Fourth Stop: Sun Valley -- Our oldest resort, in more ways than one

Sun Valley Lodge, built 1936

Sun Valley, ID, the first destination winter resort in the U.S., is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary. They call coming to Sun Valley “The Tradition,” and the walls of the old but elegant Sun Valley Lodge (built, 1936) are checkered with old photos, Cary Hart and Grace Kelly lookalikes in early ski gear.

It was started as nothing more than an elaborate marketing ploy by W. Averell Harriman to increase ridership on the Union Pacific Railroad, of which he was chairman. Harriman was a lifelong skier and fond of similar resorts in Europe. He was also a good businessman -- the world’s first chairlifts were invented and installed at Sun Valley, to increase the popularity.

While the Sun Valley Lodge remains the best spot to stay overnight, a lot has changed -- Dollar Mountain, joined three years later by Bald Mountain, is now only the beginner’s locale and site of a new terrain park. Bald is where the serious skiing is. Sun Valley has 2,000 skiable acres, 3,400 vertical feet.

Among the first impressions of the mountain is its deceiving map. There are no double-black diamond trails anywhere, which we found from trial and error was more a reflection of a decision not to have double-blacks than a reflection of the mountain’s high degree of difficulty. Many of the blues at Sun Valley would be blacks at other resorts in the west, and several of the blacks would be doubles elsewhere.

From the first lift, one other terrain observation leaps out at the rider: there are mogulfields everywhere. Everywhere. They’re accompanied more often than not by steep, long groomers. Looking all over the mountain, if the trail is not groomed, it’s likely a mogulfield. After three days of skiing, one had to search hard for trails that were neither moguls nor groomed trails. If you like the bumps or steep, long groomers, Sun Valley is the place for you. Sun Valley is a fairly versatile mountain, too, with several bowls off the peak (9,200 feet).

The most unique characteristic from our visit, though, was the clientele. On the ride into town, a local noted that when it’s sunny, there are plenty of people on the mountain (still no lift line waits, in a happy continuation of the theme of this entire trip). But when the powder comes, with accompanying clouds, the people tend to head home.

Our first day put this to the test. It was beautiful all morning.

They call it Sun Valley for a reason

But the snow and clouds arrived around lunchtime. Most other mountains would see an influx of traffic with new powder; Sun Valley was the opposite. We were skiing down a bowl around 1:30pm in inches of fresh snow, when we looked around and realized something stunning: completely, entirely alone. No one in the bowl, not even on the lift.

Bowl is empty, lift is empty

It wasn’t cold, wasn’t windy, and there was fresh snow everywhere. But no one was around to ski it. Sun Valley is the bizarro resort.

That’s just another reason to enjoy Sun Valley, though probably not one that will end up in their 75th Anniversary brochure. Different theories for the strange behavior abound. Sun Valley’s visitors seem at first glance to be much older than those typical at other mountains (perhaps this explains the excess of top-to-bottom groomers on the mountain). There are very few snowboarders, and Sun Valley is not an easy resort to access. All of this, the argument goes, leads to a more seasoned group of skiers.

Sun Valley’s town gets high marks all around. Free buses take visitors to and from all necessary points (lodges, mountains, restaurants, shops) at all hours.

The restaurants excel in both quality and variety. If you crave good western steak, fresh Idaho trout, or some sushi, you will find an outlet for your hankering. We had the special at the legendary Pioneer (ask for the Wolferita) one night. The next dinner was at Grumpy’s, a literal shack on the outskirts of town that serves up greasily glorious burgers alongside 32-oz. beers. The prices for all are reasonable.

And the people -- continuing another pleasant theme of our trek -- are incredibly decent. Tom, the bartender at the Pioneer, took great pains to learn the names of each patron, shake his/her hand upon entry and exit, and generally make everyone feel quite at home -- even if 2,000 miles from familiarity.

All in all, Sun Valley is classic. Steeped in the tradition it brags of, this Idaho town nestled just west of Mormon Country (the drive through Eastern Idaho reveals more LDS churches than gas stations at times) can be a spectacular vacation destination. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into.

Sunrise over Ennis, MT, just west of the Idaho border

Reviews:

Terrain/runs: 7.5. If you like moguls and long groomers, this is for you. If you prefer cutting through powder, SV may not be the place.

Bowls: 8.5 – also not as many as Vail, but there is great variety for most high skill levels.

Lifts/lines: 9.5 – No lines, still. Docked a half-point for often needing multiple lifts to reach peak.

Food/beer: 8.5 – Excellent variety at a good price.

$$ value: 7 – Look for a ski/stay deal, otherwise it gets pricey. Resort is also not easy to get to (tiny airport often shuts down with a little snow).

People: 10.

Town: 9 – Free buses make getting around easy.

Overall: 8.5 – If it has what you're looking for, you can't go wrong.

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