start Idaho Rescue Training, which offers wilderness emergency medical courses to everyone from lay responders to outdoor professionals. He, his wife, Colleen; their two kids, 4-year-old Bryce and 8-month-old Theo; and their dog and cat live in Hailey, spending their free time taking family camping trips in the camper, rafting, hiking, and enjoying life in the Wood River Valley. In the July edition of 24hrs in Sun Valley, we’ve asked Paul to describe his perfect day. How does your perfect morning start? Paul: Sleeping in, cooking waffles with the kids, and drinking coffee. I like to put fresh berries in them and whipped cream on top. Then maybe go for a hike with the kids with the little one napping in the backpack and the four-year-old hiking at toddler speed. We …