Let’s face it, there are only so many hours in the day that you can spend on the ski/snowboard hill this winter in Sun Valley. There will be plenty of time for eating, sleeping and relaxing. You’ll most-likely still have a solid chunk of down time to fill. Fortunately, there is a slew of great events and happenings going on all winter in Sun Valley, Ketchum and Hailey that are bound to keep you entertained. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll find this season. Christmas in Sun Valley It’s a special time of year in the Valley and the area goes all-out with the festivities. In fact, there are so many daily happenings that we’ve created a separate blog specifically dedicated to the holidays in Sun Valley. Check it out below. Guide to the Holidays in Sun Valley Winter Outdoor Events December 21 | Starry Solstice Social January 6 | Ski Free Day on the BCRD Trails January 19 | Baldy Banked Slalom January 31 – Feb 3 | Sun Valley Nordic Festival & Boulder Mountain Tour February 15 – 17 | Stanley Winterfest February 23 | Snowball Fat Tire Bike Race March 6 | Sawtooth Regional Gelande Quaffing Championships Winter Arts …
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What We’re Made Of: First Lite Entrepreneur – Scott Robinson
Sun Valley, Idaho is no Silicon Valley but it has certainly seen its fair share of startups in its day. Smith Optics, Scott USA, Club Ride, DECKED, Powder Magazine, and Snowboard Magazine all got their start in this small town. Now a slew of new innovators is changing the economic scene of Ketchum including hunting apparel company First Lite. photo: courtesy First Lite Believe it or not, co-owner of First Lite, Scott Robinson, had never even hunted before moving to Ketchum when he was 23. Robinson grew up living in Seattle but ski racing and visiting Sun Valley often, so the place always held a spot in his heart. “Kenton [Carruth, co-owner of First Lite] and I both moved to Ketchum in 1993 or 1994 for the same reasons most people do—to take a break from the real world, do some skiing, and have fun in the outdoors,” says Robinson. The real world he desired to take a break from was working as a CPA in Seattle. He continued to work in financial management roles for 10 years in Ketchum before leaving Ketchum for a three-year stint at Nike. In 2004, he came back and worked for local company Smith Optics, running …
Guide to Renting Ski, Snowboard, Nordic and Snowshoe Equipment in Sun Valley
Whether you’re new to town and didn’t bring your own gear or a local just looking to try a new sport, there exist a myriad of rental options in the Wood River Valley for skis, snowboards, Nordic, and snowshoes as well as a host of shops waiting to tune, deliver, and help you learn more about all your gear! Check out our guide below for all your winter rental needs. Ski Rental Gear Sturtevant’s With locations in Ketchum, Hailey, Sun Valley and at the base of Warm Springs, Sturtevant’s is perhaps the easiest venue to find for ski gear rental. They offer rentals and demos and event season leases on their skis and snowboards. Ski rental options include their Adult Sport package for beginner to intermediate skiers, Adult Performance Demo package, a line-up of best-selling, all-mountain retail models, Adult Premium Demo for testing Sturtevant’s entire selection of skis, Junior Sport package for first-time skiers up to advanced junior skiers, and Junior Race and Twin Tip package for advanced and expert juniors. All types of rental reservations are available online through their online rental program. PK’s PK’s Ski and Sports offers ski rental packages for kids, adult sport (for softer, recreational skiers), adult performance (for …
What it Takes: The Making of the Winter Hyperlapse Video
We sat down with Stellar Media to get some behind-the-scenes perspecitve on what went in to making the Sun Valley winter hyperlapse video series.
5 Winter Walks for Families in Sun Valley
5 fabulous winter walks in the Sun Valley area suitable for everyone from families to dog walkers.
What We’re Made Of: Sun Valley Guides Owner – Zach Crist
A Local Legend Some folks are legendary in Sun Valley and some folks are lifers. Zach Crist is both. A Ketchum native, Crist has been through all iterations skiing has to offer—riding professionally, being featured in Warren Miller movies, coaching, owning a backcountry guide company—all while still living in the place he wouldn’t dream of not calling home. Now married to Emilie DuPont and father to four kids (ages 1, 3, 8, and 12), Crist has settled into his newest role as the owner of Sun Valley Guides and couldn’t be happier. Crist is evidence that you might think you’ve done all this town has to offer, but there’s always a new angle to enjoy the culture of Sun Valley, Idaho. The Educational Years Though he was technically born in California, Crist is an Idahoan through and through. He moved to Ketchum with his parents and siblings Danielle and Reggie (also a former professional skier) when he was 6 years old. With his experience on skis since he was 2, Crist ended up joining the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and was eventually picked for the U.S. Ski Team, joining his brother Reggie on the World Cup Tour. After seven …
What We’re Made Of: Restauranteurs – The Mason Family
The food scene of Ketchum would truly be a different landscape without the Masons and as their family continues to grow, so too does the family business.
What We’re Made Of: Local Artist Molly Snee
For being a tucked away mountain town, the greater Sun Valley area is home to an incredibly robust arts community. The lure of the outdoors and unassuming networking opportunities seem to continually draw mavens to the region. From skilled craftsmen to award-winning film makers to highly coveted painters and beyond, the Valley is teeming with talent. Molly Snee happens to be one of these sensationally skilled individuals that call Sun Valley home. If you’ve roamed the streets of Ketchum, chances are high that you’ve spotted some of Molly Snee’s work around town. From posters for City-sponsored events to various outdoor murals to her self-published guides to Ketchum, Snee’s particular brand of illustration is hard to miss. If you have yet to venture to the Sun Valley area, there’s still a chance that you’ve Molly’s work. In addition to her creative endeavors and local jobs in her home-base of Ketchum, Snee has started to expand into the national market with recent gigs illustrating for the New York Times, Restoration Hardware, Southwest Airlines, and The Boston Globe. Snee’s ability to make the Ketchum scene work for her career while also helping to enhance the creative spirit of the town makes her the perfect example of the characters that make this Idaho town unique. Snee grew up in Virginia …
A Dozen Family Fun Activities for the Winter
It’s school vacation time and you’re lucky enough to be in—or at least a short, scenic drive away from—Sun Valley. So what do you next? Pretty much whatever you want. This is America’s original ski resort, for crying out loud! Crying is just about the only thing that we don’t really allow around this fun-filled place, unless, of course, they’re tears of joy. To help make your family time in Sun Valley more joyful, here are a dozen ideas. Go Sledding In our mountainous section of Idaho there are oodles of places to go sledding during the winter months. The popular “Sledding Hill” across from the Sun Valley Stables is usually a good spot, but Sun Valley is literally surrounded with the two main ingredients for great sledding action: hills and snow. There are places to sled from Hailey up to Galena Lodge and lots of local shops sell a variety of sleds. Sledding also gives you a great excuse to get some hot chocolate afterwards—add some peppermint schnapps and make into a “Ski Lift” for mom and dad. Go Nordic Skiing Nordic or cross-country skiing is a surprisingly enjoyable activity for active families. It’s easy to learn. It’s a great way …
Sun Valley Bike Path Sightseeing Tour
The Wood River Trail aka “the bike path” runs over 20 miles between the Wood River Valley from Bellevue up to Sun Valley. The area encompassing Ketchum and Sun Valley is full of unique and historical sights, all easily viewed in a day by foot, bike, or any other way you choose to explore the bike path! We’ve put together a Sun Valley bike path sightseeing tour guide with all of the must-see spots along the scenic byway. There are a number of ways to go about this sightseeing tour. We’ll leave the navigation up to you! Spur Sculpture Located just off the bike path between St. Luke’s hospital and Ketchum, John Grade’s sculpture Spurwas commissioned in 2016 by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts with significant support from the City of Ketchum as part of a larger project celebrating Craters of the Moon National Monument during the 2016 National Park Service Centennial. Spurwas located at Craters during that summer before relocating to its current long-term site. Based in Seattle, artist John Grade visited Craters of the Moon several times before beginning work on Spur. He was fascinated by the park’s extraordinary geology, and using a technology called LIDAR, he digitally mapped …