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Hemingway and Skiing with John Lundin

Historian and author John W. Lundin will explore Ernest Hemingway’s relationship to skiing, from the Alps to Idaho, and how skiing was an important part of the writer’s life, key to his coming of age, and provided themes he incorporated into his later writings. Hemingway developed his love for skiing in the Alps during the 1920s while dealing with gruesome injuries suffered during World War I and living as an expatriate in Paris as a member of the “lost generation.” Between 1922 to 1926, he spent winters in the Alps, perfecting his craft and writing his first works, and skiing in the afternoons with his first wife Hadley Richardson. Hemingway threw himself into skiing, excited by the physically demanding nature of the sport in the 1920s, the challenge of climbing mountains using skins, and racing down glaciers in untracked snow, experiencing avalanches and crevasses, perhaps as a way of dealing with troubled memories of his traumatic war years. His association with Sun Valley, Idaho, began in 1939 when he accepted an invitation to stay at the resort compliments of Union Pacific in exchange for its right to use his image for publicity. He fell in love with the area, returning …

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Backcountry Film Festival

Come support the Nordic and Backcountry Skiers’ Alliance of Idaho at the 19th annual Backcountry Film Festival! Where: Sun Valley Opera House When: Saturday, February 10, 2024, Doors 6pm, Shows 7pm How: $20 tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketstripe.com/bcff-SV-2024 Presented by Winter Wildlands Alliance, Backcountry Film Festival manifests the power of humans and their spirit. We screen cinematic stories of outdoor stewardship, grassroots policy and advocacy work, backcountry adventure, and snow cinema by human-powered advocates, athletes, brands, activists, adventures, and outdoor enthusiasts. Celebrating the connecting between humans and wild winters. A collage of human-powered stories and backcountry-inspired experiences. Backcountry Film Festival ignites wild conversations and inspires action to communities that celebrate the present while looking towards the future. Every winter, BCFF tours 100+ cities and is hosted by local retailers, grassroots groups, outdoor affinity groups, and many more community organizations. Funds raised stay in the local community to support human-powered recreation and conservation efforts, winter education and avalanche/safety programs and to raise awareness of winter management issues. The 19th Annual Backcountry Film Festival is screening documentaries and ski movies about athletic pursuit in the mountains, artistic vision, friendship, and how the snowsports community is adapting to a changing environment. …

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Ski for Air Service Day

“Ski for Air Service Day Returns on January 21 with $60 Lift Tickets at Sun Valley”  A highly anticipated annual event for skiers and riders is back, as Fly Sun Valley Alliance (FSVA) and the Sun Valley Resort team up once again to present Ski for Air Service Day by offering a full-day $60 lift ticket for skiing at Sun Valley, on either Baldy or Dollar, on Sunday, January 21, 2024.  All proceeds from Ski for Air Service Day will support air service at Sun Valley’s Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN). A limited number of the discounted $60 (plus tax) Ski for Air Service Day lift tickets will be available for sale in advance, from January 8 through January 20, and this year the tickets will be available for purchase online via  www.flysunvalleyalliance.com/ski-for-air-day/ No $60 lift tickets will be sold on January 21 and lift ticket purchases are not refundable. There is no limit to the number of tickets an individual may purchase. Lost tickets cannot be replaced. There will also be other discounts offered as part of the event. Local area ski shops will also be offering discounts on demos and rentals, and several Sun Valley area lodging properties will …

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Mind Over Mountains

Sharing stigma about mental health in ski town with conversation and community. Join Sun Valley Resort for a FREE screening of UPS & DOWNS, a ski film focused on mental health in the mountains. Meet filmmaker and skier Drew Peterson, who will sit down with ski journalist Paddy O’Connell. Behind closed doors, professional skier Drew Petersen has been living a much different reality than ski films, magazine covers, and Instagram likes have shown. Following a near-death accident in the mountains, Petersen went into a dark tailspin of mental health struggles. In the following years, he has privately navigated an arduous journey of PTSD, bipolar disorder, brain injury rehabilitation, and suicidal thoughts. Told through the lens of ski touring, “Ups and Downs” is an introspective look at the mountains and valleys along his path, and how his mental health journey is ultimately lifelong—both from well before Petersen’s accident and for the rest of his life moving forward. His story is truly one of finding the light, healing both in the mountains and in therapy, and how giving voice to his struggles ultimately saved him. Please contact us at the Sun Valley Recreation Center 208.622.2135 with any questions you may have about …

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Introduction to Avalanches

Join the Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center for a 2-hour presentation based on the Know Before You Go platform, introducing basic concepts about snow, avalanches, and traveling safely in and near avalanche terrain. Learn from the Friends of SAC instructor team of snow experts, mountain guides, and experienced avalanche educators. We invite everyone to join if you’re learning about avalanches for the first time or are a seasoned backcountry user ready for a yearly refresher. Save your seat at www.comlib.org.

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2023 Sun Valley Winter Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Join The Community Library and its Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History for the Induction Ceremony of the Sun Valley Winter Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023. The Sun Valley Winter Sports Hall of Fame honors the significant contributions of legendary local athletes and visionaries who have not only achieved in their sport or industry, but have given back to the Wood River Valley community in ways that have furthered the development of the sport: Alpine Skiing, Nordic Skiing, Ice Hockey, Figure Skating, Snowboarding, and Freestyle Skiing. This year’s inductees are Judy Blumberg (Figure Skating), John “Cub” Burke (Ice Hockey), Heather Flood Daves (Alpine Skiing), Marc Mast (Adaptive Alpine Skiing and Adaptive Nordic Skiing), and Jonna Mendes (Alpine Skiing). Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and a reception will follow at 7:00 p.m. across the street at the Library’s Wood River Museum of History and Culture. Seating is limited, and registration is required to attend. This event will also be livestreamed, and a recording will be available to view later. Register and learn more at www.comlib.org. The Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History, established in 1982, is comprised of the Betty Olsen Carr Reading Room, the Wood River …

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Introduction to Avalanches Presentation

Join the Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center for a 2-hour presentation based on the Know Before You Go platform, introducing basic concepts about snow, avalanches, and traveling safely in and near avalanche terrain. Learn from the Friends of SAC instructor team of snow experts, mountain guides, and experienced avalanche educators. We invite everyone to join if you’re learning about avalanches for the first time or are a seasoned backcountry user ready for a yearly refresher. There is a $15 suggested donation, no preregistration required. You must attend the entire talk to register for the optional field session. You can register for an optional field session ($50 suggested donation) HERE  

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ABSTRACT • A Freeski Exhibition

Skiing is not art, and skiers are not artists. Unless, of course, skiing is art and skiers are artists? Faction’s fourth feature film exhibits pure creativity through a series of freeski sequences—from the vibrant streets of Japan, to the powdery pillows of British Columbia, to the finely-manicured terrain parks of Switzerland and Italy. Each location provides a blank canvas for the team’s artistic expression. Because nothing screams “artist” like sending large cliffs and grinding the side of buildings. In co-production with Red Bull Media House. Tickets $12.00 in advance, $15.00 day of show

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24hrs with a Local

24 Hours with a Local: Sawtooth Mountain Guides’ Lindsay Mann Davis

Backcountry ski guide Lindsay Mann Davis didn’t move to the area until 2018, but skiing has always been in her life. Growing up on the east coast, she spent most of her youth exploring the White Mountains of New Hampshire and competitive ski racing, which took her to mountains around the world. Her passion for skiing took her to Dartmouth, where she helped her team win an NCAA title in 2007. After college, she spent time working as an alpine ski racing coach, mountain guide, and avalanche instructor. Before making the move to Idaho, Lindsay and her now-husband Leon were living in Jackson Hole. After he accepted a pilot job in the state, she got a job offer with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) to coach alpine and do avalanche education. She’s now a guide for Sawtooth Mountain Guides and also works at Andy Gilbert’s Press Print House and Keely’s Camp for Girls as operations manager. The flexibility of Lindsay’s employers has been instrumental in being able to spend time with her 1-year-old daughter, Matilda. Lindsay and her family live in a house in Hailey, and in her free time she loves to mountain bike, climb, backcountry ski, …